Buried by Jonathon Copp

Rating****

This article is about three American mountaineers who were climbing in the Kumauni region of the Indian Himalayas in late September. As their journey started, they were hit by a severe storm, therefore they decided to camp in a crevasse sloped downwards into a bottomless pit. It protected them a bit in the meantime from an avalanche, but later they were being covered with the avalanche. The 3 mountaineers then ripped up their tents and reached to the top before it was too late. They managed to get close to the top with an arm and head; they also managed to save each other and dig through snow. It took them 6 hours to find most of their items and tools. Later that morning, they were struck by another avalanche; they were trapped in a small space. They managed to dig a tunnel to the surface to discover that there was a massive storm outside. A group decision was to stay in the tunnel until they run out of supplies. 3 days passed and the storm was still roaring, they have managed to waste time not to think about the situation. On the 4^th day trapped, they thought a lot about death in the storm, but the weather cleared up and it was safe for them to leave. They spent 12 hours rappelling and down climbing 6,000 feet.

This survival story demonstrates a real effort in decision making and group work. Without each other they wouldn’t have lived through the avalanches and storms. I learned from this article that it is essential to have a group on a trip, quick decisions have to be made in a life threatening situation, do whatever that is reasonable to survive, and it is important not to leave a group member behind in trouble. I personally, didn’t think camping in a crevasse was a good idea, but maybe in the situation it seemed safer to stay in a crevasse that is sloped downwards. In fact that, crevasse may have saved their life.

 

Copp, Johnathon. “Outside : Live Bravely”. Buried By Multiple Avalanches. 25 October 2007. Outside Magazine. 26 November 2014. <http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/outdoor-skills/survival/Buried.html>