Cory Richards, the award-winning photographer Իclimber for the North Face, will not return to Mount Everest after suffering respiratory distress that forced his evacuation from 23,000 feet on Saturday. Doctors in Kathmandu cleared Richards to return to the mountain after finding no evidence of altitude-related illness, but team leaders at Base Camp remain concerned for Richards' health and have pulled him from the expedition. “Though I'm deeply disappointed in the decision not to let me return, I understand completely the team's collective concerns regarding my health and well-being, and honor and respect them,” Richards wrote in an email on Wednesday. He is now in Kathmandu and will return to his home in Boulder, Colorado. Richards' climbing partner, Conrad Anker, has not yet decided whether to continue up the West Ridge, though he says he is looking for a suitable partner.
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–Nick Davidson
@nickgdavidson