關於山難:直升機的起降是某一種永恆 | First Time Seeing Rescue Choppers on Mountains
It was seven o'clock already, and they said the helicopter would come at half past seven. I looked at my teammates who were walking slowly down from the mountaintop, I could hear my racing heartbeat. No matter how many times I passed by the tarmac in the days of climbing, I have never seen the red color appear on that letter H stacked with white stones. At the moment, while knowing that the rescue chopper could come in anytime, I had to walk slowly with all of my teammates. All of this went against my intuition about mountain climbing. Even though I came to the highland at an altitude of more than 3,000 meters with a fully prepared mindset, this kind of test, which happened out of the blue, was still a bit too painful. Touching the nose that has been stinging from the sun for the past few days, it had been burned severely, I thought. At the same time, I looked at the elder lady who was walking slowly dozens of meters away, and the youngest boy in the team was accompanying her. The boy could have sprinted back to the valley at his best efforts to find the best viewing position and wait for the helicopter to arrive, but our dialogue gradually blended into a mutual understanding of walking side by side in such high altitude and thin oxygen. We have always walked together. Because of this, I felt a little sad as we were descending down the mountain after four days.
已經七點了,他們說直升機吊掛七點半會來。
我望著走在隊伍最後面的隊友,心急如焚。
攀爬的日子裡路過多少次停機坪,沒有一次見過那用白石堆疊出的字母H上面,出現過專屬於救難的紅。
但此時的自己必須壓隊,必須慢慢走。
這一切全都違反我對爬山一直以來揣懷的直覺,即便已帶著萬全的心理準備來到海拔三千多公尺的寒原,這樣的修煉還是來得有點太痛苦。
摸著這幾天被太陽曬得刺痛的鼻頭,下山應該會嚴重脫皮了,心想。
同時遙望幾十公尺外慢慢走的阿姨,以及在一旁陪伴她的、隊伍裡面年紀最輕的弟弟。
弟弟明明可以用開無氧衝刺跑回圈谷,找到最佳的觀賞位置等待直升機到來,但我們的對話在如此高的海拔稀薄氧氣中逐漸交融成一種並肩而行的默契。
我們一直都走在一起。也因為如此,四天過後下山的日子裡有些惆悵。
We followed step by step next to the slowest lady in the team after we visited the main and east peaks of Mt. Nanhu.
Along the dried-up creeks of the Upper Valley, we slowly descended back to the Nanhu Mountain Cabin, recalling the grandeur of dawn on the way to the main peak in the early morning and the future of going back and forth between the mountains and the plains.
Passing through the stacked stone area used as road signs, clumps of bushes where Alpine Accentor (岩鷚) and Vinaceous Rosefinch were playing around, and passing through dark purple gravel rock walls, we chatted and forgot the imminence of the arrival of the helicopter.
As we had only a few hundred meters left, I would turn and see the valley of the Nanhu Mountain Cabin, and suddenly a strange sound that did not belong to the high-altitude highland reverberated. The sound was getting louder and louder.
"Helicopter!" The youngest boy shouted excitedly. I told him to sprint as fast as he could to get the best view. I would accompany the slow lady to finish the last part.
The dry creek has cultivated patience in an individual, and the stay in nature has induced a reconnection with the environment and oneself.
我們亦步亦趨地陪伴在全隊裡走最慢的阿姨旁邊,剛走完南湖群峰裡的最高峰和東峰。
沿著上圈谷乾涸的溪溝慢慢下回南湖山屋的我們,邊回憶清晨在前往主峰的路上破曉的壯闊和在山林與平地間往復的未來。
經過山友用做路標的疊石區、經過一叢一叢灌木當中有岩鷚(ㄌㄧㄡˋ)與酒紅朱雀啼鳴隨行、經過暗紫色碎石岩壁攤開,邊玩邊聊也忘了趕著看直升機到來的急迫。
剩下幾百公尺就會轉彎看到南湖山屋的谷地,忽然迴盪起不屬於高海拔的荒原陌生的聲音。那聲音越來越大。
「直升機!」弟弟興奮地大喊道,我跟他說你先跑去看吧沒關係,我陪阿姨走完最後這一段。
可能是在那段乾涸溪溝玩耍培養出了耐心,可能是多在自然裡做的逗留誘發了對周遭環境與自身的重新連結。
When we arrived at the top of the hill where the Nanhu Mountain Cabin is situated, the bright red helicopter had stopped, and the air flow from the propeller made the Yushan canes nearby form golden waves.
All the teammates were sitting or standing at the top of the hill, holding mobile phones and shouting as if they had never seen the scene before.
I walked to Z's side, he didn't say a word, he sat astride a big rock. His Buff covered his nose and mouth, and the brim of his hat was so low that I couldn't see his expression.
Amid the roar of viewers’ voices and the sound of helicopters echoing across the valley, Z quietly stared straight at what was happening not far below.
