Expedition Diary

1957 – Nepal

Maurice Wilson

May 7, Base Camp

Pemba and I set out for Base Camp with all the odds and ends, for which Dan had asked. The hillside was covered with snow but I went rather better than usual. Pemba soon caught me up. so we crossed the couloir together and he showed me exactly where, on the other side, members of the other party had slipped. (Someone had stumbled into Lakpa and Dan, turning to see what was happening, also went off down the hillside.).

At Camp 1, I found Dan very cheerful after a good night, but Lakpa looked in a pitiable condition. Not only has he broken a leg but also has head injuries. Stayed about Wz hours chatting and making plans for getting them back to Base. Pemba stayed and Aug Temba came back with me. We at once ran into a hailstorm and, in the middle of the couloir, we crossed a ‘river’ of hail a yard wide.

At Base, Andy and I had a long session with Nima Lama, negotiating with him how best to get the injured men back to Kathmandu. It was no easy matter. A cold and bleak afternoon with continuous snow and large hailstones, followed. This traverse from Camp 1 is quite dicey across soft snow and steep wet grass slopes. The sooner we are done with this route, the better.

May 8, Base Camp

Andy went off to Camp 1 this morning, so I have been left on my own. Stayed in the bag longer than usual. Eventually, got up and set out various tilings to dry; did a little packing for the journey  and cut
 
steps in the imid slope up to the kitchen. Nhna Lama set off back to Tempathang. I went a little way down the hillside to prospect a route to the glacier. It is obviously dangerous between the moraines. Snowfall commenced, punctually, at 12.04 pm and continued all afternoon. Arthur turned up later than I expected. They had been putting fresh splints on to Lakpa and generally preparing him for tomorrow’s journey. Pemba was with Mm and both he and Aug Temba seemed in good form They do not want to cany Lakpa down the glacier to Pensall, as I’d suggested, on account of the danger from stouefalls. They would prefer to cany him pick-a-back.

May 9, Base Camp to Camp 1

The alarm didn’t go off, (so Arthur says) and the veiy early start did not materialise. We set off as we each got ready, myself, Arthur, Ang Temba, Pemba and Tensing Lama. The others all overtook me before I reached the col. It was a beautiful morning with the sun rising over Phurbi Chyachu as I rounded the shoulder and reached the   stone   couloir  as  the others approached the camp. Tensing Lama had been left behind at that point. As I reached Camp 1, Lakpa was just being strapped on to a pack frame and Pemba then set off canying Lakpa on his back. They had gone barely fifty yards when they stopped and turned back. Lakpa’s injured leg was catching on the slope. They then strapped him sideways on the frame so that his leg lay ‘with the slope’. This was, obviously, much better. Things then went well and in about an hour they were over the shoulder and into the stone couloir. I could hear loud shouts of jubilation when they reached the Chorten, the highest point.

Meantime, I had been active with Dan. Getting a man with one useless arm, out of a sleeping bag in a mountain tent is not easy. He had his own routine, however, and at length the job was done. After a rest, he had a walk for a few yards up the slope and then returned to the tent. Getting him back in again took longer. Had a job getting the primus stove to work and nearly set the tent on fire in the process. Dan is proving to be a good patient.