Kazakhs Survive

[Click on the pictures to see larger versions with captions.]

The two Kazakh climbers we saw pushing to the top of Everest without supplemental oxygen on April 30 then descending into the night are back at ABC, alive and comparatively unscathed. But hearing their tale makes it clear that they pushed the envelope of survival.

When asked if they thought they may not make it down, Maxut Zhumayev, 30, grinned grimly and told me, "Every minute we thought about death."

Following up from where my last dispatch left off, our own five Sherpas reached ABC at 7.30 p.m. on April 30 after summiting, and a night of partying ensued in the Himex camp.

Meanwhile, we'd last scoped the Kazakhs descending the Third Step at 4:48 p.m. that same day and the two men were still battling down. That was a worry, as it meant they would descend some hard ground by night well above 26,000 feet. No radio communications came from them until they reached Camp 4 at 27,000 feet and called down to their outfitter at base camp at around 4 a.m.

Russell Brice, still at base camp, was in on the communications loop and let our ABC team know that the Kazakh boys were "in trouble" at Camp 4. Reports that one of them was unable to move one leg and that both had frostbite filtered in.

Lakpa Sherpa, who works for their trekking outfit Arun Trekking, set out from ABC using oxygen in order to race up to their location. He gathered more Sherpas on the North Col and the group hurried up the ridge to meet the two men.

When the Sherpas found the Kazakhs, they had worked their way down to 25,900 feet near Camp 3. Lakpa told me that while Maxut was in fair shape, Vassily Pivtsov, 31, was laying on his back in the snow, gasping, eyes bulging, hands waving around.

Lakpa judged the man to be on the verge of death, so he shoved an oxygen mask on him. Initially, Vassily fought the mask because using the oxygen would taint their goal of making the entire ascent and descent without supplemental oxygen. But after a few slaps from Lakpa he accepted it for the sake of survival.

Around 1 p.m. on May 1, the Sherpas radioed ABC to report the Kazakhs were going to survive. By 5 p.m. they were at the North Col. At 6.30, cameraman Ed Venner met them as they staggered back to ABC. Maxut walked in under his own steam, but Vassily needed frequent support from the Sherpas and had been dropping to his knees and clutching his chest.

At ABC the men revealed that they'd gone 48 hours without a drop of water during their summit push and descent. In between guzzles of fruit juice, they joked around. Maxut, elated, turned to Everest and said he was proud to have climbed the peak for his father and for being the first Kazakh to do so without oxygen.

Vassily was more withdrawn, more physically wrecked. Diagnosed with some frostbite to his feet and with some gurgling in one lung (lung damage rather than pulmonary edema, according to a doctor), he recovered enough to phone his wife later that night.

This morning, when I met them for the first time, they accepted me into their tent and poured me tea. They seemed to drift off on tangents as they spoke (both in English), but they were elated to be alive. Burned noses and parched lips looked to be the worst of their injuries, though I didn’t see what shape their feet were in.

They told their story in a daze, but the important parts of their ordeal came through dramatically: the wind that bit through their clothes all day and slowed them to a crawl on their 24-hour ascent, which began at 10 p.m. at 25,900 feet on the night of April 29; their frigid night during the descent when they crawled into an empty Chinese team’s tent at 27,000 feet (their own tent was 1,300 feet lower), which they reached in the dark and which contained neither a stove, food nor sleeping bags.

They shivered all night in that tent and since they had no stove, they couldn’t produce water. That was why they spent 48 hours with parched throats and dangerously low bodily water intake. By morning they almost couldn't move from the exhaustion, but they knew "if we stay at 8,300 meters (27,000 feet), we die."

They headed down and met a Chinese climber who gave them a little water from his canteen. When Maxut describes the way that water felt trickling down his throat, he goes into an animated mime of joy and then desperation that it was merely a mouthful.

The men took a huge risk, but it paid off. They came to Everest with a huge body of experience — since 1998 they've climbed, always together, most of the 26,000-foot peaks in the world. Only Manaslu, Lhotse and K2 remain. They plan to head to K2 in June after some R&R in their hometown of Almaty, Kazakhstan.

It was a gift for me to meet these guys and shake their hands. They're the real McCoy. Sure, they're the sort of alpinist who I may read an obituary about sometime soon because they so totally lay it on the line. But that's the path they've chosen. They are genuine alpinists. In no way can they, nor I, justify the incredible risks and commitment they accept on their climbs, but that's what they do, and on-the-edge adventurers like them make this world a more interesting place.

Signing off,
Greg Child

Comments

[sasha]

Perseverance. Determination. Energy. Camaraderie. These are the inspiring ingredients of you all now climbing Everest. You are all examples of each quality. Thank you for being fine representatives of these qualities that inspire others to climb whatever mountain in life, to achieve their dreams and go beyond the limit. You are all so beautiful to us here following your expedition! Laugh and be well.

[Kim Kent]

Greg.. how awesome we have your insight/posts regarding this years adventure! Thank you so much for that, it is reassuring to hear 1st hand what is going on on that huge mountain. Tim.... you rock and you know it. Keep the faith and all will go well, I'm sure of it. Can't wait for you to get back!! Godspeed to all of you, Kim-San Diego

[matt hardy]

thanks for another inspiring blog greg well done to the two kazaks im so glad there both ok and what an achivment for them both thank you to sherpas that quickly sprinted up everest to help them hope all the himex team are doing well cant wait for your next blog greg matt uk..

[Eric]

Yeah, sure.. these are the Real McCoy... not!

Because of their stupidity to go up that late and pushing on while knowing by then they would spend the night up there, a Sherpa rescue team had to set out at night to answer their may-day call. And in doing so these Sherpa's had to risk their lives because these Kazachs a**-holes had an ego way too big.

Next time please think when talking about "The Real McCoy".