Our summit rotation began on May
18th. It's a hell of a thing to climb Mount Everest. The mountain
is so high and so big that for normal humans, it takes a minimum of six weeks
to acclimatize the body to ever increasing elevations in preparation for the
summit push. Once acclimatized, it still takes six days round trip from
base camp at over 17,000 ft to reach the summit and come back down.
As I've mentioned in previous posts,
weather is a major uncontrollable factor in the overall expedition. Bad
weather could turn a "normal" trip through the Khumbu Icefall into an
epic journey. Really all it would take is 6" of snow, a little wind
and a drop in temps by 10 degrees or so to make things very hazardous.
Now imagine the same weather on the open expanse of the Western Cwm. It
would be a complete whiteout in an area the size of a small city filed with
huge crevasses. Above the Cwm climbing in the open during this kind of
weather and you would most likely perish.
What I haven't mentioned much is
what happens to the human body when living for an extended period of time at a
high elevation like base camp and above. Anyone who's paid particular
attention to the IMG blog throughout our expedition would have noticed a significant
reduction in team members from the beginning to the summit list for team
1. We lost almost half of our team to a variety of issues including acute
mountain sickness (AMS), high altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE), gastrointestinal
(GI) issues, dehydration, significant loss of body weight (>15%), etc.
Of those who made it to the summit
push, two experienced high altitude cerebral edema (HACE) which is a very
serious swelling of the brain and two were sick up high and had to work through
that at camp 2 for some extra days and then join team 3 and hybrid climbers on
a push for the summit. Imagine how you feel when you've got a normal
cold/GI sickness and stay home from work. Now take that feeling and put
yourself at over 21,000ft at camp 2, living in a tent, eating pretty
unpalatable food (not Mom's chicken noodle soup) and breathing rarefied
air. Then force yourself to dig in deep, shake off the sickness and climb
the highest mountain in the world.
Each of us suffered one malady or
another during the expedition and it has been a lesson in suffering, human
endurance, determination, resolution and acceptance to watch each person deal
with their own issues. We've supported each other for two months through
the good, the bad and the ugly and in the end, some made it to the summit and
some didn't. The important thing is that all made decisions along with
support from IMG to keep themselves safe from long-term harm or worse.
For a two-month expedition, the summit push is only six days and summit day is
only one day. Watching people around me make decisions on summit day was
interesting because those who made bad ones ended up in the Himalayan Times and
those who made good ones returned to base camp ready to go home to their
families.
This year, the weather has been
variable and difficult to predict. IMG worked hard with multiple weather
forecasters and other expedition leaders with whom they have long-term
experience to study the patterns and plan for our climb. In the end,
there's risk and that's where mountaineers keep their eyes and ears open and
make strategic decisions up high. It was time for us to leave the
comforts of our nylon base camp homes and go to work.
Day 1, May 18th
The first day of our summit push is
a climb from base camp to camp 2. Personally, I felt this was the hardest
day of the six. It's a climb of 4,000 feet through the very physically
demanding Khumbu Icefall and open broiler of the Western Cwm. The last
hour of the Cwm is a mentally draining uphill slog followed by another half
hour climbing up and through other camps to the IMG location near the top of
the gravel debris field moraine that is our second home.
In the photo above, note the ladder
below the lowest climber. This was a very deep and treacherous part of
the Icefall that we traversed this year (8 total trips).
When you arrive in camp 2, the
21,300 ft elevation takes its toll and if you're lucky, the headache doesn't
last more than a few hours. The effort took me 7-1/2 hours including
drinking 1-1/2 liters of water and eating a few gel packs and some candy bars.
Calorie intake was probably 2,000 and calories burned 4,000-5,000.
Hydration lost was easily 2-3 liters.
Day 2, May 19th
Today was a rest day after the big
effort from yesterday. Our jobs were to eat and drink as much as possible
to make up for our shortfall and prepare for the job ahead. My drink of
choice was honey in hot water. Not like at grandma's house but like a
half cup of honey in a one liter Nalgene bottle of boiled glacial ice.
Trying to make up thousands of calories while still burning thousands of
calories just to keep your body warm and functioning is impossible. It's
also a study in human nature. Some people begin to shut down their food
intake simply because nothing is appealing. Others like me who have
already lost too much weight on previous expeditions and know what truly
"bonking" feels like just shove it in any way they can.
