Rippel calls off the season after deadly Everest avalanche
By Colin Payne
Nelson climbing guide, Tim Rippel has been guiding clients up the extreme slopes of Mount Everest for 18 years in a variety of conditions via his company, Peak Freak Expeditions.
But in the wake of the mountain’s deadliest recorded avalanche ever recently, Rippel has announced he’s shutting things down for the year due to numerous concerns about safety on the mountain.
According to The Globe and Mail, the avalanche swept down the over a popular climbing route in Nepal, killing at least four Nepalese Sherpa guides and leaving more missing and injured in its wake. Political unrest has also ensued in its aftermath with Sherpa guides walking out on the job, citing dissatisfaction with pay, treatment and benefits.
The Nelson Daily contacted Rippel, who is at Everest now, via e-mail for comment on the incident but did not receive a response. But Rippel has been documenting the incident and his thoughts about it on his blog,
“Peak Freaks Everest 2014 is cancelled due to safety concerns,” Rippel wrote on Wednesday.
“Firstly, the route in my professional opinion is not safe and providing guidance through our expertise is what we’re paid for. We’ve cancelled expeditions before to save lives. This is not new to us.
Secondly, there is too much (of a rift) to consider moving forward as the political environment here is getting more complex and anger is developing. There is talk of retaliation on Sherpas who want to continue and I’m not about to be a part of this or put any of my staff or clients in danger.”
Rippel recounts the event
“I sat and counted 13 helicopter lifts. 12 were dead bodies flying overhead suspended by long line from a helicopter,” he wrote on April 18, the day of the slide.
“Everyone is shaken here at base camp. Some climbers from various teams are packing up and calling it quits. They want nothing to do with this. Reality has set in.”
Rippel reported that members of his team were on the mountain when the avalanche happened but they were all out of harm’s way when the slide hit.
“Time for sleep and try to digest all that has gone on today,” he concludes. “Everyone is in agreement that Everest 2014 is shaping up to be the worst season in history for complications and for deaths. It already surpassed previous records in one event.”
Avalanche unearths problems
In the days following the avalanche, Rippel recounts the turmoil amongst the Sherpas and the government, as well as his own observations about how much more dangerous the world’s highest peak is getting for climbers.
“Since the avalanche, many Sherpa guides left camp for a break or quit altogether,” he wrote on April 22.
“Even after offering our guides full pay if they wanted to leave, they did not. They are here with us as we work out the fate of Everest 2014 together.
“The mountain has been deteriorating rapidly the past three years due to global warming and the breakdown in the Khumbu ice fall is dramatic . . . Each day we sit and listen to the groaning and crashing of the glacier. Political grievances aside, we are not here to kill people.”
Tim Ripple is the Owner/ Operator of Peak Freak Expeditions based in Nelson along with his wife Becky.
Ripple is a veteran of 48 Himalayan expeditions including “12- times” on Mt. Everest from Nepal and Tibet as well as neighboring peaks of Mt. Ama Dablam, Mt. Pumori and Island Peak.
Other climbs include the Coastal Mountains of British Columbia, the Canadian Rockies, Denali numerous times the Pamirs in Russia, Africa and South America.
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