Everest rescue
02/05/15 05:20
I’m not a mountaineer. I grew up in Montana and we did our share of backpacking in the high country. I took a few technique lessons and practiced rappelling on the rimrocks in Billings, but I have never developed the technical skills for serious climbing. Over the years, I’ve been more attracted to just walking than to hard core climbing. I think that South Dakota is the only state where I’ve stood on the highest point. I climbed the Barr Trail up Pike’s Peak once. At 14,110, Pikes is pretty high, but not by Colorado standards. I think that there are 30 peaks in Colorado that are higher. And climbing the Barr Trail is simply a matter of getting on the mountain early enough in the day and walking up a trail that is steep in places, but no technical skills are required. It’s a bit like climbing Harney Peak here in South Dakota, just more of it.
But I have always had a deep appreciation for the mountains. I have read lots of stories about mountaineering, mountain rescue, and other topics related to climbing. I’ve studied the maps of Mount McKinley or Denali and used to know the names of some of the more popular ascent routes. Similarly, I’ve poured over records of Mount Everest and the stories of Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary’s first ascent of the giant. At various times in my live, posters of the great mountains have decorated the walls of the places where I have lived.
When the National Geographic Magazine published a story about the Wyoming climbers who summited one of the Trango Towers in Pakistan, we hosted an evening for one of the climbers who had grown up in our congregation. I was fascinated by his stories and the adventures of the climbers.
So it is natural for me to have been paying attention to the climbers on Everest stranded by the earthquake last week. As of Thursday, 200 climbers have been rescued from Mount Everest, where 18 died in avalanches set off by the earthquake and aftershocks. So far, rescuing the climbers has been a massive effort. Each helicopter can take only two or thee climbers per flight. Some helicopters were flying non-stop whenever the light and weather allowed. The Daily Beast called int “a rescue effort unprecedented in sports history.”
There is, however, a problem with such heroic efforts. As the grim numbers come out of Nepal and as rescue efforts turn into recovery efforts, it is clear that there was a cost in human life to the mountain rescue. To put it bluntly, the powers that be decided to use rescue helicopters, of which there are precious few in Nepal, to help wealthy adventure seekers off of the mountain while impoverished citizens were left waiting, sometimes in dire and life-threatening circumstances. More lives could have been saved by using the helicopters to provide medical aid in rural and isolated communities.
Like other tourist towns - like the place where I live - Nepal’s economy reaps great benefits from the presence of tourists. One could argue that the country wouldn’t be able to afford any rescue helicopters if it weren’t from the financial benefits of the world’s wealthy and well-funded expeditions bringing adventurers to Nepal. Taking care of the outsiders and practicing hospitality is a way of life. And it is essential to the economy of the region. Rescuing the guests before rescuing the neighbors was a natural instinct for officials.
By world standards, the economy of Nepal is very small. The total economy generates about $20 billion a year. It is estimated that the earthquake caused $5 billion in direct damage to critical infrastructure. There wasn’t that much infrastructure in place before the earthquake. There is only one big helicopter operated by Nepal’s army. Nearly all of the military of the country, including the precious helicopter are engaged in search and rescue missions around the clock. The government of Nepal has only one more helicopter. That one has been dedicated to rescue missions on Everest.
The private companies know that the rich climbers and expeditions on Everest are able to pay the bill for the expensive operation of helicopters. Chances are that they will never be paid for rescue missions to any other part of the country. Other governments, including the United States, have sent helicopters. The United States helicopter has made multiple rescue trips to groups stranded on Everest. It took four trips for the US helicopter to rescue one group of 22 stranded tourists.
More people come to Everest than the ones who summit the peak. For a fee, tourists can go to base camp and hang out with the serious climbers. Just seeing the world from 17,000 feet above sea level and understanding how much more mountain lies above that point is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
I’ve read many articles criticizing the climbing of Everest. Some believe that it has become way too commercial. Some say that Everest attracts daily unqualified thrill-seekers who hire underpaid sharps to bring them to the summit. An Everest attempt costs in the neighborhood of $100,000 per climber.
The mountain isn’t a place where people end up because they were forced to go there. It is a destination - an attraction - and part of its appeal is the danger. When danger arose last week, it seems that some climbers felt they got more than they bargained for. Meanwhile there are plenty of poor people in Nepal who were stranded in their houses because they had no place else to go. They didn’t chose to live in a dangerous place - or to visit one for their vacation. They simply were trying to survive in a harsh and difficult part of the world with the means at hand.
