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Gheorghe
(aka George) Dijmarescu: Everest 2002
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I
lost my friend Zoran.
Dear
EverestNews.com, With sadness and regret I am the
one again to answer mails, which are so many in our
mail box, however something happened to the server
and we were unable to connect via satellite phone.
Although the information I posed are many,
plentiful and most important truthful to shed a
light at what happened to Zoran Miletic the
climber who died on Mt. Everest in a Japanese tent
at 7800 meters. He was found by couple of Sherpa from a
Japanese group while they tried to recover some of
their stuff from a broken tent. It is important
to mention that none of the tents at camp 2
(7800m) survived the intensity, speed and duration
of the wind which blasted the upper part of
Everest on May 18 and May 19. Zoran was a dear
friend of mine whom I met in Everest in 1999, an
excellent companion, a fun, fun loving, a true
pal. He decided to climb with me motivating
that he has more chances with me than with his
expedition members. I offered my company as a
climbing partner not as a guide. I also offered my
tent in camp 2 and camp 3 without any charge. When
we arrived at camp 2 my tent was not pitched but
there was one of my Sherpa friends who let us use
one of his tents. Zoran and I slept together in
the same tent and we started to camp 3 in the same
time about 8:30 AM on May 16. It was a windy
morning, both of us climbed without oxygen and
both had not yet decided if we would use Oxygen
for the summit attempt. Unfortunately as it usually
happens with climbers, Zoran didn't have the same
speed as me and sometime fell back as far as 1/2
hour. Then I would sit down and wait for him to
catch up. The cold sometimes would not permit to
wait too long. I cannot say that we made a good
time to camp 3 but we arrived there about between
3-3:30 PM. In camp 3 I had a small 2 person (EMS)
tent pitched supplied with 2 gas cartridges and a
burner, since eating at this altitude is
impossible for me I didn't bother to carry any
food. However Zoran had mentioned that he had some
food and I noticed him eating something but I
don't believe was more than some power bar or
chocolate. He also was advised by me to carry at
least one gas cartridge but I am not sure he did
since he didn't bother to fire the stove, nor that
I did. I arrived first at camp 3 but just minutes
before Zoran and after a brief talk with some Sherpa
friends, I occupied half of my tent and wait for
Zoran to arrive. As I prepared my stuff for summit,
I noticed that Zoran fail to show up at the tent,
then a Sherpa informed me that he will sleep at a
British camp. Knowing this I sent a Sherpa to
ask Zoran to come and have a talk about the use of
Oxygen. He showed up with his back pack and joking
asked me: "This is your tent?" and I
replied: Yea, small but strong, then he tease me
again saying that's to small for two big guys like
us (Zoran was about the same height as me
6'2" but slimmer perhaps 180lb.) Days in
advance I told Zoran my strategy and habits at
camp 3 and that was simple: lay down and try my
best to get some sleep, it worked for me in the
past and I had no intention to depart from what
had worked for me. At camp 3 no one can feel fine
or not tired. Tired I was. I decided to use
Oxygen. A decision which I made clear to Zoran and
encouraged him to use it as well. Now I don't need
to get into details how I got Oxygen and mask with
regulator for me and Zoran. It was a preparation
which I made days before. However Zoran didn't
have money to pay for the Oxygen and mask with
regulator and for this I guaranteed payment in
case Zoran didn't pay for. In other words I got the
equipment on credit for him. He accepted the use
of supplementary Oxygen and I provided him with
complete Russian system of mask, regulator and 2
bottles of Poisk Oxygen for which he agreed to pay
$750.00 USD. He insisted that 2 bottles were
sufficient for his ascent. Which is true in the case, one uses a low flow of Oxygen per minute. I
asked Zoran if he ever used Oxygen for climbing, a
fact to which he answered negative. However in
1999 he was believed to use oxygen in his lengthy
stay at high altitude something to which we
referred as "Zoran syndrome". I tried to
show him the dials since the regulator can be
confusing especially at high altitude but Zoran
didn't pay attention and this irritated me a
bit forcing me to raise my voice to him. It was
important that he understood how many hours of
Oxygen he would have with a liter of flow per minute
and 2 liters per minute and so on. Last year I
played increasing and decreasing the flow at each
step on the ridge, later to learn that on return
just below the third step my supply of Oxygen was
zero. Then started the nightmare. This was the
reason I insisted on paying attention on Oxygen
issue. Once again since I decided to use Oxygen I
put the mask on my face and said good night to
Zoran. He was still moving for about 15 minutes, a
fact which made me remind him of our
deal and that he let me rest in peace. He stopped
moving and went to sleep himself. I woke up
at midnight and I called Zoran, he answered that
he was OK and that he was ready to go but insisted
that I start first to get ready. The night was
very cold, the walls of the tent were
covered inside with a thin layer of snow from
condensation, snow which fell on top of us every
time we moved or touched the tent creating a real
pleasure when the cold material fell behind
the neck. In the other way the sleeping bag was
warm and lovely. It took me around 20 minutes to
get ready then I exited the tent and told Zoran
that he is next. I couldn't see what he was doing
inside but he was ready rather fast perhaps 15
minutes. He asked from inside if there is any hot
drink. Zoran knew there were lots of Sherpa
friends of mine and asked for "hot
drink" at 8300 meters. To his luck Chhiring
Sherpa, a good friend of mine, and a member of Zoran's
expedition in 1999 handed me a thermos with a
liter of hot water which I give Zoran. He poured
the water into his plastic bottle. He was
polite and thanked the Sherpa for his generosity.
