Nims and the Mountain That Wouldn't Wait

I want to talk about the physiology of that, because it's genuinely astonishing what the human body does, and doesn't do, above that threshold.

Los alpinistas llaman a esa zona, por encima de los 8.000 metros, 'la zona de la muerte'.

Climbers call that zone, above 8,000 meters, 'the death zone.' And it's not just a dramatic expression.

Y no es solo una expresión dramática.

It's literal.

Es literal.

The human body cannot survive there for long.

El cuerpo humano no puede sobrevivir allí mucho tiempo.

The heart works harder, the brain functions worse, the muscles don't have enough oxygen to work properly.

El corazón trabaja más, el cerebro funciona peor, los músculos no tienen suficiente oxígeno para trabajar bien.

And Purja, when he set that record, was spending extraordinary amounts of time up there without supplemental oxygen on some of the peaks.

His VO2 max, the measure of how efficiently his body uses oxygen, was apparently off the charts compared to normal athletes.

Sí, él tiene capacidades físicas excepcionales.

Yes, he has exceptional physical abilities.

Pero incluso para alguien como Nims, una avalancha es diferente.

But even for someone like Nims, an avalanche is different.

No es una cuestión de fuerza o condición física.

It's not a question of strength or fitness.

Cuando la nieve te cubre, estás atrapado.

When the snow covers you, you're trapped.

El cuerpo también pierde calor muy rápido a esa altitud, y la temperatura baja mucho de noche.

The body also loses heat very quickly at that altitude, and temperatures drop a lot at night.

Let's talk about rescue at that altitude, because this is where the physics and the medicine become almost impossibly bleak.

What can you actually do when someone is buried above eight thousand meters?

Es muy difícil.

It's very difficult.

Los helicópteros no pueden llegar a esa altura fácilmente porque el aire es muy delgado.

Helicopters can't reach that height easily because the air is too thin.

Los rescatadores que suben a pie también sufren los mismos problemas de oxígeno.

Rescuers who climb on foot also suffer the same oxygen problems.

Encontrar a una persona bajo metros de nieve, en una montaña enorme, con mal tiempo muchas veces, es casi imposible.

Finding a person under meters of snow, on a huge mountain, often in bad weather, is nearly impossible.

I covered the Haiti earthquake in 2010, and one thing I learned then is that survival odds under rubble drop dramatically after about 72 hours.

I'd imagine snow is even less forgiving than concrete rubble, at that altitude.

Tienes razón.

You're right.

Bajo la nieve, si quedas en un pequeño espacio de aire, puedes sobrevivir algunas horas.

Under snow, if you end up in a small air pocket, you can survive for a few hours.

Pero el frío es un enemigo enorme.

But the cold is a huge enemy.

La hipotermia llega muy rápido a esa altitud.

Hypothermia arrives very quickly at that altitude.

Y sin oxígeno adicional, el cuerpo no puede luchar bien contra el frío.

And without supplemental oxygen, the body can't fight the cold effectively.

Now, here's the thing that I keep circling back to.

This avalanche happened in late July.

Peak summer.

And I understand that climate change is fundamentally changing the behavior of glaciers all over the world, including in the Karakoram.

Is this getting worse?

Es una pregunta importante.

It's an important question.

La respuesta corta es sí, en general.

The short answer is yes, in general.

Cuando los glaciares se calientan, el hielo cambia.

When glaciers warm, the ice changes.

Hay más agua líquida dentro del glaciar, y eso hace que la nieve en la superficie sea menos estable.

There's more liquid water inside the glacier, and that makes the snow on the surface less stable.

Los científicos observaron más avalanchas en muchas montañas del Himalaya y el Karakórum en los últimos años.

Scientists observed more avalanches in many mountains of the Himalayas and Karakoram in recent years.

Though I seem to recall reading something counterintuitive about the Karakoram specifically.

Unlike most glaciers globally, some Karakoram glaciers were actually growing for a while, which scientists called the Karakoram Anomaly.

Has that changed?

Sí, eso es verdad.

Yes, that's true.

Por razones que los científicos todavía estudian, algunos glaciares del Karakórum recibieron más nieve en invierno durante algunas décadas.

