Everest team somber after Sherpa’s death

Steadily progressing up the southeast ridge of Mt. Everest, Costa Mesa’s Bill Burke is more than a month into his journey to the top of the world’s tallest mountain.

Here are selected excerpts from his most recent trip reports.

April 20, Everest Base Camp (17,600 feet)

“We had some excitement on our trip to Camp I. An avalanche came crashing down the mountain into the Icefall and was headed directly toward our position. We closed our backpacks and secured ourselves to the fixed lines waiting to see what would happen…. The avalanche was swallowed by the many crevasses in the Icefall and never reached us…. The weather changes constantly. At times, the sun makes the climbing feel like passing through the desert. Then, the clouds roll in and the temperature plummets to 30 degrees and out come the heavy jackets, pants, gloves and beanies. It snows almost every day, usually in the late afternoon.”

April 26, Camp II

(21,300 feet)

“There has been a terrible accident on the Lhotse face, which is where I was headed today. A Sherpa from one of the other teams fell to his death. We don’t know quite what happened, but apparently he was going up to fix lines, (which is where we were headed) on his way to Camp 3 with his team and did not have an ascender hooked to the line…. He was hooked to the line with a carabiner, but he fell quite a ways, like 100 [feet] and he hit his head on a ice serac, a terrible accident. We were coming up to the line when it happened and they were burying him in the snow…. These Sherpas are so experienced and are daredevils that a lot of times they don’t use this equipment, they should. You see a lot of the Sherpas on the mountain without crampons (the devices attached to your boots).”

April 29,

Everest Base Camp

“The death of Dawa Sherpa on the Lhotse face was a stunning and sad blow to everyone on the mountain…. The Sherpas are the heart and soul of climbing Mt. Everest and the surrounding mountains. They form the backbone of every expedition and, without them, climbing 8,000 meter mountains would be limited to a select few…. Yesterday, a huge ice block at the top of the Icefall collapsed. From EBC, it sounded like a sonic boom and a plumb of snow could be seen rising from the location of the collapse like a bomb had gone off. Later in the day, a huge ice serac calved off from the glacier and thundered down the mountain. It was the loudest and longest fall to date. We learned yesterday that our kitchen tent at Camp II blew away in the strong winds we have experienced over the last few days. Today, our Sherpas are back at Camp II exploring the damage and re-establishing our kitchen tent. As noted, we are resting at EBC for a few days. After the rest, our plan is to climb to Camp II and spend the night and then climb to Camp III and spend one or two nights. We will then return to EBC for more rest and acclimatization.”

— Compiled by Jessie Brunner