One step too far: Giant jump from Earth’s roof thwarted by ill health

Australian climber Ken Hutt was forced to turn back short of the summit after going heartbreakingly close to realising a dream to fly a paraglider off Mount Everest.

QUT filmmaker Joe Carter at Pumori High Camp with members of the Full Circle climbing team, who summited Everest on May 12. Picture: Supplied

So near yet so far – which is how it too often goes on Mount Everest. Australian climber Ken Hutt was forced to turn back short of the summit on Sunday after going heartbreakingly close to realising a dream to fly a paraglider off the world’s tallest peak.

The former NSW police rescue officer succumbed to a suspected bout of pneumonia below Camp Three and a planned tilt at the summit on Tuesday.

He was then to jump from 7km up in the frigid, oxygen-depleted Himalayan air and float to earth beneath the fold-up wing he had carried on his back to the roof of the planet.

Instead, 62-year-old Hutt cut a dejected figure as he descended to Base Camp overnight, too ill to continue climbing.

His friend and backup team member, Brisbane filmmaker Joe Carter, said a devastated Hutt had no option but to come down. His Brazilian climbing companions were pushing on to the summit and due to reach the penultimate waypoint of Camp Four on Monday, conditions permitting.

“It is obviously very disappointing but Ken said all along he was not going to take any unnecessary risks,” Mr Carter said.

“There are still two weeks of the climbing season to go, and Ken is one of the most determined people I have ever met. The dream is not over: he may go up again next week if he can recover in time.”

Ken Hutt, who had planned to jump off Mount Everest and float to earth beneath a fold-up wing. Picture: Supplied

Take your pick on whether the plan was an inspirational leap of faith or epic folly – but had it worked out Hutt would have been the oldest Australian to scale Everest, 8849m above sea level.

He then hoped to retrace his steps through the “death zone” to the South Col where Camp Four nestles, 1650m below the summit, and launch the paraglider.

The only certainty on the mountain is that anything can happen: a blizzard out of the blue, -30C cold, altitude sickness, snow blindness, exhaustion, one slip on the icy going that can make every enervating step your last. And that there is no help above Camp 2. Had Hutt been incapacitated he could not have been carried or airlifted down; he would stay where he lay, as so many ill-fated adventurers have, beyond the reach of rescue.

In a dress rehearsal for tackling Everest, Hutt conquered the world’s sixth-highest peak, nearby Cho Oyu, in 2014 and successfully glided to the bottom. Obtaining the first permit to be issued by the Nepalese tourism and civil aviation to “fly” off the mountain had taken three years of painstaking negotiation.

Gathering himself at Camp Two for the final push, when he was grappling with what he thought was a manageable chest infection, Hutt heaped praise on the Brazilians. Carrying the banner for him was “amazing and humbling since every gram of extra weight feels huge when you are above 8000m,” he said in a message relayed to The Australian.

The world’s fifth richest man, Bill Gates, also had a stake in the climb. His charitable foundation with ex-wife Melinda matched the $250,000 Hutt raised from the Cho Oyu expedition and would double whatever he earned for charity this time.

Mr Carter said there remained a chance his friend would recover and the mountain gods would smile before the narrow window to climb Everest closed this month. “He may decide to have another crack at it if the weather improves. Today’s news is a setback for sure, but knowing Ken this ain’t over just yet,” he said.

To donate go to www.flyfromeverest.org