Climber developed an oxygen delivery system that cut the death toll on Everest
Ted Atkins, who has died in a climbing accident aged 60, was a former RAF engineer turned businessman, and an accomplished mountaineer and expert in survival at high altitudes.
Atkins made a number of eventful ascents in the Himalayas, including Lhotse, Makalu, Ama Dablam, Kangchenjunga and Everest, which he summited on his third attempt in 2004. He led the first RAF team up the North Face of the Eiger, and scaled pristine mountains during service in Antarctica, for which he was awarded the Polar Medal.
In addition he set a world record for the highest boat ride by paddling a collapsible boat on a glacial
Ted Atkins
lake below
Everest at 6300 metres, and a Climber/skydiver
skydiving record b August 11, 1958
as one half of a d August 20, 2018
duo that landed a tandem parachute jump 4570m above sea level at Ama Dablam, in eastern Nepal.
But perhaps his greatest contribution to mountaineering, and other high-altitude activities, was the invention of an oxygen delivery system that has become the industry standard. In 2016 it earned him an award from the Nepal Mountaineering Association for helping to cut death rates on Everest from one in every 10 people who made it to the top to one in 700 over the previous decade.
The standard oxygen mask in use during the 1990s and early 2000s had come in for criticism on account of its being uncomfortable to wear, its wasteful provision of oxygen at a steady flow regardless of the needs of the climber, its tendency to leak and its habit of freezing at high altitudes.
It was on Atkins’ successful third and solo expedition to Everest that he came up with the idea for a modified mask to which oxygen flow from cylinders would be controlled via an on-demand system, providing only as much as the lungs pull in.
‘‘I had taken with me a Tornado pilot’s mask and some fittings with no sure idea of the end product,’’ Atkins recalled. ‘‘Sitting outside my tent with all of these bits in front of me, the idea came.
‘‘It was a condom opened and dropped inside a 500ml Coke bottle and the lip folded over the bottle neck. Then a rubber hose sealed over this which led up to the mask. As the oxygen flowed while I breathed out, [it] was diverted into the condom reservoir; when I breathed in, I drew the oxygen here. It worked, and the rest is history.’’
Doubters predicted that he would die. In fact, after reaching the summit he nearly did, but not because his mask malfunctioned. A Sherpa who was meant to come up the mountain with his third oxygen cylinder failed to appear and Atkins began to develop hypoxia. For a while other climbers left him for dead, one even blogging news of his death by satellite phone, ‘‘so my wife read of my death before I even knew I was dead’’.
He was saved in the nick of time by a young Sherpa who gave him his own oxygen cylinder before beating a hasty retreat to safer altitudes. Despite this hiccup, the speed of Atkins’ ascent had been noted by other climbers and he was asked by expedition organiser Jagged Globe to make a commercial product, though without condoms.
Subsequently Atkins founded a company, Topout Oxygeneering, to develop the product and went on to produce a new cylinder, cylinder valve, regulator and flow controller. As business took off, he left the RAF in 2007.
He also built a plant to produce oxygen in Nepal to guarantee the quality of the gas that Topout supplies. In 2005 his Multipurpose Tactical Oxygen System (MTOS) became the industry standard – as later did his Topout Aero skydive system, developed for the Everest Skydive Team, which has enabled a number of world records to be set.
He was born Ian Atkins in Newcastle-uponTyne, the son of a miner, and grew up in Nottinghamshire. He caught the climbing bug exploring the rocks of Derbyshire while a teenager with the Air Training Corps.
He joined the RAF aged 18 in 1976, training as an aero engineer. Between engineering jobs he was the Staff Officer RAF Mountain Rescue Service in charge of teams in Scotland.
He made his first attempt on Everest via the West Ridge with the Joint Services Everest Expedition of 1988, which got to within 3300ft of the 29,028ft summit before being beaten back by severe weather. He might have succeeded had not his sleeping bag been stolen by another climber. He tried grabbing some sleep in his backsack, but by the morning his feet were nearly frozen and he gave up the attempt.
In 2001 he returned, leading a 12-strong RAF expedition up the north side. Two members of the team made it to the summit. Atkins, however, stayed behind to help a friend who had fallen sick because his oxygen supply was not working.
During an eventful trip he had to cope with a sudden outbreak of violence when the yak men, who herd the animals carrying the climbers’ equipment, attacked the Sherpas in a dispute over food. The RAF team had to arm themselves with spars, shovels and tent poles to ward off the knife-wielding tribesmen.
The team had taken a lightweight collapsible boat with them, having heard of climbers finding their route blocked by large lakes of meltwater on glaciers. When they unfolded it to cross one glacier, they found the yak men had vandalised it. It still proved seaworthy enough to allow them to cut several hours off their journey and set a world record for the highest boating trip.
‘‘This is one we have over the navy,’’ Atkins said. ‘‘This is one seafaring record I don’t see them getting back. We plan to get on to the Navy News for an article, just so we can rub it in.’’
For the last three years Atkins had been living in Italy. He died while descending Monte Civetta in the Dolomites – a mountain that he had climbed many times before. The exact circumstances are still unclear.
He is survived by his wife Shona and by their son. – Telegraph Group
Other climbers left him for dead, one even blogging news of his death by satellite phone, ‘‘so my wife read of my death before I even knew I was dead’’.