TO accuse anyone of putting their own ambition before a human life is an extremely serious allegation to make.

But that is what Sir Edmund Hillary is saying in his outburst against climbers who passed North-East mountaineer David Sharp hours before he died on Mount Everest.

And although Sir Edmund has obvious credentials as the first mountaineer to reach Everest's summit, in 1953, he is engaging in dangerous talk by judging those who saw the stricken figure of Mr Sharp.

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It is impossible for Sir Edmund to know the exact circumstances in which those climbers had to make their agonising judgement.

But we simply do not believe that out of 40 mountaineers, none of them would have stopped to save Mr Sharp's life if it had been possible to do so.

We simply do not believe that all of them are so blindly ambitious that reaching the summit themselves was more important than saving the life of a fellow human being.

Alan Hinkes is a man to listen to when it comes to the challenges of climbing mountains.

As the first Briton to conquer the world's 14 highest peaks, he has very recent experience of what conditions would have been like.

Mr Hinkes' view is that there was probably nothing anyone could do to save Mr Sharp.

For the sake of David Sharp's parents, who are trying to grieve in peace, we hope Alan Hinkes is right and Sir Edmund Hillary is wrong.