Christine Harila, the world record holder for the fastest ascent of 14 peaks above 8,000 meters, defended herself after allegations that she walked past a dying Sherpa to complete the ascent of Pakistan’s K2, AFP reported.

Together with her Nepali guide Tenjin Sherpa, the Norwegian climbed these 14 peaks in three months and one day (92 days), snatching the world record on July 27 from Nepali-British climber Nirmal Purj.

But this performance was marred by controversy. Drone footage shared by other climbers shows her and her team walking over the visibly injured body of Mohammad Hasan, a Sherpa from another team who died soon after, as they continued to climb the world’s second-highest peak in pursuit of the record.

At the time, they were on K2’s Narrows, a narrow and extremely dangerous couloir dominated by serpentines in an ice field just 400 meters below the summit.

“No one will remember your athletic success, only your inhumanity,” wrote one user on Instagram.

“You have Sherpa blood on your hands,” added another.

Christine Harila was also criticized for celebrating her ascent at Base Camp on the slope.

“I did all I could for him / He was ill-equipped”

Late on Thursday night, the 37-year-old athlete wrote on Instagram that she had “done everything for him (Mohammed Hasan)”, condemning the “death threats” she had received since the accident.

She said she and her cameraman Gabriel, along with two other people, including “Hasan’s friend”, spent “an hour and a half” trying to pick him up after he fell. It is not clear where the Sherpa team was, but many climbers were “behind them,” the Norwegian said.

The climber then continued on his way, following an avalanche warning from his team.

Gabriel stayed with Hassan, she assured him, sharing oxygen and warm water with him.

After another hour, the operator decided to leave because he needed “more oxygen for his own safety.”

When they went down, they found that 27-year-old Mohammad Hasan had died.

But her four-person team was “unable to lower her body safely” because it would have taken at least six people to do so, the Norwegian defended, pointing out that the sling was not properly equipped.

His death is “really tragic (…) and I feel so sorry for the family,” she added, but “I did everything I could, especially Gabrielle.”

Numerous users came to Harila’s defense, pointing out the danger of such an ascent.

Others questioned why the Sherpa was not properly equipped, while one user condemned the unequal treatment of Western climbers and Sherpas: “life is cheap for the locals”.