Buried in the Sky Quotes

“But people don’t climb because it makes sense. You can come up with reasons—it gives direction to the lost, friends to the loner, honor to the reprobate, thrills to the bored—but, ultimately, the quest for a summit defies logic. So does passion. So does a trip to the moon. There are better things to do. Safer, cheaper, more practical. That’s not the point.”
― Peter Zuckerman, Buried in the Sky: The Extraordinary Story of the Sherpa Climbers on K2's Deadliest Day

“Good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment.”
― Peter Zuckerman, Buried in the Sky: The Extraordinary Story of the Sherpa Climbers on K2's Deadliest Day

“After Guru Rinpoche subdued Tseringma, he pursued her four younger sisters. One by one, they repented and became Buddhist deities, moving to mountains of their own. Miyolangsangma patrols the summit of Everest on the back of a tigress. Now the goddess of prosperity, her face shines like 24-carat gold. Thingi Shalsangma, her body a pale shade of blue, became the goddess of healing after galloping on a zebra to the top of Shishapangma, a 26,289-foot peak in Tibet. Chopi Drinsangma, with a face in perpetual blush, became the goddess of attraction. She chose a deer instead of a zebra and settled on Kanchenjunga, a 28,169-foot peak in Nepal.

The final sister—Takar Dolsangma, the youngest, with a green face—was a hard case. She mounted a turquoise dragon and fled northward to the land of three borders. In the modern Rolwaling folklore, this is Pakistan. Guru Rinpoche chased after her and eventually cornered her on a glacier called the Chogo Lungma. Takar Dolsangma appeared remorseful and, spurring her dragon, ascended K2, accepting a new position as the goddess of security. Although Guru Rinpoche never doubted her sincerity, maybe he should have: Takar Dolsangma, it seems, still enjoys the taste of human flesh.”
― Peter Zuckerman, Amanda Padoan, Buried in the Sky: The Extraordinary Story of the Sherpa Climbers on K2's Deadliest Day

“We climb Everest twice,” Chhiring explained. “First, Sherpas go up to set the ropes and camps, then we go down to collect our clients and take them to the top.”
― Peter Zuckerman, Buried in the Sky: The Extraordinary Story of the Sherpa Climbers on K2's Deadliest Day

“Far better to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.”
― Peter Zuckerman, Buried in the Sky: The Extraordinary Story of the Sherpa Climbers on K2's Deadliest Day

“The Gilkey Memorial is a grisly necessity because corpses rarely make it down the mountain in one piece. For Everest losses, families sometimes send a recovery team. This doesn’t happen on K2. The Savage Mountain devours its victims during the long winter between climbing seasons. It encases the torsos in ice and grates them against the rocks, only to spit out the digested remains decades later, scattering limbs among avalanche debris. When Art Gilkey’s team gathered stones to honor their friend in 1953, they started a morbid tradition. To keep their campsites sanitary, climbers began using the memorial as a place to dispose of the fingers, pelvic bones, arms, heads, and legs found in the glacial melt. Burying these scraps under the Gilkey Memorial felt more respectful than leaving them to the ravens. For more than half a century, the memorial has been a place to caution the living and consecrate the dead. Mountaineers attempting K2 visit the site to remind themselves of what they are getting into.”
― Peter Zuckerman, Buried in the Sky: The Extraordinary Story of the Sherpa Climbers on K2's Deadliest Day

“Before 2008, only 278 people had stood on K2’s summit. Everest’s summit roll was 4,115, and its fatality rate—the percentage of climbers who went above Base Camp and died—had averaged 0.7 for the previous decade. Although the Himalayan Database crunches the numbers for Everest, no accurate statistics exist for K2. Climbers of the Savage Mountain can’t reliably approximate their chances of survival and don’t want to. In 2008, the fatality rate of those leaving Base Camp for a summit bid was 30.5 percent, higher than the casualty rate at Omaha Beach on D-day. Among high-altitude climbers if not statisticians, there’s no comparison: K2 is more lethal than Everest.”
― Peter Zuckerman, Buried in the Sky: The Extraordinary Story of the Sherpa Climbers on K2's Deadliest Day

