Summiting Kala Patthar

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Gorak Shep 5160m - Kala Patthar 5545m - Lobuche 4930m

Time taken:

Gorak Shep - Summit Kala Patthar 4 hours return

Gorak Shep - Lobuche 2 hours

I meet Suriya early as planned and and we pick our way across the sleeping porters. As the lodge was packed full with people, the owners were not able to serve hot drinks or food at this time. I stuff down a chocolate bar I'd kept in reserve figuring I would need the energy and later i'm so glad I did. I try to have a drink from my Camelbak but the tube has frozen overnight! We leave the lodge glad to see it has stopped snowing and we tentatively walk across the flat, previously sandy area behind the lodge towards the foot of Kala Patthar. This is the first time I think i've come across snow on top of sand, it's really odd! The snow is only a few centimetres thick so apart from crunching slightly, it doesn't hamper us... yet.

It is still dark and we begin our finger-numbing ascent by moonlight. I'll be honest, this was the longest, steepest, coldest, strength-sapping ascent of the trip and I can't say I enjoyed most of it. With nothing to look at other than the circle of light made by my headtorch on the snowy trail, the trek seems to go on for ages. Despite the uphill, I am not warming up and the cold and the tiredness brings me to a stop several times. I start to be concerned as I feel a little dizzy after an hour or so, but then realise I haven't drunk anything yet so drink the small amount of melting ice water from my Camelbak. This serves to make me feel like an walking icicle and I start to feel very tired as if I need to go back to bed. I allow my brain to go back to sleep and leave my legs working small steps up the mountain. As the light starts to come, little by little we can see more and the temperature starts to rise very slowly. As the sun is rising I start to wake up a bit and try to focus on reaching the summit.

The summit cannot be seen from below and there are many false summits on the way. It seems to take forever to make any headway and I measure my progress by looking at the trekkers above me who were 50 metres or so away. As long as I keep pace with them, I know I must reach the top eventually! The cold bites at my fingers, despite two layers of gloves, so much so that I have to keep shaking them to relieve the pain. The odd thing is, Suriya is wearing no gloves and yet I can feel the warmth of his hands through my gloves! My feet are a bit cold but nothing in comparison to my hands which are so painful they actually become quite a distraction. In comparison to the base camp trek where I felt strong and had energy, with no food and little fluid this morning, my muscles feel weak, shaky and unreliable.

Trekkers who were either fast or have got up even earlier begin to trickle down the mountain and several are very kind and encouraging, including the man who laughed the previous day at my potatoes. "Bet you glad of your potatoes now!" he shouts good-naturedly and I could hit him but all I manage is a weak smile. Several people tell us to keep going, 'it's worth it' etc and this REALLY helps spur me on when I'm thinking about turning round and heading back to bed!

After much shuffling, mental battling and puffing we see the prayer flags denoting the top of the mountain. The sun is just rising above the mountains and I really want to power to the top to see but my body refused to oblige, I have no reserve for powering so have to be content with a slightly faster shuffle. What I haven't realised is that the last few hundred meters to the summit are over slippery ice and snow-covered boulders! My heart sinks a little but a look of determination crosses Suriya's face and he takes me firmly by the hand. We each take a trekking pole to steady ourselves and begin a slightly undignified scramble across the rocks. We both slip around and I try hard not to think of twisted ankles and broken legs as I focus on each foots grip. After his near silence on the trek up to now, Suriya comes into his own and even tells me where to put my feet when I hesitate. Sometimes the only bits of rock to walk on are so far apart that my quads shake as I step across as if i've just finished a spinning class!

We finally reach the pile of ice covered stones at the top and before taking in any views, I just rest against the only flat section on rock I could find. I carefully make my way to the front of the summit and see Everest with Lhola and Lhotse on either side. It it completely surreal and I can't believe how close it looks after all the days of seeing it from so far away. The sun by this point is well up and shining straight on us making photos difficult. It is an amazing, exhausted, emotional, surreal and happy moment at the top and Suriya and I joyfully shake hands at the top. At this point I realise he is, for some reason, dressed like a thunder bird with a pink hat and sash but can't be bothered to ask why. I enjoy the ten minutes or so we are there, until I have to contemplate the trek down again.

To be honest this has been the only part of the trek that I have felt has tested me physically. I'm glad it did as it would have been a shame if it had not. It is comparable to the Thorong La pass on the Annapurna Circuit but i'd say this was harder. Personally I would not climb Kala Patthar before sunrise as it's too bloody cold to justify seeing the sun rise....and if I did, i'd make sure i'd taken hot drinks and food first. We get back to Gorak Shep about 2 hours later and 4 hours after we left, we have breakfast at the lodge. I have hot soup and noodles but there is no time for rest, we need to head off for Lobuche, our stop for the night.

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Photos

Mount Everest, Chomolungma, 8848m
The black peak is Everest 8848m, to the left is Lhola 7268m, to the right Lhotse 8516m