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Broad Peak 2001-World
Summits
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For
news on all the Broad Peak expeditions see here:
Mark
Lewis Diary – Final Edition
The
expedition is over.
8
weeks of continuous physical and mental exertion is
finally over. Michael has pulled the plug on the
expedition and we are going home.
The
weather over the last few days had been increasingly
worse. Michaels coughing had developed into body
shaking fits that created pain in his chest and back.
He was constantly drained. He’s had enough and
wants to stop the climb immediately.
I
spoke to Manzu, our locally employed head porter, and
said that we wanted to leave within 48 hours. Manzu
was sad that we wanted to leave, but set off to
Concordia to hire porters for us. He came back
the same day with 6 porters who were to carry our
equipment back to Skardu.
The
trek to Skardu normally involved a 6-day walk and an
8hr drive in 4x4 vehicles. Because Michael was in a
bad state physically, I was concerned that trekking
for 6 days would make his condition worse and that he
may not have the energy to walk out under his own
strength. Therefore I decided that we would trek out
in only two days and use the third for the drive to
Skardu. This would be hard work yet it would get us
back to a town were we would be able to get some
medical supplies (We had left all but a handful of the
medical supplies at base camp for the French team) for
Michael and have proper rest at a much lower altitude.
Our
departure day dawned and we awoke early ready to
leave. The initial trek followed the Baltaro glacier
to Concordia (4,800mtr) for 4hrs, (the junction of
four huge glaciers), and after spending two hours
trying to find a path through the junction we reached
our lunch stop. It was 2pm and hot. We ate some soup
and drank water to rehydrate us and then set off for
our next stop - Alli camp (5,000mtr). It took
nearly 6 hours to reach camp by which time we were
tired and slightly dehydrated. The porters set camp
(nice change) and food was prepared. My aim was to get
us all rehydrated, since our head porter was also
dehydrated, as tomorrow was to be our last big day.
We
awoke at 4am and after a breakfast of green tea and
biscuits we set off for the last great hurdle of the
expedition – The Gondogora La - approximately
5,600mtr snow covered pass. We reached the base within
an hour and started the climb. After two hours of
plodding through ankle deep snow we finally reached
the pass. Michael was tired and his cough was still
bad. It was hard work, I was climbing with a 15kg
rucksack, using ski poles to assist my knees and take
some of the weight off my legs, yet I was still
finding it hard with the lack of oxygen and the weight
of my rucksack climbing up 40º snow slopes. I ensured
that Michael carried nothing except his camera and
water so as to help him in the climb.
I
felt concerned for the porters who were carrying 28kg
(including 8kg of their own equipment) and were
climbing in plastic shoes, some of them without socks
– this is surely not right and maybe it offers us
possibilities to do something for them in the future
such as arranging to send out proper clothing,
footwear etc for the porters. My concerns with this
idea are who can we actually trust to distribute it to
the Porters? It also makes me question what the
in country operator actually does for these guys
considering what we pay them.
We
made the top (5,600mtr approx.), Michael’s highest
point of the expedition, and sat exhausted on the
snow. We had a short break and carried on descending
into the valley arriving at Hushe village after a 16hr
day! As we had descended into the valley Michael
visibly improved. With the drop in altitude his
strength was returning and his cough was noticeably
losing it’s body retching violence. We were also
able to buy cans of fizzy drinks as we got lower into
the valley and passed through small villages, which
helped us with our sugar intake and were quite a
refreshing change.
We
arrived just outside Hushe and camped our final night
under the stars. The following morning we walked for
an hour and reached our Jeep. We spent another
torturous 8hrs hurtling along ‘vehicle width
tracks’ with drops of 100mtr or more on our right.
It was with relief that we reached Skardu and the
comfort of our Hotel.
We
had to spend a night here arranging transport back to
Rawlpindi and having done so slipped into a much
needed sleep.