A
real act of good heart and care from his part.
Lamps ready, I started first at about 12:45- 1:00
AM, Zoran was perhaps seconds behind, however is
difficult to see because of darkness and because
other climbers who compete for the upper spots.
Speed, strength, determination and of
course experience play important roles on this
time and height. Zoran was motivated and he said
many times that he was ready. I sure believed
him. The route is easy at first and with a little
incline. However since everyone just starts the
climb, it is breath taking, at least for me. About
15-20 minutes into the climb I realized that
something is wrong with either me or my Oxygen. I
was stunned to see that my bottle was totally
empty. I stopped to change it and after a few minutes
Zoran came by my side and looked at me struggling to
attach the regulator to the second bottle. I was
using an American type mask to which I was not
satisfied with and I proposed Zoran to switch
masks, something he declined to do. He went ahead
with his climb and I was able to only pass him after
about another hour, somewhere in the yellow band.
We went on and the next and last time I saw Zoran
was when I was atop second step. I look down the
ridge and saw the distinctive colors of Zoran Gore
Tex trousers and his light blue down parka. He was
perhaps the only one in that day who chose to wear
Gore Tex pants instead of down. Either way, down is
superior warmth and weight plus in case of
emergency down, can save ones life. I am not aware
why Zoran made that choice. Zoran was somewhere in
between the first and second step, once I moved
past second step the view down is obstructed by
the height of second step and I lost all visual
contact with everything below second step. Then I
was too far away to distinguish climbers which
appeared again when I was atop third step. I
strongly believe that Zoran never climbed second
step. He realized he was to slow and did the right
thing: turned his back on the climb and face to a
retreat, something every rational climber would
do. I will only speculate if I will say what he
did on way back. I did my climb and returned to
camp 3. It was already dark. I found his summit
back pack in the tent and his sleeping bag
missing. I assumed that he returned much earlier
to camp 3 and decided to go down to a lower camps
perhaps all the way to Advanced Base Camp. For a
moment I was jealous of him, imagining he is
already, drinking beer in ABC. Again this was
my logical assumption at that time. The next
morning I started to descend from camp 3 only to
find a couple of climbers in desperate need of help
30 minutes into my descent. What followed was one
of the most well executed, happy ending rescues I
ever witnessed. I will come back with the full story
later in my reporting. Realizing that the 2
climbers will not be able to descend lower than
the 7900 meter camp, one of them was at the end of his
powers, I decided together with one of the best Sherpa
I ever met. (His name was Ang Mingma Sherpa, he was
returning from camp 3 where he made a deposit drop
for Simone Moro.) In fact he was hired by Simone. I and
Mingma herded inside a tent the two exhausted
climbers then Mingma announced that he will not
stay at that altitude besides he had obligation
first to his member, Simone. He started descending
almost immediately. I decided to stay with the two
and got into a near by tent, immediately. I got on
the radio with the Sherpa Mingma of Thamo who was
hired by the two but who also was not allowed to
go for summit, so he descended to ABC. At first he
didn't believed me that his members would need
immediate assistance and that there was a serious
rescue scenario. He said on the radio: "Che
rescue" in Nepali :"What rescue". I
warned him that if he didn't come in that day he
will be in part responsible for the circumstances.
