Story of a hardcore paraglider pilot
An impressive survival tale of a Bulgarian guy who crash-landed his paraglider in the Himalayas away from civilization, in his own words. Has nothing to do with BASE, but damn what a story… 
27.02.2011 It’s a wonderful day today. From the morning the clouds’ base promised to be high. I stood in front of “Paranova Paragliding” storage waiting for the jeep with the passengers. We loaded the wings and we set out to Saranghot. It wasn’t necessary to wait for suitable air conditions at the start. We managed to fly away immediately. The flying conditions were perfect. The passengers were happy with the flight. Some of them felt faint but it’s something usual in this line of work. All pilots landed, we packed our wings and went back to town. There were only two passengers for the second flight. I looked at the sky and I felt sorry that I didn’t have a solo harness. And then Rumen came….. “Let’s go to Krushon!” He said. “Well….I haven’t got a solo harness.” “You will take mine, I will fly with the tandem wing.” “Well, ok then!” It was a quick decision. Usually unexpected things are better then expected ones. We packed the wings quickly, hired a taxi, stopped to buy some food from the supermarket and drove off to the start area. We stretched the wings and flew right away. As I mentioned the conditions for flying were excellent so we moved quickly over Saranghot and flew away to the Green Wall. The thermals there are usually very strong, although sometimes you should wait for a while for the next cycle. We caught a ‘thermal’ and we started rising up. The vario peeped calmly and the display showed 3……3,5………4,5…….6,7. I flew over 3000 meters and I got near the clouds’ base. I continued rising up flying straight ahead only, 3300……3400…..3500
At 3550 meters I stopped rising up and I flew with a great supply of height towards Krushon. I looked back to see if the tandem wing followed me and I started flying over one of Krushon’s ridges. And I did all this in less than an hour. What a wonderful weather. I was at 2800 meters when I scratched over the ridge to wait for the tandem wing. It went out of the thermal and flew along the ridge. I was trying to ride the thermal. I wanted it to rise me up to the start level which was 3250 meters. I was climbing up slowly with 1.5-2 m/s. At 3650 meters the clouds were getting darker which was an unambiguous sign that it will rain soon. Now I was climbing faster with 4-4.5 m/s and I was soon sucked in by this black giant. When I reached 3750 I decided to do something to lower my height. After all the aim of our flight was to land at 3250 meters. I did a spiral and I fastened it as much as I could but still I hardly climbed down with 4m/s. Then I decided to do Big Ears. It helped me a lot and I started climbing down with 5 m/s. I released the Big Ears at 150 meters before the landing zone…..and what a surprise. The wing started parachuting and swinging in all directions. I collapsed the wing and it started flying normally. I was almost at the start level so I landed 10 meters away from the shelter. Four minutes later Rumen with the tandem wing made a perfect landing next to me. He smiled: “Did you want to try the spare parachute?” “It was close.” We packed the wings quickly as it started raining. It was only 2.30 p.m. so we even had enough time for a walk. It was snowing slightly but this couldn’t stop us.
With brisk steps I headed to Krushon. I wanted to see what was written on the sign at the top of the hill. I must have climbed 500 meters. I lost Rumen and Valya somewhere behind me. It started snowing seriously. At the top of the hill there was a strong snowfall and a turbulent wind. I had a look at the sign and went back quickly. Somewhere on my way back I found two dry logs and I took them as I thought they would be excellent for the fire. Actually the shelter we were going to sleep in was a stone hut without any windows. The floor was covered with dry grass. I am not going to explain where exactly the bathroom and the toilet were. We made a fire right in front of the shelter and prepared some tea. I seemed to be a long and cold night. After we had dinner we went to bed using the wings as blankets. It was -8’C.
28.02.2011 I woke up at 5.30 and I tried to light the fire again. The sun began to rise from the east. The sunrise here is more then incredible. Words are not enough to express its beauty. The top of Annapurna was shining brightly with the first rays of the rising sun. Soon the top of Machapuchare also started shining. The sun was sending its life-giving power and the whole mountain was waking up for the new day. The sight was awesome. Rumen and Valya woke up. We made some tea and we met the new day at 3250 meters height. We were far away from the noise and the misery of the civilization. It seemed as if we were in a time capsule. For breakfast we had what was left from the dinner and then we waited for the sun to warm the land. Here above the inversions and the smog the sun’s beams were burning. We were happy to collect some warmth after the cold night. Around 8.30 in the morning several vultures appeared indicating the first thermal. They flew above the start and winged away towards the mountain. Majestic birds! Soon afterwards other birds came, and more…..and more….At 9.30 I decided that we should also try to fly. “Isn’t it too early?” Rumen asked me. “No, it is not. During my previous flights I flew away even at 9 o’clock and there were good conditions to fly. At this height conditions are different.”
