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Published: March 22nd 2007
EVEREST..... WOW
Because it was there, was the famous speech made by Sir Edmund Hillary when asked why he climbed to the summit of Mount Everest.... our reponse if someone would have asked why we climbed to base camp would have been...because we told people we were going to....that was the only motivation keeping our group going up.
The experience started with a short 28 minute flight between two sets of mountain ranges and the plane being a little 16 seater with terrible turbulance and the runway of the airport at about a 30 degree angle and roughly 50 meters long, Scary to say the least.
We got off the plane and started our first day a nice relaxing 3 hours walk to where we stayed the first night. This seemed like a piece of cake, beautiful scenery, leisurely walk, no worrys......
The next day things got serious....8 hours walking and moving from 2800 meters to 3600 meters. Remembering that all we as a group have been doing for the last month is eating and drinking. the altitude set in a little for some, and the food wasnt agreeing with everyone, and at this time the clouds and mist had taken away our view, so morale was low, second day in.
The third day new life, we woke up to the most amazing scene, our guesthouse was actually situated directly in front of the 6400 meter mountain, and we missed it all the day before with the weather, but today there it was BOOM in your face. Awesome. this was also the day we had a day off to acclimatize, and our first view of EVEREST. It was wild, you see pictures and all that, but to see this thing in real color it was a dream come true. amazing, and as we stood there in awe, it started to blow this mist off the top giving it an even better effect for pictures and the view. Once finished we went in to the musuem and saw Tenzing Norgays actual clothes worn on the first summit to Everest! ( he was the sherpa who assisted Sir Edmund Hillary on the 1st successful accent of Everest)
Ok by pass the torture of the 5 other days of trekking and on to the "summit" day ( i mean base camp summit)
The mountain was angry that day my friends, like an old man trying to send soup back at a deli..... we woke at 4:30am to begin our Quest for Base Camp. as we trudged along with our down jackets and flashlights you could get the feel in the air that something big was going to happen today..... we walked 3 hours to a rest stop called Gorresap 5100 meters, and had a tea before starting our next 2.5 hours to base camp. We started away from the tea house and quickly realized that this bone chilling wind was at our backs and eventually we would have to confront it head on once we turned around to walk back..... with the thought of base camp in mind people blocked it out and proceeded on.
After what seemed like 8 hours ( it was 3) we got close and the wind was fiericous, snapping into our faces and making our group have a decision to make whether to turn back. After a brief conference we jointly agreed we had to proceed...another 30 minutes walking by the Khumhbo Ice falls, which were out of this world, an actual huge glacier of ice that has been frozen in massive wave patterns, jagged edges everywhere and the colors off these chunks was spectacular....
Then finally in the distance was BASE CAMP....we made it, 5340 meters and the base of the famous Mount Everest.... The temperature was not condusive to stand around, so we snapped some pictures and started back.......This is when the blizzard had rolled in, scaring the hell out of the Irish who had never seen something like this, and the south african who also was a virgin to blowing snow... Fiona actual began to cry slightly in fear, saying to Sean, " this is suicidal" and she wasnt far off... we found out that last year, 4 koreans went to base camp without a guide because he said the weather was too bad, and they havent been seen again. We found out also that our guide at the time was very nervous with the conditions, but showed a strong face while amongst our group at the time..... to take it one step further, I had a rented jacket and the cold weather had froze the zipper and as I yanked to free it, the zipper snapped leaving me with 3 hour walk, into the wind minus 30 and my jacket wide open. ( when I say minus 30, i am not talking about Saskatchewan minus 30 where people look out side, say" wow it is cold, while hitting the button to their command start on their cars.....I am talking 5300 meter above sea level, ice on all sides, no trees and walking for 3 hours into the wind)
Long story short, we made it back, all frozen solid and exhausted, but clammering over the views we saw and the accomplishments we just had done. Latter we found out at this time of the year 6 heli evacuations are daily, and the percetange of people who make it, are as high at the people who turn back....but our 5 MADE it!!!!
OK I cant write anymore, so here are some Coles notes to end it:
I mentioned minus 30 during the walk, I never told you, we also slept in places, with no heat, only the walls to keep out the wind, so each day we woke to seeing our breath and when you had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night it was outside in minus 30, unreal....by the end we were tired and cold, and tired of being cold.
We were consistantly battling for cliff space while walking with Yaks, huge beautiful animals that carry unreal amounts up the hill. Also they cant survive under 3000 meters, which will help you at the next trivia night, and a side note they are quite delicious ( true story)
Sherpas, I dont know how they do it, we passed guys carrying 80-100 Kilos, and they weighed 45 KG's themselves, shocking to see.
OK I was not supposed to add this little tidbit, but the trek was so tiring that at one point Fiona our Irish friend went to the bathroom, and came out killing herself laughing... apparently she was so tired and not used to wearing long johns, that she took down her pants and then took down her long johns and started to pee.....not realizing that her underwear was still on. She said she sat there and about half way through she thought something felt a miss and then the real panic was on for she couldnt take off her boots and pants and long johns due to the lack of heat, so there she sat ripping at her G string to free herself of her urine soaked undergarments....NOw that is tired!!!
Forget Atkins, or protein shakes, you want to eat what you want and lose weight, EVEREST diet. I think our group went through 45 chocolate bars in 12 days and lost around 20kgs collectively.
If you dont like showering, this is the place for you. Hot showers were terrible and expensive, 5 people 12 days trekking, total of 7 showers, the numbers dont add up, but the smell would have put things in to perspective.........
Total KM's walked 170 in 12 days, and moving over 2 km's into the sky.
Absolutely stunning and likely the best experience and thing I have ever done.
That was everest, quickly after everest, we came back and went for an overnight 2 day white water rafting trip, with a bungee jump the second day. Good trip, Borneo were better for rapids, but the bungee........160 meters. Ryan the south african and I did it. His previous junp was 135, and mine was 41 meters, so this one was a step up for both of us....it was thrilling, off a suspension bridge in the middle of a canyon..... then right into our second day of Rafting, now that was an extreme day....Life is Grand!
Miss you all. sorry this was so long.
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Chuck
non-member comment
Wow
Hey guys, thats an experience you will never forget, i dont care how cold you were you will never forget this and there arent many people in the world who can say they made it to the everest base camp. Anyways good hear from you and i remember a day when i went rafting pretty good times. Anways take care.... Bestest Chuck