May 27, Lukla, "Big Old Twin Otter, carry me to my home!"

< Newer | Older > Tue, 05/27/2008 - 12:13 — Angus Murray

Well the walking is over for a while!  Finally in Lukla where we can catch an exciting flight to Kathmandu.

I want to welcome some old MCI (Malvern Collegiate Institute) friends who just posted, "Onward Malvern, Onward Malvern, steam right through that line, etc."  Jenn, Jim, the elusive Jon P, and Miriam. 

I was going to wrte about eatting a tube of pringles and drinking liters of fanta, playing the yak bell etc,  but I just had a "TIE" (This is Everest) moment that has sobered me somewhat.  Even writing about it feels a little weird, but I will.  Anyway, this just happened.  Some young guys walked into the internet cafe about 10 minutes ago (I'm a slow typist) and saw that I was on myeverest.com, they were like "cool, Iv'e been on that site following these climbers..."  I said, I'm one of those guys.  So I chatted with Eliott and his pals,  then they asked if anyone had died this year, I said the only confirmed death  I knew of was a climber who died the night of the 21/22.  He was dead the morning we left C4, wrapped in a tent.  Then a sunburned climber, the only other person in the room said, "that was my friend..."  TIE

He didn't know why or how his friend had died, he had not displayed signs of HAPE or HACE. They buried him at C4 on the 22nd.  So, once again I am reminded that for all it's beauty and challenges, climbing Everest is a serious undertaking in that when things go wrong that can go very wrong.

That's all for today, I'll have a sunnier post tomorrow from Kathmandu.

Angus (Class of 80)

Messages

Homeward Bound

lmurray — Tue, 05/27/2008 - 13:22

Hi Gus,
Mum and Dad came over on Sunday to read all of your blogs- now that you are safely down at lower elevations! We toasted you with some Champagne, and ate South Asian food in your honour. Have a speedy trip home - hope to see you in Ontario soon- Murray Family cottage get together?? We can really ramp up our Croquet-in-the-Rough game, adding some high elevation challenges!
Take care
Loll

Congratulations

Visitor — Tue, 05/27/2008 - 14:32

Hi Angus
Firstly, my belated congratulations to both Scott and yourself on your great achievement in summiting Everest. I have very much enjoyed the MyEverest 'summiteer blogs' (I have also followed Mike) and was thrilled that you all safely summited. Thanks for all sharing your experiences with people from all over the world.

I just wanted to pass on some information about the dead person you referred to in your last blog. He was an experienced Swiss mountain guide who had previously climbed a number of 8000 plus metre peaks without oxygen and according to a newspaper item in a Swiss newspaper he died of a heart attack on his descent from the summit. MountEverest.net has the following entry: An experienced Swiss mountain guide Uwe Gianni Goltz died May 21 shortly before Camp IV (7.900), due to physical exhaustion after an attempt to summit Everest without oxygen. The fatality has been confirmed by the Swiss climbing association, according to Agence France-Presse.

I fear we will learn of more fatalities in the coming days as news of the events on the mountain in the past week are properly reported. I am just relieved that Scot, Mike an yourself are safe and returning home to many more adventures.

Heidi (Melbourne, Australia)

congrats angus

Visitor — Wed, 05/28/2008 - 01:56

hi angus,
fabulous news of your successful summit.
we've been keeping track of you here in ann arbor.
i'm really proud of you.
you're amazing.
all the best,
juliet and scott, sam and audrey

congratulations!

Visitor — Wed, 05/28/2008 - 02:16

Hi Angus -
This is Jennifer, Al B's daughter. I just wanted to thank you so much for your postings and descriptions of your climb and life on Mt Everst. This was a great way for us to keep up with my dad and the team...and made us all feel so much more relaxed. CONGRATULATIONS on your summit! I wish you all the best in your future climbing!

Jenny

Congraaaaaaaaaaats Bro....

Visitor — Wed, 05/28/2008 - 13:02

Congratulations Angus ...Al and I just wanted to say we are proud of what you and the team have accomplished (what next??) and to extend our thanks to Scott and the others for being on the dream team to the top. It is apparent that you both have huge respect for the mountain the sherpa team the team and each other. Refreshing to see and experience in this "Bill and Ted " world. What you hve done certainly has made an impact for all the family and friends following you adventure. I had a 'Shaw " moment yesterday on a training ride when I hit the "wall " @ 80 km and thought/mumbled etc "awesome -if Gus can make it to the top I can get up this "hill" and make it home....slow and steady gets the 100k." etc....Thanks for the "incentive to go for it".. LOL and congats again

Angus, Way to go. Rod usually downloads stuff at work but we have all been keeping track. He was at Mitch's and he was sharing the news with his class so your experience has been spread far and wide. It makes everything else seem "small " in comparison. But everyone needs to follow their own goals and do their bit. Megan just did the 12 hour relay for Life and Rod is doing the upcoming Ride to Conquer Cancer (225 km to Niagara Falls) Your adventure has been at the top of our minds and I was telling people that getting down from the Summit was in many ways more dangerous - pictures of the Khumbu icefall are pretty scary but incredible.
Congratulations on making the summit and we look forward to hearing and seeing more detail.
Love Al and the Lew Crew

Hi again from Calgary

Visitor — Thu, 05/29/2008 - 13:40

Hi Angus, we continue to think about you and follow your adventures. This website has been so amazing in allowing us all to read about your climb and decent. My family followed your climb and send their congratulations to you and your team. Again, we look forward to hearing from you, we will probably cross paths at Echo Lake and will be able to spend some time together and catch up on the details and see some pictures.
Take care, Linda

Enjoy and safe travel home

lmurray — Thu, 05/29/2008 - 17:27

Hi Angus,
That SPAM looks yummy, but probably best to leave that habit behind! Enjoy the fat air in Kathmandu, and it must be something to see vegetation after all that time - I guess your time in BC was similar to Baffin Island in some ways. I echo what Linda said about the website allowing us to tap into your adventures- I'm still a dedicated Luddite, but technology does have it's advantages. Many thanks to Scott for his very detailed and thoughtful blogs, they also helped to provide another take on the overall experience.
Safe trip home, and we'll talk soon, looking forward to the slide show!
Loll