We
had been planning to fly to Rawlpindi but the plane
was broken and mechanics were being driven to Skardu
(22hr journey!) to fix it. We choose the road option
and again put ourselves through the ‘pleasures’ of
the Karakorum Highway (it actually didn’t seem half
as bad on our return, probably due to our experiences
on dirt tracks in speeding Jeeps) to arrive back in
Rawlpindi the following day.
As
I write this, news has just come through that a
helicopter rescue was made yesterday from Base Camp
for Nicolas Sieger, leader of French team, who can not
walk due to some foot problem, more details are yet
awaited.
We’ve
got flights booked for tomorrow and so hopefully
we’ll be home soon and a couple of weeks early!
So
how do you sum up an expedition to the one of the
World’s Highest and hardest mountains.
You
can’t. It’s a life changing, mind blowing
experience that changes you from the inside out. You
can go to the mountains, you can climb them and you
can enjoy them, yet you can never conquer them or
understand them.
When
I think about what’s happened during this expedition
I am slightly overwhelmed – a trekker died at base
camp, a Korean mountaineer died on the Abruzzi Ridge
of K2, our cook nearly died, three avalanches –
caught in two, Blizzards, the French leader forgot his
sleeping bag and got ill, he has now been evacuated by
Helicopter, a porter had Kidney stones and the porter
with the bad wrist who put mud in the wound had to
have the hand removed – yet I have been to the
mountain, I have climbed on it and I have returned
mainly unscathed.
I
know that there is a Being higher than me, somebody
who must have created all of what we see and enjoy. I
believe that He watched over me during this expedition
and that He has kept me and brought me home safely.
There is a purpose in life for each one of us, maybe
mine is in the mountains, maybe not, yet what I do
know is that if I put my life in the hands of the
Creator then I have a higher purpose and He is
protecting me. I thank Him for bringing me home
safely.
Broad
Peak Diary Week 2 & 3: Mark Lewis of World Summits:
He initially spent two weeks trekking around Nanga
Parbat (9th highest mountain in the world), trekked
into K2 base camp and have spent two weeks climbing
the mountain, now they are in the final process of
climbing the mountain.
We
had been here for ten days when our cook got ill and
had to be taken down. Michael gave up his chance of summiting
Broad Peak by choosing to take Cher to Skardu
Hospital. The choice he made is the tougher one and I
can only give him respect for it. With all the
incidents going on at the same time, I don’t know if
I could have made the same choice if I’d had to.
I
stayed to help with the problems, medical or
otherwise, which were happening at base camp.
There
are four French members still on the mountain and we
are increasingly worried about them. Whilst Michael
was gone I spoke on the radio to them and they found
it incredible that a climber would give up his chance
to summit an 8000mtr peak for the sake of a local
‘cook’. It is amazing what peoples
priorities are in life, to me I would always put
somebody’s life, regardless of race, color or creed,
before anything else especially a mountain.
The
weather has kept them trapped at camp 1 (5,800mtr) for
3 days now and there bodies will only start to
deteriorate at that altitude. I am concerned for their
well-being and I ask them during each radio check if
all is okay.
The
four French climbers had decided to push to camp 2
(6,400mtr) and so I was slightly concerned for them.
This was mainly due to the fact that visibility was
100mtr at our level, -10ºC outside and the
temperature drops 10ºC every 1000mtr you climb. With
base camp at 4,900mtr and camp 1 at 5,800mtr it’s
likely that the temperature there will be -20ºC in
the daytime without even considering the night.
They
reached camp 2 after spending 8hrs plodding and
climbing through 18” of fresh snow (severe avalanche
risk), Thierry Pollet (one of the French climbers) had
frost nip in one of his fingers, also Fabian (another
French climber) sustained cold damage to his left hand
the day before and he had not bothered to warm it up
thinking that being inside his sleeping bag would warm
it for him. As a result he got bad frost nip in his
left hand – for three hours he had to put his hand
inside a down glove and Thierry’s sleeping bag in
order to try and restore feeling. It is bizarre how
younger climbers, with little or no experience, think
they can deal with issues like frost nip which in
serious circumstances can turn into frost bite and
need amputation. Therefore Thierry was a little
annoyed at the prospect of finding his tent partner
not saying anything about his hand until he could not
feel it.
