A sad day

  • Beitrags-Kommentare:12 Kommentare

This avalanche came down a few days before the deadly serac (Adrian Ballinger)
This avalanche came down a few days before the deadly serac (Adrian Ballinger)
This Thursday was a sad day for the teams at Everest Base Camp and the Sherpa community as a huge avalanche hit the Khumbu icefall and killed Lakpa Nuru Sherpa from Thame. The serac, which had been towering above the Khumbu icefall and had been waiting to come down for quite some time, hit a climbing party at around 10am on Thursday. According to estimates, around 20 people were in the icefall at that time, however, Asian Trekking’s team was right in the falling line of the avalanche. Apart from Lakpa Nuru Sherpa, Austrian mountain guide Walter Laserer and one of his clients were hit by the debris and were thrown into a crevasse. “It is always hard to judge but I guess I was stuck in the crevasse for about one hour,” Laserer said. His client, who fell on top of him, was pulled out by a few Sherpas pretty quickly, however, Laserer’s rescue turned out to be more complicated as he was “melted” into the crevasse. Thankfully, Pasang Sherpa, the Sirdar of the Indian Army Expedition, had a rope, which was used to pull him out of the crevasse. “Before they were able to pull me out they had to cut me out of my rucksack as it was wedged between me and the ice,” he said. According to Thomas Arnold, one of Laserer’s clients, the rescue took about one hour and by the time the victim was freed he had lost consciousness. “I was a little bit further up the mountain looking for Lakpa Nuru Sherpa when I saw Pasang Sherpa carrying the unconscious Laserer down the mountain. It was very impressive,” Arnold said. Apparently some Sherpas took turns in carrying the injured, however, two thirds down the icefall Laserer regained consciousness and started to walk by himself. “When I came to, I thought it was ridiculous to be carried and I managed to walk back to base camp myself.” Laserer seems to have been extremely lucky as he “only” suffers from bruises and some cuts in his face and on his body. “I did not even go to the hospital tent as I have a doctor on my team. All I have to do now is wait for the weather window and go for the summit push,” an unintimidated Laserer said.

Whilst I was talking to Laserer, the leader of the “Eco Everest Expedition”, Dawa Stephen Sherpa, came out of the icefall, where he and a bunch of other Sherpas had been looking for Lakpa Nuru’s body. “There was no trace of Lakpa Nuru’s body but wecannot look for him any longer – it is too dangerous,” he said. They called off the search due to the danger of a further serac fall, however, according to Dawa Stephen most of the other Sherpas are very keen on staying there to continue the search for their friend. The impact with which Lakpa Nuru was hit must have been incredibly hard as the search team found one of Lakpa Nuru’s high altitude boots shortly after the avalanche hit.

The rescue mission seems to be over for now and many of the Sherpas are heading down the hill to the Tengboche Monastery, where a Puja (Buddhist ceremony) is being organised in Lakpa Nuru’s honour. Russell has also asked us for a donation for the family of the deceased – he was married with three children – as it is always hard for the wives to fend for their families once they have lost their husbands in the mountains.

In the meantime, many other Everest aspirants are also wandering down to lower altitudes in order to recover, enjoy thicker air and eat lots to do well on their summit pushes. However, it could be that this recent incident has made some mountaineers rethink their feat to climb Mount Everest, and we might see more people pull out of their expeditions and go home to the safety of their homes and families in the next few days. So far Himex has lost four of its team members due to the fact that they could not bear the thought of crossing the icefall another time. However, since yesterday’s accident none of our members has expressed any wishes that they would like to leave the expedition. As I said before, the Khumbu icefall bears its dangers and even though hundreds of people have been through it since the start of this season, it is never certain when the next serac could come down. I guess that most people here are willing to take the risk in the hope that they will get through quickly enough not to be hit by a serac.

You might ask yourselves now how I am feeling about it and to be honest with you, I am asking myself the same thing. Well, I haven’t even thought about giving up my feat to climb the highest mountain in the world for one minute, and for this reason I have to believe that I will be lucky and quick enough to cross the icefall without incident. Of course, I am aware of the dangers and I am not looking forward to entering the myriad of ice pinnacles again, however, my mission is to reach the top of the world and that is what I am here for.

