Our team had successfully navigated the icefall.
Whats more, we were healthyandon schedule.
So, after a second breakfast, I drifted off to sleep with a happy sense of satisfaction.
Shortly thereafter, I was awakened, confused, by violent shaking and a deep rumbling.
I turned to my tent partner and said, “Get your boots on!”
I attributed the shaking to an enormous avalanche or icefall.
An earthquake hadnt yet occurred to me.
Crossing the Khumbu Icefall on the way to Camp 1.
I was certain we were about to be buried in avalanche debris.
I thought,So this is how it’s going to end.
There was nothing I could do, nowhere to go.
The debris never arrived.
Camp 1, where we were sleeping when the earthquake hit.
My relief was short-lived.
I listened intently, trying to gauge the degree of damage.
Moments later, in a resigned tone, he said, “This one has expired.”
That’s when I truly understood the gravity of the situation.
While I was grateful that wed survived, I became increasingly frustrated.
As amountain guide, my responsibility was to safeguard the 28 people in my group.
But as an emergency medicine physician, I knew I was needed down below.
There was no way down.
The icefall route was destroyed.
This one, from Everest Basecamp.
As night fell, the tremors continued and the weather deteriorated.
We awoke the next morning at 4:30AM, 90 minutes before the helicopters would arrive.
After what seemed like hundreds of flights, everyone made it to Basecamp without incident.
It was confusing, sobering and so difficult to process.
We came here to climb Mt.
Everest, accepting the known risks: altitude sickness, falling, frostbite, hypothermia.
An earthquake annihilating the relative security of Basecamp just didn’t make sense.
Two days later, as I walked down from Basecamp, I felt a mix of emotions.
I felt guilty for surviving.
I hadn’t seen the horribly injured patients that my friends had treated.
I was so sad for those who had been hurt or killed.
And selfishly, I also felt angry.
I’d come to climb this mountain and part of me didn’t want to let that go.
It’s still so difficult to comprehend.
To help the victims of the Nepal earthquake,click here.
Everest BaseCamp, post-earthquake and avalanche.
Photo Credit: Eric Remza; Phunuru Sherpa; Ang Jangbu (2)
