Everest Base Camp & A View of the Top of the World

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March 25th 2008

Published: March 27th 2008

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Travel Trouble

Namaste!

Being greeted as we walk into the tiny hamlet of Phakding

Days 7-9 (The Hard Graft)
Having acclimitised in Namche Bazaar for the past 24 hours, it was good to get going again despite the route taking us up a steep incline at 7 o'clock in the morning. We were rewarded after about 2 hours with absolutely breathtaking views of Lhotse, the snow capped ridge of Nuptse and our first glimpse of Everest in the distance. Despite already being close to the treeline in altitude, and the mountains we were viewing being in the distance, it was still possible to appreciate the sheer size of Chomolungma (as Everest is named by Sherpas). One fact I find fascinating is that a computer (as human analysts were referred to a while ago) first announced that they thought they had found the highest mountain in the world in the late 1800s. Taking in the curvature of the earth and light refraction amongst other factors, they measured Everest at only 26ft lower than what has been accepted today as it's true height using modern techniques. We appreciated all 8848m of it as we sipped tea in the Everest View Hotel. The hotel is often frequented by Japanese tourists who fly directly there via helicopter. To alleviate

An Important Message

The pyramid below often was far to close for comfort!

altitude sickness that occurs, guests have oxygen they can breathe in their rooms!! We stayed the night in Ama Dablam lodge, aptly named after the mountain which offers stunning views in the distance. After playing dominoes which would become the common evening pastime, we turned in for the night curled up next to my hot water bottle as the ambient temperature indoors made it's way south to -10 degrees.

Day 8 started pleasantly with a walk down the valley to the river. Like all good things it came to an abrupt end in the shape of a very steep incline to Tengboche, the site of a beautiful Buddhist monastery. Several years ago the monastery burnt down, but with significant assistance from the late Sir Edmund Hillary (who has incidentally down an enormous amount of work in setting up infrastructure in the area), a new monastery has been built.

To continue with tradition, Day 9 was spent going up hill. Breakfast time was always spent in hats and down jackets now with Mr Chomba (our chief Sherpa guide) walking around chanting Buddhist prayers - or so I thought. It turned out he was chanting "No money, No Honey", triggered

On the trail to Dingboche

The path leading spiralling along the edge of the mountaiins from Tengboche to Dingboche

only when the toast came out and people were asking for jam, honey etc...Incidentally, the word "Sherpa" is not a job description (as in porter) but both a culture and a spoken language.

Another hard day of walking up to Dingboche where we would remain for the next 24hours as part of the acclimitisation programme. The air was getting noticeably thinner (about 50% of the oxygen at sea level) and the first symptoms of exhaustion started the appear amongst the team such as thumping headaches, coughs, sore throats, lack of appetite etc...Although Day 10 we were sleeping at Dingboche, the next morning we would attempt our first summit at 5100m.

Days 10 - 13 (Base Camp and the Summit)
The group was really starting to bond - a good mix of people from all different backgrounds and of different fitness levels. It was a shame to hear Paul - a guy from Newcastle - would not be joining on the climb up Nangkartshang due to a cough and symptoms that were leaving him devoid of energy. Golden Eagles flew in the distance, which helped take my mind off the fact my lungs were burning from the efffort of

Prayer Books in a Buddhist Monastery

moving my legs up hill. 4 people in total today didn't make it to the top which was a clear message that what we were embarking on was tougher than maybe a few had initially anticipated. To top it off Paul's symptoms had deteriorated and he was diagnosed with a pulmonary edema, a condition where blood seeps from capilliaries into the lungs causing Paul to be coughing up blood. Caused by altitude, the only option was him to be helicoptered to Kathmandu - the flight was arranged for the next morning and that was the end of Paul's trip. The mood that night in camp was pretty sombre with the news of Paul's evacuation and with the cold nights and exhaustive work beginning to take their toll on people.

From Day 11 onwards, the team became very much more focussed on the two objectives ahead - tomorrow would be the trek to Base Camp followed the next day with the climb up Kalapatthar. We walked up through the valley on Day 11 to Lobuche, passing (the all too many) Chortens (memorials to those who have died in the mountains), including some famous names such as Scott Fisher and Rob

Obtaining some Altitude Practice

Views from the summit of Nangkartsang (5100m)

Hall who died in the catastrophic year of 1996. It now felt that we were high in the mountains, and were being rewarded with some stunning views of new mountains such as Pumori (7165m) and breathtaking close ups of the Nuptse ridge. We also got our first close up view of the vast Khumbu Glacier which we would be walking beside all the way to up to Base Camp.

After another cold night, we set off on the 3hr trek from Lobuche to Gorak Shep. From Gorak Shep we would then commence the 5hr round trip to Base Camp and the foor of the Khumbu Icefall. I had a thumping headache which along with the cough I had developed had kept me up most the night. I celebrated our arrival at Base Camp with a cream egg which somehow I had been disciplined enough to save since leaving London (altitude does funny things to people!). Although there were no expedition teams at B.C. (due to the Chinese government blocking expedition teams to ensure nothing interrupted the Olympic torch journey) Note: a NZ team has been allowed entry subsequently - it was fantastic to see the Khumbu icefall, recognised as

Panoramic View of the Himilayas

Taking in the sights as we climb higher

the most dangerous part of any Everest attempt, and the route to Camp 1.

