The man who’s cheated death twice on Mt Everest

Before it subsided moments later, it would end up killing over 8,000 people and leave many more with life-threatening injuries.

That morning, about 250km away from the epicentre of the quake, it so happened that Steven Obbayi — the first Kenyan to ever set foot on Mt Everest — and four others were embarking on an expedition to climb the tallest mountain in the world.

When the quake finally hit them, the mountain shifted by a staggering three centimetres, according to the latest findings by experts from the Chinese government’s National Administration of Surveying, Mapping and Geoinformation.

Now three centimetres might not seem like much, but up on Everest, it means an avalanche. And an avalanche is how the mountain spells “death.”

Avalanche

“We had been walking for two hours in a single file of five guys when it hit us at Khumbu icefall, regarded as one of the most feared and dangerous stages in the South Col routes,” says Obbayi.

“We were from base camp, headed to Camp One to spend the night. It’s about minus 20 degrees, a severe howling wind and we are trudging slowly in a cloud of white sheet all around. An avalanche is nothing you want to experience. It’s basically a wall of snow packed hard together for hundreds of years, bearing down on you. It’s loud, like ice cracking, and sometimes it comes down with rocks and trees. It’s the most terrifying thing.”

Avalanches can reach speeds of up to 130km/h within five seconds and if buried under one, you have about 91 per cent chance of survival if rescued within 18 minutes. That rate drops to 34 per cent in burials between 19 and 35 minutes. Most people die.

As training suggests, in the face of this monstrous danger, the men quickly roped themselves together just in case someone fell into a crevice (instant death) or got buried in snow (it usually solidifies immediately). Somehow, they survived, but about 16 other climbers weren’t so lucky. That avalanche remains the most deadly Everest has ever seen in its history.

“After moments that seemed like eternity, it suddenly stopped and we frantically radioed the base camp with little success. Later, we were to learn of the extent of the horrifying damage; people being hurled from tents, bones breaking, skulls crushing, men buried in snow — some who couldn’t be found. Base camp had never seen anything like this. Had we been at base camp, I wouldn’t be here for this interview,” Obbayi says with a humour that’s hard to appreciate.

But that wasn’t the first time he was facing death up that wretched mountain. The first time, the previous year, he was saved because one of the climbers had a stomach upset. “It basically meant we had to wait a day to let his stomach settle down,” he recalls.

“The first team consisting of 50 members left without us and a day later, they ran into an avalanche. 25 escaped death, nine got seriously injured and 16 died.”

Mt Everest, known as the “Climber’s Mecca” continues to claim lives. It’s reported that about one million people visit the mountain every year, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council, generating about four per cent of Nepal’s gross domestic product in 2013.

But just what is it that keeps luring this humble 41-year-old software systems engineer (runs his own consultancy) from Kenya to embrace this leering mountain? Why does he keep courting death and when did this fascination with an odd mountain thousands of kilometres away start?

“It started as a hobby, I’m interested in water sports — scuba diving and all that. I also did a bit of mountaineering before I figured I could go professional,” he says.

“I had initially put Mt Everest in my bucket list but I soon realised that it was much bigger than a bucket list.”

Expensive hobby

It’s also not cheap. A trip costs something north of Sh7 million. This includes includes money for gear, plane tickets, guide fees, logistics and emergencies, among other items.

Obayyi was sponsored by Thuraya, the satellite communications company (Indigo Telcom in Kenya) and Brightermonday.com, a career portal, under their #NeverGiveUp campaign that seeks to encourage job seekers to pursue their dreams despite challenges.

He also teamed up with Toby Storie-Pugh, a co-founder of Flying Kites Leadership Academy, a home and school for orphans. Toby is the founder of Chase Bank Kenya Everest Expedition which also sponsored the expedition in 2014, a year he had about 25 sponsors locally and abroad.

But before the expedition there is the training.

“First there is the mental preparation to meet the harsh conditions up there. You have to accept that there is a chance of dying up in the mountain.

The conditions are unimaginable with temperatures going below minus 30 degrees, poor visibility and severe isolation that triggers depression and loneliness. This is the point where men suffering from depression decide to get over and done with it, climb when they aren’t well acclimatised and never make it alive.”

Two-year preparation

Ascending the mountain requires a different level of physical exertion, or the “most challenging thing a human body can perform” according to Obbayi. Physical preparation lasts for two years prior to the climb and includes building muscles.

“Your physiology needs to survive the high altitudes. The air up there only has about 30 per cent oxygen, it’s windy and you walk for hours. You don’t need to build muscles that are heavy and will only demand more oxygen to feed. You need to be light but strong with a lot of stamina, which means smart weight training, aerobics, whole day hikes carrying a 28kg backpack, swimming, jogging, taking staircases, running up hills, squats to build leg and thigh muscles. You do it for two years and you make it your life. That requires lots of discipline and focus.”

He adds that up Everest, because of lack of enough oxygen, the body does not operate at its optimum.

“You tend to forget little things because your brain is deprived of oxygen, and it’s fatal. You forget to harness your gear well, you die. You remove your gloves for 15 seconds, you lose your fingers to frostbite. Simple mistakes have killed more seasoned men up in the mountain.”

What has climbing a formidable mountain like Everest taught him, you wonder.

“What I have learnt is that in life, it’s very easy for your mind to convince you that you can’t do something, be it in business or elsewhere. When pressure comes, the mind is prone to give up. There is no room for negative thoughts in the mountain. It has taught me to distinguish between realistic body limits and perceived limits, but mostly I have learnt that if I control my mind, my body can do just about anything I want it to do.”

“It’s made me fearless in business when chasing contracts even in the face of big boys with deeper pockets. It gives you confidence and self-belief. Everything is possible but nothing happens overnight. The mountain is merciless and cruel and it teaches you patience. Some days, you just have to sit, observe and not make a move, which is a vital lesson in life. The crocodile has never starved from sitting still by the banks of a river, has it?”

The climb up Everest is about 64km taking about 60 days and at some point, the trail is marked by frozen bodies of dead climbers, some with eyes open, complete with gear on their backs. Men who stopped to take a breather and took their last breath from sheer exhaustion. Mummies of the Everest.

Obbayi remains unmoved by this peril and is going back in 2017 even after cheating death twice. Even after the reports of two small earthquakes reported just this week and the trail being declared unnavigable. He’s training again. He’s conditioning his mind. He’s also making peace with himself.

Cure for boredom

“It’s hard to explain why I want to go back and do this,” says the last born in a family of four boys, with a faraway look.

“My motivation is to cure boredom. I get bored when I don’t do anything drastic. If it’s not Mt Everest, it will be something equally challenging. I want to do things people say can’t be done.”

But what about death, I ask him in frustration because he keeps skirting around the topic of death, treating it like mere dust on a surface.

“You can die in Nairobi. You can die in this office. I don’t focus on death, I focus on the things I can control.”