We prepared the wings under the imposing figure of Machapuchare which now looked even more beautiful in its new white coat, I pulled the wing and I was in the air. This was an amazing feeling. Almost immediately I found a thermal and went up to 3700 meters. I held on there searching for another thermal. The tandem wing went along the ridge, and soon it found a thermal and started flying up slowly. I slid softly along the ridge, deep in the mountain, then along the next one…..I wanted to reach as closely as I could to the majestic triangle of Machapuchare. This mountain top was like a giant magnet for me- it attracted me so much that it was hard for me to resist. The height gained after the start soon disappeared and I was almost at the base of the mountain. The tandem was flying higher somewhere far away from me. I flew towards a place I knew from my previous flights. A strong shaking showed me that there is a thermal somewhere near. After 2-3 180’ turnings finally I managed to get into centre of the thermal and started rising up…3500…..3700……3900…..4100.
I saw Rumen and Valya who flew towards Pokhara, but I decided to stay for one more hour. I headed to the big vertical east wall of the top. Now I was strongly embraced by the tops of the mountain. In moments like this you always feel too small, even insignificant. Your petty ambitions crash into the eternity of this mountain. It was an evanescent sparkle in the eternal fire of the nature.
I was at 4520 meters. It was obvious that more than that wasn’t possible. I decided to fly westward along the ridges and then to fly back to Pokhara. The sun was shining brightly and there was a powerful turbulence. I flew towards the next ridge which separates Krushon’s ridge from the big cliffs with a deep canyon. Suddenly the controls loosened. A frontal collapse. Nothing special. I waited a few seconds while the wing started flying normally again. Now the wing was above my head but something bothered me very much. The two middle A lines were torn off. The profile of the wing was damaged seriously and it started parachuting. I pulled it down strongly hoping that it might help and the wing will restore its normal position. But nothing happened. It rotated me towards a huge vertical rock and it seemed as if I will smash there. Naturally I pulled down the left control making a negative spiral………and then…..bang. I was lying down on the ground. I couldn’t move. I could hardly breathe but luckily for me there was nothing broken. I still couldn’t fully grasp what had just happened. I was flying at about 40 meters above the ground and I had no time to deploy my spare parachute. Everything happened too fast, in 2-3 seconds. Five minutes later I slowly tried to stand up.
The situation looked bad. I fell down near a vertical rock in a narrow gully covered with bamboo and some other short bushes. I was at 3700 m height. Lucky me. These bushes actually absorbed most of the impact. I tried to move my body slowly to see how serious the damages were. My leg was twisted, my ribs hurt, I had some bruises on my neck and probably I had compressed vertebrae on my spine. And the last thing I was thinking about then was my nose bleeding. I just didn’t pay any attention. I tried to stand up. The gully was 10 m wide, 30m long and had a 70 degrees inclination. If there weren’t any bushes I would have still be rolling down the hill. It was hard for me to move. I sat down trying to figure out the situation. It was half past twelve. The best thing to do was to fly away immediately. For that purpose I should find appropriate place, move the equipment there…well it didn’t sound very easy. I started climbing with the help of a bamboo stick. I reached the top edge of the gully and I was happy to see that there was a steep place covered with dry grass and bushes.
This should be the place. I climbed down, I unfastened the harness and went to the place to take a look again. I was trying to ignore the pain I was feeling with every single movement. I didn’t have too much time. Soon the sun should hide behind the west ridge and the wind from the valley will stop, which will make my start impossible. I set up a time at which I should be ready with the equipment. It’s 15 o’clock. I put down the harness, climbed down for the wing, climbed up and tied together the two broken lines. Everything cost me too much energy and efforts. I was ready not too long before 15 o’clock and I was very happy with this. I prepared the wing to fly. But it is too steep here and it went down several times. Finally everything is ok. I took the A belts and ignoring the pain I ran as fast as I could. But there is something strange. The wing didn’t fly symmetrically and I had to start again.
By the way I had hurt my leg while running down. I decided to try again. At the end of this place there is a 6 meters long vertical which could help me. So I prepared the wing again, then checked everything and this time I wanted to succeed. RUN… I saw the wing flying perfectly above me…and in the next moment I stumbled over a hassock. The wing went down into an abyss. It was a total failure. It was almost 4 p.m. I didn’t have neither time nor power to try again. I decided to spend the night somewhere here and the next day when the sun warms the east side and the conditions are good to fly away with minimum efforts. So I looked around for a place to sleep. There isn’t any choice. The only suitable one is a 1.5 meter long and 40 cm. wide area covered with snow. This is the best choice. I put down the harness to use it as a bed. It won’t be the most comfortable night in my life.
The sun set down behind the west ridge of the mountain and the tops colored in million different colors were now the most beautiful sight. That’s why it is worth to be in such places regardless of the circumstances. It was already dark outside. The temperature was dropping quickly. The sky was covered with thousands of stars. The atmosphere here is clear enough and it is easy to see more stars than usual. I was thinking about a fire. There was only grass there which I could light. I quickly lit one hassock, it ignited, I could feel the warmness but 5 minutes later it was over. Then I lit another one, and another…..For a short time I was not so cold. But it was better to try to sleep. I set myself into the harness and I pressed tightly the harness to the slope because otherwise I will fall down. I felt terribly tired and few minutes later I fell asleep.
