The going is getting tougher for the trekking team on its way to scale Mt. Everest as the unpredictable weather coupled with a major aftershock measuring 6.7 on the Richter scale shook the region for the second day on Sunday.
“It all happened in a jiffy. There were tremors and at some distance, I could see rocks tumbling and landslides due to earthquake again. I never imagined I will witness such things in my life,” recalled T. Bharath Kumar, who reached the Mt. Everest Base Camp (EBC) at 5,300 metres on Sunday afternoon.
Mr. Bharath Kumar who hails from Kurnool and his other team members, who commenced their conquest of Everest summit on April 6, reached Advance Base Camp (ABC) at 6,400 metres on April 24. Following earthquake and inclement weather on Saturday afternoon, the team had to withhold their trek and were forced return to the EBC. The return was a big challenge as the tremor on Sunday sent jitters to the team members.
“We commenced our trek back to EBC at 8 a.m. and midway there was an earthquake again. Luckily, we are safe,” 26-year-old Kumar told The Hindu over phone. All the team members reached EBC by evening and were taking shelter amid continuous snowfall. “All we can do now is hope for the weather to settle down and resume the trek. Given the conditions, nothing can be predicted, it could take 2 or 3 days or even more,” said Shekar Babu Bachinepally, from Nalgonda in Telangana State, who is leading the expedition.
Even if the weather settles down, continuing the trek can be even more challenging as the structural changes could make the trek risky.
Getting back to Nylam, Tingri or Kathmandu from EBC is set be a task in itself for the team as the roads are damaged. “There is snowfall since the last three days and with damaged roads, it can be a bit risky. We have enough provisions and medicines and all we can do is keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best,” Mr. Bachinepally said.
There were tremors and at some distance, I could see rocks tumbling and landslides due to earthquake again. I never imagined I will witness such things in my life
T. Bharath Kumar,a mountaineer