Closing Thoughts

As the oxygen seeps back into my brain and as I mull over the events of the past 2 months I find myself reflecting on my ‘Everest Experience’.

Kathmandu - Reintegration

As the bus pulled into the ‘quiet oasis of tranquillity’ that is the Hotel Malla I breathed a huge sigh of relief – we MADE IT!! 16 team members, digits all intact and everyone in fine form, good spirits, very much looking forward to a pizza and a beer with an alcohol content higher than 3%.

Summit Day - 8848m

This is an account of Summit Day, a day that I will remember for the rest of my life.

North Col - 7800m

Email update to Dave Pritt, Adventure Peaks, http://www.adventurepeaks.com/

ABC - Heading up the North Col

Email update to Dave Pritt at Adventure Peaks, http://www.adventurepeaks.com/

ABC - The most difficult decision I've ever made

I am awake at 1:30am listening to a hefty-wind blowing at my tent and I can’t get back to sleep as I know that I now need to come to terms with something I’ve known for the past 24 hours – in spite of my determination, there is no way that I will be able to go higher up the mountain due to the problems with my ribs and my current health.

ABC - Cyclone Laila

Our Summit Day has now been bumped forward a day to avoid Cyclone Laila which has reared her ugly head in the Bay of Bengal. This makes our new Summit Day the early morning of Sunday, May 23rd. There have been some rumours about Laila in the weather forecasts of the past few days but todays report was a bit too clear to ignore... I’ve included some relevant sections in the end section of this entry. Combined with the wind tearing away at my tent, the gargantuan of spin-drift blowing off of Everests' summit, and the unexpected layer of snow that fell again last night, the report makes for some nail-biting reading..

IC - ABC - Not easier, just faster...

I set out this morning at 8:30am in an attempt to be at ABC by about 2pm – early enough for the sun to still be on my tent so that I could enjoy a warm nap and a cup of noodle soup before the boys arrived from their 1-day-er. I still can’t comprehend the advantages to doing the BC – ABC trek in one day – 21kms, 1000m ascent, on scree...! Splitting it into two days with a relaxing stay at Interim Camp is much more civilised!

BC - IC - Team Montenegro

I set off this morning for Interim Camp at 11:30 sharp – about 30 minutes behind schedule but the sky seemed clear and the wind had not started to pick up so I felt quietly confident that I’d be able to make it up to IC relatively unscathed. The boys seem to have recovered from Man Day as breakfast passed fairly “quietly” with only a few chest-beating incidents to speak of. The mood was jovial yet somewhat more subdued as the Summit Day has now been confirmed for the 23rd or 24th. Summit Day is on everyones mind and preparations are well and truly underway with final packing in progress, emails and phone calls home scheduled, the final opportunity to bathe in the potato pan secured.... You can definately sense that everyone is getting more and more focused on the tremendous challenge ahead.

BC - Man Day

I was welcomed to the mess tent this morning by an entourage of chest beating, ape-like armpit scratching and the distinct scent of testosterone…. As soon as the boys entered the mess tent they were asked whether they liked ‘cats or dogs’ and whether they preferred ‘Forrest Gump’ to ‘Spartacus’…. depending on their answers some were relegated to the adjacent tent. I prepared for the worst as I poured myself an extra-strong cup of coffee. I was informed by my 16 testosterone fuelled team mates that today is ‘Man Day’, a day dedicated to all things ‘Man’.

BC - Groundhog Day

Waiting for the weather window feels a lot like Groundhog Day. The weather is generally the same every day (blue sky, sunny and windy), we eat meals daily and regularly at 09:30, 2:30 and 7:30 every day, and conversations generally revolve around the summit window, or summit day generally or the ever popular weather forecast. Somehow these conversations always degenerate into one or another toilet joke or a ‘silent but deadly‘ fart by a member of the team where the next 20-minutes are spent arguing over ‘who-dunnit‘ while the Mess Tent turns into a gas chamber.