01.03.2011 I woke up at 2 a.m. trembling with the cold, I put my backpack over and I fell asleep again. Soon I woke up again. Only 20 minutes had passed. And then again, and again… At 4 a.m. I decided to stand up and to try to light a fire again. My mouth was completely dry. I grabbed a handful of snow and ate it trying to satisfy my thirst. I knew the result wouldn’t be brilliant but it will help for the next 4-5 hours. I cut some sticks from a hassock to keep the fire going for longer. I lit another hassock and put the sticks in and what a magic-I had 5 minutes more worth of fire. I decided to keep on with the hassocks. But it was too steep and the hassocks below lit the hassocks above. That’s why I got myself a long stick in a bid to control the fire. After a while the fire was out of control and quickly spread upwards. I knew that 20 meters higher it will stop because there was a lot of snow. But now my precious source of warmness was gone. It was 5.30 a.m. I cuddled down in the harness again to keep as long as I could the heat from the fire. One hour to the sunrise. It started getting brighter from the east. The moon is low above the horizon and makes the view even more beautiful.
The sunrise above Himalaya Mountain can make you breathless. I don’t believe that there is another place in the world where the days start like this. Before sunrise the top summits are lit with thousands of different colours. At first the sun lights Annapurna, soon after it lights Machapuchare in the colors of Agni. I have seen this amazing sight a thousand times, but even if I see it a million times it won’t be enough. It is difficult to describe the moment with words. The sun was above the horizon and its rays warmed my body. After the long and cold night now I could feel every sun beam. I felt a pleasant feeling and suddenly I fell asleep for 30 minutes. It was 9 o’clock. The sun was shining brightly over the slope. I could see the fire’s signature almost everywhere. Everything around was black. ‘I will stain my wing’ I thought. I saw thin threads of smoke. I decided to wait for an hour before the flight. The day will be perfect for flights and now I could see myself landing in Lake Side and ordering something for breakfast. I fell asleep again. It was 9.55 and it was time for the flight. The threads of smoke had disappeared. I get the wing out and prepared it for the flight. It was a perfect straight wing with approximate speed 4-5 m/s. I spread the wing, I checked the lines, I prepared the harness and I was almost ready. And then …..I couldn’t believe my eyes. The left side of the wing was on fire. Nooooooooooo! I tried quickly to stop the fire but it was too late. Four or five cameras were burned in the fire. There was a hole 70 cm wide and 20 cm long!!! And some additional damages underneath. It couldn’t be true. I couldn’t believe what had happened. I sat on the ground and I fell as if an asteroid had hit me. It took me more than 30 minutes to fully realize what really had happened. But now I didn’t have time to lose. So I packed everything in the rucksack and I went up to the top to check the possible directions. At 1 p.m. I should be at the top. The rucksack was very heavy, my body hurt and all this combined with the height of 4000 meters made the situation very difficult. Every 5 minutes I had to make a stop and rest. After 2 hours of trekking I saw that I had climbed 100 meters. Now I was high enough to look around and to find a way back. There were two possibilities. The first possibility was to go over this slope and to climb up to 4700 meters following the snowy zone. It means that I should spend at least 2 nights there and walk a lot in the snow which would be really very hard. The night temperatures are -15-20 degrees and there is no possibility to light a fire there. Probably in two days time I would reach the Krushon’s shelter but it doesn’t sound good. The other possibility is to go down towards the jungle which is more hospitable. But the area is very rough here and there are a lot of unknown things there. During the previous flights I saw canyons even deeper than the Grand Canyon. So this possibility didn’t sound better than the first one. I sat on the grass and tried to choose where to go. I was thirsty. There was a lot of snow around but I couldn’t melt it. I took some snow with the glove, I left it in the sun to melt and then I squeezed the liquid from the glove into my mouth. It’s not enough but it’s still something. It was a wonderful day. The sun was shining brightly. The base of the clouds was at about 4700-4800 meters height. I saw a wing in the air above Krushon, then another one, and another one. And suddenly I thought I could fly away. Or at least I could try. Maybe I will succeed. I took out the wing, I spread it on the slope and corrected the lines. I wanted to raise it up to see how it will fly. I was waiting for a stronger wind, then I pulled it…but nothing happened. I tried again but still nothing. I started thinking if it was possible to fix it somehow with the things I had. Actually I didn’t have anything. I should simply forget about the flying and concentrate on the walking.
