Nepal earthquake: 140 mountaineers airlifted off Everest
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Version 0 of 1. Three helicopters flying nonstop shuttles have evacuated about 140 mountaineers from climbing camps on Everest, the world’s highest peak, in a rescue effort unprecedented in the sport’s history. The climbers, including British guides and their clients, had been trapped at camps one and two on the mountain’s Western Cwm since Saturday when a series of avalanches – triggered by the weekend’s powerful earthquake – devastated Everest base camp below them, killing 18 foreign climbers and Sherpas and injuring 61. As of Monday evening, about 15 climbers remained on the mountain. Although making the most of a window of fine weather, the rescue was complicated by the fact that the small helicopters could take only two or three climbers on each flight. The high altitude – above 6,000 metres – meant that camp one was inaccessible to larger aircraft, leaving pilots of the small Eurocopter B3s to fly multiple missions, touching down for no more than 30 seconds to pick up passengers. The climbers were trapped by damage to the route through the Khumbu icefall below camp one, a jumble of crevasses and ice cliffs, which is equipped by the so-called Icefall Sherpas with fixed ropes and ladders every year. Those trapped at the camps had descended to the icefall to examine the possibility of fixing it with ropes and other equipment dropped by helicopter on Sunday, but it was deemed too hazardous. Related: Nepal earthquake: stranded Everest climbers rescued – live updates Among those ferried down the mountain were Dan Mazur, a Bristol-based guide who had been stuck at camp one in the Western Cwm since Saturday. Also rescued was Alex Staniforth, a 19-year-old Briton, who described being “emotionally trashed” after being rescued from his ascent. Staniforth, from Chester, was at camp one when the earthquake and avalanches happened. In a statement, his support team said: “Alex was airlifted from camp one back to base camp earlier this morning. His sleeping tent was destroyed by the avalanche and he feels extremely lucky to be alive. “Alex is completely devastated at the tragic loss of so many people, many whom he classed as friends both around Everest base camp and in the region. We are hoping that he can be airlifted to Kathmandu over the next 24 hours for his safe passage home to his family and friends.” The evacuation got under way as one of those involved in helping organise treatment for injured from base camp described the scenes in the town. Ben Ayers, country director for dZi , an aid group that works with remote rural communities, was in a village near Lukla for a ceremony when the earthquake occurred. “I was in the area by chance and I went to Lukla and got involved in organising the triage for injured climbers coming down from base camp. We had a number of doctors and nurses volunteering,” he said. “At about 11 in the morning a weather window opened and we started receiving casualties from base camp who had been flown first to Pheriche. We received 65 injured from base camp, mostly blunt trauma injuries including broken backs. We assessed them and were able send all the patients who were not able to walk to Kathmandu. “We had two confirmed fatalities brought in but it was not clear if they had died on the flight to Lukla. We saw another two very serious injuries. There were a lot of Nepalis but also a lot of foreign climbers.” Ayers added that the damage in the area where he had been before reaching Lukla varied by location. “There was a lot of damage in the village I was in but 15 minutes further towards Lukla there was another village without a broken window.” HELICOPTERS ARE NOW RESCUING CLIMBERS AND SHERPAS FROM CAMP 1 ON EVEREST, BACK DOWN TO BASE CAMP As the evacuation of climbers trapped in the higher camps got under way, Carsten Lillelund Pedersen, a climber from Denmark, posted a video on Facebook showing a helicopter landing to evacuate two climbers and then taking off again 30 seconds later. Survivors on Everest described a cloud of rock and ice that smashed into base camp on Saturday. More than 60 people were injured, leading climbers to send frantic messages calling for helicopter assistance to evacuate the wounded. An estimated 100 climbers and guides are safe but trapped at camps one and two by the 7.8-magnitude earthquake, which rendered the route up to them from base camp impassable. Alex Gavan, a Romanian mountaineer among those still at base camp, tweeted the beginning of the helicopter evacuation. “Stranded climbers evacuation from camp1&2 continues. 3 helis fly non stop. Only 2 people per shuttle due to high altitude. Weather good.” Stranded climbers evacuation from camp1&2 continues. 3 helis fly non stop. Only 2 people per shuttle due to high altitude. Weather good. Earlier, Gavan had reported grim conditions in the devastated base camp. Some teams have already left the place, their camps being completely distroyed. Some people are even sleeping with helmets and boots on. Jim Davidson, an American climber among those trapped at camp one, was one of the first to be evacuated and updated his Facebook page by satellite phone. “Weather good on Everest. Evacuation of C1 & C2 going well. I am safe in basecamp now ... the injuries, fatalities & tragedy are heartbreaking.” While many climbers at Everest base camp and on neighbouring peaks were abandoning their expeditions yesterday, not everyone was ready to call it a day. Among those considering whether to continue with an attempt to climb Everest was Nick Cienski, who said he had not given up on his bid to scale six 8,000-metre peaks this calendar year. “We are still sorting through a lot of emotions; 24 hours ago we were wrapping people’s body parts in bags,” said Cienski, speaking over the noise of helicopters evacuating climbers two-by-two from further up the world’s tallest peak. “So on the one hand the reality of that ... and on the second hand, we are climbers and this is sort of what we do. And so, does it make sense to continue?” asked Cienski, an executive with a US outdoor clothing company. |