The Summit And Back!

So from Monday morning on the summit of Everest to Thursday afternoon in London I have now have had a chance to add some more thoughts to the last incredibly eventful days not hampered by trying to find satellite connections from borrowed handsets while freezing my fingers off trying to text and call Kim to keep you all updated.

Our tackle of the summit started last Wednesday (8 May) with a 6h trek up to Camp 2 (at 6400m) which had now become an almost routine 3:30am wake-up call to head up the icefall and then along the Western Cwm towards Camp 2. Now writing - from the comfort and safety of my home – I feel brave enough to tell you all how amazed I was (and continue to be) about how much the icefall changed during our few weeks there. The number of ladders spanning ice chasms (… or in mountaineering speak: “slots”) literally doubled as the original path became increasingly ‘stretched’ and a number of areas that looked precarious on our first few walks/ climbs through the ice fall have crumbled.  It is – quite literally – an ice fall.

After an uneventful recovery day at Camp 2 on Thursday (9 May) we decided to move up to Camp 3 (7150m) on early Friday (10 May) to be in a position to summit on Saturday night from the South Col/ Camp 4 (at 7950m). As this was (hopefully..) the final move up this mountain we spent a significant amount of time focusing on the packing - really only looking to pack what’s absolutely needed as every ounce adds to the strain of carrying. So food was limited to about 3,000 kcal including some Pringles, tuna and a cake, the toothbrush stayed back and day- and nightwear turned very similar. One heads upwards already all wrapped up in a down-suit which can turn into a heattrap once the sun rises over the Lhotse face at 8am so another early start was in order.

The climb up to Camp 3 represented the last stage without supplemental oxygen (at least for me…) and as I have a tendency to struggle more with extra weight on my back it represented one of the biggest struggles of the whole expedition to make my way from Camp 2 to the bottom of the Lhotse Face (3:30h versus 2h without the weight and after another week of acclimatization) with uncountable stops to catch my breath.  The further 3:30h with the steeper incline of the Face eventually were reduced to a snail’s pace of hard to imagine intervals of five deep breadths for every step. The agonizing finish to the day was that the tents of Camp 3 stretch over 200m vertically. As the other three were ahead I didn’t know in what tents they were resting. I was met by the kindness of a fellow mountaineer I had talked to previously on the trail who offered me tea and a cup of noodles at his tent before I heard my name from above as one of our team members came down to help with the final steps up to our resting place for the night.

Camp 3 is literally carved into the Lhotse Face with tedious work (performed by the Sherpas) in digging a platform wedge to allow room to set up tents. We were three to a tent, which leaves virtually no room for anything else. Venturing outside without the spiked crampons strapped under your boots isn’t a great idea as a slip would be a one-time blunder.

Luckily Camp 3 is the transition point where supplemental oxygen is added into the mix. As the benefits of extra oxygen inversely scale with the body weight I (as one of the lighter members of the team) gained significantly. The next day towards the South Col (7950m) I felt much better and steadily proceeded up the end of the Lhotse Face before the path veers left across the “Yellow Rock Band”, then further across and eventually steeply upwards and across the “Geneva Spur”.

The original weather forecast had us expecting a spike in wind in the afternoon (of Saturday 10 May) which would die down later in the evening to allow us to immediately proceed with a summit bid that very night, departing around 9pm. Alas, as often before, the forecast was quite wrong (but this is not entirely unusual in England either…though the potential consequences are not quite as severe).

As we neared camp on the South Col,  the so-called windy ‘spike’ turned into a storm with heavy snow and 60-70km/h winds. Our Sherpas only just managed to set-up one tent which Mel, Adam and I dove into while others found shelter in other peoples’ tents. Our tent was initially filled with inches of snow and we dared not take off our down-suits all night for fear that the tent walls might rip and leave us exposed. At one point we felt the wind grip under tent and lift all three of us up with it only being tethered by the ropes to the ground. I amazingly managed to catch some sleep huddled in my sleeping bag with earplugs tight but the others weren’t so lucky. Unsurprisingly, the decision to try for the summit was postponed...

Sunday (12 May) the winds kept pounding for the course of the day but we still decided to go for the summit even though conditions were only marginally better with expected temperatures of - 40*C/F and winds of up to 40 km/h.

We started during the early afternoon to make sure that our gear was ready for the cold night out, including two layers of gloves, triple-layered boots with electric boot warmers, water bottles to be held inside the down-suit and so on.

Finally, at about 9:30pm we set off for the final day (hopefully!) of our quest. The path kicks-off upwards the “Triangular Face” which starts icy with a gradually increasing incline all the way up to the Balcony (at 8400m) which I reached at 1:30am in the midst of heavy winds and snow drifts. Despite feeling well initially, I suddenly felt all loss of power and found a rocky ledge for shelter only to realize later that my oxygen had run out of which luckily my Sherpa Padauer was carrying a spare bottle. Apparently, his approach is not to replace an oxygen bottle pre-emptively but to have the climber use the last ‘drops’ and I wasn’t going anywhere fast without the re-supply anyway.

New tank strapped on and lapping up the new free flow of oxygen, the path continued along the “Balcony” towards the South Summit (8700m). The snowdrifts had started to accumulate to the extent where each step sinks in the snow and the ropes where occasionally buried in the snow requiring Padauer to venture ahead to search for the continuation of the trail (by now, luckily, it was light).

As we headed up the steep flank of the South Summit I witnessed one of the most spectacular sights nature has to offer. As if seen from space I saw a crescent of light emerge above a curved horizon. Initially in a light blue and then increasingly white until the sun emerged casting Everest’s shadow (see photo). It’s a sight I will cherish forever!

The final steps were somewhat daunting and are kindly referred to as the ‘Gap’: a snowy ridge between the South and Main Summits with 2000m drop-offs on either side, made placing each foot in front of the other with each step a very tense endeavour requiring a lot of care. While a rope is secured on either end, it is not a pleasant thought to be left dangling. The ridge is capped off by the “Hillary Step” which I found fairly unexciting relative to all the talk about it. It’s basically 8m of rocks which can be scrambled up in a minute.

Finally… after 8 hours, around 6am on Monday May 13 we reached the summit of Everest. A platform of 20m by 10m adorned by some prayer flags and unobstructed views stretching from Tibet in the North and the remainder of Nepal in the South. I was lucky to only be there with three other people but it was incredibly cold and windy so I did not have much of a desire to “stick around”. I had elaborate plans to take videos and call Kim (apparently China Mobile reception) but all good intentions fell by the wayside to protect from frostbite. A fellow climber took off his goggles for his summit photo and couldn’t open one of his eyes for three days thanks to the immediate frost bite the brief direct exposure caused.

In total we only lingered up there for about 20 minutes before beginning the trek back down. With lots of stumbling we managed our way down by around 10am. All ambitions of continuing further down to the restful Camp 2 were dropped and we just took shelter in our tents. As I had already finished all my food rations there was absolutely no food left until the next morning.  Whilst one generally loses one’s appetite at altitude, the lack of energy is not much fun.

Tuesday (14 May) down to Camp 2 within 5 hours and then Wednesday (15 May) morning down to Base Camp. Yearning for civilization we organized a chopper pick-up to Kathmandu for early afternoon. With Kim’s support I managed to change (and upgrade…) my flight to London that very night getting me back to London by lunch time today.

I want to first of all I want to express my thanks to our Sherpa team without which I would have had no chance to summit Everest. Secondly, I would like to thank all of you for all your participation and support. In total we have raised over $6,000 to give back to the local community. Thank you for your generosity.

It’s been an incredible few weeks with unforgettable experiences. Thank you again for all for your overwhelming support!