BC - A Cultural Injection

I never thought I’d have the opportunity to model a Chinese military jacket in a Tibetan teahouse at the foot of Mount Everest but that’s just what I found myself doing today as I stood in the centre of the cosy and well-insulated teahouse aptly named, “Sunrise Hotel”.

BC - My Birthday!

I’ve celebrated my birthday in some unusual places over the years but think that I will struggle to ever repeat today’s festivities at 5100m, Everest Base Camp. 34 years old… young..!!

BC - Par-tay and True Love

Last night provided a welcome break from the usual Base Camp afternoon /evening routine and has since injected some ‘life‘ and ‘energy‘ back into the camp (not that we ever seemed to be lacking any to begin with..!).  We went to a party. Not just any party. An Everest Base Camp 7-Summits Club Party. Russian style.

BC - Broken

I’m not sure if it’s because I’m turning the ripe old age of 34 in 2-days time or whether I am well and truly feeling the stereotypical effects of altitude (up until this point I actually thought I was invincible - ha ha..)…
but this morning, my first morning back at Base Camp since my 4-days at 7200m, I am feeling like an old, dilapidated, broken down car…. an old VW similar to one that my Dad used to have on the farm that was in constant need of repair and just wouldn‘t give up even though pieces kept falling off of it. The car had body-parts from about 7 other old cars duct taped and welded to it... When we misbehaved my Dad used to threaten to drive us to school in it which would definitely have destroyed whatever little street-cred that I had left..!

BC - Food and Eating on Everest

CLANG. CLANG. CLANG….
It’s 14:30 which means that was our lunch-‘bell’ – I use the word ‘bell’ loosely as it’s really one of the Tibetan kitchen boys throwing rocks against the half empty propane tank outside of the kitchen tent….. (is that safe?!)

ABC - Base Camp

TBC - long boring walk back to Basecamp via the Moraine Superhighway

North Col - ABC

TBC - hot day and steep descent of the North Col and walk back to the comforts of ABC.

North Col - The weather comes in

TBC - attempt at trying to get out of the tent but and head up to 7500 but had to turn back on account of weather.

North Col - Sun and Snow

I woke up with the condensation from the inside of the tent dripping on my head. Confused, I checked my watch - 6:30am - and tried to get my bearings. I was inside a tent. In spite of what felt like Chinese water torture, I was warm.

North Col - Up, up, up... Avalanche!

“You’re going a little bit faster” encouraged Sonam over the dull thud of my crampon kicking into the knee deep snow which continued to fall heavily throughout the afternoon. We were back on the North Col - Matt (our guide) as well as Matt, Pete and myself. The ultimate goal of the mission was to spend 2 nights sleeping at the North Col and to make our way up to the 7500m ’marker’ as an additional altitude push and preparation for the tremendous challenges ahead.

ABC

I’m pleased to report that everyone has returned safe and sound and in good spirits from two very difficult nights at the North Col. Max was the first to arrive in camp this morning utterly exhausted, dehydrated looking ‘all the mountain man’ after blazing trail through knee deep snow down the Col and falling into a crevasse as he crossed the Rombok glacier.

ABC - Puja and Building the Throne

I compare the feeling of waiting for news from the North Col team while sat at ABC to waiting for a boy to call… One sits by the phone for hours, waiting for the phone to ring, buzz, beep…. Any sign of life.

So we sat - Pete, Matt and I - at ABC in the “Communications Tent” (now make-shift breakfast tent) waiting to hear news from the team at the North Col. They’d spent their first night at 7000m last night and today were due to make their way up to the next milestone - 7500m. I wondered however, whether the plan was still on schedule given that it was clear from the heavy wind and snow that we were experiencing at ABC that the North Col was experiencing some vicious winds, snow and extremely low temperatures.

ABC - The boys go up

It was absolutely sweltering and I contemplated attempting to be the first person to climb the North Col in a bikini… Fortunately, I’d left my boots and gear inside of my tent and my role that morning was purely for purposes of ’hair and make up’ -- I was the photographer and also carried some extra water and snacks before one of the final ascents up the North Col before the ’Big Day’ in mid-late May.

ABC

I’m about 120% positive that my least favourite part of the trip up to ABC is the section of the Moraine Superhighway following the stay at interim camp.