We've been to camp 2 twice before,
so mentally it wasn't a big deal. Physically we're lighter and smaller
now which we could definitely feel. Looking uphill at the Lhotse Face,
including the Yellow Band and Geneva Spur, many of us begin to reflect
internally at the work and risks ahead of us. That quiet mood has arrived
in camp again. Things are about to get very sporty as we continue to
ascend the mountain and our focus needs to be as strong and resolute as ever.
In the photo above of the Lhotse Face
you can see the route now which has been used a few hundred times since the
last snowfall. It extends from base camp towards the bergschrund at the
intersection of where the smooth center section of the glacier meets the more
heavily crevassed section on the right. From there, it ascends mostly
along that line past lower camp three which is visible as a bunch of yellow
dots, to our Camp 3 a few hundred feet above, which has been packed up to
preserve our tents. The route continues up and then arcs to the left to cross
the Yellow Band which is the lightly colored rock formation that looks like a
gun pointing to the right. We cross at about where the trigger would be.
Climbing past the Yellow Band, we
encounter a significant rock formation called the Geneva Spur. It appears
as the darker section of rock running diagonally downward from left to right in
the photo. It actually has quite a significant relief and stands out from
the concave face by a couple of hundred feet. Surmounting the Geneva Spur and
rounding a corner while ascending brings us finally to the saddle between Mount
Everest on the left and Lhotse on the right. This is the South Col and the site
of our high camp, Camp 4.
Day 3, May 20th
Today we leave the relative comfort
of our advanced base camp and head to Camp 3 perched half way up the Lhotse
Face. Leaving at 4:10am, it's a solid hour to the bergschrund. From
there, the slope is quite steep and about half is still blue ice. We do
have the benefit of so many climbers passing before us this time and at least
shallow steps have been kicked in for most of the way.
The video below shows our Camp 3
location as well as climbers arriving just behind me.
The photo below is looking down the
Lhotse Face and at the Western Cwm from camp 3. At the end of the Cwm is
the start of the Khumbu Icefall miles away. Looking closely at the large
rocky moraine on the right about half way down the Cwm, you can see the yellow
tents of camp 2.
Moe and I arrive after 4 hours and
40 minutes of climbing and settle into a tent on the third tier of our
encampment. In order to maintain warmth and strength, we share a bottle
of oxygen flowing at a rate of one liter per minute. It's not a lot, but
takes the edge off our 24,000ft elevation.
At this point, we've got continuous
work ahead of us with little nutrition, hydration and sleep. This means
when not climbing, we're resting quietly, eating snacks and drinking melted
glacial ice. The goal is to lose as little strength and weight as possible
now that we're entering the death zone.
Day 4, May 21st
Today is the day we enter new territory
on the mountain. Leaving Camp 3 just after 6:00am we realize that we're
moving much slower than normal. Kind of like teenagers getting ready for
school, everything was in slow motion. After 4 hours, 45 minutes of
climbing on oxygen together with Moe and Karim, up the Lhotse Face, past the Yellow
Band, up and over the Geneva Spur and onto the South Col we reach our camp
4. We used an oxygen flow rate of 2-3 liters per minute while
climbing. This helped keep us warm and feed our muscles during the
effort.
I took no photos of this route
because of the steepness, exposure and generally dangerous nature that it
presented. In many places the track was little wider than your boot with
many thousands of feet of exposure down the Lhotse Face and only a 7mm climbing
rope fixed to the mountain with pickets and ice screws to protect you in case
of a fall. With so many climbers on the same fixed rope, you cannot fall.
Below is a photo of our team
assembling tents after arriving at the South Col. Tents are not left erected and unattended because
they will most likely end up in Tibet after the first big wind comes through
camp.
The South Col is a high, windswept
and inhospitable place firmly planted in the death zone. It's breezy
today and the three of us seek shelter in a tent. Three is cozier than
two and we keep our oxygen flowing to ease the suffering.
After spending a little time up
here, we realize there are many teams assembling for a summit attempt this
evening. The day before had high winds and most climbers who attempted
failed to reach the summit. There's usually no second chance the next day
because of how much energy the climb takes out of you so many climbers elected
to wait for a better weather window.
