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 April
2, 2003 - A fresh breath of IndiaOxygen is expensive to manufacture. The bottles must go through rigorous testing for their structural integrity, fittings, and the oxygen itself. The procedure takes three weeks for every single bottle. A failing system high up on a mountain can easily kill a climber not acclimatized to go without oxygen. The brain clouds up and vertigo enters in minutes. In bad cases, the climber either sits down in the snow to die, or when trying to descend - falls to his death. Soon enough, Todd was collecting empty Poisk bottles. Poisk is currently the leading brand of oxygen on Everest. Manufactured initially for Russian fighter pilots, now the oxygen is made with a license of quality for climbing. Todd had a better idea. How about refilling the bottles for a very low cost in India instead? Said and done. Poisk bottles found their way to Todd's new lab for refills. Forget the tests, forget the licenses - it was Indian oxygen sold in Russian brand packages. Then the problems started. Expedition after expedition reported failing oxygen bottles. "I tried six bottles before I found one that worked," reported one client in a 1999 expedition. "One in three failed,” reported another climber that same year but in another expedition. A third expedition filed a report of oxygen fraud to the Ministry, followed by another one. And then someone died - a kid - 20 years old. Initially one of the strongest he suddenly slowed, and then fell off the mountain. “Our oxygen didn't work,” said the fellow clients. "Keep it quiet," ordered the leader. He had gotten his oxygen from Todd, and Todd had been best man at his wedding. ExplorersWeb visited the Russian plant for proof. The proof was right there, in their books. Poisk bottles sold on Everest with Todd as the main supplier, but in the book, there were no sales from Poisk to Todd in the past two years. High Courage found - at Low Altitude So how did the rest of the climbing community react? Non-climber operated Everest news websites received desperate reports but didn't mention a word – after all, commercial expedition leaders are important contacts. Independent climbers on Everest dispatching to the web from BC at the time of the death were kept in the dark. "What's up?" was met with a, "you do news, we are not supposed to talk to you." The dead boy’s parents met with an arrogant expedition leader and friends. The family still experiences a massive opposition, especially from the UK mountaineering society. The blame was put on their son. Climbing magazines made a story at best, playfully labeling Henry Todd, "The Toddfather." Articles painted a romantic picture of Todd as the climbing bandit of the old school, the LSD business only trying to find a way to finance his love for climbing in the seventies when, "times were different." A spokesperson for IGO 8000 recently stated to ExplorersWeb: "Henry Todd left IGO 8000 voluntarily to not tarnish our name while he is involved in a possible court case with a previous client’s family. Afterwards, if he wants to come back, as long as nothing undue has come to light, he will be welcomed back." IGO 8000 is a recommending association for Everest commercial expedition leaders. The second-rate oxygen business on Everest could continue. Until the very people of Everest at last showed the courage the climbers lacked. In 2000 Todd was banned from the country by the Nepali government. Because now, strengthened by all that unexpected support and flattering bandit-image, Todd had become, "the tough guy." Tomorrow, Part III - Todd is banned from Nepal, but stages a come back - thwarted once, but will he get in this year?
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