{"id":36575,"date":"2020-04-16T02:27:53","date_gmt":"2020-04-16T08:27:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/?p=36575"},"modified":"2020-04-26T22:59:24","modified_gmt":"2020-04-27T04:59:24","slug":"virtual-everest-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/2020\/04\/16\/virtual-everest-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"Virtual Everest 2020: Remembering"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the most poignant moments on the trek to Everest Base Camp is at Duhgla Pass in an area known as Chukla Lare. More than 50 rock chortons stand silently honoring those who have lost their lives on Everest, mostly for the Climbing Sherpas.<\/p>\n

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Virtual Everest 2020 – Support the Climbing Sherpas<\/a><\/em><\/strong> is a joint project of Alan Arnette<\/a> and several global guide companies. Our objective is to entertain Everest fans during the Coronavirus spring closure<\/strong> and raise money to help the Climbing Sherpas who were not working this spring. While there will be accurate historical<\/strong> references, this series is a work of fiction<\/strong>. Names, characters, and incidents either were products of my imagination or were used fictitiously<\/strong>. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Please join us by making a donation using the links below plus by adding your Everest experiences in the comment section.<\/p>\n

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Remembering<\/h3>\n

The Mount Everest Guide’s team spent an active rest day at nearly 14,500 feet in the village of Dingboche with a walk to take in seldom seen sides of two famous peaks: Lhotse and Ama Dablam.<\/p>\n

Dutch and Loner especially wanted to see the South\u00a0Face of Lhotse Peak. This impressive mountain wall has only been used three times for successful summit bids, the last in 1990. They walked by a memorial to three Polish climbers who died attempting it including the Polish Alpinist legend, Jerzy Kukuczka. For the past several years an amazing team of Koreans led by Hong Sung-Taek<\/span> have given it their all but have come up a bit short of making the top. It is steep, full of hanging seracs and is avalanche-prone.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> Lhotse South Face<\/figure>\n

The other peak they wanted to check-out was the North Ridge of Ama Dablam. By now the team had many pictures of the Southeast Ridge they saw while trekking out of Namche, but the other side is a totally different mountain. It is steep and full of cornices. It has only been successfully climbed 103 times with the last in 2007. This compared to the more popular Southeast Ridge which had been used for 4,327 summits. Recent attempts were stopped by the very last section that is full of loose soft snow.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> Ama Dablam North Ridge<\/figure>\n

“Look at that ridgeline,” Dutch said. “I can see why no one has summited recently, It looks like soft ice cream.”<\/p>\n

The next day, the team left for Lobuche, taking the hill next to Dingboche, they hit their highpoint thus far on the trek at 16,500-feet before dropping back down all the way to one building village named Duhgla. They stopped for pastries and coffee before climbing almost 1,000-feet to the Pass.<\/p>\n

Taking a wide trail, almost like a road, up from Dughla, the team crested Dughla Pass at 16,000-feet onto an open area filled with rock chortons or memorials. The area is known\u00a0as Chukla Lare.<\/p>\n

She paused, knowing the memorials were here from her research but was still shocked by the sheer number. She went over to one of the closest on her right. The name plaque read “Scott Fischer,” another “Passang Sona Sherpa.” She began to\u00a0walk the line of stone memorials, trying to read each name. Most were Climbing Sherpa. She reflected on what it takes to climb Everest and the sacrifices these men and women show each year.<\/p>\n

But She had another mission. Before She left home, She received an email that\u00a0read in part “can you see if his memorial is still there?”\u00a0This email was from the 80-year-old Father of a fallen Everest climber. The rest of the team had moved on towards the next stop at Lobuche, but She stayed behind. Passang, one of the Climbing Sherpas stayed with her. The Father’s request was on her mind.<\/p>\n

Many of the monuments had new bronze nameplates. Most had worn away after years of wind and rain.\u00a0Some were famous – Scott Fischer, Babu Chiri. Most were not familiar. Names long since forgotten by the climbing community. Names remembered daily by their families.<\/p>\n