Glen Plake: Disaster at 8,000 Meters
Glen Plake on road tripping, ski mountaineering, and why he’s lucky to be alive.
Just past 4 a.m. on Sept. 23, 2012, a massive avalanche hit Camp 3 on Nepal’s 26,758-foot Mount Manaslu. The slide killed 11 people and injured many more. Among the survivors was extreme skiing pioneer Glen Plake, who was in Nepal to climb and ski Manaslu with a group of French ski mountaineers. Plake’s tent-mate, Frenchman Greg Costa, was killed while sleeping alongside him; his fellow ski partner, Frenchman Remy Lecluse, who was camped nearby, was also killed. Plake, 48, who made a name for himself in 1980s ski films by skiing steep terrain with his signature dyed mohawk, still makes a living as a professional skier and ski industry ambassador. We spoke to him while he was driving his RV to Mammoth Mountain earlier this winter.
So you spend your winters on the road still?
Glen Plake: My wife, Kimberly, and I live out of our RV in the winter. The Mammoth parking lot is going to be our home for a few weeks. In the spring, we’ll head to Chamonix, France. My life on the road can be a million different things. We’re busy doing promotions, shop appearances, industry-related events, design meetings, and more. If you’re going to be a skier, you’ve got to be ready to do it all.
What brought you to Nepal last fall?
Plake: I went to Nepal to climb and ski Manaslu without oxygen. It’s been skied before, but not without the assistance of supplemental oxygen. Those were the parameters of the trip. We’d been talking about it for about five years. And finally last spring, we put the wheels in motion and started securing logistics.
Tell me about your ski partners on that trip.
Plake: Remy Lecluse and I had done a lot of expeditions together. He was one of my best ski partners in Chamonix and we’d traveled the world together. Greg Costa was someone I’d never climbed with but he was part of the scene in Chamonix. Greg was a really talented skier and accomplished mountaineer. Remy was a guide, but he wasn’t guiding us there, it was his time off. They were both strong partners.
Where were you when the avalanche struck?
Plake: It was about 4:00 in the morning and I was awake reading in our tent. Our tents were about 700 feet to the right and 200 feet higher than the rest of Camp 3. We were tucked up behind a serac that we felt provided good protection if anything should happen. We personally didn’t like where Camp 3 was located. Our tent platforms were never hit by snow, we were knocked out by the windblast from the avalanche, which blew us off our platform. That’s how we started sliding down the mountain.
What did it feel like when it hit?
Plake: It was like something slapped the tent and all of a sudden, we were moving. I felt myself sliding for a while and then I started feeling the rolling waves of snow. I was furious that this was taking place. I had no doubt in my mind that this was it. There was static electricity in the tent. When we came to a rest, my legs were buried, I had snow against my back, and I was wrapped in the material of the tent, but I could move. It was completely black out. I started screaming and yelling. I kept thinking I’d hear Greg and Remy, but I didn’t. I spent hours searching for them. They were gone.
What was it like for you afterward?
Plake: It’s been strange to be associated with one of the largest Himalayan accidents in history. I had four funerals to go to. When something like this happens, there’s a lot of faith and a lot of spiritual problems. I was reading my bible when the avalanche hit. But it’s not a good luck charm; it’s just confirmation that I’m willing to accept whatever the plan is. A lot of people were walking away saying, ‘How could this have happened?’ I say, ‘What do you mean you, how this could happen? You’re on an 8,000-meter peak, of course this can happen.’
Have you returned to skiing and climbing?
Plake: I immediately started climbing the day I got back to Chamonix and I started skiing again right away. Everybody wants an answer, ‘Hey, don’t go climb mountains.’ But that’s not what I’m going to do. I’ve had a good state of mind. We’d gone through the worst experience you could imagine, but our heads were high.
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About Megan Michelson
Formerly an editor at Outside and Skiing magazines, Megan Michelson is now the freeskiing editor for ESPN.com and a freelance writer based in Tahoe City, California. She loves stories that explore the cross-section between unique characters and raw adventure and her aim is to live a life filled with as much exploration as possible. Megan is a skier, a runner, a mountain biker, a reader, a chai drinker, a listener, and a very bad— More about this author →
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