珠峰登山者描述地震后恐怖景象

Climbers Describe Havoc on Mount Everest After Nepal Earthquake

珠峰登山者描述地震后恐怖景象

KATMANDU, Nepal —Even for Lakpa Rita, a revered Nepalese mountaineer who has reached the summit of Mount Everest 17 times, the roaring wall of boulders, rocks, ice and debris that pulverized much of the mountain’s base camp over the weekend signified a malign new twist in the peak’s destructive powers.

尼泊爾加德滿都——上周末席卷而來的巨礫、巖石、冰塊及碎片在很大程度上摧毀了珠穆朗瑪峰大本營。就算是對(duì)于17次登上珠峰峰頂?shù)氖苋俗鹁吹哪岵礌柕巧秸呃婆?middot;里塔(Lakpa Rita)來說，這也意味著這座山峰展現(xiàn)了一種新的可怕的破壞力量。

“Nothing like this has happened before at Everest base camp,” Mr. Rita said by telephone Monday from the camp in eastern Nepal, in the aftermath of the earthquake that set off the avalanche and geological convulsions there. At least 18 people died in the area of the camp, which is 18,000 feet above sea level. “This is a huge, huge avalanche,” he said.

地震發(fā)生后，里塔周一在尼泊爾東部的這座營地通過電話表示，“珠峰大本營以前從未遇到這種情況。”此次地震引發(fā)了那里的雪崩和地質(zhì)震動(dòng)。營地位于海拔1.8萬英尺(約合5500米)的地方。在它所在的地區(qū)，至少有18人死亡。“這是一場非常大，非常大的雪崩，”他說。

The search for victims’ bodies around the camp, where mountaineers gather before trying to reach Everest’s summit, is likely to be long and difficult.

在營地周圍搜尋遇難者遺體很可能是一項(xiàng)漫長且艱巨的任務(wù)。在攀登珠峰峰頂之前，登山者會(huì)在這座營地匯聚。

Rescue efforts stalled on Monday because of bad weather, after 20 stranded climbers had been evacuated and 11 bodies had been retrieved, Jhankanath Dhakal, the chief district officer of Solukhumbu District, which includes Nepal’s part of Everest, said in a telephone interview. That was after 60 people were evacuated from Everest on Sunday, he said.

索盧坤布的地區(qū)長官簡卡納斯·達(dá)卡爾(Jhankanath Dhakal)接受電話采訪時(shí)表示，周一，在撤離20名受困登山者并找到11具遺體之后，由于天氣糟糕，救援工作受阻。珠峰位于尼泊爾境內(nèi)的部分屬于他管轄的這一地區(qū)。他說，周日有60人從珠峰撤離。

For many tourists and adventurers, visiting Everest — even at the relatively low base camp — fulfills an intensely personal, and expensive, quest to test extremes. But for many ethnic Sherpas employed as local guides, who often take immense pride in their high-altitude skills, the most immediate motivation is a good income.

對(duì)于很多游客和探險(xiǎn)人士來說，珠峰之行——即便是在海拔較低的大本營——意味著完成一項(xiàng)探索極限的追求，極其個(gè)人化，而且費(fèi)用高昂。然而，對(duì)于很多擔(dān)任當(dāng)?shù)叵驅(qū)У南臓柊腿藖碚f，最直接的動(dòng)力就是高收入。他們往往為自己的高海拔技能而感到非常自豪。

Last year, an avalanche killed at least 13 Sherpa guides on Mount Everest, and left three others missing, likely dead. How many Sherpas were among the fatalities at base camp this time was unclear, but Mr. Dhakal, the district official, said the 11 bodies retrieved on Monday included seven Nepalis. Yet even the two successive seasons of tragedy appeared unlikely to deter Sherpa men from taking jobs as paid guides and load-bearers on mountain expeditions.

去年，珠峰發(fā)生的一次雪崩導(dǎo)致至少13名夏爾巴人向?qū)劳?，另?人失蹤，很可能也已喪生。目前尚不清楚這一次有多少夏爾巴人在大本營遇難，但地區(qū)長官達(dá)卡爾表示，周一找到的11具遺體中有7個(gè)為尼泊爾人。不過，連續(xù)兩個(gè)登山季發(fā)生的悲劇似乎不大可能使夏爾巴人打消通過擔(dān)任探險(xiǎn)向?qū)Ш吞羯焦碣嶅X的念頭。

In Nepal, where the average income is about $700 a year, Sherpas can make $3,000 to $5,000 in a season on Mount Everest, as well as bonuses if they reach the summit.

在尼泊爾，年人均收入為700美元(約合4300元人民幣)，而夏爾巴人每個(gè)登山季可以在珠峰賺到3000至5000美元，如果到達(dá)峰頂，還能獲得額外的獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)。

“They still do it, especially for the money,” said Jangba Shankar, an employee of a Himalayan mountain guide company who was at the Katmandu Medical College hospital, helping to care for a guide who had been flown down from the Everest base camp with head and neck injuries.

一家喜馬拉雅山向?qū)Ч镜膯T工賈巴·尚卡爾(Jangba Shankar)表示，“他們?nèi)匀辉谶@么做，尤其是為了錢。”尚卡爾接受采訪時(shí)正在加德滿都醫(yī)學(xué)院(Katmandu Medical College)的附屬醫(yī)院幫助照看一名頭部和頸部受傷的向?qū)?。此人被直升機(jī)從珠峰大本營運(yùn)送下山。

“Some people are not happy because they lost their jobs because of the avalanche,” said Mr. Shankar, referring to the disaster last year. “Some people worry the earthquake will scare away people.”

