Everest amputee climber now not sure he radioed for help

Climber Mark Inglis has backtracked on a key part about his story about the way his expedition left a British mountaineer dying on Everest.

Inglis had said that that he radioed down to the expedition leader about a dying climber and was told to continue on to the summit. But he now says that may not have been the case, Associated Press (AP) reported today.

In a statement to the newsagency from his bed at Christchurch Hospital, where he is recuperating after having five fingers and parts of his leg stumps amputated from frostbite, Inglis has now claimed the cold, strain and lack of oxygen might have caused him to mix up the details.

In a statement to AP, Inglis today wrote: "I was sure that I heard radio traffic at the time.

"I also thought I had called myself and received a reply, but like all things in that early part of the day my focus was on my hands and the challenges to come, specifically the traverse to and the climb of the Second Step (a 30m rock cliff below the summit).

"That, combined with the difficulties with the oxygen mask meant that I may be mistaken," Inglis said.

"I thought that I had heard/partaken in communications but that may be the radio traffic from the afternoon (on descent)."

David Sharp, a 34-year-old British climber, died on the mountain.

- NZPA