A Great Rescue in a Snowstorm on MtQomolangma.docx

1、A Great Rescue in a Snowstorm on MtQomolangmaA Great Rescue in a Snowstorm on Mt.Qomolangma On Oct. 11th， 2013， the National Meteorological Center released news concerning the super cyclonic storm Fehling that was coming from the Bay of Bengal. The news said that during the following two days （the 1

2、4th and 15th） Fehling would bring about heavy snow， even snowstorms in Southwest Tibet. However， at that time， in the Mt. Qomolangma base camp， a lot of tourists waited to have a glimpse of Mt. Qomolangma. Also on Oct. 11th， organized by Tibet Lungda International Travel Service， a tour was heading

3、for Karma Valley. The touring party was made up of ten people， including Kenneth Dean Higgins and his wife from Australia， another couple of exploration fans， and three local yak porters from the Village of Qudeng. The workmen came leading their yaks to carry luggage for travelers. On Oct. 11th， Tib

4、et Holy Land International Travel Service and another five travelers from New Zealand set out from the Village of Yupa， Qudeng， and walked to the east slope of Mt. Qomolangma. Then， they would turn into Karma Valley and start their expedition into the ancient land. Their companions included a guide，

5、 four Nepalese high elevation guides， and three yak porters. They had planned to finish their travel in ten days by Oct. 21st. Rescue in the Lhundrup Village On Oct. 12th， it began to snow with snowflakes drifting in the sky. In Shigatse Prefecture， the whole line from West to East： Drongpa， Dinggye

6、， Gyirong， Tingri， Kamba， Yadong and Phari， were all covered by white snow. The mountains around Shigatse had put on white hats as well. In a yak herders tent in the Mt. Qomolangma base camp， Zhou Hongyue， a tourist from Tianjin， told herself that the weather is variable here： it blows atone moment，

7、 and snows the next. Her companions thought the same and believed that it might stop snowing and turn fine the next day. However， outside the tent the snow kept falling. Every now and then， the tent owner put dried dung into the stove and served his guests hot water and butter tea. About forty Tibet

8、an Tashi Dzong villagers had set up the tents. Now， in the 58 tents， 86 travelers were sheltering. On Oct. 13th， the snow on the ground was as thick as 30 centimeters. Tourists in the yak tents were unwilling to go outside. Due to the bad weather， the base station， using solar power for mobile commu

9、nication had been out of service. Everyone felt a little fidgety. Nonetheless， there were still 68 travelers stuck in the family hotel of the Rongpo Monastery and the Rongpo Hotel. On Oct. 13th， according to their travel speed， the five tourists from New Zealand must surely have been within range of

10、 Karma Valley. However， no one could get touch with the touring party because there was no signal from their mobile phones， and due to the bad weather， satellite phones were out of service as well. Also on Oct. 13th， the party of Kenneth Dean Higgins was marching along their way and hardly on Mt. Ra

11、mallah in the wind and snow. Having climbed over the pass of Mt. Ramallah， they found a leeward place at the foot of the mountain and put up tents for a rest. The wind roared wildly around the valley and the noise covered all sounds of footsteps in the snow. After midnight， as enough snow was fallin

12、g to bury a camel on Mt. Ramallah. Enough snow poured down and buried the nearest tent to the mountain first， the tent of the three yak owners. A snow avalanche， with a strong blast behind it， pushed the other four tourists， one guide， and two chefs quite far away and more or less buried them. The f

13、ormer camp disappeared in an instant. At night， in the Village of Lhundrup， villagers and security guards heard the loud roaring of the snow slide and hurried to the accident spot to rescue and excavate the trapped people. At the same time， they sent a special envoy to the government of the Township

14、 Village of Qudeng to report the situation. Soon， the chefs， a guide and three tourists were found one by one and placed in the villagers houses. But， for a long time， they failed to find Kenneth Dean Higgins and the three yak workers. After dozens of villagers worked unremittingly， Kenneth Dean Hig

15、gins was found at last. But， affected with altitude stress and having been buried for too long， the 60-year-old Higgins appeared very weak. With the help of Tibetan villagers， his wife fed Kenneth Dean Higgins some warm water and butter tea. “Then， I saw him recovering little by little， but anyway，

16、he still left me 20 minutes later，” his wife recalled the scene with a broken-heart. The search and rescue organized by the common people continued. However when the three yak workers were found， they had died unfortunately. Rescue at the Mt. Qomolangma Base Camp On Oct. 14th， before dawn， news came

17、 to the government and the county party committee of Tingri that some tourists were trapped on either side of the Mt. Qomolangma base camp and Karma Valley. Immediately， the county party committee called on an urgent meeting and laid out the rescue task. In the meeting， it was decided that the rescu

18、e would be launched on two separate routes： one team would go to the side of the Mt. Qomolangma base camp， the other would go to Qudeng and save the travelers detained in Karma Valley. A team of over 40 people， three loaders， one excavator and one truck struggled up to the Mt. Qomolangma base camp.

