Heroes in Fine Print

"On the mountain there were no heroes," K2 survivor Cas van de Gevel was recently quoted as saying in Outside Magazine, " just an unspoken agreement that you help as much as you can."

Outside and Men's Journal recently published feature length pieces on the K2 disaster. Both stories lead with the tale of three European men, Wilco van Rooijen, Gerard McDonnell, and Marco Confortola, who bivouaced at nearly 28,000 feet after the catastrophic serac avalanche stripped the Bottleneck Couloir of its fixed ropes on the evening of August 1st. The next day, they were forced to down climb the Bottleneck un-roped. Along the way they passed a party of distressed Korean climbers; the three abandoned them to continue their own descents to safety. Two of them made it, but McDonnell was swept to his death in an avalanche.

While Confortola and van Rooijen can hardly be faulted for not doing more, it does seem like their teammate Cas van de Gevel is right -- the tragedy was a grim game of Russian roulette. It was every man for himself.

Yet some extraordinary acts of bravery and selflessness did occur on K2 -- you just might have to read the fine print to hear about it.

On a recent trip to Nepal, I tracked down two Sherpas, Chhiring Dorje and Pemba Gyalje, who were among those who summited on that fateful day. I had corresponded with them both via email for my own article in Rock and Ice, and I felt drawn to meet them in the flesh.

Pemba and Chhiring reached the summit at approximately 6.35 and 6.37 PM on August 1st, making history by becoming the first two Sherpas to summit K2 without oxygen. But that's not what makes them exceptional.

On the descent, at least seven climbers chose to bivouac rather than continue down in the darkness. Chhiring, the owner of Kathmandu-based Rolwaling Excursions guide service, continued. When he reached the Bottleneck, he discovered the ropes were missing. Small pieces of ice continually poured down the narrow gully from the serac above. He knew it could release another catastrophic avalanche at anytime. It was imperative to get out of harm's way as quickly as possible. But another Sherpa guide had dropped his ice axe, effectively stranding him, so Chhiring tied him to his harness, and down climbed the couloir with his friend hanging off him. This was at 27,000 feet, in the middle of the night, after he had just summited K2 without oxygen.

Pemba Gyalje also downclimbed the Bottleneck that night. The next morning, he went out searching for his teammates van Rooijen and McDonnell. After returning to camp IV unsuccessfully, he went out again, and eventually found Confortola passed out in the snow. As he revived him with oxygen, they were hit by another serac avalanche. Pemba held on to the helpless Confortola, saving him from being swept away with the slide. Then he walked him back to camp IV, and, rather than rest, descended by headlamp to Camp III, where he rescued his partner van Rooijen the next morning.

Pemba will be making a visit to Washington DC this month to be honored by the National Geographic Society. After speaking to them, it was clear that both men are far too humble to consider what they did that extraordinary. Even so, the cynic in me couldn't help but think that if these guys were from Europe or the States, they'd probably have big money endorsement opportunities, get invited on Oprah and have their faces on the cover of People Magazine.

As things turned out, you have to read the fine-print to hear about them.

So, here is a good look at what two heros look like:

Comments

[Freddie Wilkinson - Huffpost Blogger]

I'm always up for "a discussion." I certainly agree with what you are getting at, KTM: in our post 9/11 society, American heros are firemen and doctors trying to cure cancer. And they should be. A global recession, war, poverty.... These are actually pretty unheroic times, and life and death on the second highest speck of earth seems pretty trivial by comparison.

As I wrote, these guys don't consider themselves heros, nor do a lot of other people who were there. But whether you think of them as heroic or not, I think that depends less on their actions and more on the world around them. These guys were there as guides, to put food on the table for their families (not quite as many professional options for a sherpa as an American), and they directly saved atleast three lives. Two other sherpas who were also involved in the rescue didn't come home.

"Heroism is courage in the service of others" -- S Junger
"A hero is not a hero except in a heroic age" -- Hawthorne

[Starkey]

Pemba Gyalje was NOT a guide on K2. He was a full climbing team member of the Norit Team. He was a good friend and climbing partner of Gerard McDonnell's. They had finally fulfilled their dream of climbing K2 together as partners. It is also incorrect that Gerard McDonnell abandoned the Koreans that day. Pemba Gyalje's account has confirmed that Gerard was seen descending BEHIND the Koreans on the traverse toward the top of the gully before he was hit by serac and fell. Gerard did not abandon the Koreans that day, he continued his rescue efforts until his tragic death.

[Jnut]

very thought provoking stuff. could you could explore this whole story further? its an immediate and very interesting topic, with a novel perspective.

ps mr kill the messenger: your sound like a 5th grader with a personal vendetta. WTF?

[KillTheMessenger]

Looks like Mr. Wilkinson can't stand criticism and has to pretend that walking up mountains is a heroic human exercise. How about it, Mr. Wilkinson, are you up for discussion or shall we write you off as a hopeless romantic who can extract "heroism" from the senseless deaths of stupid people?

[larryjackshon]

Reminds me of that old quote.

"Ginger Rodgers did everything Fred Astaire did, only backwards and in high-heels"

The sherpas climb the mountain AND carry the white guys' stuff.

[Sintari]

Heroic K2 and Everest stories have always bothered me for that very fact. You hear about the Western hero standing triumphantly atop the summit, surveying the world like he owns it, but what about the sherpas? They're there, too, but are often not even NAMED in these accounts.