The Mammoth Book of Mountain Disasters by MacInnes Hamish

Author:MacInnes, Hamish [MacInnes, Hamish]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Constable & Robinson
Published: 2012-10-16T14:54:43+00:00

Pete Lev and I had climbed up several leads in the late afternoon and were the first to meet Pete Sinclair and Jim Greig who were coming down from the Otter Body Snowfield lowering the helpless people, all suffering from hypothermia. We did not reach them until late afternoon or dusk as I recall. Pete and I were quickly joined by other rescuers and we all participated in the lowering process down the rock wall to the top of Teepe’s Glacier. We were all wearing headlamps and the shadows of the victims and the rescuers against the walls were quite dramatic. I remember Jake Breitenbach (killed on Everest the next year) strapping one man to his back and rapelling down. Some were in very bad shape and two, it seemed at the time, rather near death. Anyway, there was no time to wait for litters because it was still snowing and all the victims were absolutely soaked through.

A crew lower down at the top of Teepe’s Glacier had hacked out a large platform just below the rock walls and were receiving the Appies as we lowered them or brought them down on our backs. All finally were sitting on the snow tied to a number of ice axes driven in to the hilt just above the platform. The snow was extremely steep and quite hard. A slip would have meant a 2,000-foot slide down the glacier (really more of a steep snowfield but technically a glacier) into the rocks of the moraine below and certain death.

We all were very concerned we would have more hypothermia deaths unless we got the people down to the rescue group waiting at the bottom of the glacier with medical attention, soup, sleeping bags, etc., and the helicopters which would be there at dawn (no chance of pickup at the top of the glacier). We decided to lower everyone – really just slide them – down the glacier from our top stance to a lower stance several hundred feet below. Here we decided to make another platform from which a final lower could be made to where the angle of the snow eased and the Appies could be carried or dragged to the edge of the glacier and assistance. Herb Swedland and Jake went down to make the lower stance – perhaps 500 feet down. Meanwhile, Peter Lev, Sterling Neale, Rick Horn and I tied five loops in a climbing rope and placed five Appies in them. Each victim was tied about ten feet apart. We belayed this expeditious arrangement from two ice axes driven into the floor of our platform. I stood on one and let out the rope while Sterling watched the system and prepared to add additional ropes. Pete Lev (wearing crampons) descended to assist the Appies as they were being lowered. We slid the victims one by one off the platform and began lowering. They were heavy and I wished we had had a better belay.

Suddenly Pete yelled up to stop. He said there was an empty loop.

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