The Story from Camp 2
Today is my last day in Argentina. Since returning from the mountain, I´ve had the amazing opportunity to visit a few wineries and meet some of the most influential people in the Argentine wine business. It´s been a great trip. While I´m waiting for my flight I thought I´d fill everyone in on what happened at Camp 2 a little over a week ago.
After we lost Dana at Base Camp, Chuck, Ken, Dewayne and I pushed on to higher elevation. We carried equipment loads from 13,400 feet at Base Camp to 16,000 feet at Camp 1. One of the hardest parts about this climb is the amount of work that it takes to move from camp to camp. You have to carry all of your own gear, as well as community gear, supplies, and food to last at least one week. There are days where you carry loads on your back up nightmarish terrain, at high altitudes, just to drop everything off and then come back down to sleep at the same camp you were at the night before. This also serves the purpose of aclimating yourself to the higher altitude, but at the same time it´s incredibly exhausting. Dewayne began to really struggle with this concept after our first carry to camp one. He´s had knee surgery, and the descent is much more dificult for him than the climb up.
After our carries and move to Camp 1, we carried a load to Camp 2 at nearly 18,000 feet. Dewayne was instructed by our lead guide, Mike, to not make the carry, only the move to save his strength. We were also experiencing some pretty bad weather up there. It´s always harsh at that elevation, but we got snowstorms pretty much every night with temperatures hitting -20 with high winds. After our move to Camp 2, I woke up at about 6am with a big problem. At first I thought that I couldn´t breath and began to panic, before I realized that I could breath through my nose. I then reached my hand up to my mouth, and realized that my tongue had swollen and attached itself to the roof of my mouth and back of my teeth. I literally had to pull my tongue and peel it away from the top of my mouth. This hurt like nothing else. I wasn´t really sure why this had happened, but I feared the worst. Edema can happen in two forms, cerebral and pulmonary, both can be fatal. In both cases, it´s a form of swelling tissue, either in your lungs or brain. I thought that my problem might be a sign of cerebral edema, because at that point I had not had any problems breathing, and the thin air did not seem to bother me. I couldn´t go back to sleep after that, worrying that I might not wake up. At 8am, Mike came to our tents like he did every morning to check on everyone and to let us know we had 15 minutes to be ready to move. I told him about my problem, and he said that he hadn´t seem that symptom before, but didn´t think that it was a sign of edema. Regardless, to be on the safe side he told me not to take part in the carry to Camp 3 that day, and to drink lots of water. I spent that day in my tent drinking water and trying to make myself healthy. When he returned later that day he informed me that I was severely dehydrated, and that if I wasn´t careful, the next step would be a case of AMS. I wanted nothing more than to make the summit of this mountain, I had put so much time and hard work into this challenge. I told Mike I would be ready the next morning. The next morning I awoke, tongue still swollen and painful which made it dificult to eat, to the sounds of chaos in the camp. Matthew, our assistant guide, came to my tent and asked how I was doing. I told him that while I was sore, I intended on moving onward and upward. He then told me that Dewayne had come down with a serious case of AMS. He was disoriented, dizzy, vomiting, and could barely stand under his own power. Mike was on the radio trying to get an emergency helicopter evacuation for him. Base Camp denied his request for the helicopter (a few years ago, there was an attempted helicopter rescue at that camp, and the helicopter crashed under high winds, killing 3 people. To this day the wreckage has not been removed, and there are helicopter parts strewn all over the site. It has become known as ¨helicopter camp¨).
