Buried in the Sky: The Extraordinary Story of the Sherpa Climbers on K2's Deadliest Day (33 page)

Lama clan, 67

lamas,
33, 56, 70

   of Chhiring, 2, 26, 27, 104, 124, 172

   climbing Everest and, 24

   death rites and, 18

   names and, 67

   sky burials and, 103

   Surra and, 69

Lambert, Raymond, 245
n

languages, 68

   Ajak Bhote, 56, 122

   Balti, 29, 99, 122, 239
n,
249
n

   Chhiring’s knowledge of, 23

   English, 23, 114, 122, 123, 145, 215

   Nepali, 57, 122, 145, 224

   organizational issues and, 122–23, 145,
147,
153, 185

   porters and, 99

   Sherpa dialects and, 66

   Tibetan, 56, 239
n

   Urdu, 122, 145, 219

   Wakhi, 87, 99, 110, 122, 248
n

Lashkar Khan, 210

latrines, 99

legends and myths, 14–16, 237
n

   about Shah dynasty, 51–52

   about Shimshal, 79–81

   Wiessner’s fostering of, 35

Lehman Brothers, 216

Lhotse, Mount,
10,
60, 229–30

Life,
84–85

light, oxygen deprivation and, 201

Liliwa,
98

Little Tibet, 22

liver, 163

logistical meetings, 119, 122–23

London, 216

longevity, 15–16, 84

Los Angeles International Airport, 222

low-altitude porters (LAPS),
94,
96–100, 249
n

lungs, 116, 117, 130, 142, 163, 168, 182, 204

   acute vasospasm and, 163, 164

   avalanches and, 200, 201

   of Shaheen, 132, 133, 134

Lung Ta
(wind horse), 104

Makalu, Mount,
10,
55, 69, 228–29

Mallory, George, 70–71

Manaslu, 220–21, 228–29

mandarin oranges, 59

Mandic, Dren, 114, 115, 126, 208, 213

   fall and death of,
147,
149–55, 251
n

Mantle, Mickey, 74

mantras, 46, 103, 104, 113, 124, 144

Maoists, in Nepal,
10,
52, 53–54, 60, 61

Mao Zedong, 76

maps:

