The Everest Rescues and another Death (update 3)
With the summits mostly ended, climbers are making their way back down to Base Camp. As they recover from their summit push, there stories are emerging of rescues. Once again, we are seeing tangible proof that the climbing community is a tight one; especially in times of need. We are also seeing that pure accidents happen in spite of every precaution and mountaineering is dangerous and altitude s everyone the same; regardless of experience. While impressive and motivating to non-climbers, one of the downsides of having a 13, 16 and 22 year old summits this year is that it could portray Everest as an easy walk-up that requires little to no experience. The press coverage touts Bonita Norris as a “Novice climber becomes youngest British woman to reach Everest summit” and how 13 year-old Jordan Romero summited Everest with little experience. Even his own site said “Jordan not only climbed Mt. Everest, but he climbed with unbelievable strength and skill.” With all due respect to these talented young climbers, their experience is not representative of many climbers through the years. It is a dangerous message for those who do not know better. If you climb enough, you know that if everything goes perfectly, you were lucky; full stop. With this, the real stories are starting to surface. As the Altitude Junkie team were climbing on May 23rd, they were making good progress. Then one of their climbers started to act strange, it was apparent he was in trouble. British climber Mike Herbert had HACE. This is a condition when the brain leaks fluid into skull; putting pressure on the brain itself and eventually will cause death. The only cure is to descend rapidly and immediately. Phil Crampton and his Sherpa team took charge to do just that. But he had help. Phil’s short but instructive dispatch describes the details: I have highlighted the individuals and teams involved: Mike, who is a seasoned Himalayan climber and an Everest veteran developed a case of HACE at 8,700 meters and was helped down the mountain by the following people who we are so grateful to for their assistance. Both of our Sherpas, Sirdar Dorjee Sherpa, Lhapka Tsheri Sherpa and myself assisted Mike from the rock steps just below the South Summit all the way to the South Col. We were assisted by Willie and Damien Benegas along with their team doctor Roman and their Sherpa, Lhapka Nuru, who assisted Mike from the rock steps to the Balcony. From the Balcony our Sherpas and I were assisted by Lhapka Rita, the Sirdar from Alpine Ascents who ascended from the South Col, Pasang Gumba Sherpa who was descending from the Mountain Trip expedition and Pasang Yula also descending from the Benegas Brothers expedition assisted to the South Col. Mike showed a huge improvement and traveled on his own power from the South Col to camp three but again found himself needing help from camp three down. Dorjee and Lhapka Tsheri Sherpa along with some mental coaching from Bill Allen of Mountain Trip got Mike back to camp two after an epic two day descent. Our Sherpas Temba Bhote, Cheddar, Pasang Nima, Pasang Wangchu and Pasang Dawa all ascended from camp two to assist. On the advice of the doctors from the Himalayan Rescue Association we helicoptered Mike out from camp two so he could medical attention immediately. His condition is good at present. I would also like to thank both Vern Tejas from Alpine Ascents and Dave Hahn from RMI for keeping contact on our radio frequency throughout the descent monitoring the rescue. Melissa Arnot on the First Ascent blog tells that during her descent she and her partner, Dave Morton, were at camp 2 when told of a climber who had fallen into a crevasse in the Khumbu Icefall. A rescue was being mounted. Instead of spending the traditional night to recover at C2, they hurried down to give what aid they could. The climber was rescued. We gathered some rescue gear and medical equipment and headed down to the Icefall below Camp I, where we were told we would find a female climber who had been involved in an ice bridge collapse and fell about 30 meters. We arrived around 5 p.m., 12 hours after leaving Camp IV. The other climbers who had come to help were already in the process of stabilizing the women and getting ready to move her uphill, where she would spend the night until a rescue could be completed in the morning. We are now hearing the real story about that young British climber Bonita Norris’ accident as she descended from her summit. It was deadly serious and could have resulted in death if, once again, the climbing community had not pitched in, Bonita herself describes in detail on her blog that she slipped and hit or twisted her head and neck thus causing her pain when she walked. She was literally drug down to the South Col. 20 minutes later though, my neck and shoulders had siezed up to such a point that i took one last step and a shooting pain went up my spine- it was so painful i yelped and Lakpa stopped. He saw i was crying- but this time with pain. It was then i realised something was wrong- i must have pulled a muscle in my neck, maybe whiplash. I didnt know what it was, but moving was excruciating. We were in trouble. Finally, about an hour below the balcony, another group of sherpas arrived, from here on i dont remember much- apart from the pain of being dragged across ice and rock as the attempted to get me back to camp 4 as quickly as possible. My neck was blinding with pain, but i remember having covnersations with the sherps and thinking i felt OK bar the neck- i knew if i just let them do the job we would all be home safe. Yet another harrowing tale told by
Injuries on Everest
