Everest 2006: ANDALUCIA EVEREST EXPEDITION: A difficult dispatch published unedited...

EVEREST WINS THE FIRST MATCH

After six consecutive conquests, the Andalucians Huisa and López hit against the roof of the world.

"It is difficult to explain what we feel at this moment.  We feel a deep void that will be hard to fill.  Maybe it is like what an Olympic athlete feels when he returns without a medal or a soccer player that loses the final match.  But none of them suffers for a month and a half in extreme conditions, far from their family and with health problems.

Noting that Everest is the maximum, and hence, that there are always minimum possibilities of not making it to the summit, we have to note and explain the main matters why we have quit:

1. Precedents

Everest is not a mountain which is decided to climb fifteen days in advance; we were already paying for permits and flight reservations in October of last year (before Aconcagua).  So, this is an important decision; without knowing what was coming in the next months.  My father, sick for 23 years and in a progressive state of deterioration came to an unbearable situation and we had to get into an specialized institution.  My mother, after 23 years facing the situation, could not overcome this new situation and suffered psychological problems.

Pedrito, the son of Pedro, had appendicitis on January 7.  Because of hospital neglect, the situation aggravated.  He had to change hospital and was operated three times.  He even was about to go away.  Pedro lived two months in that desperate situation, sitting on a chair during that period of time.  But before he came out of the hospital, Pedro's mother died suddenly, without being sick.  Besides those tragic moments for us, we were still madly going through with the paperwork to be able to assault Everest and, to make it even worst, the incorporation of two new members, Javier and Dani.

2. Thamserku, the company that has annihilated our plans.  It is well known by everybody the endless problems we've had, starting with the loss of a barrel with vital materials, and then having to replace it; the broken generator, and so, the inability to charge the equipments, send images and the most important, that Dani and Javi could not work and had to return.  The company sank a very costly and laboriously plan.  Then on the mountain the lack of infrastructure, conditions and competent personnel aggravated our situation.  All of this deteriorated our spirit a lot.  I planned for a great expedition and this is not half of that.

3. Acclimatization problems

Even after having done a good and progressive acclimatization, including a 'trekking' of 15 days and having been above 5,200 meters, Pedro and I have had a lot of problems at Advanced Base Camp at 6,450 meters, having to go down several days to recover and then, go back again.  My insomnia and Pedro's problems to breath won't let us sleep, so the exhaustion was being accumulated.  Pedro's grave situation asphyxiated him during the night, he couldn't breath.

4. Everest

Obviously, to climb Everest you have to be in optimal physical and psychological fitness.  None of these rules were met.  All of the above has made us spiritually and psychologically destroyed, to the point that Pedro ended up crying many nights thinking about his family.  With all this, we have been forced to take a honest and intelligent decision, and accept that Everest has beat us.

As a conclusion, we have forcibly learned a lot of things about the mountain, the route, the camps, the conditions... So, next year we won't make as many errors as this time.  We will come totally fit.  As soon as we get to Sevilla, we will start the countdown.  No need to say that the decision to return was one of the hardest in our lives.  I have cried like a child.  But what is important now is to turn the page, to recover and to start again with more moral and physical strength.

Finally, I would like to thank all our sponsors for your trust.  Next year we will be there again to make your support count.  We just hope that the Andalucians will understand and support us".

Juan Antonio Huisa.  Chief of the Expedition

Translated from Spanish by Jorge Rivera

Dispatches

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