I packed everything in the rucksack again and headed down. I took this decision because I had a great experience in climbing and canyoning. I was using the south slope so the snow was too soft, even completely thawed in some places. I slid several times and every time I did this I could feel the pain again and again. And it was a real nightmare for my body to cope with a rucksack weighting 20 kg. I fell down again and I started sledding on the snow. Actually this was a quick way to move. In some places the snow was replaced by mud. It was not so painless to move this way but it was quick. After an hour of sledding, the area with the snow was replaced by big areas covered with bamboo. The snow got deeper and it was more difficult to walk. The closer I got to this small tributary of Seti River the steeper was the slope. Now I had to grab the bamboo and to use them as ropes to get down because there were vertical areas 4-5 meters long. The bamboo bushes were so strong that I was not afraid to entrust my life to 3-4 stems thinner than a pencil. The vertical areas got bigger and bigger and each one was followed by a 2-3 meters long terrace with 45 degrees inclination. I could see the river from there. Or at least I could guess where the river was because it was trapped in high vertical cliffs. It was 6 p.m. and it was time to think about a camp. I got down again and I found myself on a terrace 5 meters long and 3 meters wide with 30 degrees inclination. This was the place for my camp. There was a big stone in the middle and I hoped that it would stop me from rolling down during the night. I dropped the rucksack down and took a closer look again. Ten meters away I found a creek that shaped beautiful icy figures onto the stone.
I also found some sticks which I decided to use for the fire. I cut some bamboo. I used half of it to lean on, and the other half as a seat to keep me dry and away from the wet ground. The most important tool which you need in the forest is the knife. Usually I have two knives but two weeks ago I lost one of them in the landing area. I opened my rucksack and took out the leftover almonds. I counted them-they were 20. I ate five or six of them and put the others in different pockets. I also had a quarter of a Twix bar which in these circumstances was a real feast for me. If I had only kept the small metal coffee box, I could make some tea now. I almost managed to dry my legs.
It was time to sleep. I leaned the harness on the stone and now I had a comfortable and safe place to sleep. I spread half of the wing over the bamboo to protect me from the ground. The other half I used as a blanket. It was quite a comfortable place if you compare it with the previous one. I went to bed and fell asleep immediately.
02.03.2011 A strong pain woke me up. This pain was familiar to me. There were moments in my life when I felt the same pain. My legs had frozen during the day and now when they got warmed up it hurt a lot. The pain lasted for about an hour and a half and then stopped. It was two o’clock. I took off my shoes and felt sleep again. I didn’t know how long I was sleeping but I woke up and I realized that I was sliding down. Somehow I managed to take my arms out of the wing and I pushed my fingers into the ground. I got out of the wing and adjusted it again. Then I fell asleep again. And then again the same situation. Finally I changed my place hoping to stop the rolling down. It was 7 in the morning when I woke up. The wing seems to somehow have become much heavier. I took my head out of the ‘blanket’ and I saw that everything around was white. The snow cover above me was 5-6 cm. I hid again under the wing and decided to wait for the snowfall to stop. Actually I felt quite comfortably under this double ‘blanket’. It was 8.30 and the snow had already stopped. I got out of ‘bed’. I felt pain in almost every part of my body and I needed some time to make it move again. It was a slow process but finally I was ready to go. One of my shoes had disappeared and I was trying to find it. During one of my night “rolling downs” the shoe had slipped down. It was trapped in the bamboo and luckily for me it was upside down and so was not full of snow. The new snow changed the situation. It would be really hard to walk through this slippery surface. I decided to leave the harness there, to cut only one part of the wing to use it as a ‘blanket’ and to keep the parachute. Now my rucksack was 30 % lighter than in the beginning of my adventure. But it was still heavy and it was difficult to put it on my back. Probably I hit my back seriously. I was ready and I started walking again. It was 9.30 a.m. There were only three vertical terraces and I should reach the river. I quickly climbed down two of them with the help of the bamboo and only the last one was left. It was shorter than a meter and had 45 degrees inclination. I caught 4-5 of the longer stems and slid down. But the bamboos were not long enough and I needed 50 cm more to step on the terrace. I could jump but the inclination was big and I was not sure that I will be able to keep my feet on the terrace. And there were two five meter high vertical walls of the river! I didn’t know how long I was hanging there and I would never know. But in a moment I find myself in the water. I looked around and wondered what was this place. A canyon maybe? And what was I doing there I wondered. And where exactly was I? It wasn’t Stara Planina. I felt as if I was watching a movie. I hoped that it will finish soon and I will find myself sitting comfortably in my armchair in front of the TV. I had no recollection how I got there. None at all… The water was up to my knees and I was trembling strongly. Ten minutes later the memories rushed into my head and the reality stroke me as a wave after an earthquake. It wasn’t Stara Planina or a movie that would end soon. I was in the Himalaya Mountain. HIMALAYA……. I should escape from this trap that I got myself into. There are two vertical walls from both sides of the river. Each of them is 5-6 meters high. There was a waterfall a few meters down the river. There is another waterfall on the opposite side. It was made by a big stone stuck between the two walls of the river. The stone had formed a fireplace-shaped curve over which the water falls down. It is 4 meters high. I got the rucksack off my back and took out the spare parachute. I intended to use the parachute’s ropes to get myself out of this trap. I made a big knot at the end of the rope. I tried to throw it. I wanted to lock it in a crack. But I missed. I threw it again and this time I managed. The knot was deeply stuck into the crack. I climbed up through the waterfall. I was not strong enough to carry the rucksack so I decided to leave everything. I had to move. Otherwise I could freeze. Then I walked quickly down the river. I can’t remember clearly the next few hours. I remember that I passed by a high and very beautiful waterfall. Then I passed by another one, and one more…I had to leave the canyon because it was too difficult and slow to move here. I choose a suitable place to start climbing up the ridge which is on my right. After one hour I was walking over the edge of the ridge.
