Bad weather, army is not flying
This morning unfortunately the weather is too bad to be able to fly into the mountains. The Nepalese army unit ready to take off is waiting for better weather conditions.
Nepalese army looking for Christiaan
A specialised unit of the Nepalese army (Nepal Army’s High Altitude and Mountain Warfare Training Academy) has been committed to the search for Christiaan for the past few days. At this moment they can finally start!
Tomorrow the weather was nice enough for a chopper to fly from Kathmandu to Pokhara and to continue to Jomsom with a stop inbetween because of the bad weather. In a second attempt Jomson was reached. At the Army school of mountain warfare the unit will now receive a briefing and plans will be made on how the search can be continued. The latest news is that tomorrow they will head into the mountains. People missing in Nepal isn’t unusual, but getting the help of the army is very unusual. Because of this we are very happy with everybody who worked hard to make sure this specialised unit from the army is going to help us in our search.
In orange is the leader of the basis. In red Suraj of Saron.
Briefing Nepalese leger
Ruben is briefing the army unit
Disappointments
The past few days have been silent. No messages have been posted on the website, there are no pictures of men looking for their friend in Nepal. There is just silence and every now and then the ticking of the counter on the website, moving up to 105%.
It’s a silence that has been disappointing. After the part posted that they found Christiaans helmet, surely it couldn’t last long anymore? But the pictures we got of the helmet on Whatsapp stayed in the private group. Suddenly we got the thought… what if this was the last thing to be found of Christiaan’s? It felt too painful to share this thought.
An uneasy silence was created for the past few days because of multiple letdowns. At 05:00 a message come in with the next words:”The weather is too bad to fly today.” A hopeful analysis of satellite images which didn’t give any new real information. A new day and again no possibility to fly. The research on the helmet which could last for days. A continuous flow, surprise and frustration in a completely different culture where saying no is not an option. The rain continues to tick, while everybody gets more and more tired.
With the passing of the days and the knowledge that the chance that Christiaan will be found alive is getting smaller and smaller, the first cracks are starting to appear in the ”tacking things” humor everybody is in. No matter how hard you want it, it just isn’t possible to keep running as fast as you can. Slowly we are switching from a sprint to a marathon.
Today Pieter got in the plane and explained it the following way: ”Our goal is clear. We are going there to take Christiaan back with us. But we are realistic as well. The moesson has started and it is getting more dangerous to search. The chance that we will discover during this journey we can’t search any further is also there. In that case we will have to return, get back to our lives and make plans to continue the search in the new season.”
The past few days have been quit. It’s an uneasy quite fed by disappointments, but for everything there is, there is also an hour…. There is a moment to be silent, and a moment to speak.
Today is a moment to say: ”Christiaan, we will continue our search and we will find you!”
On the way to Nepal
On Saturday night Pieter, Sander and Michel got on the plane to Nepal. They will support the men over there who left earlier to look for Christiaan. Herman Peter will leave on Tuesday to help the team.
Vlnr. Pieter, Michel, Herman Peter en Sander
Update June 18
For the past few days, we’ve been trying to get Paul back up, back into the area around Swiss camp. This is the place where we have found the piece of Christiaan’s helmet (see image).
Locatie helm
Paul arrived on site on Friday and will continue the search today, joined by two porters.
It took quite some effort getting Paul back into the area. At first, the plan was for Paul to start at the same time as the army, but unfortunately the deployment of a special Nepalese army unit is taking longer than expected.
Ruben and Paul went to find out on Friday morning at the Pokhara airfield whether a direct helicopter flight from Pokhara was an option. Fortunately, they were in luck! A helicopter came back from Jomsom, willing to make a stop to pick up Paul and the two porters and carry them to the area. The two porters speak English and were fit. At first, the pilot only wanted to land at Italian camp, but when it became clear that there was insufficient visibility, Paul was dropped off at Swiss camp. The three of them will be able to visit all areas of interest around Swiss camp. We hope to be able to get support in our search from the Nepalese army soon. The army has by now pledged their commitment, but the actual start of the search is taking a while.