UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Thursday, November 16, 1995
7A
Nepal avalanche barely spares U.S. couple
The Associated Press
KATMANDU, Nepal — Feeling uneasy at an unexpected snowfall, the Nepalese guide woke Ron and Deborah Plotkin in their tent in the dead of night and told them to pack up.
Moments later, the mountain toppled with a rumble.
The avalanche just missed the Plotkins. For the next three days, they and their guide crawled and stumbled through thick banks of snow and waded across icy rivers, trying to reach safety.
At night, they dug caves in the snow for shelter and thought of their three children in San Diego: Ian. 14. Rachel. 9. and Melia. 5.
"I prayed to God: 'Don't snatch me from them, please. They need us,'" said Deborah Flotin, 41.
Forty-six people, including one of the Plotkin's six Sherpa guides,
were killed in avalanches and land-slides this weekend in one of Nepal's worst disasters in decades.
Another 517 people, including 238 foreigners, have been rescued. But hundreds of hikers and Nepalese villagers may still be trapped in the Himalaya Mountains, including more than a dozen Americans. Helicopters rescued nearly 60 people yesterday and were continuing the search.
The Gokyo Valley trails buried under the avalanches, along the ancient trading route between Tibet and Nepal, are popular with adventure tourists because they offer panoramic views of the world's tallest mountains, including the 29.028-foot Mount Everest.
The secretive kingdom opened its borders to outsiders and its majestic mountains to tourism in 1960.
"It was a dream trip," said Deborah Plotkin, a teacher. They set off Nov. 1 on an expedition to 20,423-foot high Island Peak with six Nepalese porters and guides, and two yaks to carry their baggage.
sound, I looked back and saw four of our Nepalese staff gone."
Deborah Plotkin
Avalanche survivor
On Friday, when the couple pitched their tents at 6 p.m., it
"The little flakes seemed innocuous," said Ron Plotkdn, a 39-year-old psychologist.
started snowing.
But at 2:30 a.m., one guide woke them. As they came out of their tent, they heard a rumbling sound, and tons of snow crashed near their camp site.
Snow had piled up to nearly six feet. When the yaks couldn't move.
"And then the crawling started. We could move only 20 feet in one hour," said Ron Plotkin. Before dusk Saturday, they and their guide dug a cave in the snow to protect them overnight.
"Just after the sound, I looked back and saw four of our Nepalese staff gone," apparently buried under the snow, said Deborah Plotkin.
"I came out of the snow cave and looked at the sky, and I saw one
glittering star," said Deborah Plotkin, struggling to speak through tears.
She remembered telling her youngest daughter, Melia, that when she loses her first tooth it will become a star in the sky. "It was as if her face was there in the star."
After crawling and stumbling for another day, they spent the second night in a makeshift cave. Then on Monday, they found a path in the snow and followed it to the tiny hamlet of Chikoon.
One of their guides, Ram Kumar, died of the cold. But they learned later that the four who were buried in the avalanche managed to escape.
"When I saw people, I ran despite the pain, and we were welcomed by a group of trekkers," Deborah Plotkin said.
A helicopter rescued them.
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