By Kyrylo STADNYCHENKO, The Day
Valentyn SYMONENKO
The Ukrainian Flags on the World's Highest Peaks National Program adopted
a few years ago by the Federation of Mountaineering of Ukraine is gradually
assuming visible lines. Early in March, the first-ever expedition in the
history of our young state set off to Everest, one of the most famous peaks
on earth. The team consists of thirteen members. Chairman of Ukraine's
Auditing Chamber Valentyn Symonenko, a long-time Alpinist, also made half
the trek with his like-minded friends until official duties forced his
return. Yet, he gained some fresh impressions. The Day's correspondent
met Mr. Symonenko.
"What is base camp like?"
"This is the at the edge, rather smooth at that, of the Rongbuk glacier,
with a frozen lake on the left and a frozen stream on the right. The outside
temperature is about plus 5-10o Celsius during the day and minus 10-15
at night. Every half hour there is such a strong gust of wind that any
firmly-fixed tent would literally burst and tear to pieces.
"There were also the base camps of US and British expeditions near us
in the same area. Then we were joined by Belgians and Georgians. Five groups
altogether.
"I am very grateful to the Chinese Ambassador in Ukraine who furnished
us with transport to reach the camp. Moreover, the drivers were local Tibetans.
This was good, on the one hand. They know the terrain very well. But a
different problem came up at once. The Tibetan language is absolutely different
from Chinese, while they turned out not to know English at all.
"A funny thing happened there. We had bought an English-language book
on Tibet in which the map clearly separated this area from the rest of
the People's Republic of China. Naturally, the Chinese liaison officers
attached to us "just in case" immediately confiscated this objectionable
material."
"In what way did you differ from other groups?"
"First of all, ours was a purely sporting expedition. The group includes
9 climbers, a doctor, a coach, the leader, and a cook - 13 all in
all. Our foreign counterparts are part of commercial expeditions. Each
"amateur" had an instructor attached to him. This goodie cost each participant
about 5-7 thousand dollars. Besides, we were also distinguished by another
"professional" peculiarity: oxygen-free climbing. We only had 20 oxygen
bottles and 6 masks for purely medical purposes."
"What drew your greatest attention?"
"Naturally, all eyes were fixed on Everest. We were struck by the absolutely
black color of the mountain. The winter was snowless. Unfortunately, no
one can say so far if this is good or bad. What is clear is this: I climbed
almost up to 6,000 meters and saw no snow. As became obvious later as we
were approaching the northern saddle, this added to our difficulties. Snow
is better than ice, which had fully covered this part of the mountain.
We had to hew up steps for 300 meters to clear the way. Perhaps it will
also be far more complicated in the second part of the expedition than
it could be with snow around. We would have to scale the cliffs for they
had been exposed."
"What is the time schedule for climbing?"
"The whole expedition is intended for 45 days. The first stage is a
base camp at 5150 meters. Then the upper camp at 7200. This stage has three
intermediate camps at which we accumulate stores. We were to gather all
groups at the third intermediate camp in due time. This was done quickly
enough. The team managed to do the job within seven days. After doing this
intermediate work, the guys came down for a three-day rest."
"What comes next?"
"There will be two excursions. The first is to climb to 7800 meters,
the second to 8300 meters. In fact, this is the third excursion (after
7200 meters). Then there comes the culmination: the guys go to the peak
in groups. We divided them into groups of three. In this case, we
had to somewhat break the tradition of group climbing."
"Was the human factor most important when you divided the group into
threes?"
"Without doubt. After the guys had cleared the 7200 mark (the last base
camp), we were again convinced that the groups had been selected
quite correctly. There was so much complex technical work, and the teamwork
within the groups proved to be strikingly effective.
"In principle, our team is always very close-knit. We were together
constantly. Immedietely after conquering Everest, we lock start to
discuss in detail our plans for the fall and next year. It is while discussing
these plans that we came up with a new idea. After an obligatory scaling
of Everest (all the boys were sure of this), we will be storming the peak
where Nikolai Bashkirov died, the so-called fifteenth "eight-thousand-meter
point." It is 8142 meters high."
"Mr. Symonenko, did you have any emergencies?"
"Funny things, I would say. There was a very interesting case at Kathmandu
airport. One of our team members happened to wear an anorak absolutely
identical to that of an Englishman. Moreover, they fell asleep together
in the airport. The Englishman was the first to wake up, and he matter-of-factly
put on our athlete's anorak. Our boy, in his turn, got quite unnerved when
he awoke. It all might have been OK, but all the expedition's cash was
in the pocket of the Ukrainian climber's anorak. A 'trifle,' isn't it?"
"And how was this problem resolved then?"
"Thank God, all was OK. The Englishman soon found a 'surprise' in his
'new' anorak and, naturally, gave it back to us."