As
a result Thierry and Fabian descended on their fifth
day of being above 5,800mtr due to frost nip. Happily
they both recovered well enough to go back up later.
Jean-Claude and Alain (the other two French climbers)
continued from camp 2 to camp 3 and established our
camp there. The route crosses avalanche slopes and
glaciers. It’s useful having fixed line yet when
it’s not reliable, it is sometimes easier to ignore
it all together.
Michael
had been gone for four days and we hadn’t heard from
him at all. However there had been a string of
trekkers calling into base camp saying they had met
Michael along the way and that they had been told to
call in for some traditional green tea! Cheers
Michael.
On
day five a very weary but content Michael walks into
camp. After helping him out of his rucksack and
getting him some tea he tells us what the trek was
like.
They
had left us for Payu and Skardu hospital. During the
trek Cher would sometimes collapse and ask for his
pain killers early than when they were due. He never
complained yet it was obvious form his face that he
was in agony. At times Cher had to be carried,
normally this was when the pain was two much and he
had passed out. When he was able, he walked himself
whilst having the support of Michaels trekking
poles.
Normally
trekkers would sleep in tents and the porters would
disappear into circular stone shelters and place
tarpaulins over them to keep the wind and rain out.
During this rescue trek Michael lived, ate and slept
within the porters shelters. Michael said that
it was surreal to be part of the porter’s culture.
The porters found it equally as strange as
Michael did to be sharing western food and Pakistani
food together whilst each man was equal to the other
in the attempt to save Cher.
At
Urdukas it felt as though he was part of a tribe, the
porters all sang and chanted and beat plastic tubs to
rhythms centuries old. Other porters who walked past
or who came to join the group were pleasantly
surprised to see a western climber living hand in hand
with the other porters. (The reason this was so
surprising for the porters is that normally they are
treated like servants with the trekker / climber
lording over them – it is not known for the climber
to share such intimate friendships and
responsibilities).
The
priority all the time however was Cher. As soon as
they reached a campsite the tent would be erected for
him, he would climb inside and take his medicines and
attempt to eat some food. He would then sleep. When
Michael finally left Cher they cried and through
broken English Cher told Michael that he was like a
brother. Cher went onto Skardu Hospital via military
escort and Michael left him at the road head before
returning alone to base camp in two days.
Michael
arrived back and after a day’s rest we had set off
straight away for the mountain. We crossed the glacier
and again it had taken 4hrs to cross. Michael was
struggling with the altitude and with tiredness. At
the base of the gully I had left my climbing harness
with a bag of supplies hidden behind some rocks.
(normal practice to save weight and time on big
Himalayan peaks). I went to retrieve my harness and
kit and couldn’t find it. We searched for about
30minutes checking everywhere but it wasn’t to be
found. I made a makeshift harness from a sling and I
borrowed one of Michaels Jumar’s, yet it wasn’t
comfortable and in reality wasn’t the best option.
We started to ascend the gully, it was Michaels first
experience of Jumaring so I was demonstrating as we
climbed.
The
gully with the fixed ropes was difficult and it took
us two hours to ascend the first 100mtrs. This was too
slow and I knew we were not going to get much higher
at this rate and if the sun came up it would start to
affect the safety on the ice and start more rock fall
from above. We had already experienced football size
chunks of rock falling past us and with the sun it
would only get worse.
I
was ahead of Michael and as I waited for him to catch
up with me I heard him coughing. He reached me and
said that he was spitting blood, it is a worrying
sign, one that would only get worse if we continued
ascending. I decided that the safest option, due to
the coughing and the stone fall, was to descend.
We
reached base camp without any incident and went
straight to our beds. The following day I got up and
went to the mess tent for a coffee and some breakfast.
I found out that a Bulgarian expedition who were on
the mountain ahead of us, on leaving, had stripped the
mountain of all their equipment and had picked up my
Harness and kit assuming that it was one of their
teams. They still had it!