Without the aid of a helicopter rescue, Dewayne would need to be carried down. His condition was too serious to wait it out, he would only get worse. Mike instructed Matthew to take him down. Mike then approached me and gave me the news that led to my dilemma. He pointed out that with Matthew leading the evacuation of Dewayne, he was now on his own to take Chuck, Ken, and I to the summit. He also said that Matthew would not be able to take Dewayne down on his own if his condition didn´t improve, he would need help. Mike said that if I were to move on to Camp 3 and then attempt the summit with them, then he would need to radio Base Camp to send up porters to help Matthew with Dewayne. He also said that if my dehydration did not improve, and I did get worse, then he would have no choice but to turn us all around, denying Chuck and Ken their shot at the top. Mike, and then Matthew, made it clear that I was strong enough to assist in the evacuation of Dewayne, and by doing so increased the odds of Chuck and Kens´success. The decision was painful, but also painfully clear. It was gutwrenching to turn away from the goal I had set my sights on for so long, especially being so close. I knew that I could still make it. But at the same time, I knew it would be wrong to put my own selfish goals in front of 3 other people that had also worked so hard to get there. I packed my things and left Camp 2 with Matthew and Dewayne. A short distance down, the Park Ranger met us with an oxygen tank for Dewayne. His condition quickly improved as our elevation dropped and he got some more air in his lungs. Although he was moving incredibly slowly, we arrived at Base Camp safely, where I was treated for some minor cuts and Dewayne was evaluated for AMS. Fortunately, everyone was ok.
Looking back on the situation, I think maybe I gained a lot more from that situation than if I had been successful in making the summit. Most of the climbs that I´ve done in the past have been solo ascents, where the only thing that ever enters my mind is my own safety and my own success. A mountain like Aconcagua is not like that. The team dynamic is the most important aspect of the climb, and you have to be able to trust your teammates and other climbers that you´re up there with, for your own safety. Sadly, the same day that we evacuated Dewayne, another climber that was on our route died on his way to Camp 3. I can´t be certain why he died, but he did have a serious case of Cerebral edema. He either hid his symptoms from the rest of his team or they ignored them, it´s hard to say. The most important lesson that I´ve learned from this experience is to not put too much emphasis on just achieving the goal of reaching the summit. If that´s the only thing you´re concerned with, and you ignore all else, horrible things can happen. For the past 10 years I´ve been driven by the idea of setting a goal, and then taking the necessary steps to get there. And I´ve taken great pride in my achieving every one of those goals. Failure was not an option. What´s truly amazing about this experience is that while I didn´t reach my goal, I don´t see it as a failure. We raised a lot of money for a great organization, and that money will change the lives of a lot of people around the world. This experience I will live with forever, and for the first time I´ve realized that achievement is not the most important thing, but what´s truly important are the decisions that I make, how they effect others, and how I handle the consequences.
Peace,
Ryan
After we lost Dana at Base Camp, Chuck, Ken, Dewayne and I pushed on to higher elevation. We carried equipment loads from 13,400 feet at Base Camp to 16,000 feet at Camp 1. One of the hardest parts about this climb is the amount of work that it takes to move from camp to camp. You have to carry all of your own gear, as well as community gear, supplies, and food to last at least one week. There are days where you carry loads on your back up nightmarish terrain, at high altitudes, just to drop everything off and then come back down to sleep at the same camp you were at the night before. This also serves the purpose of aclimating yourself to the higher altitude, but at the same time it´s incredibly exhausting. Dewayne began to really struggle with this concept after our first carry to camp one. He´s had knee surgery, and the descent is much more dificult for him than the climb up.
After our carries and move to Camp 1, we carried a load to Camp 2 at nearly 18,000 feet. Dewayne was instructed by our lead guide, Mike, to not make the carry, only the move to save his strength. We were also experiencing some pretty bad weather up there. It´s always harsh at that elevation, but we got snowstorms pretty much every night with temperatures hitting -20 with high winds. After our move to Camp 2, I woke up at about 6am with a big problem. At first I thought that I couldn´t breath and began to panic, before I realized that I could breath through my nose. I then reached my hand up to my mouth, and realized that my tongue had swollen and attached itself to the roof of my mouth and back of my teeth. I literally had to pull my tongue and peel it away from the top of my mouth. This hurt like nothing else. I wasn´t really sure why this had happened, but I feared the worst. Edema can happen in two forms, cerebral and pulmonary, both can be fatal. In both cases, it´s a form of swelling tissue, either in your lungs or brain. I thought that my problem might be a sign of cerebral edema, because at that point I had not had any problems breathing, and the thin air did not seem to bother me. I couldn´t go back to sleep after that, worrying that I might not wake up. At 8am, Mike came to our tents like he did every morning to check on everyone and to let us know we had 15 minutes to be ready to move. I told him about my problem, and he said that he hadn´t seem that symptom before, but didn´t think that it was a sign of edema. Regardless, to be on the safe side he told me not to take part in the carry to Camp 3 that day, and to drink lots of water. I spent that day in my tent drinking water and trying to make myself healthy. When he returned later that day he informed me that I was severely dehydrated, and that if I wasn´t careful, the next step would be a case of AMS. I wanted nothing more than to make the summit of this mountain, I had put so much time and hard work into this challenge. I told Mike I would be ready the next morning. The next morning I awoke, tongue still swollen and painful which made it dificult to eat, to the sounds of chaos in the camp. Matthew, our assistant guide, came to my tent and asked how I was doing. I told him that while I was sore, I intended on moving onward and upward. He then told me that Dewayne had come down with a serious case of AMS. He was disoriented, dizzy, vomiting, and could barely stand under his own power. Mike was on the radio trying to get an emergency helicopter evacuation for him. Base Camp denied his request for the helicopter (a few years ago, there was an attempted helicopter rescue at that camp, and the helicopter crashed under high winds, killing 3 people. To this day the wreckage has not been removed, and there are helicopter parts strewn all over the site. It has become known as ¨helicopter camp¨).
