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In April 1996 , Yugoslave Everest Expedition was in Nepal, for Mount Everest climbing.
I was one of the support team members. After arriving Kathmandu, Nepal, I got the amateur
radio license for operating from Mount Everest base camp with 9N1LA call sign. Equipment I
have been used was SG-2000 transceiver with R7 antenna. After 22 days travel from Lukla at
lower Himalayas, I reached base camp at 18,067 feet a.s.l. My whole equipment, along with
the R7 antenna was carried on Yaks for so many days.
Weather conditions in Everest base camp were very bad. Extremely strong wind, snowing
every day and low temperatures to around -32 C! My operating site was surrounded with very
high mountains, Pumo-ri to the west at altitude 7140m, Mt. Everest to the north at 8848m
and Nuptse to the east at 7560m. In such conditions, I managed to make 2568 contacts with
amateur radio stations in Europe, Japan, Africa and Pacific Ocean. As far as I know, my
radio operation from the Mt. Everest base camp was the most ever highest amateur radio
operation from the fixed location on the Earth at 18,067 feet a.s.l.
We finished our climbing expedition successfully. But the next day I was witness of
terrible disaster with other climbing Everest expeditions - New Zealand, American,
Japanese, Taiwanese. Over my radio and my R7 I sent first information about blizzard and
deaths just below the summit, on May the 10th to Kathmandu and later to whole world.
During that day, the storm in base camp became so strong that I was very worried for my R7
and our lives. Because the strong wind R7 moved left and right for even more than 45
degrees, but it survived.
Ivan Mastilovic (9N1LA)
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