[rob74]

I think that in cases like this the line between heroism and foolishness is very thin (and also subjective). Ok, these guys can probably be considered heroes. But how about the three Swedes that set out to reach the North Pole in a balloon that one of them hoped would be able to not only reach the Pole, but carry them past it to an inhabited place (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andr%C3%A9e%27s_Arctic_balloon... - it later turned out that the balloon failed after only four days, followed by several grueling months of trying to trek back to civilization using the completely inadequate equipment that the balloon was able to carry, only to die, probably by being eaten by polar bears, on an uninhabited polar island)? Or that more recent guy who tried to dive to the Titanic using a largely untested submersible, which eventually killed himself and his four paying passengers (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titan_submersible_implosion)?

[ziggy_star]

These are examples of foolhardy people who miscalculated risks. But at the same time these are also examples of people who were solely motivated by selfish reasons. There is a romance to it if you squint but it is not the same.

The mountaineers knew the odds are long and did it anyway for a cause greater than themselves. That is what makes them heroic.