19、The snow had been thicker than 50 centimeters then （in some section even more than 60 centimeters）. The snow flakes， driven by the wind， drifted and danced all around. Visibility was low and road access was difficult. To improve their speed， the excavator only dug two narrow channels at the width of

20、 the vehicles to let their wheels keep moving. At 3：00 pm of Oct. 14th， having advanced by removing all snow along the way， the rescue team headed for the Mt. Qomolangma base camp， arriving at the Village of Qudzong， 20 kilometers away from the Rongpo Monastery. This place was the most difficult for

21、 vehicles to access because the deepest snow covered the road. It was even thicker than one meter. At a turning on the road where the excavator had cleared the snow， the team found some cars almost concealed by the snow. Assisted by the excavator， the team members approached the cars quickly by digg

22、ing and shoveling with hands and spades. All trapped persons were pulled out of the cars. Then， the rescuers went on clearing the snow away from the road， and finally dug out eight tourists and two cars in 45 minutes. They were the first group saved by the team on the way to the Mt. Qomolangma base

23、camp. According to the survivors， they were stuck because their cars suspension was broken. “Thank you， we passed here as we went down the mountain and were stuck for a few hours unexpectedly. But at such a critical moment， you come so soon， thanks a lot！” The rescued tourist couldnt help expressing

24、 their appreciation from the bottom of hearts. At 8：00 pm， as the excavator and loader rumbled on and reached the Monastery of Rongpo. People who had been detained here went out and shook the hands of the team members. They said excitedly，“Thanks to the government of the Tingri County， thanks for co

25、ming and saving us.” Some tourists also expressed their feelings in foreign languages： “Thank you！ Thanks to the Chinese Government！” Then， the medical staff started giving physical examinations for the tourists， and offering help and medicine for those in need. Having assured the rescuerssafety and

26、 that the detained tourists in and around the Monastery of Rongpo were physically sound， the team continued way to the Mt. Qomolangma base camp. Though one site was only about two kilometers away from the other， everyone felt much concerns in hearts. At last， at 8：50 pm， they successfully arrived an

27、d found the 86 tourists besieged in the camp. It went on snowing. The former road by which they came was covered with snow again. More than that， the stuck vehicles were lying in various difficult conditions. It would be very dangerous if they went down the mountain at night， so the rescuers decided

28、 that all the 86 tourists and vehicles in the Mt. Qomolangma base camp would be moved downhill and accommodated in the Hotel of Rongpo， transferred down the mountain the next morning. Until one oclock in the morning of Oct. 15th， all tourists who had been stuck in the Mt. Qomolangma base camp were s

29、ettled down. To assure food supply for the detained， the rescue team decided to gather all the grain reserved for people stationed in the Monastery of Rongpo， and goods and materials in the family hotels of Rongpo and the Hotel of Rongpo were distributed equally in a unified way. Whats more， the goo

30、ds brought by the team， including 80 cases of convenient noodles， 50 cases of potable water， 100 sacks of rice， 50 sacks of flour， 100 sacks of Tsamba and 70 emergency beds were all put to use. “Seeing the tourists holding hot food， we relaxed a little，” said Tsetop， the Vice County Magistrate. The

31、frowns， which had hung on the brows of tourists when they were held up， now faded away. Instead， people cheered up， talked and laughed. A day of anxiety and weariness was released and turned into strong drowsiness. Everyone soon went to sleep. At 5：00 am on Oct. 15th， two SUVs set out from the Count

32、y of Tingri， driving for the Hotel of Rongpo to receive the walking travelers. At 10：00 am， the SUVs returned back to the Township Village of Tashi Dzong. The fallen snow reached to 45 centimeters thick again. To assure everyone was safe as they went down the mountain， the head office set up three g

33、roups： respectively responsible for rescuing， settlement and transferring. The first group would survey the road to assure it was passable. Vans in good condition would follow the first group. The second moved to and fro in the middle of the caravan， being mainly responsible for guiding and coordinating in