The earthquake didn’t make distinctions based on the income of the victims. Rich and poor alike suffered. There was enough danger to go around. The rescue, however, appears to be different. Rich are being rescued first and there aren’t enough helicopters to go around.
But I have always had a deep appreciation for the mountains. I have read lots of stories about mountaineering, mountain rescue, and other topics related to climbing. I’ve studied the maps of Mount McKinley or Denali and used to know the names of some of the more popular ascent routes. Similarly, I’ve poured over records of Mount Everest and the stories of Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary’s first ascent of the giant. At various times in my live, posters of the great mountains have decorated the walls of the places where I have lived.
When the National Geographic Magazine published a story about the Wyoming climbers who summited one of the Trango Towers in Pakistan, we hosted an evening for one of the climbers who had grown up in our congregation. I was fascinated by his stories and the adventures of the climbers.
So it is natural for me to have been paying attention to the climbers on Everest stranded by the earthquake last week. As of Thursday, 200 climbers have been rescued from Mount Everest, where 18 died in avalanches set off by the earthquake and aftershocks. So far, rescuing the climbers has been a massive effort. Each helicopter can take only two or thee climbers per flight. Some helicopters were flying non-stop whenever the light and weather allowed. The Daily Beast called int “a rescue effort unprecedented in sports history.”
There is, however, a problem with such heroic efforts. As the grim numbers come out of Nepal and as rescue efforts turn into recovery efforts, it is clear that there was a cost in human life to the mountain rescue. To put it bluntly, the powers that be decided to use rescue helicopters, of which there are precious few in Nepal, to help wealthy adventure seekers off of the mountain while impoverished citizens were left waiting, sometimes in dire and life-threatening circumstances. More lives could have been saved by using the helicopters to provide medical aid in rural and isolated communities.
Like other tourist towns - like the place where I live - Nepal’s economy reaps great benefits from the presence of tourists. One could argue that the country wouldn’t be able to afford any rescue helicopters if it weren’t from the financial benefits of the world’s wealthy and well-funded expeditions bringing adventurers to Nepal. Taking care of the outsiders and practicing hospitality is a way of life. And it is essential to the economy of the region. Rescuing the guests before rescuing the neighbors was a natural instinct for officials.
By world standards, the economy of Nepal is very small. The total economy generates about $20 billion a year. It is estimated that the earthquake caused $5 billion in direct damage to critical infrastructure. There wasn’t that much infrastructure in place before the earthquake. There is only one big helicopter operated by Nepal’s army. Nearly all of the military of the country, including the precious helicopter are engaged in search and rescue missions around the clock. The government of Nepal has only one more helicopter. That one has been dedicated to rescue missions on Everest.
The private companies know that the rich climbers and expeditions on Everest are able to pay the bill for the expensive operation of helicopters. Chances are that they will never be paid for rescue missions to any other part of the country. Other governments, including the United States, have sent helicopters. The United States helicopter has made multiple rescue trips to groups stranded on Everest. It took four trips for the US helicopter to rescue one group of 22 stranded tourists.
More people come to Everest than the ones who summit the peak. For a fee, tourists can go to base camp and hang out with the serious climbers. Just seeing the world from 17,000 feet above sea level and understanding how much more mountain lies above that point is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
I’ve read many articles criticizing the climbing of Everest. Some believe that it has become way too commercial. Some say that Everest attracts daily unqualified thrill-seekers who hire underpaid sharps to bring them to the summit. An Everest attempt costs in the neighborhood of $100,000 per climber.
The mountain isn’t a place where people end up because they were forced to go there. It is a destination - an attraction - and part of its appeal is the danger. When danger arose last week, it seems that some climbers felt they got more than they bargained for. Meanwhile there are plenty of poor people in Nepal who were stranded in their houses because they had no place else to go. They didn’t chose to live in a dangerous place - or to visit one for their vacation. They simply were trying to survive in a harsh and difficult part of the world with the means at hand.
The earthquake didn’t make distinctions based on the income of the victims. Rich and poor alike suffered. There was enough danger to go around. The rescue, however, appears to be different. Rich are being rescued first and there aren’t enough helicopters to go around.