The last summit window was heralded as a great success by many teams. However it was not without incidents and many were not reported. EverestER, the base camp medical facility on the south posted a very revealing report on this summit window. And there are other reports on both sides from this season. First from the south and EverestEr: Approximately 90 people reached the summit of Everest in the last few days, a rough total of Sherpas and foreigners. Congratulations to all for getting down alive, summit or no summit. There were no fatalities. Along with summit bids, however, comes frostbite. The exposure to higher winds and lower temperatures on summit day is substantial. In addition, it’s hard to stay hydrated on summit day. Most frostbite results from unanticipated exposure, such as a forced bivouac, or delays due to accidents on the mountain or becoming immobilized from trauma or exhaustion. A climber who can’t move for any reason high on Everest is in great danger of frostbite, as well as hypothermia. The extreme hypoxia itself contributes to frostbite risk in addition to the freezing temperatures. Hypoxia diminishes the normal vasodilation that flushes the fingers with warm blood in response to getting cold. In addition, hypoxic brains can lead to poor decision making. Hydration is difficult when all water has to be made from ice, and cold water may not be appetizing in these conditions. I think it’s surprising we don’t see more frostbite. The high-quality equipment is no doubt one reason for this. What the Brits in the 20’s would have given for high-tech lightweight double boots and modern gloves and mitts! Another factor is today’s climber not having to remove gloves for tying knots, fixing ropes, handling stove fuel, etc, since the Sherpas do all these things. The guided member is also handed large mugs of tea or other liquids in camp and filled water bottles for the summit hike. The most serious frostbite so far this season was in a climber who made the very poor decision to sleep just below the South Col, feeling too exhausted to make it the last 100 meters to camp. He slept on a rock, apparently attached to the fixed line, and somehow lost the mitt on his right hand during the night. He was climbing alone, his “teammates” apparently unaware of his location and he had no Sherpa support. Amazingly, he survived the night out without a tent, sleeping bag, stove to make water or any help. In the morning, he ascended to Camp 4 on the South Col and there received help in starting back down. His mind was obviously not working well; he was stumbling and confused, the main symptoms of high altitude cerebral edema. An Argentinean woman and two Spanish women must have seemed like angels to him – they assisted him down to safety without regard to their own schedules; others helped as well. He was still a bit confused when he arrived in our camp in the early evening. Physical exam showed severe frostbite to his hands, right more than left, and to his ears, but no frostbite of the toes, a testimonial to the quality of his foot gear. We soaked his hands in warm water with Betadine, bandaged them with sterile gauze, and started him on ibuprofen, an anti-inflammatory drug helpful for frostbite. There is actually little more we can do for frostbite ment here at base camp. (The ment is within 24 hours of injury in a specialized center.) The next morning a helicopter whisked him to Kathmandu. The picture shows dark-colored fingers without blisters, indicating the tissue is without circulation and will likely require some amputation. Blisters are a good sign, indicative of live tissue underneath the skin. The next day we had 3 more cases of severe frostbite. As usual, they were related to questionable decision making, hypoxia and dehydration. One climber decided to stop at the Balcony, on the way up, at about 27,700 ft. He was moving too slow and was very fatigued. He decided to wait for his teammates while they continued on to the summit. They returned 5 to 6 hours later. This man could have very easily descended, since ropes are fixed all the way from the Balcony to near his tent on the south Col. His self-imposed immobilization cost him most of his toes and one finger. See the picture below. The blister on the left great toe is a good prognostic sign, but blisters are absent on the other toes. Unless promptly ed, subsequent care rarely makes a difference in outcome. That is, once the tissue is frozen and then thawed spontaneously on the mountain as the climber descends, the damage is done, and the result is already determined. The one thing doctors can do is to help prevent complications such as infection and give the tissue the chance of healing. Since prehospital ment is essentially futile, prevention is absolutely critical. Meticulous attention to keeping socks and gloves dry, staying hydrated, avoiding unnecessary stops and delays, and the use of electronic or chemical heaters are all strategies to prevent frostbite. This post submitted by Dr Peter Hackett And on the North, these reports. Bill Fischer posted a debrief on his last few days on the north side this year. He left the expedition with eye problems. As I have said before, I thoroughly enjoyed Bill’s posts. He was candid, funny and had the courage to tell it like he saw it. In particular, I like this excerpt for his last post, the Blog of the Day: While I am very sad that I wasn’t able to reach my goal of 26,000 ft and then the summit I realize that I made the right decision to come off the mountain. It is tough for me to realize that my body won’t accept going higher than 20,000 ft but that is the way it is. It isn’t possible for me to go back and try
Everest 2010 Weekend Update May 1 (updated)
There are good weeks and bad weeks on Everest, a bad week is when someone dies. On Monday, April 26, Hungarian climber Laszlo Varkonyi was swept into a crevasse by an avalanche on the North Col. A desperate search ensued, however, by Thursday, the search was called off. Teams on the south, while aware of the north side events, continued their acclimatization rotations with many climbers spending the uncomfortable night at camp 3. The weather continued to play nice and Sherpas took the fixed line all the way to the South Col on the south and to camp 3 on the north. They are now being supplied with oxygen bottles, stoves, fuel, tents and other suppliers needed to launch summit bids. Both camps are roughly at 8000m. As of today, the ropes are not fixed to the summit from either side.