I was trying to use my memories from the previous flights about this area. I knew this place perfectly well because I had flown here 6 times. Unfortunately it seemed quite different when you were on the ground. However, I was pretty sure that this ridge reached to Seti river. And what was more important – somewhere on it there should be a shelter. May be at 3000 m from my position. I was at 3300 m and I was hurrying downhill, looking for any signs of people. Nothing. 3100….3000….2900…. no shelter. The bamboo trees were behind me and I was walking through a tall and very beautiful forest. The day was almost over and I had to think about a place to spend the night. The huge trees had shaped amazing patterns and in many of them there were big hollows. There was no snow and no water. That was not good. I chose a place for the night, gathered a lot of wood and lit a big fire to dry my clothes. Everything looked good except the lack of water. Somewhere below me Seti river’s noise could be heard and I was sure that on the next day I would reach the big river. I couldn’t wait till morning to get going. I ensconced myself near the fire and fell asleep full of hope that the next day would bring me closer to the end of this journey.
03.03.2011 I woke up several tmes during the night to put wood in the fire but as a whole I had a good night’s sleep. At 6 o’clock I was already awake and waiting impatiently for the dawn. I ate the last three almonds and started descending, convinced that that day I would manage to get down there. After walking for 20 minutes I found myself at the end of the ridge. To the left, right and front it ended with huge vertical rocks. About 500m vertical cliffs were between me and my goal and made my way in this direction absolutely impossible. The only way was to go far back and to cross at some point in the south. That was really demotivating for me. I accepted the facts and headed backwards with a quick pace. I had to climb again from 2700m to more than 3100m. I doubled my pace forgetting about the pain. My location was one ridge wrong. For this mountain’s scale this was really a lot. Everything there was huge. The mountains that I know are like miniature models compared to the Himalayas. After trekking for 2 hours I was again at a 3000m height. The sun was shining very brightly that day and with every step this reminded me that I hadn’t drunk any water for a long time. My lips were deeply cracked because of the snow. I needed to find water quickly. A few snow-drifts showed me that I was again at a great height. 3200 metres. A handful of snow staved off my thirst for a while. I concentrated on the walking. A herd of wild goats passed less than 10 metres away from me. They stopped, looked at me with curiosity… they definitely hadn’t seen people. They were not afraid of me. Just turned around and continued their way. The east slope stayed vertical as it was. My plan to cross it somewhere was clearly doomed to failure. May be at 4000 metres it would be possible but I didn’t want to climb so far. I reached an area with 80 degrees inclination and started moving downhill. The thirst was torturing me. A big rock further down was wet with the melting snow. There should be water at its bottom. I climbed down to it, pushed away a few stones and found a small rill of running water. It was amongst the stones and I couldn’t reach it. I cut a piece of bamboo tree and used it as a straw to drink eagerly. I couldn’t sate myself. I took a short break near the water. The more I climbed down, the worse the situation appeared to be. The ridge on the left ended with vertical rocks, which together with the adjacent slope formed a deep canyon at the bottom. On the right the two slopes were separated by 40-50 (or more) meters high waterfall. The slope in front of me was deeply cut by a sequence of waterfalls. Somehow I should reach the waterfall in the right, then I should climb up the right vertical side of the waterfall and finally if it is possible I will try to climb down between the two waterfalls into a dry gullet. If only I had some climbing equipment….Unfortunately I didn’t have any so I should do it by myself. The only way to go is after the big waterfall before the canyon. Only there I can reach the other slope. I don’t want to remember exactly how I climbed down the waterfall. It was quite an extreme moment. The last thing I remembered was that I was holding a thin bamboo. Finally I found myself at the bottom of the waterfall. The sight is incredible. The stony bed of the waterfall finished there and this great amount of water poured down with an incredible power. Twenty meters away there was another waterfall. It was smaller than the previous one and extremely beautiful. The giant waterfall at the opposite side was the last piece of the puzzle. I took the camera to memorize this moment but maybe because of the water it didn’t work. I will keep the image in my mind forever. At least I could drink water as much as I needed. After a short break I started climbing up the right side of the waterfall. Sticking out of the cliff were hassocks, thin bamboo and some other bushes that resembled blackberry, but with much more thorns. If you don’t pay attention to the thorns the blackberry is a really strong plant. There was a vertical wall 40-50 meters high. Actually I was trying to reach the nearest dry gullet. Only there I will have a chance to climb down. With the help of the plants I finally reached my destination. Then I climbed down. The two walls were very close to each other. It was very easy to move through.
