Dramatic Rescue for Kevin Adams at 1953 base camp

Maths teacher, Kevin Adams, a regular user of Health Perception’s glucosamine, returned from his ambitious school expedition in November 2008 where he and his pupils carried much needed mountain rescue equipment to Nepal. Little did he realize that they would be involved in their own real life mountain rescue. Coupled with sickness and diarrhoea the trip definitely proved to be a challenge. Kevin tells us the story.

"What on earth was I thinking? "	A school trip to Everest Base Camp!  In itself a hard trek due to the altitude, but to also carry a 30kg mountain rescue stretcher the whole way!  Madness! After 18 months’ planning and preparation, myself, two other staff members and thirteen sixth form boys from the King’s School, Grantham set off with 170kg of mountain rescue equipment to Nepal. When I put the idea of transporting this equipment to the boys they were keen to carry one of the five stretchers the whole way, delivering it to the Porter Rescue Centre at Gorak Shep, site of the 1953 base camp.  The stretcher breaks down in to two halves, and these were duly dubbed “Isaac” and “Newton” after the school’s most famous old boy.	Health Perception kindly agreed to sponsor Isaac and the boys raised money for the trip through a variety of events. Additional funds are to be sent to Community Action Nepal The total currently sits at just over £4000! From the moment we landed in Kathmandu, the boys fell in love with Nepal.  The flight to Lukla, scene of a terrible crash only two weeks earlier, was absolutely thrilling, as our small twin otter aircraft banked in to a turn to avoid another aircraft flying out.
From Lukla the trek would take 14 days, including two days of acclimatisation at Namche Bazaar (3840m) and Pheriche (4280m). This had been arranged to give us all the best chance of acclimatising. We stayed at tea houses along the way where we could rest and review the day’s events. As we progressed up the mountain,   trekkers from all over the world asked why we were carrying such heavy loads. The boys, with great pride, explained and even the  Porters and Sherpa  looked back with genuine respect.	By now the boys were appreciating just how hard the life of a porter is in Nepal. The group were plagued by mild sickness and diarrhoea, but everyone (bar one) managed to reach not only Gorak Shep, but after a long and gruelling hike, the area on the Kumbu glacier where Everest Base Camp is located. Although we were surrounded by packing crates left by a recently departed Korean expedition it was one of the most stunning places to be. Clambering over strange rock and ice formations, we were spun around by a 360o panorama of grey-white mountains towering over us, with a blue-black sky above.
	Returning to Gorak Shep (5180m) where the day before we had handed over the stretcher to an enthusiastic and excited group of Sherpa volunteers from the Porter Rescue Centre, a drama unfolded.  A well known French mountaineer, Corrine Favre, had been injured by a falling block of ice while climbing Pumori. Her American guide, Fabrizio Zangrilli, had heroically lowered her from the mountain and with help had carried her to Gorak Shep. The boys all volunteered to help carry Corrine down the next part of the journey in the newly-delivered stretcher which would be a hard three hour hike to meet a rescue helicopter. However, after many phone calls, a military helicopter actually managed to land at Gorak Shep despite the thin air, so the boys only had to help carry Corrine a small distance.
Nevertheless, it was an extremely gruelling descent and the boys were fantastic to do the hike at such high altitude and we all agreed that to see the stretcher in use really had given the trip a sense of purpose. Thankfully, Corrine was taken to Kathmandu and has made a full recovery from her internal injuries and broken limbs. Several boys reached the top of Kala Patthar for stunning views of Everest, Lohtse, Nuptse and another visually stunning panorama.  The hike back to Lukla was like walking on air, largely down hill, with increasingly more oxygen, and without the additional weight of ‘Isaac’ and ‘Newton’.		School trips are a luxury in today’s results-driven education system, and yet I guarantee these boys learned more about themselves, the world and life than they ever could in any number of classrooms. While I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone (including Health Perception) who helped make this expedition possible, I also want to say that I am extremely proud of how the boys approached, organised and ultimately succeeded in their enduring challenge. Kevin P. Adams Mathematics Teacher The King’s School Brook Street Grantham Lincolnshire NG31 6RP www.justgiving.com/kings08ebc