Michael
wasn’t up so I called across to see him. He was ill,
he looked pale and had had a restless night. I spoke
with him and he said he felt bad and had no motivation
to go back up the mountain. I asked what he wanted to
do, he felt that he wanted to give up his chance on
the mountain and return home. I felt concerned by this
comment yet I was also aware that we had 10 days of
bad weather forecasted and that Michaels health
wasn’t worth putting at risk for the mountain. I was
employed by Michael to be here and therefore he was my
main responsibility and he called the shots.
I’ll
let you know in my next article if we decide to
continue or quit but as for now this expedition has
been a great experience. I feel such incredibly
humility that we have come to the mountains, seen and
felt the beauty of the region and come away alive so
far, yet changed. There is a place in my heart for the
mountainous areas of this world, there is unmatched
beauty and splendor that can only be found there. Yet,
when you see what people give up to climb, like their
lives, I realize that maybe the mountains are there
for our pleasure and enjoyment as long as we never
forget to respect and fear them.
Update
8/5/2001: Climbing the 12th highest peak in the world
- Broad Peak
Mark
Lewis of World Summits and Michael Jackson went to
Pakistan at the end of June to promote their
businesses. They initially spent two weeks trekking
around Nanga Parbat (9th highest mountain in the
world), trekked into K2 base camp and now are in the
process of climbing Broad Peak.
We
arrived at base camp (4900 meters) and found ourselves
in the middle of a constantly changing glacier,
surrounded by other international teams all attempting
Broad Peak and K2. There were Alaskan, Argentinean,
Bulgarian, Chinese, Estonian, Korean, Czech Republic,
and just behind us was an Italian team.
The
first day's were for familiarization, 2 of the
Argentineans had just returned to base camp having
reached the summit [rocky Summit] 2 days ago, 4 of the
Alaskans followed within a day and finally 2 Estonians
with a Bulgarian and a Pakistani climber reached the
summit the day we arrived. [See
broad Peak page]
Our
team consisted of 5 French climbers, 1 base camp
manager, Michael
Jackson and myself. One of the French team,
Thierry Pollet, and myself
set out to find a way across the glacier from our camp
to the start of the actual climbing route. We followed
the Argentinean route and re-marked the way with our
flags, yellow and pink, so as we could find our way
easily.
The
route was simple, through the Argentinean camp, down
the moraine, a leap across a 2 meter gap with a river
flowing beneath, onto the glacier. It then meandered
through hillocks and ravines surrounded by overhanging
ice. It took about 45 minutes over ice and then led
onto more moraine that was marked with Cairns.
Eventually we reached a scree slope marking the start
of the climbing route and the fixed line.
Michael
had been suffering from food poisoning since our
arrival here and is weak. Against advice he refused to
eat therefore he got increasingly weaker. Because we
are on a tight schedule I decided to carry a load to
camp 1, so I packed my rucksack with 3 tents and set
off at 5am. I went through the glacier very quickly
and slowed down on the scree. The scree seemed to take
forever. It was steep and every step up slid back half
a step.
I
was 50 meters from the start of the fixed line and the
gully. There was an option to continue along the path,
this included a 20mtr drop into crevasses if the scree
slipped, or to descend into the crevasses and weave my
way through several ice bridges. I chose the latter.
As I scrambled out the other side the scree path
collapsed in the middle leaving a 3mtr wide gouge
where the path would have gone. I quickly sorted out
my equipment and thanked God I had chosen the lower
route.
The
Alaskan and Argentinean teams had fixed line so I was
able to use it. I didn't intend to put my full weight
on the lines, just to use them for balance. The first
100mtr was on good quality 9mm static rope. I didn't
trust each section until I reached its anchor and
checked visually and physically how the ropes were
attached. Mainly I was free climbing 30 snow and ice
using the fixed line for balance on the steeper more
exposed areas.