Feeling upbeat we celebrated with a game of dominoes and an early night! (In preparation for our climb to the summit of Kalapatthar the next morning). I barely got any sleep in Gorak Shep due to waking up trying to catch my breath in the thin air. The headache was still pounding and I was only able to stomach half a bowl of porridge before setting off at 7am in -15 degrees. Even stopping to grab a sip of water left me breathless.

The climb on the morning of Day 13 was very steep immediately out of the hostel until a ridge about 200m up where we were treated with fantastic views of sunrays splintering across Everest, Lhotse and Nuptse. It took us about 2 1/2 hrs to finally reach the summit, and turning around to see one of the most beautiful sights - the top of the world. Surrounded by glaciers and other monster peaks, Everest is a dark pyramid shadowing anything nearby. The summit was quite precarious with only about 2 sqm of space with a 1000ft drop on 3 of the

Sitting on top of our first Summit

Nangkartshang Summit with Ama Dablam breaking through the clouds behind

4 sides - standing up with nothing to hold onto in the wind was nerve racking to the say the least - fortunately I was wearing dark trousers! Reaching the top was such an incredible feeling having thought about and trained for it for the past 6 months. In the end only 60% of the people who started out made it to the top of the mountain and I was both relieved and pleased to be part of that 60%.

Days 14 - 17 (Le Retreat)
Day 14 was a strange day. We no longer had any objectives other than to get out of the mountains as swiftly as possible - swiftly would mean about 3 days! Shattered from all the climbing and having completed the objectives I had set out, the adrenaline started to wear off and the aches and tiredness were setting in. Each day we were dropping about 1000m which by Day 15 was noticeable in that it was much easier to breathe, sleep and keep warm. We attended a Buddhist prayer meeting at the Tengboche monastery and began dreaming of our first hot shower and cold beer now only a couple of days away.

Helicopter Evacuation

The shorts appeared again on Day 15 bearing my knobly knees to the world again. We lunched at Namche Bazar where I was able to speak to Sheena and parents which was great despite the dreadful phone line. I was also able to catch up and see the unrest that was occurring in Tibet - with the Nepal elections looming (15th April) I wondered whether Kathmandu would experience any protests or issues. We arrived at Monjo that evening, having left the Sagarmatha National Park and seen away the last (or so I thought) of the worst hills. It was also the 40th birthday of a Aussie guy called Andrew and the first place where we were allowed to tuck into a beer. We wasted no time taking it in turns to have digs at Andrew about his age such as asking him to recount his memories of the war etc...and using my ipod to DJ (for those of you who know my ipod, I know you will find it difficult to comprehend how a good time could possibly have been had by all but believe me it happened!) we partied and dansed until about 11:30 before a grumpy American woman

Cold Hits at the Khumbu Glacier

Time to get inside for a hot chocolate and a game of dominoes

ordered us to stop making noise. Having got through close to 70 pints between 12 of us, the only alcohol in 3 weeks, I woke up with a hangover that George Best would have been proud of. Unfortunately I had miscalculated the final walk on Day 16, so I treated myself to a gruelling 6 hour trudge rather than the 2 hour skip I had anticipated.

Finally reaching Lukla on Day 16, I jumped into a luke warm shower with a trickle of water (it felt like 90 degrees however powered by a release of water from the hoover dam) and tucked into sausage, eggs, chips and beans for dinner! The flight from Lukla to Kathmandu was hairier than I remember - it's always a little disconcerting seeing a mountain at eye level through the cockpit window barely 100m away (or so it felt).

Kathmandu had indeed experienced some protests outside the Chinese embassy with about 80 arrests made. Having eaten at Rum Doodles the night before, I spent the final day walking around the city (getting lost in the many winding narrow streets), and ordering t-shirts which have been embroidered on the back with a map of

Walking up the Khumbu Glacier

The distant patch of white is the start of the Khumbu Icefall at Everest Base Camp

the route we took for posterity's sake.

My time in Nepal at times felt long and arduous but the people are so friendly and welcoming. They work so hard to make you feel comfortable and are gifted a breathtakingly beautiful country. Whether it's due to the commited following of Buddhism by many individuals or due to other factors, amongst even all the hustle and bustle in Kathmandu there seems to be an innate peace enjoyed by it's people. In hindsight I wished I could carve out more time to explore other areas of the country.

I am now sitting in Delhi airport where a 5 hour layover has now become a 12 hour layover due to my connecting flight to HK being delayed. Just the preparation I needed before spending 3 days watching the HK 7s rugby tournament through what I anticipate could be a thick pair of beer goggles with friends. Fortunately I've somehow managed to blag my way into the business class lounge of Air India so I'm filling up on cheese sandwiches and orange juice and may move onto something a little stronger now the blog is done!

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