원정 개요

A [stated] principal aim of the expedition was to come to understand and film the life of climbing Sherpas from Khumbu. So first they trekked amongst the villages of Khumbu and scaled Island Peak (all members except Leger and three Sherpas summited on 9 April).

Then they went into Tibet and on 22 April arrived at Chinese base camp for their movements on Everest. On their return to Kathmandu, the leader, Theo Fritsche, and member of Jochen Hemmleb, who is an expert on the history of Everest climbs, said they had made no attempt to find the body of Andrew Irvine, who disappeared in 1924 with George Mallory, of their camera (their focus was entirely on Sherpas).

However, one of the Sherpas who was with the team, Pasang Gelu, said that they had indeed looked for them, and it became clear that what Fritsche and Hemmleb had called summit bids were actually high-altitude searches.

Pasang Gelu was one of the climbers who searched in two areas of Everest's north side. Their instructions were to go to specific areas with a metal detector. The first search was conducted on 22 May, when he, Nima Tenji and Phurba were told to go up to 8600m and look carefully from the top of the Second Step down in the area along the NE Ridge to look for the body that Chinese earlier had called the "English dead" and to use the metal detector at the same time.

According to Pasang Gelu (not to Fritsche and Hemmleb, who provided different details), the three Sherpas left C3 at 5:00 am. They climbed together to 8600m and moved down as far as about 8450m, but the area was covered by very deep snow. They found no body and no metal objects except oxygen bottles. They returned to C3 at 2:00 pm.

Their second search began from C3 at 2:00 am on the 26th, said Pasang Gelu. This time the party consisted of the same three Sherpas plus the leader's son Stefan. They covered an area from 8300m to 8500m on steep moraine on the left side of the Great Couloir only lightly covered by a sprinkling of snow. The weather was cloudy and a fierce wind was blowing that destroyed many tents. Again no body or camera was found. They were back in C3 at 11:30 am and continued all the way down to ABC, where they arrived at 5:00 pm.

The remaining Sherpas and members were in ABC on the 27th. The climb was now over because, Fritsche and Hemmleb said, the weather was bad and everyone was tired.

Oxygen was used in the first search by the three Sherpas in C3 to their high points at 8600m to C3. In the second search, they used it from C3 to their high point, 8450m, down to 8000m to 8450m and down to 8000m.

Sherpas:
Nima Tenji, 1980, Balukhof, Kharikhola-7, Everest X2
Pasang Gelu, 1/10/82 (15/7/2029), Kurima, Lokhim-9, Solu, no 8000ers
Phurba/Phurba Ongel, 30/7/81 (15/4/2038), Sedua, Makalu-9, Everest X1,
Annapurna X1