“If driving rules exist in the city, they’re Darwinian. A green light means full speed ahead; a yellow light means full speed ahead; a red light means full speed ahead and honk.”
― Peter Zuckerman, Buried in the Sky: The Extraordinary Story of the Sherpa Climbers on K2's Deadliest Day

“Ever tried to run up a staircase while breathing through a straw?”
― Peter Zuckerman, Buried in the Sky: The Extraordinary Story of the Sherpa Climbers on K2's Deadliest Day

“[Everest’s] fatality rate - the percentage of climbers who went above Base Camp and died - had averaged 0.7 the previous decade [1998 - 2008]…In 2008, the fatality rate of those leaving [K2] base camp for a summit bid was 30.5%, higher than the casualty rate at Omaha Beach on D-Day.”
― Peter Zuckerman, Amanda Padoan, Buried in the Sky: The Extraordinary Story of the Sherpa Climbers on K2's Deadliest Day

“But, sometime the next morning, Beck opened his eyes, struggled to his feet, and began climbing toward camp. “I am neither churchly nor a particularly”
― Peter Zuckerman, Buried in the Sky: The Extraordinary Story of the Sherpa Climbers on K2's Deadliest Day

“Out of oxygen, in pursuit of thicker air, he was moving down rapidly. Next in line was Cas van de Gevel, of the Dutch team, who, climbing even faster,”
― Peter Zuckerman, Buried in the Sky: The Extraordinary Story of the Sherpa Climbers on K2's Deadliest Day

“What explains their advantage? Contrary to one popular theory, it’s not a high red-blood-cell count. Compared with Caucasians, Sherpas actually have fewer red blood cells per liter of blood. Nor is the difference explained by diet, acclimatization, metabolism, iron-deficiency, or environmental factors. At sea level, Sherpas have such a low red-blood-cell count that they are technically anemic, but, curiously, they don’t show symptoms. Overall, Sherpas require as much oxygen as anybody else, but they have less of it dissolved in their blood. Scientists initially found this puzzling. Red blood cells ferry oxygen around the body, and other populations well adapted to altitude, such as the Quechua and the Aymara of the Andean highlands, have veins teeming with red blood cells. How do Sherpas manage with less at a much higher altitude than the Andes? Probably by circulating blood faster. Sherpas have wider blood vessels. They breathe more often when at rest, providing their blood with more oxygen to absorb, and they exhale more nitric oxide, a marker of efficient lung circulation. There is also a genetic explanation. Sherpas’ red-blood-cell count stays low because of Hypoxia Inducible Factor 2-alpha, a gene that regulates response to low oxygen and turns on other genes. In addition, Sherpas have inherited a dominant genetic trait that improves hemoglobin saturation, allowing their red blood cells to soak up more oxygen. Sherpas’ thin blood, in turn, may prevent the sort of clotting that crippled Art Gilkey on K2. This genetic advantage only enhances the Sherpa mystique. Lowlanders clutching the Lonely Planet guide are convinced they want to hire “a sherpa,” even if they don’t know what a Sherpa is, and, after three generations of gathering tourist dollars, Sherpas now rank among the richest and most visible of Nepal’s fifty or so ethnicities. They didn’t start out that way.”
― Peter Zuckerman, Buried in the Sky: The Extraordinary Story of the Sherpa Climbers on K2's Deadliest Day