Interim Camp (IC)

I brushed the old sooty cigarette butts to one side of the tent with my mittens and threw down my ‘North Face Blue Kazoo” sleeping bag. The smell of old, damp cigarettes, stale body odour and yak dung made me wonder whether splitting the 20km walk up to ABC from BC had been a wise move.

Base Camp

We’re now in the tail end of our final day at Base Camp before heading back up to ABC tomorrow. We’ve spent 5 days here recovering from our first venture up to 7000m and are now feeling sufficiently ‘rested, fed and watered’ to attempt yet another Everest milestone - 2 nights at the North Col and a trek up to 7800m before returning back down to the luxuries of Base Camp in about 6 days time.

Basecamp - When Nature Calls

I don’t’ think that an account of this Everest adventure would be complete without an overview of a topic which is discussed regularly in excruciating detail during nearly all mealtime conversation. Toilets.

Tragic News

We just received tragic news passed down from the Sherpas at ABC. A Hungarian climber has tragically been killed at what our team has dubbed ‘The Cave’ - a large cave-like ice formation about mid-way up the North Col. The ‘cave’ collapsed as the climber passed in front of it. Devastating news and everyone at camp is again reminded of the ultimate power of the mountain and that no matter how fit, how strong, there are greater forces at play.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the climber, his family and those affected by these tragic events. For the first time in 26 days I’m feeling ‘homesick’ and look forward to calling my parents this evening.

Showering at Basecamp

Today I washed.

Basecamp Lethargy

Yawn. Stretch. Repeat. Sunday morning. Bliss.

Walk back down to Basecamp

North Col Day - 7000m

Armed with my ‘Big Girl Boots” trekking poles, several layers of down, and the most positive attitude that I could muster up under the freezing cold windy conditions I began my 1.5 hour ‘slog’ to “Crampon Corner” and then onto the headwall of Everest North Col. It was 8:30am, about 40 minutes later than I’d planned to depart but I just couldn’t find the energy to ‘kick start’ the engine. I think I was missing my Starbucks vanilla latte and the morning papers to help get me in ‘the zone’.

Advanced Base Camp

ABC sits on a rocky base of loose moraine just a few kilometers south of the Rombok glacier in a valley at about 6200m. At this altitude, it is the highest base camp in the world - roughly at the same altitude as the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, the highest point on the African continent. At this altitude even taking 5 consecutive steps is a struggle so, although during those first glorious moments when ABC is first spotted it seems, at first sight, tantilizingly close, it is still about an hour of tricky moraine-navigation away. The highlight however is that a comfortable camp and a warm sleeping bag is at the end of it.

Advanced Base Camp

I shifted regularly in my sleeping bag trying desperately not to wake my ‘tent buddy’ Helen who has been suffering from what is known as “Khumbu cough” - a dry hacking cough caused by breathing in cold, dry air.

The walk to ABC...

The smell of yak dung on what has been dubbed, “The Moraine Superhighway”, sent my stomach reeling. A distance that should have taken about ten minutes to cover ended up taking an hour and left me gasping for breath. Having said that, the views with ever “breathing stop” were spectacular - a bright blue sky provided the backdrop for giant towers of ice on either side of the moraine as well as Everest which loomed seemingly omnipresent to the right of the rocky path. It was an awe-inspiring sight.

The walk to ABC - Interim Camp

“Smile” -- CLICK

With the official team photo captured on about 8 gigs of memory cards over 26 digital cameras, we hoisted our rucksacks on our backs under the shadow of the prayer flags which radiated from the stupa and flapped in the gentle breeze.

Everest Base Camp - Puja

 I knew something was up when even the quietest, generally most humble of Sherpas had a glint of mischief in their eyes. The tiny monk, dressed in a burgundy “Helly Hansen” branded jacket over a wine coloured ‘robe’ with grease stains along the hems began to chant louder in what appeared to be the climax of the puja as his yellowed fingers followed the cyrillics on the prayer book in front of his knees. He sat cross legged in front of the stone “stupa” (a sort of stone alter) which was covered from top to bottom in offerings flour, cakes, precious oils, cut up Bounty bars, Mars bars, Snickers bars… as well as an assortment of beverages including Everests’ finest whiskey as a sacrifice to Chomolunga.