For reasons scientists are still studying, some Karakoram glaciers received more winter snowfall for a few decades.

Pero los estudios más recientes muestran que este efecto se terminó o se redujo mucho.

But the most recent studies show that this effect has ended or greatly reduced.

Ahora el Karakórum también pierde hielo, como el resto del mundo.

Now the Karakoram is also losing ice, like the rest of the world.

So the window of stability that made the Karakoram somewhat safer, relatively speaking, may be closing.

That has direct consequences for climbing season, for predictability, for everyone who goes up there.

Exactamente.

Exactly.

Y hay otro problema.

And there's another problem.

Cuando los glaciares pierden hielo, dejan rocas expuestas que antes estaban debajo del hielo.

When glaciers lose ice, they expose rocks that were previously under the ice.

Estas rocas son inestables.

These rocks are unstable.

No solo las avalanchas de nieve son más frecuentes, también los derrumbes de rocas.

Not only are snow avalanches more frequent, but rockfalls as well.

Todo el entorno de alta montaña es más peligroso.

The entire high-mountain environment is more dangerous.

Let's zoom out for a second.

Pakistan's Karakoram and the adjacent ranges are home to more concentration of extreme altitude than anywhere.

K2, Nanga Parbat, Gasherbrum, Broad Peak.

And Pakistan as a country has an interesting relationship with mountaineering, both in terms of the local guides and the political economics of it.

Sí.

Yes.

Los porteadores y guías de alta montaña de Pakistán, especialmente de la región de Baltistán, son famosos en todo el mundo del alpinismo.

The high-altitude porters and guides from Pakistan, especially from the Baltistan region, are famous throughout the mountaineering world.

Son personas muy fuertes y experimentadas.

They're very strong and experienced people.

Pero también son los que corren más riesgo, porque trabajan en las montañas todos los días de la temporada, no solo en una expedición.

But they're also the ones who run the most risk, because they work on the mountains every day of the season, not just on one expedition.

That asymmetry always troubles me.

The Western climbers get the glory, and occasionally the documentary deal, and the local guides absorb a disproportionate share of the actual danger.

Es un problema real.

It's a real problem.

En los últimos años, algunos alpinistas locales también buscaron reconocimiento público, y lo consiguieron.

In recent years, some local climbers also sought public recognition, and they got it.

Nims Purja es un buen ejemplo: es nepalés, no europeo ni norteamericano, y fue él quien rompió todos los récords.

Nims Purja is a good example: he's Nepali, not European or North American, and it was he who broke all the records.

Eso cambió algo en la percepción del mundo.

That changed something in how the world perceives things.

Which makes what's happening on Broad Peak right now feel even heavier.

This isn't just any climber.

It's the person who arguably did more than anyone in the last decade to redefine what human beings can do at altitude.

Sí.

Yes.

Y al mismo tiempo, la montaña no sabe quién eres.

And at the same time, the mountain doesn't know who you are.

No importa cuántos récords tienes.

It doesn't matter how many records you have.

Una avalancha no distingue entre un alpinista famoso y un principiante.

An avalanche doesn't distinguish between a famous climber and a beginner.

La naturaleza es completamente indiferente.

Nature is completely indifferent.

Eso es algo difícil de aceptar, pero es verdad.

That's something hard to accept, but it's true.

There's a philosophical dimension to this that mountaineers engage with more honestly than most people, I think.

The question of what draws humans to these places, knowing full well the odds.

Es verdad.

That's true.

Creo que hay una parte de los seres humanos que necesita llegar a los límites.

I think there's a part of human beings that needs to reach the limits.

La ciencia también estudia esto: el riesgo controlado activa partes del cerebro relacionadas con la recompensa.

Science also studies this: controlled risk activates parts of the brain related to reward.

Pero en la alta montaña, el riesgo nunca es completamente controlado.

But in high mountains, the risk is never completely controlled.

Esa es la paradoja.

That's the paradox.

And what about avalanche prediction technology?

Because it seems like this is an area where the science has improved dramatically, at least at lower altitudes in ski resorts and populated mountain areas, but at 8,000 meters it might as well not exist.

