Reader’s Digest Australia & New Zealand – May 2019

READER’S DIGEST

May• 2019 | 45

hangingovera chasm.Hehadlanded

onaniceshelfsuspendedabovethe

blackness.Overheadwasa palehalo

ofblue-whitelight,sevenstoreysup,

wherehehadpunchedthroughthe

crustofsnow.Theentirerightside

ofhisbodyhadbeencrushed.He

couldn’tmove.Buthewasalive.

JOHNALL WASNOTsupposedto

beonMountHimlung.Amonthear-

lier,hehadbeenatMountEverest

BaseCampsharingblackteawith

ayoungSherpa.AsmanTamang,a

shyfatherofa nine-month-old,was

climbing Everest for the first time,

andAllteasedhim,sayingTama-

ngwouldmakerecordspeedupthe

mountain.AllhadclimbedEverest

before,butthistimehewaslead-

inganexpeditionofscientiststo

Everest’ssisterpeak,MountLhot-

se,tocollectevidenceof‘blackdust’,

emissionsfromfactoriesthousands

ofkilometresaway.ForAll,a profes-

soratWesternKentuckyUniversity,

themountainswerea secondhome

• therareplacewherethetwo-metre-
  highformertriathletecouldcombine
  hisloveofphysicaladventurewithhis
  scientificcuriosity.
  On the morning of April 18, All

woketothegroundrumbling.An

iceshelfhadcollapsed,sendinga

chunkoficethesizeofanapartment

buildingtumblingdownthesideof

Everest.Sixteenclimberswerekilled,

AsmanTamangamongthem.

Everestand Lhotsewereshut

downfortheseason.Allandhistwo

partnersheadedtonearbyMount

Himlungtocontinuetheirwork.

FROMHIS ICE SHELF 20 metres

deepintheEarth,JohnAllgasped

forbreathandtriedtogatherhis

thoughts.Climbers fallintocre-

vasses all the time, but those who

surviveusuallyfallonlya shortway,

aren’tbythemselves,andaren’tbadly

injured.Allknewofonlyoneperson

whohadmadeit throughsucha long

fallandclimbedoutbyhimself:the

mountaineerJoeSimpson.

Allrealisedhewasn’tona shelfbut

a chunkoficethathadfallenthrough

thefissureandbecomewedgedbe-

tweenthewalls.Inanever-moving,

ever-shiftingglacier,howlongwould

itstaywedged?Herockedhisbody

slightlyandajoltofpainradiated

throughhim,leavinghimdizzy.

Hehad 15 brokenbonesintotal,

he would learn later, including six

ALL’SFACESMASHEDINTOSOMETHING

HARD AS HE PLUMMETED DOWNWARDS

MAP: TATIANA AYAZO