The mountaineer, on the eight thousand with David Goettler, recounts the tragic moments of the discovery of the bodies. “It happened in the French Pass area, they are Nepalese porters, the cause is an avalanche”
Even if the word death is often combined with the 8,000-metre peaks – there is the scenario of death, there is the death zone, that is, above 7,500 meters – and great mountaineering tragedies have taken place on these mountains, when in the face” (not in the first person, otherwise I wouldn’t be here to talk about it) the blow is always very hard. During one of the training sessions here on Dhaulagiri, in the French Pass area, David Goettler and I found the lifeless bodies of two people. When the feeling of pain gave way to rationality over the hours, we both shared the fact that it was surprising to make that macabre discovery right there. It is not an area that involves particular difficulties, trekkers usually pass there, it is difficult to leave your life there. We also think the same way about the cause of the tragedy: an avalanche. In this area, where today the strong cold was added to the very strong winds, last autumn was a very complicated period for all the expeditions because it continued to get bad and there was a lot of snow. Precisely because of these storms the risk of avalanches has risen. Among other things, it was not easy to understand who it was: initially we found there the documents relating to three Korean trekkers, in reality they belonged to a guide and one of his climbing companions. Both Nepalese porters. Of course we notified the Ministry of Tourism immediately.
THE RECOVERY
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It took a few days to figure out who they really were and what they were doing there: they were two guides belonging to an agency. We have notified the authorities by giving them the GPS points and guaranteeing our availability to help the helicopter recover, so that the families of these two people can organize a worthy ceremony for their loved ones who died in the mountains. I don’t think our help will be needed, by now the rescue machine – and recovery – is unfortunately run in, I want to hope that it is the agency for which the two Nepalese worked to take care of their return to the valley. This episode brings back to the news a truth that should never be forgotten when it comes to the highest mountains: thanks to or because of the eight-thousander business, many, many people – especially in Nepal – are involved in the mountain economy. However, we are talking about people, porters, who work for little money (little but fundamental to them) while also risking their lives like climbers. When we go to the mountains, we try to remember whether to choose to carry a 35-kilo backpack or to pay a porter to help us in our work. Above all, we recognize what porters have always done for everyone, from the first to the last expedition, that is, given support and granted the possibility both to go trekking and to climb the highest mountains in the world. Technically, recovery can only take place by helicopter, especially in this period when no porter is willing to carry out recovery in the snow and cold. Whether it will be a military or private vehicle, we don’t know. Let’s just hope that no more snow comes down, otherwise there is a risk that their bodies will be covered and that it will be necessary to wait for spring to recover. But their families don’t have to wait, they are already suffering enough.
January 17, 2023 (change January 17, 2023 | 14:27)
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