My
progress was painfully slow due to the altitude and
the weight of my
rucksack. As I moved onto the second stretch of 100mtr
rope, I was on a 5mm line, which had been aptly
nicknamed the 'fishing line' by all teams except the
Estonians who had installed it. I wearily clipped into
the line wondering if I should or shouldn't.
As
it turned out I am glad that I did. I had moved up the
line about 40mtr when I heard a loud crack and the
ground beneath me opened up. I had fallen into a
crevasse up to my waist. I shifted slightly to try and
see my feet and see if there were any footholds. All I
could see was darkness as the fissure disappeared
below me. My rucksack was resting on the lip of the
crevasse and my arms were spanned to support me. I
rolled sideways to spread my weight and in doing so
the rest of the ice cover collapsed and left me
suspended on the 'fishing line'.
I
took a deep breath so as to not panic and flipped
myself out backwards onto the slope. I had had enough.
I clambered to my feet and moved slowly two foot to my
left onto a rock buttress. Feeling isolated and
slightly shook up I quickly descended until I found a
crevasse to dump the tents in, anchored them and
descended. As I made my way back to base camp my
thoughts were running around my head like crazy.
Safely back at base camp it didn't seem so bad.
The
following day the five French climbers set off for
their first load carry for camp 1. Thierry Pollet, had
already been across the glacier with me to locate the
route, so it was with some surprise when two hours
later we looked out from Base camp and saw three
climbers climbing up through an ice field below one of
the major avalanche areas on the mountain and the
other two wandering aimlessly through a high crevasse
field that was notorious for collapsing.
We
radioed through and managed to contact the group of
three. They decided to withdraw immediately admitting
they were lost. We could not however contact the
remaining two. We had flares and radios for
communication, the flares were for emergency and as
far as we could see the two were heading straight for
trouble. We fired a flare and there was no obvious
response through the binoculars.
Some
of the Alaskan team had arrived, having been attracted
by the flare, and they were advising that we get the
two French out of there immediately as what we
couldn't see, yet they knew from having climbed there,
that directly above the two was a serac band (ice
cliffs) that most afternoons threw off a pile of
rubble directly down the route they were on.
We
fired a second flare and as it died away we heard a
crackle from the
mess tent then a French voice. Michael looked in the
tent and underneath a fleece was another radio, on
it's own frequency, linked to the group of two. This
was good news in one sense yet the problem with this
is that nobody was told about the additional radios
and nobody had bothered to check compatibility prior
to the expedition.
Eventually,
reunited in base camp, it didn't seem such a big deal
to the French. To us it was a pretty major deal.
Communications on the mountain is very important. The
French leader had a pair of radios that had 10
frequency bands. I had a pair of radios that has 250
frequency bands that were compatible with the French
radios. However another of the French climbers had
brought some radios that were not compatible with any
of the other radios. This will probably cause problems
later on, yet it helped us get them out of a tricky
situation which would of undoubtedly been made worse
without them.
The
weather closed in and visibility dropped to 100mtrs.
This put an end
to all our excursions up the mountain for the time
being.
Michael
and I had planned to go up as soon as the weather
cleared, so we had packed our kit and prepared to
leave as soon as we could. Mike had been ill for a
while and as such was weakened. I had advised him to
rest a few more days but he insisted and said he would
go with or without me. I was faced with no choice
since I am here to keep Michael safe and to assist him
in climbing the mountain, so we set off for camp 1 as
soon as the weather allowed.
He
had felt okay and had said he felt strong yet we
managed about three hundred meters in two hours.
Believing that we were not going to get any further
and that to allow us to continue would put ourselves
in danger, we dumped our kit and headed back to base
camp. It took an agonizing hour to cover the 300mtrs
back to base camp. I ensured Michael changed into warm
dry clothes and he was in bed at 2am full of medicine.
The
French team had awoken at 4am, eaten breakfast and set
off for camp 1. After watching their progress up the
mountain they had arrived at camp 1 at 2pm. I spoke to
them on the radio and found them to be in good spirits
and happy, they did mention that there had been a lot
of stone fall during the day because of the sun on the
route.