Anyone who's read much about
climbing Mount Everest knows that one of the major concerns we have during a
summit push is waiting in line behind slow climbers. Your options are to
wait and get cold or to pass. Passing is
difficult because of the effort required to increase speed and to climb on
the side of the route outside of the steps that have been kicked into the
snow. It’s also dangerous since the
passing climber must unclip from the safety rope during the process. We have ways to protect ourselves during this
maneuver but it’s not as good as being continuously clipped into the line. With the backup of climbers assembling on the
South Col today, we’re concerned about crowding on the route and the effects it
will have on our safety.
Day 5, May 22nd
Our team is split into two groups
for the summit push. Most of the members
will be leaving at 8:00pm and the three of us will leave at 9:00pm. Depending on our progress, we hope to summit
at around sunrise. If you zoom into the
photo below, you can see the route leading from camp up to the balcony with
climbers on it. From the Balcony, the
route follows the ridge up to the South Summit (the top point in the photo)
then along the summit ridge moving away from the observer to the summit.
About an hour into our summit push
we encounter our first slow climbers. As
it turns out, more than half of the day’s climbers have left already and we can
see a string of at least 50 headlamps heading up the mountain. The three of us are climbing strong and
passing becomes routine. After a few
hours, we reach the Balcony and change our oxygen bottles for fresh ones. This ensures our supply will last on the
upper mountain.
With all of my gear on, I felt kind
of like an astronaut. The summit suit is
huge and quite insulating. Boots of
course are massive and heavy. Then add a
balaclava, hat, goggles, oxygen mask and hood which seem to close off the outside
world. The effect when climbing is that
you recede into your own thoughts and shut off much of the suffering that’s
taking place.
I was traveling in this space for
quite a while above the Balcony when a wind came up seemingly out of
nowhere. At first my reaction was
negative because obviously wind means cold and the potential for frostbite on
the small exposed parts of my face. Then,
slowly I realized that something has changed with respect to the
topography. Coming out of my bubble, I
realized that we had reached the South Summit and were exposed to the Tibetan
side of Mount Everest which is why we had wind.
The positive effect on my mind was immediate and overwhelming because I
was sure now that I would reach the summit.
Looking quickly at my watch, I was also sure that we would summit in the
dark. It was only 2:35am.
We slowed our pace along the summit
ridge and sheltered behind a rock formation almost at the summit for about 40
minutes. This was a good place for a
snack and some water while we waited for the sun. At about 4:10am we slowly headed to the
summit, reaching it at 4:25am just before the sun cracked the horizon.
Looking back over my shoulder at the
ridge, I could see another dozen climbers just arriving. This certainly is a busy day on the top of
the world.
I also realized that we could see
climbers arriving on the northeast ridge from Tibet. It was like space travelers from two
different worlds coming together for a brief encounter.
The light was beautiful although not
so great for simple photography. The
mood was exuberant and we were all hypoxic from taking our oxygen masks
off. So many years of dreaming and
planning, so many hours of training, so many pushups :) , so many days on the
expedition and so many potatoes during our meals have led to these few minutes
on the summit of Mount Everest! My command of the English language isn’t
sufficient to express the emotions that I was feeling.
After about 35 minutes, it was time to
leave the summit. Many climbers went the
other way back into Tibet along the Northeast Ridge:
And we went back our way towards the
South Col between Everest and Lhotse, across the Geneva Spur and the Yellow
Band, past Camp 3 and down the Lhotse Face, through the Western Cwm with a
stopover for the night at Camp 2 before continuing down the rest of the Cwm and
through the Khumbu Icefall for the 8th and last time to Base Camp.
Our two-month expedition is now
over. Our bodies have taken a beating
and true recovery will only begin when we're back at Base Camp and will
accelerate as we descend further back to civilization. Moe, Karim, Jim and I have decided to take a
helicopter from base camp to Kathmandu to accelerate our schedule for getting back
home. The video clip below is the first
leg of that journey from base camp to Pheriche.
It takes two shuttles for us and our gear to Pheriche because of the reduced
helicopter capacity at base camp elevation.
Heli video to Pheriche link https://youtu.be/5iQ7c9EO1io
Many thanks to my family, friends,
employees, customers and colleagues for their support, understanding, patience
and generosity. This climb has been a
dream come true and I couldn’t have done it without all of you.
Namaste
