A 17-Year-Old Trapped But Alive on Everest

Teenage mountaineer Matt Moniz, on another climb. (Photo: Climb7.com)

Seventeen-year-old climbing wunderkind Matt Moniz of Boulder, Colo. is one of the 150 people stuck along on Mount Everest — without his parents. He is one of the lucky ones. He is still alive. 

Moniz and his team — including experienced climbers Willie Benegas and Jim Walkley — were at Everest Base Camp (or “EBC,” as the climbing community calls it) on Saturday when an avalanche swept through the community of climbers and killed at least 17, or, by some accounts, more than 30. The rush of snow and ice injured dozens more. Even climbers who had climbed above EBC to Camps 1 and 2 were affected; the Khumbu Icefall (the route between EBC and higher points on Everest) was rendered impassable and irreparable. Trapped, those at the higher camps have been waiting for helicopter rescue.

Moniz had been wanting to climb Mount Everest for years. On April 20, his team posted a smiling video on Facebook, saying, “To the top, safely and soundly, then back to the bottom. We are here … Everest in the background, getting stoked.” On April 24, the day before the avalanche, Willie and Matt posted another, laughing and saying, “We’re at High Camp at Lobuche, having a great time… Amazing view.”

But then the fun ended.

Matt Moniz and his team at lower Pamboche with Ama Dablam in the background (Photo: Benegas Brothers)

In the climbing community — one in which Matt Moniz is a respected and accomplished member, despite his young age — everyone pitches in to help in a crisis. Matt’s team, among many others, spent a long day on Saturday assisting in triage, trauma management, and evacuation for injured EBC climbers. Priority was placed on treating the living; the dead were wrapped with respect. The team worked through a long night until all of the hurt climbers were evacuated by helicopter and transported for medical help — some questioned exactly where they could go, given the state of Katmandu and the thousands injured by the earthquake.

Today, as the evacuation of injured climbers at EBC is completed and those stuck at Camps 1 and 2 have been brought to Base Camp, a new community is forming. Although the camp in now far from the rollicking hot spot it was before the avalanche — think flat screen TVs, gourmet food, and strong wifi signals, all on a mountainside — they are settling into the “war zone” atmosphere to wait for a window to head home. Matt’s teammate, Jim Walkley, posted to his blog earlier Monday, “The Kathmandu airport has shut down to commercial flights, only allowing humanitarian and military flights for the time-being … That likely means that we’ll remain here for the foreseeable future. The villages down valley have been heavily impacted, so staying put with all of our supplies makes the most sense currently.”

Many are asking the question, “Should we keep trying to climb Everest?” Last year, after 16 Sherpas (local mountain guides) were killed in an avalanche, that season’s answer turned out to be, “No,” for practical and sentimental reasons (but for a few climbers who went on alone). But Moniz and his teammates are hopeful for seasons to come. 

According to Matt’s father Mike Moniz, who is himself an accomplished climber, “This is still a viable mountain to climb, and the North side [through Tibet] is a viable option. It’s just that the logistics are complex.”

For Matt Moniz, an Everest summit may have to wai