Having
rested all day, I had left base camp at 11pm in order
to get to camp 1 by daybreak in an aim to miss out on
the stone fall, with just my
sleeping bag and roll mat. It was a cold, clear night
and I felt strong as I set off. Within 20mins I had
reached the place where Michael and I had dumped our
kit, picking up 10 days rations and fuel I continued
on my way. At the base of the fixed line I fixed on my
crampons (spikes for my boots to walk and climb on
ice), harness and helmet and clipped into the fixed
line with my jumar (a device for ascending rope safely
which is
attached to the rope and to my harness).
The
climb seemed to take forever as I weaved in and out of
crevasses and over ice coated rock. I stopped and
picked up my tents and then continued onto two rock
steps that I was unprepared for. The first was
relatively straightforward and I had clambered up it
with no style or attempt at style.
The
fixed lines were dubious so I didn't rely on them too
much. After the
first rock step, the route continued over mixed ground
with a precipice to my left down which water was
flowing. Eventually the rock was overcome and I had
found myself staring up a snow slope of 40. As quickly
as the slope had appeared so it disappeared as thick
cloud enveloped me and it started snowing so thick
that visibility was reduced to approximately
2mtr.
I was
still attached to the fixed line so I continued up for
another 50mtr
until the rope ended. I searched around the anchor for
more rope to continue but failed to find any. I
stayed on the end of the rope for about 20mins,
sitting in snow on a 40 slope, when a break in the
cloud revealed ABC (Advanced Base Camp) 10mtrs away. I
unclipped and climbed up the slope to what turned out
to be a platform 5mtr by 3mtr with 2 Bulgarian tents
on it. I climbed inside the first tent after dumping
all my kit 10mtr away in what seemed to be a sheltered
tent ledge above me.
The
snow continued to fall and was getting increasingly
heavier along with huge buffeting winds against the
tent. Once inside I had stripped off my wet clothes,
climbed into my down sleeping bag and lit my stove to
boil some ice to enable me to make some soup and a
drink.
It
was obvious that the weather was in for the night so
as it was about 4am I decided the safest option for me
was to rest at ABC (5,500mtr), so turning on the
radio, knowing that it would wake me at 0800hrs for
our radio check, I lay down and promptly fell asleep.
I
awoke to Michaels voice saying "hello mark, this
is base camp over". I sat up, slightly unaware of
where I was and picking up the radio I answered. I
found out that the French team were stuck in a
snowstorm at camp 1, 5,800mtr and that one of their 3
tents was buried. Nicolas, the French leader, had
forgotten his sleeping bag! He spent an uncomfortable
and miserable night in his down jacket and his feet,
still in his boots, he placed inside his rucksack to
keep warm. He intended to descend yet the avalanche
risk was too high and it was safer for him to stay at
camp 1.
I
looked out of my tent and my vision was limited to
5mtr or so. I couldn't go beyond my tent ledge for
fear of slipping or walking in totally the wrong
direction. I spoke to Michael, advising him to tell
the team above to stay high and that I was intending
to stay put. We agreed to have another chat at 9am and
see how things were going then. I lay back down and
tried to sleep, I suddenly heard a loud crack and a
rumble. By now I knew what the sound of an avalanche
was like, I felt a
cold shiver down my spine as the hairs on my neck
stood on end and I opened the tent and looked out. A
blast of freezing wind hit me in the face and my tent
buckled, 15mtr away a wall of snow and ice was roaring
past my tent onto the snow slope I had climbed 5hrs
earlier. As quick as it came it was gone and I was
left in a shocked, relative calmness.
As I
looked up the slope form where the avalanche had come
I noticed my equipment was strewn all around the camp.
I climbed out and gathered my things only to notice
that two tents were missing. My heart sank as I realized
the implications of losing two tents. I
quickly scanned the area from my perch and noticed
that 25mtrs down the snow slope was one of my tents. I
also realized that I was getting cold so I pulled on
some protective clothing and my boots and climbed down
to the tent. I brought it back and buried all my kit
and knew then that I had to start to get ready to
descend.