   of Abruzzi and Cesen Routes,
120,
121

   approach to K2,
98

   Camp 4 to Summit,
147

   Karakorum, Himalaya, and Hindu Kush,
xiv

   of Kashmir, 29

   Montgomerie’s sketch of K2,
30

   Rolwaling, Khumbu, and Arun regions of Nepal,
10

   Shimshal to K2,
94

   of Shimshal Valley, Pakistan,
78

   Summit to Camp 4,
162

marriage, 68, 81–82, 126, 192, 229

   bride abduction and, 69

   honeymoons and, 5, 84–85

   intermarriage, 66, 70, 71, 73, 75

Mars candy bars, 133

martial law, 53

Masherbrum,
see
K1

Masood, Amir, 211–13

matchlocks, 82

Mazur, Dan, 253
n

McAleese, Mary, 216

McDonnell, Gerard (Ger), 112–13, 115, 121, 123, 141, 188–90, 193–98

   attempted rescue of tangled climbers by,
162,
193–96, 254
n,
255
n

   death of,
162,
216

   Falvey’s documentary and, 224

   at K2 summit, 159, 216

   personal items of, 127

   route lost by, 5,
162,
180–83

   singing of, 5, 181

McGuinness, Jamie, 105

meat, 99, 106, 110, 245
n

Mecca, 97, 110

media, 35, 40, 41, 43, 76

   Italian, 205, 222, 223

   K2 disaster and, 6, 215–16, 222

   Korean, 219

   murder of Shah family and, 243
n

   non-Western focus in, 224, 257
n

   Rice and, 222

   Wilco’s location and, 256
n

medical exams, 85

medicine,
see
drugs

Mehdi, Amir, 39, 41, 85, 241
n

Meherban, Abrar, 89, 214

Meherban, Karim,
78,
88–91, 95–98, 109–11, 126, 197–98

   fall and death of,
162,
183, 213–14, 225, 226

   at K2 summit, 159

   memorial plate for, 209

   photos and, 183, 197, 253
n

   and sound of avalanche, 200

   wandering off of, 5, 154,
162,
164, 165, 166, 170, 182–83

   weather prediction and, 118, 119, 136, 137

Meherban, Parveen, 89, 90, 214, 225

Meherban, Rahmin Ullah, 214, 225

Meherban, Shadi, 90–91, 225, 226–27

Meherban, Umbreen, 214

memorial plates, 209–10

merchants, from Xinjiang, 80–81

Merseyside Himalayan Expedition, 238
n

Meru, Mount, 22

Messner, Reinhold, 40, 61

Météo-France, 137

meteorologists, 115, 118–19, 136–37, 138

Métis temp agency, 159

Meyer, Eric, 43–47, 151, 153

   background of, 44

   on Camp 2 tents, 131

   at Camp 4, 144, 183–84, 187, 251
n

   Chhiring’s return and, 183

   field hospital created by, 210

   at K2 Base Camp, 103, 104, 105, 114, 210

   medicine of, 114, 127, 131–32, 135, 139, 151, 183–84

   Shaheen treated by, 131–32

military, U.S., 206

Miracle Belay, 37

Mirjana (Mandic’s girlfriend), 126

Miyolangsangma, 16, 23–24, 25

Modafinil, 184

money:

   power of, 25

   
see also
wages and income

Mongolia, Mongols, 14, 28, 66

“Montanara, La” (song), 181

Montgomerie, Thomas, 29,
30

moon, 35, 154, 164

Moorcroft, William, 28

Moro, Simone, 87–88, 223, 248
n

Motivator, The, 146

mountaineering, 70–71

   changes in spirit of, 41

   Chhiring’s worries about, 19–20

   expedition-style vs. alpine-style climbing and, 127–29

   K2 and, 1–7, 31–36

   Kathmandu as base for, 22

   Nepal civil war and, 54

   self-sufficiency and, 3

mountaineering jobs, competition for, 69–72

Mountain Madness, 42

mountain sickness, acute, 117

Mount Everest Summiters Club, 27

mouth, Muslim view of, 110

Muhammad, Prophet, 87, 108, 110

Muhammad Nazim Khan, Mir, 84–85

Munter hitch, 196

murder:

   of Nepalese royal family, 48–52, 58, 242
n,
243
n

   by Safdar Ali, 83, 247
n
–48
n

Murph Goes to K2
(documentary), 46

music, 5, 123, 126, 181

Muslims, Islam, 36, 134, 239
n,
245
n

   beards and, 87

   conversion to, 79

   Danish satirizing of, 107–8

   food and, 99, 110, 126

   Ismaili, 98, 110

   mouth as viewed by, 110

   
salat
and, 97, 115

   in Tibet, 66

   
see also
Allah; Qur’an, Quranic law

myths,
see
legends and myths

names:

   Pasang’s changing of, 56–57

   of Sherpa, 66–68, 245
n

Nanga Parbat, 39, 72, 85, 228

   crystal palace of, 89, 248
n

   German expeditions to, 19, 238
n

   as “The Killer Mountain,” 89

Nangpa La Pass, 71

Narayanhity Palace, 48–51, 242
n

National Geographic Adventure,
6, 223

National Park Service, U.S., 109

nausea, 132, 133

Nazir Sabir Expeditions, 86, 96

Nehru, Jawaharlal, 74

neoprene masks, 87

Nepal:

