Willi Unsoeld

:: Willi Unsoeld

Want to introduce you to an amazing man.

"If we can pull this off, it will be the greatest achievement in the history of Everest", Norman Dyrenfurth, 1963.

And they pulled it off. Tom Hornbein & Willi Unsoeld did the first traverse of Mount Everest. They also did one more thing - they did the West Ridge. They climbed Everest from the West Ridge and came down the South East ridge. The mountain allowed them to and Hornbein is very aware of this crucial fact. In his own words:

"As we were climbing the West Ridge, I kept looking up at the summit. And it kept reminding us every second that we are mere guests here. And that we should behave like guests"

They did not do this without anxious moments, Hema. They had to bivouac without food and water at -40 degree at 28,000 feet for one night. It was a very tense night for the leader, Norman Dyrenfurth, who was at Advanced Base. When they bivouacked in that rough weather, Norman radioed them from Advanced Base and Tom Hornbein uttered hoarse, tired words which have gone down in history:

Norman : "Tom, how is it up there? What is up there ?"

Tom Hornbein : "Willi, me, and uncertainty..."

Hema, whenever anyone talks about Mount Everest, they will talk about these words uttered by Hornbein. In a way, these words summed up so much of the spirit which existed high at 28,000 feet, at unbearable temperatures, without food and water, and in the open. And the uncertainty. Uncertainty on whether he goddess will allow them to live for one, and to reach upto her for two. Willi Unsoeld lost nine toes of frostbite during their descent. Unsoeld says later, as his toes fell off one of one on their own:

"I was lying in hospital, watching my toes 'auto-amputate'. But I didn't let them go. I put them in a jar full of alcohol and kept them. These toes had accompanied me to the top of the world, I couldn't let them go".

Willi Unsoeld was a man who was different from all. He named his daughter "Nanda Devi" after the mountain he had climbed. And, then tragedy hit his life in 1977 when he lost his daughter when he took her with him to climb the same mountain, Nanda Devi. It was a critical lack of judgement by an overzealous Willi Unsoeld which cost him his daughter's life. His wife blamed him for the death of their daughter and that caused a rift in their marriage bigger than any crevasse he had crossed.

Willi himself died in an avalanche in 1979. Again, a critical lack of judgement about an avalanche prone zone. Notwithstanding the rift between them, when Willi died, his wife went on stage in his memorial ceremony and, calling Tom Hornbein on stage, said:

"This man and Willi have shared a rope way back in 1963 which binds their lives in a union stronger than death".

Willi lived his life on his judgement. It was his judgement which made them do that traverse of Mount Everest against all odds. That day, the mountain welcomed Hornbein and he, and Willi's judgement was correct. Yet, his judgement, his brashness about mountaineering cost him his daughter and later, his own life. His rashness is summarised in a statement he made when he was asked about his daughter's death:

"I made a mistake in anticipation. But then, risk is the heart of all
education"

Many people hated Willi Unsoeld for being so matter-of-fact about his daughter's death. he left his daughter there, Nanda Devi rests on Nanda Devi.

Willi Unsoeld was a man full of contradictions. He was asked why he took his daughter up the dangerous climb where she died. He answered:

"Because I wanted her to touch the sacred. I wanted her to discover the secret for herself".

Willi was a man who had been to the summit of Mount Everest, but never quite managed to return in his entirety.

-- Sandeep Chopra, 26 December, 2003