A Quebec doctor and father of two who took time off to climb K2, the world’s second-highest mountain, has died after an accident while descending the 8,611-metre peak.
Dr. Richard Cartier, 60, an experienced mountaineer and palliative care physician at Saint-Jérôme Hospital, leaves behind his wife and two grown sons. His family told CTV that he died last Friday. He is believed to have fallen while descending with his climbing team after reaching Camp 4 at 7,600 meters.
Friends and family are mourning his tragic death, including Thomas Ryan. The longtime friends climbed Denali together in Alaska and in Bolivia, Ryan followed Cartier’s lead on the steep ice climb of Huayna Potosí.
Richard Cartier, right, on an alpine climb with his friend Thomas Ryan. (Photo courtesy of Thomas Ryan)
Ryan told CTV News he was “shocked” to learn of his death Monday because Cartier was a professional who was “methodical and technical” in his climbing.
“I’ve been climbing with Richard for over 20 years and he’s a great, fantastic guy as a person and also as a climbing partner… It really hurts to know he’s gone,” Ryan said through tears.
“PEOPLE DIE WHAT THEY LIVED”
Cartier’s teammate, Matt Eakin of Australia, also died during the expedition, which was documented on social media by fellow climber Justin Dube-Fahmy.
Cartier’s family said in a statement to CTV that he “lived his passion to the fullest.”
“As Richard said so well in his work in palliative care, ‘People die as they lived.’ That was the case with Richard,” the statement said.
“According to his teammates, he maintained his energy level until the end, but the mountain decided otherwise on July 22, 2022. It was a privilege to share his life.”
Although it is the second highest mountain below Everest, K2, which straddles the borders of Pakistan and China, has been called by some the “Wild Mountain”. With a death-to-climb ratio of one in six, media reports say it is more dangerous than one in 34 on Mount Everest.
Richard Cartier, 60, is mourned by his family and friends in the climbing community. (Photo courtesy of the family of Richard Cartier)
Climbing K2 is no easy feat and can take a year of planning before you even set foot in base camp, according to Ryan, who admits the climb can be something of a “Russian roulette” for climbers of all levels. But Richard “wasn’t a tourist climber” and would have been one of the best climbers on this expedition, Ryan added.
“You can get unlucky and get hit on the head with a rock.” And, you know, you’re the only one who was there at the time. And there are hundreds of climbers who have gone there in the last week, but you’re just in the wrong place at the wrong time. And that’s what’s happening,” he said.
“But we do it because we love it. We feel alive, I know for Richard it’s really something that makes him very happy.”
Friends expressed their condolences on social media, as did the College of Physicians of Quebec.
On social media, a close friend of Cartier’s, Jacques Lamontagne, described the climber as “a climbing partner and exemplary friend. Richard was always smiling, funny and in good spirits,” he wrote.
“He was an amazing listener, humble, always kind and generous beyond measure. He was also quite the athlete with thousands of miles of marathon running, climbing and cycling under his belt.”
Mount K2 is visible in this 2008 photo (Credit: Svy123 / Wikimedia Commons)
With files from The Canadian Press
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