Everest Mountaineers Insure Against Yeti Attack[Original headline: MOUNTAINEERS TAKE NO CHANCES]
Broken limbs? No problem. Lost luggage? Sure. Attacks by Yeti? Pardon?
But if you're a passionate mountaineer who believes in the large hairy creature, and you're heading up beyond the snowline, it makes sense to be ready for anything.
So when climber Nigel Gifford planned to take a group of fellow mountaineers to Everest, he got insured for "Yeti attack resulting in accidental death or permanent disability from own occupation."
Believer
The team will head to the 23,000 ft North Col of the mountain- putting him 4,000 ft higher than he was when he had an encounter which convinced him of the existence of the legendary creature.
Mr Gifford says he was climbing at 19,000 ft on Himal Chuli, in Tibet, when something left huge tracks at his team's camp. "I do believe it is there and thought it was important the people we take there are insured against it," he said.
Yak attack?
Asked if he was worried that it would be difficult to convince the insurance company to pay out in the event of a Yeti attack, Mr Gifford was confident there would be no problem.
"There's not much else it could be at that altitude. There are yaks, but they're generally not very aggressive," he said.
• Story originally published by •
Sky News / London - January 18 2001
