Location: Everest Base Camp
Altitude: 5350m
Local Time: 17:30pm, 1 May
Weather: -5C overnight, warm in the morning, snowing heavily now
Hi All, It's Paul here. There
has been another accident in the icefall today, involving an Italian person
climbing Lhotse.
Icefall Accident
The person was decending through the icefall alone and slipped, hitting his
head hard. Apparently he wasn't wearing crampons or a helmet. People found him
on the side of the route with his head in his hands, vomiting. When the alarm
was raised a group of Sherpas including two from IMG, climbed up to him with
oxygen and a stretcher and then carried him down - an amazing feat given the
terrain. A number of members from IMG also climbed up part way and helped
carrying the stretcher. We took him to the helicopter pad and a helicopter was
requested, however in the end it couldn't come because of oncoming bad
weather. This was extremely frustrating. We then carried him back to the HRA
medical clinic, where he is going to stay the night. Hopefully the weather
will be OK in the morning for a helicopter to take him out.
Catching up on base camp
duties
Both Fiona and I did our laundry this morning, and of course we have been
eating lots. I have lost a bit of weight on the trip up high so I am seeking
to remedy this as fast as possible. I have been sticking mainly to cheese, and
Fiona to chocolate. The NASA team also gave us some chocolate cake which we
both enjoyed.
Mary's Trek
Mary has access to the internet today and will hopefully post as message to
the site. We found out that Mary's guide, Tashi, is the Sirdar that we had on
our Trek into Base Camp. Tashi is a great person; really friendly and always
eager to help out whenever needed. She is definitely in very good hands.
Bud Allen
Bud left us yesterday, unfortunately he didn't feel well and decided to go
home and seek expert medical advice. We understand that everything is OK. We
shall really miss Bud - he was always great to talk to and I particularly was
interested in hearing about his long and successful property development
career. One of the things I found out about Bud was that in his spare time he
uses his own plane and fuel to fly sick people around the US for medical
treatment. He said that sometimes you think you have a lot on and life isn't
too good, and then you meet someone who has a baby that is very ill and it
puts your issues into perspective. Bud will be missed by all the team here and
hopefully he'll be back next year.
Bye for now,
Paul.