|
Dispatch
12: “We’ll
do it the right way, Jim.”
September
6, 2001 Basecamp, Rongbuk Glacier
The
entire team is once again in basecamp. We are planning
to begin moving up toward Advanced Basecamp (ABC)
tomorrow. This will take three days for some of us and
two days for the rest of the group.
Also
at this time, I would like to announce that we have
had a rather major change in the status of this team.
On the evening of August 26th Jim Wickwire had what we
could only describe at that time as a neurological
event. This occurred after Jim walked to the top of a
small hill adjacent to the basecamp.
Jim
described it as being suddenly struck in the back of
the head. He dropped to the ground for awhile until
the pain subsided, and he was able then to walk back
down to basecamp with Dan Bronstein. He was feeling
much better a few hours later, except for the
continuing headache through dinner. He was not feeling
any better the next morning and was experiencing
periods of blurred vision.
Communication
was established via sat phone with doctors in the US,
and the immediate consensus was that Jim needed to get
off the mountain ASAP. This in itself would be no
quick and easy task as there is no such thing as
rescue or evac support on this side of Everest. We
immediately informed our Tibetan liaison officer, Au
Ping, that we needed a Jeep as quickly as possible to
transport Jim and Dan, who would travel with him, to
the Tibetan/Nepali border. Jim Sturgis and Louisa
Vakili, who had just left the expedition a day prior
to return home, changed their travel dates in order to
meet Jim at the border and accompany him back to the
states.
It
took 14 hours and a couple of sat phone calls to get
the Jeep to basecamp. Jim and Dan departed at
approximately 2030 hours the evening of the August
27th for a non-stop trip to the border.
Jim
and I spent time in private conversation prior to his
departure, as it would now be my responsibility to
lead this expedition. This indeed could be a daunting
task if it were not for the fact that we have an absolutely
solid team that can pull together under any
conditions.
We
made the decision to keep all this information within
a small circle until Jim had arrived home and was with
his family. He is now at home and doing well.
As
I have said before, to have the opportunity to climb
Everest is one thing. To have the chance to climb it
with one of the world’s truly great and legendary
mountaineers, who instilled dreams of these great
remote mountains in all of us here over the years, was
a great honor. With Jim’s departure, a portion of my
dream that had almost become reality has now been
taken away. I will never have the chance to climb high
upon the flanks of Everest with Jim Wickwire and will
always reflect on this as one of the greatest missed
opportunities of my life.
We
would like to thank all the medical personal for the
support they gave from half a world away during the
time we were trying to get Jim home.
Also
our thanks go to Mr. Greg Howard of Polaris Pool
Systems, one of our major corporate sponsors, who made
it clear to the team that we had available to us
whatever was needed to get Jim home as quickly as
possible. In addition, a sincere thank you goes to
Cathay Pacific Airlines for upgrading Jim, Louisa and
Jim S. to more comfortable seating for the long flight
home. And finally a big thanks to Jim S. and Louisa
for staying behind a couple of extra days in order to
travel back to the states with Jim.
I
have a tendency to shun technology to a certain
degree. At home I live in a 600-square-foot cabin with
no running water on a beautiful lake in Minnesota. It
sort of balances my life on the other end where I fly
some of the most highly technological and best
maintained aircraft in the world at American Airlines.
OK, from 12,500 miles away I can hear my fellow MD-80
pilots saying, “Hey buddy, bust out one of those O2
bottles you got in basecamp and get the mask on
quick.”
Thank
God for the technology that gave us the ability to
communicate and coordinate in order to get Jim home in
a timely manor. In addition it also allows me to
communicate with him at will. You see, even though Jim
had to leave, he is still very much a part of this
team and is indeed providing guidance and leadership
from Seattle. Also, this technology will be allowing
us to coordinate and receive critical weather
forecasts from the American Airlines Meteorological
Department in Dallas/Ft. Worth.
Hats
off and thanks to all of you folks who are taking the
extra time to increase the safety factor of this
expedition.
As
I stated at the beginning, we will head up to ABC
tomorrow. However, I highly doubt that we can do
anything as far as building the route due to the
continued heavy snow conditions on the mountain, which
of course means dangerous avalanche conditions. It
seems that the monsoon refuses to relinquish its hold
on the mountain. Although it is decreasing, it still
has enough of a hold to prevent us from getting any
higher than the approximately 21,000-foot level of ABC
at this time. Again, patience is the key here.
In
May of this year after climbing on Mt. Rainer with
Jim, Kelly and Dan, we ended up having a chance lunch
meeting with Lou Whitaker, another of the legendary
senior statesman of high remote mountain ranges across
the globe, at a small cafe near Mt. Rainer. When
leaving after lunch, Lou asked us to perform a small
ceremony for him on the Rongbuk Glacier. We will do
this, Lou, and send you a photo of this event.
I
will close this dispatch for today. I’m sorry to say
we don't have any new photos that are of great
interest to send out. We all send our love and
greetings to all of our family and friends. Though
disappointed by the turn of events, we continue onward
and upward. We’ll do it the right way, Jim.
At
least I can honestly say that I have been to Mt.
Everest with Jim Wickwire.
--Ed
<<<<
Dispatches >>>>
The
American-Canadian
Expedition: The
Team
Dispatch
Index
About
Ed's Prostheses
Background
on the Expedition
|
