It seems every year we’re hit with stories from Mt. Everest as tons of climbers try to make it to the highest point on Earth.
Earlier this month, a Sherpa saved a man’s life after spotting him clinging to a rope in what’s called the “death zone”, where temperatures are extremely low and there is not enough oxygen in the air to breath unaided for more than a few minutes.
The Malaysian climber was 100% going to die until the Sherpa and his client made a decision to forego making it to the peak and attempting to save the man in a beyond heroic effort. They descended 1900 feet over the course of 6 hours before another guide joined the rescue. Each took turns carrying the climber by strapping him to their back while he was wrapped in a sleeping mat, although sometimes they were forced to drag him through the snow. They eventually met up with a rescue helicopter that flew them all back down to safety.
Climbing Mt. Everest is no joke. Just this spring climbing season saw the death of 12 with 5 more still missing.
The unsung heroes of summiting Everest are the guides and Sherpas, a member of a Tibetan ethnic group native to the most mountainous regions of Nepal, who take those who wish to climb along the journey. These guys perform seemingly impossible feats regularly and each have countless climbs under their belt.
But despite their incredible skills and experience, there’s no safe way to be on Mt. Everest and sometimes even the professionals can find themselves staring death in the face.
A video has come out of a rescue that was needed after one of the Sherpas fell into a deep crevasse between Camp 1 and Camp 2. It was posted by Gesman Tamang, whose Twitter bio reads “High Altitude Mountain Guide + Professional Mountaineer + Rescuer”
He gave this description of the video and a statement on how media tends to focus only on tourists when covering rescue missions.
“During every climbing season on Mount Everest, many brave rescues take place. The media tends to focus and highlight the rescues involving clients and foreign climbers, but there are lesser-known stories, such as this one, where a sherpa’s life is saved.
We successfully rescued a sherpa who had fallen into a crevasse between camp 1 and camp 2, and it’s a miracle that he survived. This story is a reminder of the sacrifices and risks mountain workers face in making #Everest expeditions possible.”
Holy smokes, did you see how deep that guy was? Can you imagine hitting the ground with that much speed after bumping down ice walls? Horrifying thought…
Shout out to the rescuers who risked their own lives to get this guy out. What a show of heart.
Scary thought thinking those 5 missing climbers could well be frozen to death in a crevasse just like that one…