“有些人因?yàn)檠┍蓝チ斯ぷ鳎械讲桓吲d，”尚卡爾談到去年發(fā)生的災(zāi)難事件時(shí)表示。“還有些人擔(dān)心這次的地震會(huì)把人嚇跑。”

Even hardened climbers admitted to being terrified by the wave of destruction.

就連鐵桿登山迷都承認(rèn)，地震的強(qiáng)大破壞力讓他們非常害怕。

“I heard a really big thump and then I knew, O.K., the avalanche is coming,” Mariusz Malkowski, a 42-year-old Polish-American engineer and an experienced climber, said on Monday after finding his way out of base camp and eventually to New Delhi. But he said he was not prepared for what he saw: a wave of snow and ice, accompanied by a tremendous gust of air. “Imagine a tsunami,” he said.

“我聽到了一聲巨響，然后我意識(shí)到，好吧，雪崩來了，”42歲的波蘭裔美國工程師、經(jīng)驗(yàn)豐富的登山者馬里烏什·馬爾科夫斯基(Mariusz Malkowski)周一在找到撤離大本營的途徑并最終抵達(dá)新德里后表示。但是他說，自己當(dāng)時(shí)并沒有為后來見到的景象做好準(zhǔn)備：一波又一波的冰雪，伴隨著一股強(qiáng)大的氣流。“想象一下海嘯的場景，”他說。

“Mountains and glaciers shook all around us,” Sean Wisedale, a South African climber and expedition leader, recounted on his blog. “A massive ice slab sheared and thundered into Base Camp. It lifted rocks and boulders ahead of it, slamming into hundreds of tents in the center of the camp and spilling over onto the Khumbu glacier on the other side.”

“我們周圍的山體和冰川都在震動(dòng)，”南非登山者、探險(xiǎn)隊(duì)隊(duì)長肖恩·懷斯達(dá)勒(Sean Wisedale)在他的博客上寫道。“一片巨大的冰塊斷裂，轟隆隆地砸到了大本營里。它掀起前面的巖石和巨礫，砸入大本營中心的數(shù)百頂帳篷，還濺落到了另一側(cè)的昆布冰川。”

Members of his team dived into their tents, and then emerged to a different world. “Base Camp was the site of post Armageddon,” he wrote.

他的團(tuán)隊(duì)成員躲進(jìn)帳篷，再出來的時(shí)候見到的是另一個(gè)世界。“大本營所在地就是世界末日過后，”他寫道。

There seems little chance, however, that successive disasters will seriously dull the luster of Mount Everest among visitors. Some foreign trekkers who had left Everest after the earthquake, or had their plans to visit stymied by the disaster, said in interviews in Katmandu that they hoped to return to the mountain. Others said they had seen enough.

不過，接連發(fā)生的災(zāi)難似乎不大可能嚴(yán)重影響珠峰對(duì)游客的吸引力。在震后離開珠峰或者因?yàn)檫@場災(zāi)難而使登山計(jì)劃受阻的一些外國徒步者在加德滿都接受采訪時(shí)說，他們希望能回到山上。其他一些人則表示已經(jīng)不必再去。

“Emotionally, I felt like this trip was so much bigger than the actual physical journey,” Rob Besecker, who lives in Chicago, said in an interview. He has muscular dystrophy and heart problems, and said he had trekked to the Everest base camp, and other famous or forbidding parts of the world, to show people that illness should not overshadow their lives. He had already left the base camp when the earthquake struck.

“從感情意義來說，我覺得這次旅行比實(shí)際上的身體之旅的意義要大很多，”住在芝加哥的羅伯·貝塞克(Rob Besecker)在采訪中說。他患有肌肉萎縮癥，心臟也有毛病。他表示自己曾徒步抵達(dá)珠峰大本營和世界上其他一些著名景點(diǎn)或難以接近的地方，為的是向世人表明，生活不應(yīng)該籠罩在疾病的陰影之下。地震發(fā)生時(shí)，他已經(jīng)離開了大本營。

“I felt there were so many eyes on me that you just got to do it,” Mr. Besecker said. “So there was a physical battle, and an emotional battle.”

“我感覺有很多雙眼睛盯著我，必須要這樣做，”貝塞克說。“所以這既是一場身體上的戰(zhàn)斗，也是一場情感上的戰(zhàn)斗。”

When memories of this year’s trauma subside, mountain enthusiasts will return to Everest with the same zeal as before, according to Jiban Ghimire, the managing director of Shangri-La Nepal Trek, a company in Katmandu that provides support to mountaineering teams.

位于加德滿都的香格里拉尼泊爾徒步公司(Shangri-La Nepal Trek)為登山隊(duì)提供支持。公司執(zhí)行董事吉班·吉米雷(Jiban Ghimire)表示，當(dāng)關(guān)于今年的創(chuàng)痛的記憶退卻之時(shí)，登山迷們還是會(huì)帶著同樣的熱情重返珠峰。

“My experience is that every year something goes wrong,” he said. “But when you cross three months, six months, eight months, people start asking me, ‘Hey Jiban, I want to go back.’”

“我的經(jīng)驗(yàn)是，每年都會(huì)出事，”他說。“不過三個(gè)月、六個(gè)月或者八個(gè)月過后，人們會(huì)開始對(duì)我說，‘嗨，吉班，我想回去。’”