원정 개요

Not above BC except Murphy and Horst and then only to Icefall to rescue Sherpas.

The avalanche fatal to 16 Sherpas was caused by a serac breaking off from the lower west shoulder at 6:45 am on 18 April.

Five Sherpas working with this team and with the associated NBC team led by Ben Jones were killed in this icefall disaster. They were Tshering Chottar Sherpa, Nima Sherpa and Ang Tshiri Sherpa with this team and Dorji Sherpa and Mingma Nuru with the NBC group.

Murphy, Horst and Lhakpa Rita Sherpa went into the Icefall to take part in rescuing Sherpas hit by the avalanche. They rescued first those who could walk despite their broken arms, wounded the bodies of the dead. They stayed in the Icefall for two hours, 45 minutes (not nearly as long as other rescuers, who stayed until 2:00 pm).

The Sherpas had been unhappy about the way the "Icefall Doctors" had made the route, installing only one leader in places where there should have been two, for example. They felt that the route should have received more attention, in that it had not been up to the quality of the past.

But this was not the major factor in the refusal of the Sherpas to resume climbing after the fatal avlanche. The deaths of their collegues were what led them to stop. Some Sherpas at first were willing to resume the climb, but their eyes and body language showed their extreme reluctance, following all the deaths. Most foreigers did want to go back, and many said they intended to return to Everest as soon as they could manage. (The Nepelese government reportedly offered new permits for climbs within the next five years).

This team's members concluded that they would not resume their climb this spring out of respect for their team's Sherpas and the other dead Sherpas. The first four members to leave flew out of BC in a helicopter on 21 April. The leader, Murphy, walked out to Lukla on the 22nd. Others were still there, using the BC for an attempt to climb nearby Lobuche East.

Note: three AAI Sherpas were among the avalanche victims:
Ang Tsiri Sherpa, Thami, Namche-7
Nima Sherpa, Namche-9
Tenzing Chhotar Sherpa, Namche-9, 24/11/1989