Mark Inglis

He is also an accomplished cyclist and, as a double leg amputee, won a silver medal in the 1 km time trial event at the 2000 Summer Paralympics in Sydney.

In 1982 Inglis and climbing partner Philip Doole were stuck in a snow cave on Aoraki / Mount Cook for 13 days due to an intense blizzard.

In the 2002 Queen's Birthday and Golden Jubilee Honours, Inglis was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to persons with disabilities.

[2] On 27 September 2004, he successfully climbed Cho Oyu with three others, becoming only the second double amputee to summit a mountain greater than 8,000 metres (26,000 ft) in height.

While acclimatizing at 6,400 metres (21,000 ft), a fixed-line anchor failed, resulting in Inglis falling and breaking one of his carbon fiber prosthetic legs in half.

Inglis has been criticised for this decision by many people including Sir Edmund Hillary, who said he should have abandoned any attempt at the summit to help a fellow climber.

Inglis dismissed the criticism by falsely claiming that the decision was actually made by expedition leader Russell Brice, who was at the base camp.

In an e-mailed statement to the Associated Press on 10 June, the expedition leader Russell Brice contradicted comments by Inglis by saying that he only knew David Sharp was in distress when his team contacted him by radio during their descent.