I was
faced with three options, the first was to climb
higher to join the rest of the team, this was highly
dangerous as the snow was still falling above me and
the route followed a snow slope that was prone to
avalanche. The second option was to stay put, yet
seeing the size of the avalanche that had just past
the camp I wasn't convinced of the safety of the
location, especially since above me were four gullies
all spewing their contents into my region. Therefore
there was only one realistic option left and that was
to descend. The reality of it was that all three
choices were dangerous, yet the most sensible option
was to descend back to base camp and sit out the bad
weather.
I
choice the latter, and by talking with the Alaskan
team by radio they were able to guide me back to the
start of the fixed line. It is quite worrying staring
down a 1500ft slope of ice, snow and rock, knowing
that one false slip could be the end. I reached the
fixed line without any
incident and attached myself to it. I felt a wave of
relief flow over me.
I
descended relatively quickly, 45mins in total, however
there were two scary moments, the first was a
spindrift avalanche that swept me off my feet leaving
me face in the snow. The second was a powder avalanche
mixed with a few rocks. This one hurt. It hit my chest
and swept me backwards so that I was facing down the
slope with my feet facing up the slope. I spat snow
and blood as I had taken a mouthful of stone and ice.
On inspection there was no serious damage except a
split lip and a gashed leg.
I
reached base camp relieved to have got off the
mountain and also relieved that I was back to the
warmth and relative comfort of my tent.
The
following morning after a good rest Michael and I sat
with a cup of coffee relaxing in the mess tent. We
believe that this mountain doesn't like us because so
far it has thrown everything at us to try to scare us.
Michael has another bombshell for me. Cher, our cook
and good friend, who was with us on Nanga Parbat, is
ill. I went to see him and gave him a medical check. I
located that from the back his right lung could not be
heard breathing. He also had and cloudy breathing. Not
happy to make a diagnosis, but extremely concerned I
radioed through to the Bulgarian Team who had a doctor
with them.
The
Bulgarian team is an international team and therefore
have international status and support. Their doctor
turns out to be the Deputy Minster of Health for
Bulgaria! He arrived and diagnosed Cher as having
pulmonary Oedema and the start of Pneumonia. As a side
effect to this he diagnosed that Cher had Pneumothorax
(collapsed lung) of the right lung. He basically
stated that if Cher didn't descend he would probably
die within 24hrs.
Cher
protected us in Nanga Parbat and has been a good
friend to us here. Michael got quite emotional and
decided to descend with Cher while I stayed at base
camp to assist with other medical or mountain related
incidents. We hired four porters and they set off for
Payu. It is a
four-day walk that they intend to do in one or two
days. The plan is that two porters will carry Cher
while two carry the equipment. It is quite emotional
saying goodbye to them and I hug Cher as tears start
to flow. Michael carries a radio to remain in touch,
yet the distance is possibly too much to be able to
communicate with them. Michael gives me a hug and says
"take the mountain for me".
Sometimes
I believe that my army career was a mistake, it has
hardened me against situations where I genuinely feel
I should be more emotionally involved. Yet at the same
time it allows me to stay focused on the job at hand,
such as keeping a clear head to deal with all the
situations that being the expedition Medic forces upon
you. It is difficult to make the right the decisions
concerning somebody's life if you are emotionally
involved and at the moment I had to remain objective
and make the right decisions for Cher and the rest of
the team.
Ten
minutes later we received an urgent radio call from
the Bulgarians. Nicolas the French leader has been
found collapsed at ABC by two of their climbers, he is
tired, cold and can't feel his fingers on his left
hand. They make him a hot drink and give him some
food. He is then taken into their tent and left to
rest for a while. After a couple of hours he feels
strong enough to descend the fixed lines. One of
Bulgarians goes in front of him and one of the
Bulgarians goes behind. They are very concerned for
his safety and bring him down the ropes in
90mins.