“...[B]uddhists prefer to cremate the dead. The smoke carries the spirit to the sacred realm above...When someone dies above the timberline and it's hard to find firewood, a sky burial substitues for cremation. Although outsiders consider sky burials barbaric, [to Buddhists] this was the sacred wqy to free the soul. During a sky burial, Buddhist lamas or others with religious authority carry the body to a platform on a hill. While burning incense and reciting mantras, they hack the corpse into chunks and slices. They pound the bones with a rock or hammer, beating the flesh into a pulp and mixing in tea, butter, and milk. The preparation attracts vultures, and the birds consume the carcass, carrying the spirit aloft and burying it in the sky, where it belongs.” (Buried in the Sky: The Extraordinary Story of the Sherpa Climbers on K2's Deadliest Day, p. 103)”
― Peter Zuckerman, Buried in the Sky: The Extraordinary Story of the Sherpa Climbers on K2's Deadliest Day

“The Gilkey Memorial is a grisly necessity because corpses rarely make it down the mountain in one piece. For Everest losses, families sometimes send a recovery team. This doesn't happen on K2. The Savage Mountain devours its victims during the long winter beteween climbing seasons. It encases the torsos in ice and grates them against the rocks, only to spit out the digested remains decades later, scattering limbs among the avalanche debris.
When Art Gilkey's team gathered stones to honor their friend in 1953, they started a morbid tradition. To keep the campsites sanitary, climbers began using the memorial as a place to dispose of the fingers, pelvic bones, arms, heads, and legs found in the glacial melt. Burying these scraps under the Gilkey Memorial felt more respectful than leaving them to the ravens. For more than half a century, the memorial has been a place to caution the living and consecrate the dead. Mountaineers attempting K2 visit the site to remind themselves of what they are getting into......On hot days, the cairn stews with the scent of defrosting flesh, and the odor clings to mourners' hair and clothing.” (Buried in the Sky, p. 102).”
― Peter Zuckerman, Buried in the Sky: The Extraordinary Story of the Sherpa Climbers on K2's Deadliest Day

“To overcome the exertion, mountaineers use several tricks to stay strong at altitude. One method is to inhale deeply, pursing one’s lips and exhaling forcefully, as if blowing up a balloon. This is known as pressure breathing; physicians call it positive end expiratory pressure, or PEEP. Patients with emphysema or other breathing difficulties use this technique reflexively, and research shows that it improves gas exchange and prevents fluid buildup in the lungs. The pursed lips and forceful exhalation increase air pressure, which resuscitates the lungs’ air sacs, or alveoli, so they can expand, absorb more oxygen, and expel more carbon dioxide.”
― Peter Zuckerman, Buried in the Sky: The Extraordinary Story of the Sherpa Climbers on K2's Deadliest Day

“Teddy Roosevelt, another letter read, “Far better to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.”
― Peter Zuckerman, Buried in the Sky: The Extraordinary Story of the Sherpa Climbers on K2's Deadliest Day

“Ice crystals crowd around the cells, causing them to burst from the pressure. This makes the extremities itch. The itch progressively evolves into a deep, dull pain, similar to that of pressure on a bruise. As his nerves, muscles, blood vessels, and tendons froze, the pain would have subsided as Karim’s skin blanched to a waxy-white and then darkened to blue-gray.”
― Peter Zuckerman, Buried in the Sky: The Extraordinary Story of the Sherpa Climbers on K2's Deadliest Day

“At 79 degrees, Karim’s heart and lungs would have stopped, but this is a reversible death. If rewarmed slowly at a hospital, a hypothermia victim can be resurrected hours after breathing stops, because the heart and brain require less oxygen when chilled. They don’t usually degrade much, despite the loss of circulation, and they can start up again once body temperature rises.”
― Peter Zuckerman, Buried in the Sky: The Extraordinary Story of the Sherpa Climbers on K2's Deadliest Day

“Nick Rice, a climber from California, had porters shoulder a seventy-pound generator so he could power his laptop and access his blog—which, by the end of the climb, would receive two million hits.”
― Peter Zuckerman, Buried in the Sky: The Extraordinary Story of the Sherpa Climbers on K2's Deadliest Day