Acclimatisation (continued)

The way the afternoons’ scenario played out would have been a perfect skit for ‘The Muppets Climb Everest’ or an opening chapter in a modern day version of the mountaineering classic, ‘Rum Doodle’.

Everest Base Camp - Acclimatisation

After yesterdays day of lounging in the sun under the shadow of Everest we were given three options:

Everest Base Camp (EBC)

My bright yellow Ozark tent, complete with a small mattress, patio area plus vestibule was a sight which nearly brought tears to my eyes. Set at 5200m against the panorama of Everest, my tent was one of 26 sleeping tents which formed the ‘Adventure Peaks Village’ at the foot of the North side of Everest. Off to the right are two blue toilet tents, a make-shift shower (complete with solar heating) and two dining “Mess” tents, a communications tent and, finally, the cooking tent. This area would soon be our ‘Hilton’ for the coming weeks and months.

Hanging on in Tingiri...

Conscious that I was awake, I did a quick survey of the percentage of my body that had direct contact with the dusty, dank bedding and pulled my sleeping bag over my head as protection from the freezing cold air.

It could be worse… (Continued)

I gripped my trekking pole in one hand and my yen in another and shuffled as unobtrusively as a blond, brightly dressed, down-clad, Oakley-wearing female could in the middle of a town of locals all dressed in blacks and browns. To the left and to the right mangy, flea bitten dogs eyed me conspicuously with saliva dripping from their jaws. A small tractor made its way down the road as one of the dogs dragged its lame and infected hind limbs over the road to avoid its path. A puppy ran through the raw sewage which lay in the ditch alongside a dirt sidewalk. Dust from the dry Tibetan plateau blew through the streets kicking up dust devils and leaving a trail of rubbish in its wake. I tried to remember the exact date of my last rabies shot...

The Roof of the World - in Tingiri

I could have stayed in Nylam for another day - there was something about the ‘slow’ pace that appealed to me and I’d already been pre-warned that this was the absolute lap of luxury compared to our next stop - Tingiri. Through the clever use of sign language I purchased a pillow stuffed with rice and about 20-years of dust as we boarded a lime-green bus and set out on the beautifully paved road to Tingiri.

The Basement Spa in Nylam

A yellowed-crinkled piece of paper was thrust in front of my face by a weathered brown-hand. With a giant toothless smile and sparkling eyes a little man demanded, “Massage? Hot tub? Steam” as the little drawings on the paper further translated his pigeon English. I looked apprehensively around the local coffee shop as a small heater glowed brightly in the middle with three chairs gathered round it. Josh had recommended the shower in this building, but I began to wonder if I had perhaps wandered into the wrong place.

Enroute to Nylam

Fortunately my stomach survived the night although there were more ‘tummy’ complaints from a few others and a communal bathroom made me realise that I was not ‘suffering’ alone. A 6am wakeup with a view to be on the bus and leave Zheng Mu by 7am for a 10am brunch in Nylam. Andrew, who had travelled through Tibet when he climbed Cho You hinted that Nylam night not be the ‘Hilton’ that we’d hoped for after our basic hotel in Zheng Mu - 4 walls, a bed and a small window looking onto a building about 4cm away.

The Journey to Tibet

You never appreciate being healthy until you’re sick… I woke at around 2am with the feeling that something was horribly wrong. I went through the usual motions trying to convince myself that it was my imagination. About 5 seconds later, with a sprint to the washroom I knew that things were not well. I gripped onto the porcelain bowl as if my life depended on it. I have always prided myself on my ‘stomach of steel’ but clearly, something I’d eaten had gotten the better of me.

Final Preparation...

