BREAKING EVEREST NEWS: My expedition was cancelled today, Wednesday, 4/23/2014, by International Mountain Guides (IMG) leadership. Apparently there is a faction of Sherpa that are threatening violence if any company sends Sherpa up Everest. In order to maintain the safety of IMG Sherpa and avoid any confrontation or injury to them the company has decided to cancel the climb for this season.
UNTIL TODAY: Since last Friday’s disaster, all of us on my team have been dealing with emotions in the aftermath of the avalanche that killed 16 Sherpa. I saw dead bodies being flown off the mountain as they dangled from a 60 foot long line. The accident was a game changer for me. My priorities shifted in an instant. Where once the goal was the top, now the goal for me shifted to family and getting home safely. The risk was there before the accident, and it is still there. But now there is no way to ignore it. Three dead bodies are still buried at the site of the avalanche. I was almost to the site of the avalanche the day before the accident, but now I look at the western shoulder of Mt Everest and see all the ice poised up there and wonder, is it worth exposing myself six more times to the apparent danger in the icefall to give myself a chance at the summit? If I was 40 years younger with no responsibilities my answer may be yes. Now a 68 year old great-grandfather the answer is probably not. Too many people are counting on me coming home. The one common thing all successful climbers have is a burning desire to get to the top. It is a complete focus, dedication, and commitment that doesn’t waver even when faced with adversity on the mountain. Without that burning desire a climber is exposed to more danger and even more risk because he is not completely “present” in the moment. That desire will come back for me, I’m just not sure when or where.
I think the avalanche that occurred has set the rest of the ice field “in motion” and it is just a matter of time (I think a short time) before there is another avalanche in the icefall. Of course there is no way to predict that avalanche. But every day we listen to falling ice and rock all around us as other avalanches (up to 12 a day) send debris hurtling down the mountains surrounding our base camp. The big unknown is when the ice on the western shoulder of Everest will let loose causing the next avalanche in the icefall and possibly killing more people?
Before the devastating accident last Friday I was pumped just to be here and to have the opportunity to climb Everest and possibly set a record. Now that 16 Sherpa gave their lives my goal of being the oldest American to climb Everest is trivial and insignificant compared to what these men gave up to give people like me an opportunity to climb Everest. I am totally humbled by their sacrifice and want to respect and honor that sacrifice. The Sherpa have closed the mountain in memory of the 16 that died and also to ensure that their demands for higher compensation are met by the Ministry [Nepal’s Ministry of Tourism]. We all want something positive to come of this disaster and support higher compensation for the Sherpa in the event of a death. We have also discussed other alternatives that would support families that have lost a loved one. My heart is with the Sherpa and their families. It is not with the climb. The climb no longer has a high priority for me. And I don’t know how that will change given all the uncertainty of when the mountain will be open again and the danger that still exists in the icefall.
The story is still unfolding as the Sherpa seek changes within their government and as the climbing community on the mountain deals with the uncertainty of the climbing season. Some companies have already left the mountain and others are contemplating doing the same. In the aftermath of the worst disaster in mountaineering history there is still a huge respect between Sherpa and climbers. And there is a silent hope throughout Everest Base Camp that a real positive change will occur for the Sherpa and their families.
— Jim Geiger, from Everest Base Camp