It was 12.30. I was between the two waterfalls. The noise was magnificent and it seemed as it was coming from under the ground. There was some fabulous energy there. I didn’t want to leave that place. I had a long break there, to keep as much from that energy as I can. But I had to go. Huge clouds were developing, probably there would be a storm. I crossed the river and entered the jungle. There were big trees there and a lot of bamboo. It was really difficult to move. When I was at the opposite side it seemed easier. The helmet that I kept on helped me a lot to make a path through the greenery. It started raining. I heard the roar of the storm somewhere deep in the jungle. Everything was wet and slippery. The paths of the wild animals helped me a lot. The rhododendrons were in blossoms and some monkeys above me were eating the flowers of this plant. They looked at me with disregard and jumped to the other tree. I wanted to taste the flowers also. I tore some flowers and chewed them only to realize that they weren’t edible. I hadn’t eaten for days and everything seemed delicious to me. Even the fresh excrements of the wild goats resembled chocolates to me. I found a big bulb that looked like a potato. I cut it into halves, licked it and waited for a few minutes. But my mouth tingled. I definitely won’t eat it. I found different mushrooms but I didn’t even think about tasting them. It was 5 o’clock in the afternoon and it was still raining. And obviously I should walk a lot to reach the south side of the slope. I had to climb again because of the vertical wall. Now it started snowing. Several times I thought that I should wait for the man behind me. I need a second to realize that there was no one behind me. But it happened again and again. My mind was playing some strange games with me. I passed some huge cliffs with perfect places for a camp under them. They were perfect for camping but I was sure that I was close to the shelter. I knew it should be somewhere around. Now I was on the ridge at 3000 meters again. It was getting dark. A few minutes later I won’t see anything. I should think about a camp. There was no way to go back. There was a stone 20 meters long in front of me. It sheltered the place under it from the snow and it was perfect for me. I decided to stay. I collected some sticks for the fire, lit the fire and tried to dry myself. My legs were insensitive for hours. I was absolutely sure that they were frozen again. I cut some bamboo and covered the ground with it. It was very difficult to light a fire when everything around you is wet. I found a thick stem and started cutting small stripes from it. When I cut enough I ordered them and lit the fire, and started adding more sticks. Slowly it was getting bigger. Five minutes later I had a big beautiful fire. I put some thick trees in it and sat nearby. I couldn’t stop trembling. Few minutes later I felt the warmness from the fire. But snow above the cliff started melting because of the heat of the fire and soon it started raining on my “bed”. It was obvious that I won’t sleep that night. I collected some more trees and prepared for the sleepless night. I used bamboo from the outside part of the fire to make a seat. It didn’t isolate me very well but it was better than sitting directly on the snow. I had to find some water. I used the pockets of my waterproof trousers. I cut one of the pockets, filled it with snow and hung it above the fire so that it could melt. Twenty minutes later I had half a liter of water with a temperature of around 20 degrees.
04.03.2011 I have never had a more difficult night in my life. Several times fatigue prevailed and I fell asleep for a few minutes while sitting up. It was as if somebody had a switch and turned me off from the mains. Naturally as I started falling down I woke up. Everything was wet and it was hard to stop shivering. At one point the fatigue prevailed so much that I decided to try my bed no matter how wet it was. I didn’t pay attention to the water dripping on me. I managed to sleep for a few brief minutes. Still it was better than nothing. At 5 o’clock I got up, collected all the sticks around me and made a big fire. I wanted to get as much heat as I can before I leave again. At 6.30 the sun started to rise slightly. The rain had stopped long ago. And the sky was covered with stars……it seemed it was going to be a wonderful day today. There was nothing to wait for. So I left. I should climb a bit higher if I wanted to leave the southern part of that ridge. The snow was so deep that sometimes I was up to my waist in it. It made the trekking difficult. At 9.30 I heard a noise from a plane. The pilots from Russia’s “Avia Club” were flying just above me. Perhaps they were looking for me. It was not typical for them to fly here. Unfortunately, it was absolutely impossible for them to see me in this dense forest. They made a circle and went back. I continued to walk in the snow. My legs had already lost their sensitivity. One of my boots fell off my leg at one point. I cleaned it as much as I can and put it back on. I saw footsteps in front of me that were just like men’s steps. Actually they were from a bear. I hadn’t thought of predators until now. I had heard that there were tigers and bears here. During one of my previous flights I saw a big cat which I thought was a snow leopard. But I saw it only briefly and from a long distance. It was absolutely normal to have a lot of predators when there were a lot of wild goats. But I was glad that I hadn’t met them, at least for now. The traces were at least two days old and there was nothing to worry about. I was on the top of the ridge and I headed down. The shelters should be there somewhere. Not that I needed them now, but any traces of people would reassure me. And I definitely needed confirmation of the direction in which I was walking. I quickly headed down. The cold had frozen the pain in my legs. I didn’t think about them. And I didn’t want to think about then. At one point the forest opened, revealing a large meadow. At its lower end there was a bamboo shelter. The shelter was clad inside with thin bamboo branches covered with ice formed by the water that had frozen on them. It was 60-70 inches high and inside it was possible to put a single bed. At one end I saw firewood, and in the middle there was a fireplace. I would try to warm myself. Everything was wet, but a plastic bag which I found lying around would help me to light the fire. Nylon lighted quickly, but the wood was too wet. I didn’t want to wait, and there was no point in waiting. I went out and continued. Before going down again, I climbed to the top of the hill, hoping to see part of the way below. Nothing. On the way back down I found my right shoe. I had not even felt it coming off. I tied it well and continued. After an hour I had left the snow zone and I was back in the bamboo jungle. I had to follow the southern part. I crossed a large scree and I hesitated whether to follow it down or not. I knew it was not a good idea. I found many bulbs, such as the one I had tasted. But I still couldn’t find any trace of the stone shelter. And how easy it was to find it from the air….