Without the aid of a helicopter rescue, Dewayne would need to be carried down. His condition was too serious to wait it out, he would only get worse. Mike instructed Matthew to take him down. Mike then approached me and gave me the news that led to my dilemma. He pointed out that with Matthew leading the evacuation of Dewayne, he was now on his own to take Chuck, Ken, and I to the summit. He also said that Matthew would not be able to take Dewayne down on his own if his condition didn´t improve, he would need help. Mike said that if I were to move on to Camp 3 and then attempt the summit with them, then he would need to radio Base Camp to send up porters to help Matthew with Dewayne. He also said that if my dehydration did not improve, and I did get worse, then he would have no choice but to turn us all around, denying Chuck and Ken their shot at the top. Mike, and then Matthew, made it clear that I was strong enough to assist in the evacuation of Dewayne, and by doing so increased the odds of Chuck and Kens´success. The decision was painful, but also painfully clear. It was gutwrenching to turn away from the goal I had set my sights on for so long, especially being so close. I knew that I could still make it. But at the same time, I knew it would be wrong to put my own selfish goals in front of 3 other people that had also worked so hard to get there. I packed my things and left Camp 2 with Matthew and Dewayne. A short distance down, the Park Ranger met us with an oxygen tank for Dewayne. His condition quickly improved as our elevation dropped and he got some more air in his lungs. Although he was moving incredibly slowly, we arrived at Base Camp safely, where I was treated for some minor cuts and Dewayne was evaluated for AMS. Fortunately, everyone was ok.
Looking back on the situation, I think maybe I gained a lot more from that situation than if I had been successful in making the summit. Most of the climbs that I´ve done in the past have been solo ascents, where the only thing that ever enters my mind is my own safety and my own success. A mountain like Aconcagua is not like that. The team dynamic is the most important aspect of the climb, and you have to be able to trust your teammates and other climbers that you´re up there with, for your own safety. Sadly, the same day that we evacuated Dewayne, another climber that was on our route died on his way to Camp 3. I can´t be certain why he died, but he did have a serious case of Cerebral edema. He either hid his symptoms from the rest of his team or they ignored them, it´s hard to say. The most important lesson that I´ve learned from this experience is to not put too much emphasis on just achieving the goal of reaching the summit. If that´s the only thing you´re concerned with, and you ignore all else, horrible things can happen. For the past 10 years I´ve been driven by the idea of setting a goal, and then taking the necessary steps to get there. And I´ve taken great pride in my achieving every one of those goals. Failure was not an option. What´s truly amazing about this experience is that while I didn´t reach my goal, I don´t see it as a failure. We raised a lot of money for a great organization, and that money will change the lives of a lot of people around the world. This experience I will live with forever, and for the first time I´ve realized that achievement is not the most important thing, but what´s truly important are the decisions that I make, how they effect others, and how I handle the consequences.
Peace,
Ryan
posted by Ryan Maybee, Team HALO Captain at
8:28 AM
3 Comments
