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Wānaka cameraman summits Everest with Covid Pat Deavoll
editor@thewanakasun.co.nz
ānaka cameraman Scotty
W Simper headed off to Nepal
PHOTO: Supplied
Mount Aspiring College (MAC) took first place in the Otago Division of Showquest, Aotearoa’s biggest performing arts competition for schools. MAC took the title with their piece themed around mental health. Student Capitan Lucy Fenton said that the team chose the theme of mental health because they thought it was an important topic. “I think that every teenager is affected by mental health, and it's a struggle that can make you feel isolated and alone,” said Fenton. “The effort that every single one of our kids put in and the emotion that they displayed on stage today was amazing.” From left to right: Holly Gibson, Lucy Fenton (student captains, MAC) and Dunedin Deputy Mayor Christine Garey.
on February 25 for his first bout of work in a year. Little did he know that come May, and after summiting Mount Everest for the third time, he would develop Covid on the descent and become very ill. Simper left New Zealand to take on two jobs in Nepal – the first for an American fitness company, and then a second job a film about the Sherpas that worked on Everestthe ‘Icefall Doctors’ and the Sherpa guides that supported the companies outfitting the mountain. He summited Mount Everest on May 11. May 14 was his wife's birthday. Mountain and ski guide Anna Keeling of Mt Iron said: “ Scotty, as a North American, stands on tradition and so it was really important for him to ring me on my birthday. “I was getting anxious because this was his third time summiting Everest and he had been up above
basecamp for ten days- this is a really long time,” Keeling said “And then he texted me from Camp 4 on the way down and said ‘Will tell you all about it when I have energy’ which made me think he wasn't that good. “It was poorly spelt and a brief message and I began to feel pretty anxious.” Keeling began to harangue the film production company, asking “why aren't they at Camp 2 yet?” Simper got to Camp 2 and told Keeling, “the producer wants me to go back up tomorrow to Camp 4.” Simper ended up going part way back up to Camp 4 but was feeling “absolutely crap,” Keeling said. “ I was pretty concerned because people die of exhaustion on Everest.” At this stage, it occurred to Keeling that Simper had Covid because the Nepalese Government had done an effective job of covering it up at Everest BaseCamp. “I knew because I had been following it that it had been widespread at basecamp,” she said. Continued on page 3