I managed to see Seti River at 2700 meters height. This stimulated me a lot. I decided to get to the location tonight at any price, no matter how many hours I should walk. I even started thinking how I will call someone to take a taxi from Taton Pani and come and get me. I even knew exactly what food I would ask him to bring me. Two or three cheese sandwiches sounded quite good. And what about a cup of coffee with milk. These thoughts gave me new strength and I went down more quickly. In my opinion the river was at 2000 meters height. Only 700 meters left. Then 600, 500…..I was moving pretty well. Somewhere on my way down I stopped for a short break. I saw young shoots at the bottom of a bamboo. I cut them, peeled them and ate them quickly. It seemed incredibly delicious. I had to climb a steep ten feet high area. I wanted to look up, but my head didn’t obey me. The muscles that were responsible for it had stopped working. I caught my beard, turned my head and looked in the direction I wanted to look. It was a very strange feeling. Then I went down the hill. Here I didn’t have any problems. Anyway I should look only downwards. Now I was at 2300 meters height. I’d better stop watching this altimeter. The terrain became steeper and steeper. There was a small creek running down. I decided to follow it. At some places it was almost vertical. But I managed to find a way through. The greenery changed with every meter. I saw new kinds of bushes, even something that I thought was nettle. It was much higher than usual and its stings were terribly painful. I had to pass several times through an area densely covered with this nettle. I got dozens of stings on my hands and the face. The helmet didn’t help a lot in this situation. I was at 2000 meters. But obviously my assessment was wrong. The river still remained down. There were at least 200 or 300 meters to the river. It was 6 p.m. The sun set down and it became dark very quickly. I hurried as much as it was possible. Only 50 meters left and I should be by the river. The slope around me was absolutely vertical. Only the bed of the river was not so steep. Maybe it had 75 or 80 degrees inclination. And there still was some opportunity to climb down. There were another few meters to the river. There was something on the other side. Maybe there were local people. But the distance was quite large and I couldn’t see. I thought I can see some buffalo in the river. If they had horses I would try to hire one to get to Tato Pani. I had 10000 rupees in my wallet and as I knew the local people I was sure that they will agree. Let’s hope they have horses. I also saw a fire on the other side. When I climb down I would check. These were the last meters and I was already on the shore. The sun had gone down long ago and it was quite dark now. The river was too big and noisy, and it had a strange blue tint. There were too many people on the other side of the river. I couldn’t count them exactly but there were about 20 of them. They didn’t see me. I tried to whistle. But the sound of the river was muting every sound. The lights of the lanterns on the other side were moving chaotically. I whistled again and again. And in the next moment all the lanterns were directed towards me. Apparently someone had heard me. I heard someone shouting out loudly my name. ’Kamen ?’ ‘Yes, I answered, Can I cross the river here?’ ‘No, No. Stay there’, they said. Some of the lights quickly went up. Fifty meters higher the people crossed the river and quickly approached me. The first had already asked me: ’Are you Kamen? We are from the Police Forces Army. We are here to save you.’ Now I knew they definitely were not herdsmen. I couldn’t believe that someone was looking for me. The soldiers grabbed me by the arms. I told them that I can walk. ‘Don’t worry about me. The only thing I’ve been doing for the last 5 days was to walk’ I said. I followed them, and crossed the river over a wooden bridge. Their camp was pretty good. They had made a huge shelter covered with tarpaulin sheets similar to those we had in our army. There were more than 45 people as I later learned. Immediately they spread a mat, they put a sleeping bag over it and put me to bed. The questions were pouring one after another. “How many days have you spent in the mountain?” “What were you eating?” “How did you fall down?” “What happened exactly?” “How did you find water?” I tried to answer all of them. The doctor came and asked me about my injuries. I told him that they were not serious. He put something on the wounds on my legs and arms. I didn’t mind. The doctor wanted to measure my blood pressure. I was very interested to hear the results. 110 to 70. I couldn’t believe that.
