Winter hit the snow-white Himalayan peak of western Nepal early, harsh and in the most deadly fashion on Oct 13, enveloping the land in a blitzkrieg of ice fury. An early police count put the number of dead at 8. More than half of the victims were members of a South Korean expedition team while the other half were their Nepalese guides.
The snowstorm cut a swathe of destruction through the Himalayan mountain slopes, bringing tragedy to a rare breed of adventure seekers who inspire mankind with their love for the mountains. Few can comprehend their determination to conquer peaks or share their overwhelming desire for risking life and limb for the sheer pleasure of ascending high mountain slopes. Against this background the expedition deaths are both shocking and painful for the world. As it is mountains give man reason, a formidable challenge if you will, maybe a form of escape from a hectic and troubled life. Despite the inherent dangers, it is perhaps impossible to think of greater safety for mountaineering expeditions and how to keep climbers and their guides alive and safe. The argument that mountaineers live a charmed life is true to a great extent but do mountain communities do enough to protect them? Perhaps not considering all the facts surrounding their peculiar lifestyle and habits. Himalayan climbing in particular is cruel, very serious and not for the faint hearted. The time spent on such expeditions is far from comfortable. Mountaineers have to endure bitter cold, exhaustion and most of all they have to heroically battle the effects of altitude which is a Herculean struggle. It’s not survival of the fittest but of the luckiest.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 14th, 2018.
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