Es un problema grande.

It's a big problem.

En los Alpes o en los Pirineos, hay sensores, satélites, modelos de computadora que analizan la nieve cada día.

In the Alps or the Pyrenees, there are sensors, satellites, computer models that analyze snow every day.

Pero instalar esta tecnología a 8.000 metros es casi imposible.

But installing this technology at 8,000 meters is nearly impossible.

Las condiciones destruyen los equipos.

The conditions destroy the equipment.

Y el clima cambia tan rápido que las predicciones son difíciles de hacer.

And the weather changes so fast that predictions are hard to make.

So climbers are essentially still relying on experience, instinct, and whatever satellite weather data they can download to a device before they leave base camp.

Which puts an enormous amount of weight on individual judgment at exactly the moment when judgment is most impaired, because of altitude.

Exacto.

Exactly.

Y eso es algo que los investigadores estudian también.

And that's something researchers also study.

La toma de decisiones a gran altitud es peor que a nivel del mar.

Decision-making at high altitude is worse than at sea level.

El cerebro necesita oxígeno para pensar bien.

The brain needs oxygen to think clearly.

Entonces los alpinistas a veces continúan cuando deberían volver.

So climbers sometimes keep going when they should turn back.

Es un círculo peligroso.

It's a dangerous cycle.

The mountain literally makes you worse at deciding whether to be on the mountain.

That's a design flaw.

Sí, exactamente.

Yes, exactly.

Y Nims sabía todo esto.

And Nims knew all of this.

Tenía más experiencia que casi cualquier persona viva en las montañas de ocho mil metros.

He had more experience than almost any living person on eight-thousanders.

Pero las avalanchas no avisan.

But avalanches don't give warnings.

Puedes hacer todo bien y aun así encontrar una avalancha.

You can do everything right and still encounter one.

Eso es lo que hace que estas tragedias sean tan difíciles de aceptar.

That's what makes these tragedies so hard to accept.

Oye, hay algo que dijiste antes que quiero preguntarte.

Usaste la frase 'lleva días sin aparecer' para hablar de Nims.

Y pensé que era una construcción interesante.

En inglés diríamos 'he's been missing for days', algo así.

Pero la frase en español funciona de otra manera, ¿no?

Sí, buena pregunta.

Yes, good question.

En español usamos 'llevar' más un infinitivo o una acción para decir cuánto tiempo continúa algo.

In Spanish we use 'llevar' plus an infinitive or an action to say how long something has been going on.

Por ejemplo: 'lleva tres horas sin responder' significa 'lleva tres horas en ese estado, sin responder.' No es exactamente 'to carry', que es la traducción literal de 'llevar'.

For example: 'lleva tres horas sin responder' means 'he's been in that state for three hours, not responding.' It's not exactly 'to carry,' which is the literal translation of 'llevar.'

So 'llevar' in this context isn't about carrying anything physically.

It's more like a timer.

It measures ongoing duration.

'Lleva dos años viviendo en Madrid' would be something like 'he's been living in Madrid for two years', with the sense that he's still there.

Perfecto.

Perfect.

Y es muy útil porque en inglés necesitas decir 'for two years' y también indicar que la acción continúa.

And it's very useful because in English you need to say 'for two years' and also indicate the action is ongoing.

En español, 'llevar' ya incluye esa idea.

In Spanish, 'llevar' already includes that idea.

'Lleva esperando una hora' es simple y claro.

'Lleva esperando una hora' is simple and clear.

Y funciona también con 'sin': 'lleva dos días sin comer', que significa que no comió en dos días y todavía no come.

And it also works with 'sin': 'lleva dos días sin comer,' which means he hasn't eaten in two days and still isn't eating.

I'm going to try that.

'Llevo...

muchos años intentando aprender español.' Is that right?

Casi perfecto.

Almost perfect.

Y lo bueno es que no dijiste 'estoy muy embarazado de mis errores', entonces mejoras, Fletcher.

And the good thing is you didn't say 'estoy muy embarazado de mis errores,' so you're improving, Fletcher.

Mejoras.

You're improving.