Perhaps it was because of that kind of indifference and concentration so deeply imprinted in my mind that I would have such a strong impact on Z’s passionate talk when we returned to the Yunling Mountain Cabin at a lower altitude.
等我們抵達將座落在下圈谷的南湖山屋以及停機坪盡收眼底的山丘頂端時,鮮紅的直升機已經停穩,螺旋槳噴出的氣流讓周圍的玉山箭竹都順出一道道金黃波浪。
所有的隊友都在山丘頂端或坐或站,拿著手機驚呼著、招呼著後到的我們。
我走到Z身邊,他不發一語,跨坐在一顆大岩石上,頭巾掩蓋住口鼻帽簷壓得很低看不出表情。
在一群喧鬧的人聲與直升機迴盪山谷的聲音裡,Z靜悄悄眼睛直直盯著底下不遠處發生的一切。
或許就是因為那樣的淡漠專注深深刻印在我的腦海裡,使得事後回到海拔較低的雲稜山屋我們窩在板凳上進行最後一夜的長談時,我會對Z的澎湃傾訴如此衝擊。
為此,他甚至重新整理了他對於登山的情感連結,以及他在山上面投注的精力的定義。
那台鮮紅的直升機,激烈地改變了我們看山的方式、接近山的方式、以及排列出日後為了接近它,所必須培養的決心。
At this time, Z was so calm and serious among the clogged crowd who were filming and shouting. The helicopter slowly took off, turned slowly away from the valley, and grew into a small spot in the direction of the Snow Mountain Ridge. Everything that was happening in front of us was as slow as Kore-eda Hirokazu’s films. At the moment, everyone watching the scene suddenly became like Z, not saying a word.
此時的Z,獨立於拿著手機不斷錄影拍攝的人群,看似自若也嚴肅的神色讓站在他身邊的我,不敢發出關於眼前從未見過景象的慣性喊叫。
等到直升機緩緩升起,緩緩轉向、飛離地面、遠離圈谷、朝雪山山脈的方向飛遠、飛小。
眼前發生的一切緩慢得如是枝裕和電影裡面角色行走的速度,而觀看這一切的大家變得跟Z一樣,不發一語。
Words were not enough to describe what was happening in front of us, and nothing could represent the bright red figure between the hidden hills, buried among the mountains.
"We're used to approaching mountains in an overly romantic way." For some reason, those words popped into my head. Suddenly I felt that the people on the helicopter must have come to this unattainable place with this kind of romantic desire. No one presupposes that they will end up leaving this place in this way. "I hope everything goes well for the person on that helicopter." These words could not help but blurt out in the silence of the crowd as the helicopter had gone so far away. After hearing this, everyone responded: "Yes, I hope they are all right."
應該說,那個時間點沒有任何機會給文字去言狀,關於那抹隱沒山巒之間的鮮紅所代表的、乘載的、這山谷間發生的,沒有任何機會。
「我們慣於用過於浪漫的方式接近山。」不知為何,腦袋裡浮現這句話。
忽然覺得在直升機上的人們,必定也是帶著浪漫想望,來到這難以企及之地。
沒有人會預設自己最後會以這樣的方式離開這個浪漫。
「希望他下山一切都好。」這句話在直升機遠到看不見尾槳、一片靜默裡不禁脫口而出。
大家聽到以後紛紛應和:「對啊,希望他一切都好。」
That night, Z, the leader of the team, talked about the meaning of his seriousness and silence during the witnessing. "I can't stop shaking, actually. For me, the takeoff and landing of a helicopter is a certain kind of eternity. At that time, I couldn't take out my phone to take pictures, and I couldn't easily tell those jokes about helicopters. Thankfully, people came to the conclusion of wishing people on that helicopter safe and sound. Otherwise, I thought the risk of flying the heli to rescue people who were injured in the mountains was too overlooked.”
當晚,身為領隊的Z說了那場目睹之中,他靜默的意義。
「我無法止住的抖,其實。對我來說,直升機的起降是某一種永恆,那時我完全無法拿出手機拍、無法輕易講出那些關於直升機的玩笑,還好大家看完結論是『希望直升機上的人平安。』不然無法身處在太輕易看待這趟救援任務的氛圍裡,不發一語的結束吧!」
We always pray for peace when walking in the mountains. We cannot afford the consequences of spreading fear and ignorance.
Z and I and the mountain collaborators who went up the mountain, are a frame intertwined with people and scenery, and the take-off and landing of the helicopter entered this frame, forever changing the meaning of walking in the mountains.
為彼此祈求的永遠是平安,而非目睹新奇體驗般的散播恐懼與無知。
上山的Z與我、山上的協作哥姐們,一幅幅人與景交織出的框,而直升機的起降進入了這個框,永遠的改變了面山而行的我們。