On a different note, it seems that impatience has set in among some of the climbers. According to the latest weather forecast, the winds will only slow down around 20th May, which is almost two weeks away. I have always wondered how people prepare themselves mentally for such an undertaking but I think this is almost impossible. The physical training is easy but nobody really knows how much mental strength such an expedition demands – and this is not for the climbing but for the waiting and sitting around at base camp.

Feeling like a character from Star Wars!
Feeling like a character from Star Wars!

This afternoon Russell brought us a step further towards the summit by introducing the oxygen system to us. It all seems quite complex and I wonder how many things we have to deal with on our summit day, when we start from the South Col at 8,000m in the middle of the night – oxygen mask, oxygen bottles, oxygen flow rate, harness, crampons, gloves, mittens, etc. etc. I hope that I will be lucid enough to remember all the essentials for the summit, however, I will also have to remember the picture of my family, the ‘Sam’s Bar’ sign, the prayer flags for little Sid and the flag for AGFA, my main sponsor.

Ok, I had better go and play with my oxygen mask and write a list of all the things I have to take to the summit, and I hope that my pack will not be too heavy for me to reach my goal in the end.

Dieser Beitrag hat 12 Kommentare

  1. Glynis Kreamer

    Ernest Hemingway~ Theres nothing noble in becoming superior for your fellow men. True nobility is becoming superior to your former self.

  2. verena Westreicher

    Hallo liebe Billi,
    denke ganz fest an Dich!!! und nicht nur ich, sondern viiiiiele Leute ausserdem.
    Take care and BIIIIG hugs
    Verena, Sam’s

  3. Sarah

    Sorry……. to hear about your friend =-(

  4. Rosemary Lynch

    Wish it was over Billi. Last message from you was very sad. Glad you are still strong and positive, I know you will take care and remember what was on the the little shamrock card I gave you. God bless .

  5. Nonna

    Billi,
    Awful news about the avalance… we hear these things every year but I suppose now it ‘hits home’ so much harder because you are there. Please look after yourself and be quick on the ladders. Thinking of you!

  6. Laura

    hi liebchen – you give us a wonderful insight into the realities of all that you are doing. we think of you every day and I know that your mental strength is as strong as your physical strength – so hold on there Love all of us

  7. rosanna didi

    take care of yourself, billi!
    and remember that the top of the mountain is just half way to the real summit!

  8. Marion

    Liebe Billi, auch ich verfolge Dich tĂ€glich in Gedanken und lese mit Spannung Deine Berichte. Ab 18.5. bin ich mit Ella und Max drei Wochen lang in Gap (bis 7.6.), da werden wir uns wohl leider knapp verpassen. Alles Liebe und Gute wĂŒnsche ich Dir. Du schaffst das! Genieße jeden Moment, auch das Warten. Viele liebe Bussis aus L.A.

  9. mama

    bĂ€rbele ich weiss gar nicht was ich sagen soll, es tut mir sooo leid um den fleissigen,armen mann,tut alles was ihr könnt fĂŒr seine familie,kann man etwas spenden?und du pass biite auf dih auf und iss viel,damit Du dein Ziel erreichst Bussi mama

  10. steve

    Billi, Good luck to you. I always follow Everest each spring from the Midwest and find especially enlightening your comments and superb journalism. Thank you so much and I am cheering you to reach your goal!!

  11. Chris

    I am crushed that another family has been impacted by the mountains. Please pass on my sympathies to the team members and family.

    All you have to remember is to come back down from the summit, to eat and hydrate on the way up, and to take a good summit photo of yourself. Everything else is can be left behind.

  12. Craig

    Hi Billi… It saddens me to hear about Lakpa, my heart goes out to his family and friends, this is a life changing loss for them. I’ve been keeping on eye on your progress and must say, it seems your adapting well, your strong and in good health… and from what I can tell your eating well? Anyway, from here on out, all you have to do is keep your head and the rest will follow… God speed- Craig

Schreibe einen Kommentar