   caps on climbing expeditions and, 108

   civil war in, 48, 52–54, 58, 60, 243
n

   on collision course between continental plates, 12

   economy of, 21

   Maoists in,
10,
52, 53–54, 60, 61

   on maps,
xiv,
10,
78

   mountaineering forbidden by, 71

   permits in, 249
n

   problems with feudal system in, 52–53

   royal family murdered in, 48–52, 58, 242
n,
243
n

   Sherpa ancestors’ move to, 14

   Sherpa as percent of population of, 13, 237
n

   sky burial in, 249
n

   Tenzing’s Everest climb and, 74, 75

Nepali language, 57, 122, 145, 224

Nessa, Lars Flato, 159, 173, 254
n

   emergency rope carried by, 252
n

   photo taken by, 254
n

   Rolf’s disappearance and death and, 168–69, 252
n

   videotaping by, 166

New Age movement, 21

New York Times,
6, 41, 216, 246
n

New York Yankees, 74

nicknames, 66–67

Nirajan, Prince of Nepal, 50–51

nitric oxide, 65, 117

Norit Group, 160

North Col, 145

Northern Areas, 85

North Pole, 32, 38, 114

North Ridge, 61

North-West Frontier Province, 226

Norway, 25, 126, 222

Norwegian K2 Expedition,
see
Bae, Rolf; Nessa, Lars Flato; Skog, Cecilie

NOS3 gene, 164

Oceana
(steamer), 32

offerings, 74, 102, 104, 124, 155

Omaha Beach, D-Day at, 31

Operation Everest II, 44

opium, 31, 49, 242
n

Oppitz, Michael, 244
n

Outside,
6

overcrowding, 142–43, 148, 155

oxygen, 65, 117, 130, 142, 182, 201

   in the Death Zone, 116

oxygen, bottled, 24, 61, 116, 118, 124, 126–29, 134, 143, 149, 188, 193

   alpine-style climbing and, 128

   cost of, 143, 251
n

   expedition-style climbing and, 127, 129

   given to Marco, 204–5

   going without, 2, 25–26, 41, 43, 45, 77, 86, 128, 144, 149, 194, 205

   Italian expedition and, 39, 40, 241
n

   at K2 summit, 159

   running out of, 163–64, 166

oxygen deprivation, 1, 30, 37, 44, 118, 145, 170, 201–2

   Sherpa adaptation to, 64–65

   vision and, 201

oxygen masks, 204–5, 241
n,
246
n

Padova, ice cream parlor in, 117

Pakistan, 16, 29, 40, 107–23, 159, 189, 191, 216

   creation of, 36, 85

   Fearless Five in, 95–96, 101, 210–15

   Hunza and, 85, 248
n

   India’s border disputes with, 211

   and limits on K2 expeditions, 41, 45, 108

   on maps,
xiv,
10,
78,
94

   porters from, 39, 96–101

   wages in, 99

   
see also
Shimshal; Shimshal Valley

Paldorje clan, 103

Paras, King of Nepal, 52

Park Kyeong-hyo, 122, 123, 143, 159, 187

Parliament, Nepal, 53

Parvati (Gauri), 238
n

Passu,
78,
91,
94

patricide, 83

Patriot Extreme, 101

Peak Freaks, 42

Peary, Robert, 38

“People’s War, The,” 53

permits, 105, 108, 249
n

Petzl, 240
n

Phinsoo (rescuer), 35

photographs, 74, 119, 197, 215, 241
n,
246
n,
254
n

   of body remains, 110, 249
n

   Hoselito’s, 125

   of Jumik, 196, 200, 205, 254
n

   of Karim, 183, 197, 253
n

   summit, 152, 160, 180

Pius XII, Pope, 40

Planic, Iso, 132, 149, 151–52, 154

plates, memorial, 209–10

politics, in Hunza, 86, 248
n

pollution, 21, 57

polo, 80–81

population:

   in Beding, 26, 239
n

   in Hungung, 56, 243
n

   in Kathmandu, 21

   in Rolwaling Valley, 16

   Sherpa as percent of, 13, 237
n

   in Shimshal, 81, 86

pork, 99

portering, porters, 39, 41

   Chhiring and, 19, 20, 22–26

   equipment resold by, 99

   high-altitude (HAPs),
see
high-altitude porters

   insurance and, 100–101, 249
n

   low-altitude (LAPS),
94,
96–100, 249
n

   Pasang and, 54, 58–60

   Pem Phutar as, 19, 238
n

   Ruttledge’s recruiting of, 71

   Tenzing and, 72

   types of provisions carried by, 96

   
see also
specific people

potatoes, 16, 18, 58, 228, 237
n

Powers, Phil, 6

Prati, Vincenzo, 216

Pratt, Jonathan, 253
n

pressure breathing (positive end expiratory pressure; PEEP), 130

Prithvi Narayan, King of Nepal, 51, 52

propane, 180

prosperity, 16, 23

Prusik hitch, 196

psychostimulants, 184

public-relations value, 160

puja
ceremonies, 104, 105, 115

pulmonary edema, 117, 133, 163, 211

Qaiser, Shahzad, 217–18

quartz rock, 105, 127

Quechua, 65

Qur’an, Quranic law, 87, 99, 110, 226