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 In the early morning of August 15 at 0:40 a.m. Penzov had a wireless connection with the base camp. He informed us about Carlos having returned to the camp alone. We understood from the conversation that Igor stopped descending somewhere already on the fixed ropes. Igor said that he have to have a rest, although Carlos spent 20 minutes trying to convince him to go down. Carlos was not able to force Igor to continue rappelling and, being extremely exhausted, continued to rappel himself. Actually Sergei didn't comprehend Carlos' English well. Penzov was speaking to the walkie talkie quietly, having understood that if you don't reach the tent at once there would be a little chance to do it later.  |
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 VOLKOV:
In a moment the jubilation had gone away. The news was bad, though we still
didn't think about the worst. By walkie-talkie Penzov had got the following
instructions: to have some rest, to take all the necessary medicines, something
hot to drink, oxygen and to go up to find Igor. About 2 a.m. Penzov said
by the walkie-talkie that he isn't able to go. The oxygen didn't give a
relief. The group of Polish guys couldn't help too. So our quartet went
up.
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Stress moved us forward, and we were going rather fast. We got to the first camp by 8 a.m. - it was a record time. We communicated with the base. Luba Shvedova informed us that Igor had not returned and the guys were still waiting for him, and after 2 or 3 hours they wouldn't be able to go down anymore. At that moment we understood that Igor didn't have a chance to stay alive. That's why we decided that the guys would wait for an hour and then go down. At that time Andrei Mariev was in the cave at 6,500m. I advised him to go up. The weather was bad. The path was hardly visible, but Andrei, being a strong man, had managed to reach the 4th camp and to meet the guys there. |
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VOLKOV:
It is so easy to overstep the limits in the mountains. Everything seems
to be clear: the romanticism, hard work, the united team, the friendly
encouragement. Suddenly someone dies. It's hard to judge the actions of
a person using the same scale as for usual life. Two thousand meters means
two days in the mountains at a minimum. Being at that height, you always
think about how to use your strength efficiently, whether you should look
back or advance a couple more steps. The mountain ethics is very different
from those in the 'flat country'. Especially for us it is very important
to keep the tradition of common responsibility. Our team had been formed
on the principles that are different from the principles, say, of the international
expedition. Most of Western climbers are individuals, and the relationships
in the team are free people's relationships. We were raised subjecting
personal interests to the interests of the group. The old Russian proverb,
"Die, but save your friend" is still true for us.
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There is one more thing I want to discuss. Each high altitude climb is the approaching near to that thin border between our world and the other one. Difficult ascents and severe mountains as K2 are like balancing on that border trying with all your might not to cross it. The difficulty is that when you draw near that line your body and your brain start failing to operate. You can still feel OK, but you just hurry on a little and the consequences can be catastrophic. Blood takes oxygen from the brain to the muscles, and you can lose self-control or faint away. Perhaps, something similar had happened to Igor. When we were watching Carlos and Igor descending from the summit, we were surprised how quickly they crossed the hanging glacier. Carlos managed to cope with that and Igor didn't. |
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