Be Human!

A recent post by a Sherpa and climber Nimsdai (Nirman Purja) I follow closely on insta, pushed me to thinking about some real shit out there.

I don't know why I am surprised, I have always read about the brutal truth of climbers up the worlds 8000ers. But yet, below left me wondering not only about humanity in general but also about me.

Now that am back from my treks; I have started training for climbing. I don’t know if I ever will climb any of those 8000ers; but I dream to do so one day and I would train for it. When I read nimsdai’s post couple of days back; it left me in deep contemplation. I could not take my mind off the incident. I think hearing first hand experience adds more weight to any story than the one’s you read randomly.

I still fail to understand what pushes a man to the verge where he turns from human to a machine. Roughly 50 climbers passed by them and none showed up to save 2 humans. What were those 50 running behind? The glory of having summited Kangchenjunga? But you are not the first to do that, so really neither will you be written in the books of history nor will you be remembered for this. Alright, it’s not for the world or tangible rewards; then if you are doing this for yourself; I question your integrity. Is it just for couple of Facebook or Insta likes, local newspapers publishing your picture? Or you want to quote saying this is something you waited for your entire life and put your savings into; it’s now or never so you can’t turn around?

No summit is worth a human life.

At 8000 mts height, I don’t know how the mind operates. So I badly don’t want to judge people without being there myself. But I truly pray to all the gods that if I ever become a climber and end up on those mountains, don’t let me be inhuman. Right now as I sit in my cozy little home, I can say that I would have never done it. Summit has never been my goal, even in these smaller treks; it’s the journey that I enjoy the most; I never cared for the final destination. So, I wouldn’t have thought twice about lending my O2 and turning around helping the fallen.

I don’t know how those climbers slept peacefully knowing that they walked over 2 lives that could have been saved. I cannot think of the horror the dying climbers had to face; looking into the eyes of the death, waiting for it; left behind by everyone to die alone. Yeah yeah, all climbers sign a waiver, that clearly says they might die and they still opt for it; so consider them lucky they die doing what they loved up the mountains. But none of these can deny the fact; that it was brutal.

I know it happens a lot in normal world too; people just walk across the accident spot leaving folks on the road to die; people don't step forward to help the ones in trouble. But still, I expected more humanity in the sports/outdoor world; they are supposed to be braver, stronger than the rest of the world. I still can’t figure out why it’s impacted me so much.

Like I said I would never know what would I truly do; but I really do wish I continue to listen to my heart. I do pray to the mountains that if they ever call me, don’t let my heart be buried in HACE. This post is a reminder to myself, of what I should not be while I train to be a climber. Not just out there in the mountains but in general anywhere in this world.

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