Accident on

Mount Kaçkar

After the 2001 Kinet Hoyük excavation project, I made an attempt to climb Mount Kaçkar in the Black Sea region (3937 m) with my friends from the mountaineering club of Bilkent University (Dost) some time in mid August. Our group consisted of 3 experienced and 10 non-experienced members. Ozgür Kürüm, Erinç Yener and I were the leaders of this expedition.

The first day passed with a long day of walking till we reached the campsite, located somewhere around 2700 m. This area is called Mezovit. For the second day our goal was to ascend to the summit: the classical route which follows the N-E ridge. However, the campsite was very crowded and we learned that all the others were planning to climb from the N-E ridge. So to prevent being hit by stone falls caused by the crowd, we chose another way that leads to the N-E ridge. This made us spend more time than we expected. When we reached this N-E ridge, some members became very tired and some decided to give up climbing. The beginning of the ridge was the key point where we had to make a decision about who would continue further and who not. The route needs basic rock climbing ability (difficulty level 3+) but it was risky because safety equip-ment would not be used because of the limited time and the quality of the rock. The second major problem was the rapid change in the weather conditions. While we were thinking about what we should do, it started to rain. After 5 minutes the rain changed into a hailstorm and then we decided to stop and go back to the campsite. All members started to descend except Erinç, Onur Çelik and myself. We waited some time and began to ascend when the weather became fine again. After one hour of rock climbing and walking, when we were so close to the summit, a fresh hailstorm started and when I reached the summit with Onur (Erinç was 3 minutes behind us at that time)I heard a huge uproar and lightning. 

It was the worst thing I had ever seen. Onur was lying on the ground and there was no pulse in his body. He had been hit by lightning and technically he was dead at that time. Without losing my control I shouted to Erinç and started to make CPR (Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation) and finally, just like in the films, I saw that Onur had come back to life with a deep breath. 

The area was still risky and Erinç and I carried him 50 m down from the summit and established a survival shelter, because the weather had become much colder and Onur was in a very serious condition. He was not able to use his legs. Unfortunately, after several contacts with our radio, we learned that we had no chance to descend because it was becoming night and there would be no chance for a rescue operation.

So we spent the night under survival conditions and the next morning with the help of Ali Şahin (a local mountaineer), we managed to bring Onur down to the beginning of the N-E ridge. There, new rescue teams which joined us and a helicopter provided by the Erzurum Hava Alayı took Onur to the Erzurum hospital.

Now Onur is still taking physical therapy for his legs but he continues his education in Bilkent University.

Newsletter No. 1 - 2002, Pg. 11

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