Episode 7: Un-summited
By: D. Deonarain
From the reports, the situation was unclear.
Some stories came to us that he had fallen. Others that he was left behind by his team mistakenly. Still others said that he had wandered off the line and had not been found. Whatever the case, it was several days since the first report came in and the chances of him being alive was slim to none.
He was an Irishman. A family man. An all-around solid bloke by all accounts… and now, very likely, he was dead.
To summit Everest is one thing—to come down safely, another.
When we think of Everest, we think of the summit. We have in our minds the image of goggled and masked summiteers among prayer flags and raised arms. Climbers, trekkers, and tourists alike seem to retain this image in their mind’s eye. Maybe it’s this very image that compels the masses to come here. We intensify this feeling with hyperbole—tales about how big, how cold, how difficult, and how dangerous Everest is… but Everest needs no hyperbole. At 8848m of rock and ice and wind and snow, it is the monolith, the rock of ages… that some will break themselves upon. My feelings about the ‘need’ to climb this mountain remain mixed. However, I am painfully aware that so long as it’s here, people will try. My dharma, now clear to me, has been to support their efforts and put them ‘back together’ when I can.
Often, in the mountains, things happen very fast, despite the most tranquil beginnings, and not only for the climbers. ‘Summit fever’ had taken hold when the news from all reports came through that a stable ‘summit window’ of weather had opened. Teams all over basecamp had mobilised and moved up the mountain, preparing for the summit bid. As such, basecamp was now a ghost town… an expanse of orange and yellow spotted nylon and idly flapping prayer flags. Aware of this mass exodus, I had reserved the day for sorting, packing, and saying goodbye to those I had worked with, treated, been helped by, and had become very fond of… It was to be a day of reflection. I hadn’t slept well the night before and instead of staring at the mind-numbing blue nylon of my tent, I decided to get up early and greet the day. Base camp was absolutely still when I emerged from my tent. My breath, vapour spectres, spiralled in the air around me. The first light of day shot over the shoulder of Lhola, Everest’s neighbour, forming a laser arc in the sky. The icefall was that blue-white so known to all who explore the Himalaya. Overhead, the moon, still full, was completing its trajectory in the sky, getting ready to bed down for the day in the distant horizon. All was stillness, silence… peace. I took this moment to allow the wonder to take me away, the way it does a child—beyond the limits of our conscious self, beyond the binds of time, beyond the incessant commentary of our own thoughts, beyond the rational need to understand and explain…
Sherpa rope fixing team and first summiters on Everest for 2019 (telescope view)
Early morning, before the sunrise: Everest Base Camp
It was only when the sharp teeth of the cold morning bit into my hands that I was stirred from my reverie. I lumbered back into my sleeping bag and into the dark seas of sleep.
“Heli! Heli!”
I woke with a fright. Already the warmth of the day had heated the still air inside my tent.
“Dr. Dinesh! Heli! You have to go know…”
I knew the voice, it was Yogesh, the HIMEX base camp doctor and good friend of Pawan, my Everest ER colleague.
I shot out of my sleeping bag, confused, and unzipped the fly of my tent.
“What’s the story?” I answered, having to squint in the midday sun.
“Heli! You have to go now!” Yogesh’s face was animated and he held the walkie-talkie close to his face.
The words bubbled up into my consciousness. There was a helicopter that would be able to take me down the Khumbu—either to Lukla, or possibly even Kathmandu. This time of year, there were many flights, but few that could accommodate an extra passenger. I had to move!
“OK. OK! Let’s do this!”
By this time, Pawan had arrived on scene. I marshalled the two of them to help me with my things. I rammed my backpack full of stuff I thought I would need for Kathmandu. Wallet, jacket, journal… whatever was at hand and seemed important. Next, I threw on my boots. I was already panting. In between breaths I could hear the low rhythmic chop of a B3 on approach.
“Now run, Dr. Dinesh. You have to run!”
Yogesh was worse than a drill sergeant. I was not looking forward to what was to happen next.
I slung the backpack onto my shoulders in an ungainly way which almost caused me to topple. I gave a quick hug to Yogesh, Pawan, and Magda, another friend who had arrived on scene, drawn by the commotion, and I ran. At 5300 metres, this was painful. I had 300 metres of land distance to cover, but it might as well have been a marathon! At 200m to go, the heli overtook me and touched expertly on the helipad. I could see a flurry of activity as items were loaded and unloaded. By the time I reached 100m to go, I could hear the rotors powering up again. “No!” In my mind I was screaming, outwardly it was just the hard pant of my breathing. The heli lifted up. “Shit,” I thought “I missed it.”
I stopped for a moment and watched the helicopter lift up and bank towards the icefall. It lined up its nose and began to climb. By they way it was flown, I knew it was Captain Maurizio, an expert and seasoned Italian rescue pilot… and by the trajectory, I knew the he was heading to Camp 2.
There was still time.
I willed my legs to move again. They stomped hard on the rock and ice. I closed the last 100m in good time and arrived breathless on the helipad. Lakpa was there, radio in hand.
“Dr. Dinesh. Helicopter is coming. Rescue on Camp 2.”
“There’s room for me?” I spat out the words. I needed to confirm.
“Yes. Yes. You go.”
I crouched down for the heli’s return. It was nowhere to be seen, but I sorely needed the rest.
In a few minutes the heavy chop could be heard again and with a down-blast of Khumbu dust, the skids touched ground. Again, there was as brief shuffle of bodies and baggage. I felt a pat on my shoulder. I looked around. It was Ben and Jonny, the doctors from Asian Trekking Outfitters. We exchanged a few brief greetings over the noise of the B3. It was a surprise to see them, but good as well. A complete coincidence, since they were here mostly to check on their climber. They did so very briefly, and we exchanged a curt but warm goodbye. Next, I was shoved into the helicopter with Adam, the Global Rescue insurance consultant, and a surprisingly welllooking Indian climber from Camp 2, and our course Captain Maurizio at the controls.
In an instant, the door was shut and I was lifted straight up 100 metres over base camp. I had time to wave at Ben, Johnny, and Lakpa and give them all the thumb’s up. In the next moment, I was whisked away over the ice and snow of Everest Base Camp, over the saw-teeth of the lower icefall and off into the valleys.
With climbers still on the mountain, it was strange to be leaving, although it had been planned. Something felt unfinished. Just as those who had not come down from the mountain or had been turned around by their teams short of the summit of Everest, there was an unavoidable incompleteness to the moment… After almost two full months at Everest Base Camp, I was suddenly at the start of my journey home, yet, despite it all, something felt… un-summitted.
Captain Maurizio
Everest Base Camp, parting shot…
Dr Dinesh Deonarain is a Fellow of the Royal New Zealand College of Urgent Care who is in Nepal on assignment. He is volunteering for the Himalayan Rescue Association as one of the Everest ER base camp doctors for the 2019 climbing season. This blog follows his experiences in the high alpine of the Everest region.
Listen to the Profile in Urgent Care podcast with Dr Dinesh Deonarain.
If you would like to support Everest ER and the Himalayan Rescue Association, you can donate by bank transfer to: BNZ 02-0800-0196128-000. Also, you can follow Everest ER this season at www.EverestER.org
Boots on Everest – Episode 1
Boots on Everest – Episode 2
Boots on Everest – Episode 3 – Part 1
Boots on Everest – Episode 3 – Part 2
Boots on Everest – Episode 3 – Part 3
Boots on Everest – Episode 4 – Part 1
Boots on Everest – Episode 4 – Part 2
Boots on Everest – Episode 5
Boots on Everest – Episode 6