Someone gave me a big bowl with ‘dalbat’. Everyone wanted to make a picture of me and the ‘dalbat’ in my hands. I asked for a fork, the soldiers looked at each other misunderstanding and brought me a big spoon. It didn’t matter. People from Nepal usually eat with their hands. I mixed the soup with the rice and started eating greedily. It seemed to me incredibly delicious. Perhaps it was the most delicious food I have ever tasted. But it was easy to see why after 5 days of starvation. I tried he mineral water from the nearby hot springs. It smelled strongly of sulfur compounds. I talked to the commander of the division, Nabin, and prepared to sleep. I knew it will be the most comfortable night. Or at least I hoped it to be. I woke up in the middle of the night to “answer the call of nature”. I felt my hands strangely numb, as if after a local anesthetic. The same was with my face. I thought it was because of the nettle. Apparently its poison was quite effective. It was not like the nettle in my country. I woke up in the morning and I fell rested. The soldiers were walking around me preparing to depart. They took apart the camp and collected the things in their backpacks. Someone brought me tea with biscuits. I ate a little and got ready. My legs were very swollen and walking would be difficult. My shoes were torn off and it was impossible for me to put them on. So they gave me some flip-flops. I asked the commander how much time do we have to Tatopani and he answered that we had no more than 2 or 3 hours. I had a look at the place where I climbed down from. The creek seemed very steep and everything around it was vertical. This was the only possible way to descent. I was happy that I followed it.
The soldiers were ready, they checked their weapons and got ready for departure. I found a stick which was left over from the camp. But the soldiers gave me three more sticks which were more suitable. I chose one of them. The commander and five other soldiers were with me. Nabin was talking something on the radio. He explained to me that they will clear a patch of land on which the helicopter will land. I asked about this helicopter and said that I can walk to the road because it was not so far. He answered that my friends had already paid for the helicopter. I tried to say something but obviously it didn’t make sense. The road in the bed of the river was ideal. The local people had made several wooden bridges. However the riverbed got narrow and two steep slopes closed the road. It was impossible to come here on a horseback. We began to climb upwards.
There were trees with steps cut into their stems. The lianas were tied strongly and we used them as ropes. The soldiers were trying so hard to help me that at some point they actually were impeding me. I thanked them for the help but I explained to them that it will be easier for me if I do it alone. We stopped to make pictures on every steep section. At first I was annoyed, but finally I realized that there was nothing bad in their desire to memorize the moment. We climbed to the highest point and headed downwards starting from the other side. The situation from the other side was absolutely the same. Trees with steps cut into them and lianas. Down the river the other soldiers had started to clean the helipad. The pilot must be really good to land here.
The possible landing spot is about 5-6 meters long. There was a stone with the size of a small table and it was really difficult to move it. We needed to cut down several trees around. The soldiers collected a lot of dry grass to make a signal fire. After a while everything was ready. The fire was burning and we all gathered around for a new photo. At 9.20 we heard the sound of the helicopter. Just a while ago they reported on the radio that they arrive. We put more grass in the fire and it starts smoking quite well. The pilot made an approach at a hundred meters, lowered and landed perfectly.
We waited for the propeller to stop spinning. Finally the doors opened and I saw Bibek and Andrei. I was very happy to see them again. I have no memories what we were talking about in this moment. It was pretty emotional. We got in the helicopter and soon we were in the air. We were getting away from the huge canyon and we flew ahead to Pokhara. Fifteen minutes later we were at the airport.
We met some important people there, we made new series of photos and we ran away from the reporters with Bibek’s car. Five minutes later I was in front of my house together with Andro and Bibek. It turns out that not only here in Pokhara, but also in Bulgaria it was quite interesting. I was fascinated how many people were involved with my case, how many companies had stopped their tandem flights and had joined the people who were searching for me in the jungle. I couldn’t believe how only for a few minutes my colleagues managed to collect 3200 dollars to pay for the helicopter. I was told that hundreds of people in Bulgaria donated small amounts so that the searching could be continued. I was told how Andro and Sebastian made plans and tried to fly with a paramotor over this zone which is difficult for flying. I was also told how Sunaj had checked my house several times a day, how he had hired ultra light motor to fly and how he promised to shave his beard if I come back home alive (he is clean shaven now). How Pero, a Macedonian pilot, has done his utmost to help and in the meantime had sworn not to eat meat for 40 days. I was told how Rumen had toured with the helicopter around our possible location using the coordinates from the tracklog of our tandem flight. I was told that when a group of people, including the owners of Sunrise, Sarangot, Annapurna and Paranova companies and some of the Bulgarian pilots, went to the Police Army Forces to ask for help, in less than ten minutes a department of 45 people ready to go was summoned and waited orders. I was also told that the answer of our embassy in India was that they had a celebration because of the National Holiday of Bulgaria-3rd March and how they were wondering how they could help. I was also told that when Dilon, a colleague and journalist for UNICEF, took the phone to speak with them, suddenly the connection failed and nobody answered the phone anymore. I was told how Russian paraplanerists were flying with ultra light motors hoping to see me somewhere. I think that if someone chooses to describe what happened here it will be as much interesting as my story. Ten days had already passed after the end of all this. I slowly restore and it is still difficult for me to move. And I still can not explain to myself in which ‘mode’ my brain was working during those days. I was walking 10-12 hours everyday, without paying attention to the pain. And now it is hard for me to walk even 50 meters. And there is another thing I can’t understand. How the new ties of my Trango, replaced ten days earlier, tore from a frontal collapse, and not close to the knot but in the middle. A simple frontal collapse…..
Kamen Kumanov