Ang Mingma donated a full bottle of his stash of
Oxygen. I to gave up my bottle which was only half
full. The two also had not taken their masks and
regulators from camp 3. I gave my mask to the ill
climber. Mingma came to 7900 meters from ABC in 6 hours
and 15 minutes with hot drinks and some food for
the two and 2 bottles of spring water for me as
per my request. I was also tired but very much in
control. In all this time I made several radio
contacts with the two assuring them that Mingma is
in his way. It was already too late for me to start
descending. I had not taken my sleeping bag from
camp 3 since a climber asked me to leave it for
him along with the tent. We were facing a scenario
of a night on 7900 meters without sleeping bags. Before
we arrived at 7900 meters, the wind was blowing with at
least 120Km/hr. A Dutch tent became airborne with
sleeping bags, gas and a paraglider inside. It looked
like a piece of paper picked up by the turbulence
between skyscrapers in mid Manhattan. We saved two tents by occupying them. The wind had
intensified to somewhere 150- 180 Km/hr. I could
see the floor of the tent lifting of the ground,
gusts of stronger wind I could hear like an
approaching train. Mingma and I were getting
ready, holding the walls from inside, the wind was
pushing so hard we both had a hard time keeping the
tent shape, a snapping pole was a total serious
problem for us. Tired of doing such routine I
braced my back to the vulnerable wall and let the
wind rock me all night. After preparing hot drinks
for his members, Mingma join me in the struggle to
keep our host tent in one piece. We desperately
needed at least a sleeping bag so Mingma said I
know a sleeping bag somewhere, he went out and
returned with a sleeping bag which I would not use
on the sandy beach of Miami in the month of July.
It was 1/4inch thick and total worthless at that
place, but Mingma arrived without down suit. He
had only a
fake cheep Nepali "Gore Tex" suit. We
decided to keep our boots on, both of us had the best
(One Sport) and were confident they would keep our
toes. However about 1 AM, I didn't feel nothing below
my ankles and I feared frostbite. Since I had a down suit.
I let Mingma put his hands inside my jacket in
order to save and keep his extremities warm. We were a
lot closer but I will not describe. It would be a
total lie, if I said we slept that night. Twice
Mingma got up and made some cold "Tung
juice" for me. I knew drinking and drinking
is key to survive longer. We needed better
weather in the morning and a dash retreat for
lower camps. At camp one I met Ivan Laredo who
informed me that Zoran didn't returned to ABC. I
later learned that a couple of Sherpa from a
Japanese team went up to help rescue an old
Japanese man in a dare need of help when they came
to 7800 meters and to one of their tents, a man to which
they only saw the face opened the top portion of
the tent and said: Please help me, the two said
they gave him 2 cups of tea and noticed scratches
to his hands and face but they needed to continue
their ascent and to the rescue to which they were
bound for. Further information will come in the
next days from Skripko's team, Mingma Gelu Sherpa
was supposed to go to camp 2 and identify the
"long body into a broken tent". The news
of discovering the "body" came 20
minutes before I departed ABC. I was told by Bobby
and Slava that the family of Zoran had being
informed by Bobby's wife in Bulgaria. Bobby said
he could not do the difficult task and call
Zoran's family, this I understand and believe. I
too will not do such things. Now in Kathmandu and
just able to " fix" our trouble
E-mail. I find 55 messages, most of them
inquiring about Zoran in English and some in
Serbian. I will forward all the messages to
Slava's E-mail. On the mountain Slava's group used
my computer and his sat phone, when I left ABC. I
took my computer with me but Slava assured
me that is something wrong with the server and the
explanation why we didn't answered to our mails. I
know it is late but this is the earliest I could
answer. Perhaps and I hope someone from Slava and
Bobby group already called and explained more. I have
no way of contacting Slava or Bobby. Let me know
what I can do to help Zoran's family. He was
a true friend and I will personally missed
him. I hope Zoran's family will find the strength
to accept that is no hope in finding Zoran alive,
his body is at 7800 meters of altitude. High enough to
make it difficult and costly bringing his body down
but this is not something impossible. However such
a decision will bring more pain to the family and
had to be made by his close relatives. Slava and
Boby were left to do at least a formal burial at
the site. It is a simple rock piling grave. It is
common for people who died on Everest or other big
mountains to be left where they are or to be
pushed down the mountain out of the site. However
some bodies lie undignifying at higher altitude
where not even a burial is possible. I think it is
best to fulfill what Zoran would have liked.
However, I don't believe he would like his family
to suffer the pain of the loss twice and put his
loves one through a costly and lengthy body
recovery plus the cost of transportation to Nis. I
am also of Orthodox religion and I do know of the
customs and rituals of that religion. I lost my
older brother when I was 10 years old and my
mother went to his grave weekly and cried for
hours. His family and friends have to think long
and hard. There is no urgency here, no
mobilization for a rescue attempt. There is time
enough to make a wise decision. I hope they will
do so.
May
God rest his soul
Regards,
George Dijmarescu
PS
I summited on May 17
Note
George was NOT on the same team as Zoran. Zoran
was on the Russian commercial expedition of Viatcheslav
(Slava) Skripko Leader and guide
(Russia) and Borislav (Boby) Dimitrov Leader and guide (Bulgaria).
Also
Note: EverestNews.com, has been told from climbers
and the family of Zoran that the family was notified
by phone of Zoran's death.
 Dispatches
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