{"id":1564,"date":"2016-02-21T22:52:32","date_gmt":"2016-02-22T06:52:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pottinger.net\/osm\/?p=1564"},"modified":"2016-03-13T20:51:35","modified_gmt":"2016-03-14T03:51:35","slug":"helivac","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pottinger.net\/osm\/2016\/02\/helivac\/","title":{"rendered":"Helivac"},"content":{"rendered":"

I slept poorly that night, thinking about the next morning\u2019s move to C1.\u00a0 How would conditions be on the glacier?\u00a0 Would we find the crevasses impassable?\u00a0 Would the weather hold and allow us to fly to EBC?<\/p>\n

It was bitterly cold when we woke up.\u00a0 Hasty last minute packing, a very quick breakfast, and we prepared to move out.\u00a0 Katabatic winds rolled down the Lhotse face, and in the early shadows the cwm stood in deep shades of blue and grey.\u00a0 I was glad to climb in my down suit for the first time\u2014awkward, but warm.<\/p>\n

Safe glacier travel involves tying in to a rope with other teammates, so that if one plunges through an snow bridge into a crevasse, the others can arrest the fall and prevent (or minimize) injury.\u00a0 It is one of the most basic skills in mountaineering, and I am 100% comfortable with this technique, having walked this way too many times to count.\u00a0 But, never in the great western cwm after an earthquake.\u00a0 Tensions were a bit high all around that morning as we lined up and prepared to leave.\u00a0 I was delighted to tie in behind Jangbu Sherpa, one of the strongest, most accomplished mountaineers on earth.\u00a0 Jangbu is famous for holding the world record for going topless on the summit of Everest for almost 5 minutes (which is hard to understand or imagine), and he has summited Everest 11 times.\u00a0 The Google street-view camera is a big, tall, awkward, heavy device, precisely the same as what you have seen bolted to the roof of a car\u2014and Jangbu was the man selected to carry it back down from C2 that morning.\u00a0 The light was no good, and besides, this portion of the route had already been photographed\u2026 thus, the lenses were shrouded in a protective cloth \u201cshower cap\u201d of sorts.<\/p>\n

\"Getting
Getting roped up for the trip to C1.\u00a0 Jangbu and the Google Cam are on the far left.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Heading
Heading down the Cwm, with Jangbu at the lead on our rope.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Funny thing: We rarely travel in traditional roped style on Everest, because most of the route is fixed with static lines.\u00a0 That morning, everyone at C2 had to come down, all at once, which was virtually unheard of.\u00a0 Thus, there simply was not enough climbing rope to go around.\u00a0 Instead, we made do with some extra static line.\u00a0 Climbing rope is \u201cdynamic,\u201d meaning it stretches under strain and cushions a fall.\u00a0 Static rope does not have this property: No elastic core, no protective kernmantle, just a woven synthetic cable, such as you might find on a row boat.\u00a0 It is cheap, strong, and adequate for fixed lines, but you would never choose it for a roped travel.\u00a0 Unless it\u2019s all you had.<\/p>\n

Once we started moving, everything settled into the familiar rhythm of glacier travel: Keep the axe in self arrest position\u2026 watch for crevasses\u2026 mind the rope\u2026 move as a team.\u00a0 To reduce shock loading in case of a fall, the rope is kept almost fully stretched out between climbers, leaving each body in a gentle arc that hits the snow about 4 feet ahead or behind.\u00a0 This is totally different from the way we move on a fixed line, where climbers can be much closer, so some of our Nepalese teammates were unaccustomed to the spacing required here.\u00a0 But they picked it up quickly, and we moved well.\u00a0 The distance passed by quickly.\u00a0 I cannot recall how long the journey lasted, but just about two hours sounds right.<\/p>\n

\"Heading
Heading down the cwm. Summit behind me, cloaked in white. (Photo: Jangbu Sherpa)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Halfway
Halfway back to C1. Stress falling, our spirits rise with the climbing temperature. (Photo: Jangbu Sherpa)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Almost
Almost to C1. (Photo: Jangbu Sherpa)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I was relieved to pull into C1, which felt familiar and was in perfect order.\u00a0 In the sunshine, with a gentle wind, it was possible to get out of the down suit and into more comfortable climbing clothes.\u00a0 We dropped some of our bulkier gear into rice bags at camp, including down suits and sleeping bags.\u00a0 Then walked downhill for perhaps 200 meters to the LZ, where we were reunited with our buddies who had been at C1 during the quake, and thus had not been able to climb higher to join us.<\/p>\n

\"Team
Team Hybrid gets ready to move a hundred meters to the LZ. Sunshine almost here. (Photo: Jangbu Sherpa)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Touching
Touching up my sunscreen at C1. (Photo: Blake Penson)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The LZ consisted of two spots in the snow that our friends had tramped flat with their boots.\u00a0 An impromptu waiting area had been designated a short distance away from each LZ, both filled with climbers and their Sherpa team mates, approximately 50 people in total whom I saw that morning.\u00a0 The riot of brightly colored backpacks and down clothing looked like a clearance sale at REI.\u00a0 We joined the group and took in the views: Above, the cwm we had just descended.\u00a0 Below, the icefall and beyond it (out of view) EBC.\u00a0 The stark ridge of Pumori stood out against the blue sky, pure white and razor-sharp.<\/p>\n

\"The
The queue that awaits us at the LZ, seen from C1 about 200 m away.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Everyone
Everyone was eager to go home.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Waiting
Waiting for our ride…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Fatima
Fatima keeps a positive attitude.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Blake
Blake bids adieu to the Cwm, Pumori in the background. (Photo: Blake Penson)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Looking
Looking back up the Cwm one more time before flying down.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Then, the helicopters began to arrive.\u00a0 They developed a nice traffic pattern, flying up next to Nuptse, touching down briefly at the LZ to pick up pairs of climbers, then pitching down over the Khumbu next to Everest\u2019s West Shoulder.\u00a0 Three helicopters were involved, and we got to know them by their livery and by their pilots\u2019 individual style.\u00a0 The A3 choppers are almost miraculous, with remarkable flight capabilities at these altitudes.\u00a0 In fact, a heavily modified version of one actually touched down on the summit a few years ago.\u00a0 Still, very thin air even at C1\u2019s 19,500 feet ASL, so we were limited to two passengers per sortie: a climber and Sherpa pair.\u00a0 Each flight circuit took about 10 minutes, including the unloading and refueling time at EBC\u2026 clearly, there would be a long wait at the gate today!<\/p>\n

\"Our
Our rescue birds begin their amazing work.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When the first chopper arrived, many in the group surged ahead towards the LZ, and passenger traffic control became a bit of an issue.\u00a0 As you can imagine, everyone wanted to get down, and with morning clouds swarming overhead, there was concern all around that the flights could be scrapped any time.\u00a0 I could not understand why folks were pushing to the front, as we were clearly in for a long wait\u2026 so I laid down in the snow and tried to take a nap at the back of the line.\u00a0 IMG guides were large and in charge of the chaos, and kept things in great order for members of all the groups up there.\u00a0 A flight liaison officer ran coms and air traffic control\u2026 there was really nothing to do but wait.\u00a0 Here are some lighthearted moments during this time:<\/p>\n