Climbers often get a lot of bad press for being selfish. Last year's David Sharp incident was especially damning. As the British climber lay dying under an overhang beside the main climbing trail about 450m below the summit, some 40 people passed him, and few bothered to help.

Despite the good weather this year, a total of 12 people have died on Everest, Dhaulagiri, Kanchenjunga, and Lhotse. And some of those who got back down safe and sound may not have done so without the help of high-altitude sherpas and fellow climbers.

One example is the epic rescue of climber Usha Bista from the Nepal Democratic Team who fell ill at 8,300m. Canadian climber Meagan McGrath was on her way down from the summit on 21 May when she came across Bista. "I saw her bending over forwards. Her mask was askew, she seemed a complete mess and was completely alone," the 29-year-old aerospace engineer told Nepali Times.

McGrath, another western climber and a sherpa started to help the 22-year-old Bista to descend, which proved rather hard. "We moved her about 30m down but I noticed very quickly that I had no experience or strength to do a rescue so I was glad when Dave Hahn, an experienced mountaineer, came to help," said McGrath.

Three other climbers then pulled Bista down to Camp 4, where they built a stretcher. It was a long, slow, and treacherous undertaking to descend the Lhotse Face and then lower Bista down the Yellow Band to Camp 3 at 7,500m, where doctors of the Extreme Everest research team looked after her.

"They gave me a second life," Bista said. "I can't believe the love and concern they showed to rescue me in spite of such a difficult situation."

Another amazing rescue at 8,300m happened when Marco Epis was helped down to safety by a Russian mountain guide and a team of Sherpas. The 44-year-old Italian suffered cerebral oedema at Camp 3 and would have been unable to get back down had it not been for his helpers, who dragged him all the way to Advanced Base Camp in less than two days.

"Without help, Marco would not have got down the mountain. He was not clear in his head," said Gian Mario Trimeri, another Italian climber on the mountain at the time.

Kazakh climber Denis Urubko aborted his speed ascent of Dhaulagiri I in order to help down mountain guide Boris Korshunov. The 72-year-old Russian space engineer had been caught in the night alone and without a tent at 7,300m. Denis helped the veteran climber to safety, and then turned back up. He reached the top the next morning in an amazing 4.5 hours.

Billi Bierling