I get
a radio call asking me to meet them in the glacier to
assist with Nicolas. I grabbed my medical bag, water
and some food and set off into the glacier. I am
guided to them by radio. When I arrived Nicolas is
lying on the floor having been sick and having no
energy. I immediately went into mountain medic mode
and checked his vitals. He has no sign of altitude
sickness but he is very weak and being sick. His left
hand is numb from the cold. We put him into some warm
clothes and started to lead him off the glacier. He
collapses again. The signs all show that he has Hyperglycemia
and is dehydrated. We administer some
'glucagons' injection and put him on an IV for fluids.
Between the three of us we carried him off the
glacier. It is my belief that after a good rest and
some hot food and drink he will recover as normal.
The
following day Nicolas is walking around and is
recovering well. We still have 4 French climbers on
the mountain and they have established camp 1 and camp
2. They intend to descend within the next couple of
days.
Mountaineering
is a risk, it is a close line between life a death and
it is so easy to cross the line through mistakes and
incompetence. I find it remarkable how a professional
mountaineer can forget a sleeping bag on an 8000mtr
peak, it could have cost him his life. Any mountain is
extreme, the weather can change so quickly and can
cause a beautiful day to turn into a nightmare. As
much as I want to succeed in climbing this peak, I
also want to be home with Elizabeth my wife, this
mountain isn't as important as my life and the
happiness of my family. As beautiful and impressive as
these mountains are, there is so much more to live for
in life. Mark
Update:
The K2 part of this expedition has been cancelled.
However, wait until next year !
The
World Summits Expedition to climb Broad Peak
June
24th - September 4th 2001
|
Mark
Lewis, Director of World Summits is teaming up with
Michael Jackson, to go on an expedition to attempt
Broad Peak. |
This
is a 2.5 month expedition, so we will still
need to do some work! So, by carrying a lap
top and satellite phone to the Base Camp we
can keep in touch.
Broad
Peak received its name for its enormous
breadth. The peak has four separate summits,
the highest at 8047 m (26,401 ft). Located
just south of K2, it is the twelfth highest
mountain in the world.
Over
8,000 meters is referred to as the "Death
Zone". as at this altitude the human body
begins to die and the simplest of movements
and tasks become extremely difficult. The
altitude and the resultant lack of oxygen is
one of the major causes of fatalities on these
mountains. To combat this many climbers climb
with bottled oxygen to breath. We will be
without oxygen.
The
Team:
Mark
Lewis, Expedition Coordinator
Mark
has been climbing for the past
decade. He was introduced to climbing in the
Alps in 1992 and in 1995 he first visited
Nepal and summitted Mera Peak, the highest
'trekking peak' in the Himalayas. In 1996 he
attempted the six North Faces in the Alps,
succeeding on the Matterhorn, Eiger, Dru and
the Grandes Jorasse. In 1996 he setup
Intercontinental Expeditions, organizing and
leading expeditions worldwide. He has led
successful expeditions to the Andes, Tanzania,
the Caucasus, the Himalayas, New Zealand, and
Australia and in 1997 he was the first
Welshman to climb Mount Vinson in Antarctica.
In the same year he climbed to the South Col
on Mount Everest and successfully led an
ascent of Ama Dablam in the Himalayas. All
these expeditions were filmed by Mark and a
documentary about them was broadcast on ITV.
Michael
Jackson: He has been involved in extreme
sports for the last ten years. He is a
qualified Rescue Diver and his adventures have
ranged from scuba diving and shark hunting
throughout the world to sky diving from 14,500
feet over the Australian Outback.
His
main passion, however is mountaineering. He
climbs regularly, both summer and winter, in
the Scottish Highlands and trains in the Alps.
Currently
we are finalizing all of our equipment ready
for departure and checking over everything.
We are looking forward to leaving the UK
and getting out to Pakistan and keeping you
guys informed of what we are doing when we are
doing it.
Mark
Lewis Director World Summits Ltd
Everest
2001
Everest
News and Expedition Coverage
|