Today was ‘sorting out kit day’ - a day dedicated to buying all of the extra bits and pieces needed for the mountain and also get training in using our ‘Top Out’ oxygen masks. We gathered in the garden of the hotel for a presentation by Tom Atkins, a former RAF pilot, to learn how to hook the masks up to the oxygen tanks, put the masks on, and troubleshoot in the event that things should go wrong. An interesting but daunting presentation as it has started to make the experience so much more ‘real’. There were a lot of questions on the ‘engineering’ behind the mask as well as the history verses the former Poisk masks. Fortunately we will have another opportunity to try the masks and the Top Out system when we get to base camp.

Destination Kathmandu!

Standing in line in the grand 'immigration' hall waiting to get my 3-day Nepal transit visa reminded me of the ‘organised chaos’ that is so typical of Nepal. For 1.5 hours I listened patiently to the heavy ‘thud’ of the visa stamp slamming down on the passports on the hundred people ahead of me in the line, the careful counting of the US dollars for the visa entry fee, the shuffling of papers looking for hotel addresses and the quiet humm of tourist anticipation. Off in the corner two local people had been tasked with tending to the paint peeling off of the windowsills while another swept up the dust brought in by the arriving planes.

And so the journey begins...

“Life is uncharted territory. It reveals its story one moment at a time.” (Leo F. Buscaglia 1924-1998). Needless to say my own uncharted territory will certainly be developing further over the coming weeks and months... It's a strange feeling being so conscious of that. I have just two short hours until my taxi comes and takes me to Heathrow. My two bags (guess-timate weight is 35kg, 8 over the maximum) are both parked at the front door waiting to be whisked away on this great adventure - although, given the weight, the more appropriate term would, in fact, be 'lugged'..! I managed to get everything organised in time and even had a delicious 'last supper' at the fantastic pizza-place just down the road with my flatmate... complete with a complimentary glass of champagne! I have a number of different emotions and thoughts going around in my head - nerves, excitement, standing on the cusp of the unknown... Soon this journey will 'formally' begin... and I can't wait..!

The Sherpa Tradition

I opened my eyes, shuddered and wiggled deeper into the down depths of my -30C sleeping bag. The wind outside was howling and I could tell by a dark-ridged shadow along the ouside of my bright yellow tent that a fresh layer of snow had fallen overnight. Ice condensation lined the inside dome - sparkling in the light coming from my headlamp. Over the sound of the wind I could hear a 'crunch crunch' outside - it sounded like someone walking over styrofoam. Early morning chatter was heard coming from the tent next to mine and then suddenly there was a rustling at my tent-flap.
"Heather di-di - Good morning to you..!" sang a cheery voice as my tent was unzipped and a thick-gloved hand lay a tray of biscuits and a cup of warm tea at the foot of my Thermarest. I smiled to myself as I fumbled for the warm thermos, marveling at the gracious hospitality of the Sherpa culture. I couldn't believe that I was actually getting tea and cookies in bed..! I don't even get this kind of first-class service at sea-level, let alone 6000m..!!

A lesson in altitude

It feels rather ironic to be sat in my living room listening to Bob Dylan and wearing a giant plastic facemask attached via a long clear tube to a machine sat humming quietly in the corner. I'm currently sitting quite comfortably at 6560m breathing in oxygen at 78% being pumped into my lungs from the 'hypoxicator' and am now in the second 10-minute segment of a 90 minute long intermittent hypoxic training (IHT) session.
The fingertip pulse oximeter, attached to my finger glows, providing an 82% blood-oxygen saturation (%SpO2) reading and pulse rate of 68... All this to help with my acclimatisation on Everest and to reduce the potential for Acute Mountain Sickness - more commonly referred to as 'AMS' or 'Altitude sickness'...

Millet Everest meets Jimmy Choo

I can't say that I've ever been a 'fashionista' but I do recognise the difference between 'fashion' and 'fashion-faux-pas'. I'm sad to say that on Everest I will not be receiving any Vogue-style-points or make it onto any 'Best Dressed' lists in the glossy pages of Hello and Grazia over the course of the 72-odd days of the expedition... I will even go as far as to pre-warn you that I will fall victim to the 'fashion-faux-pas to end all faux-pas'... "Crocs with Socks" (followed a close second by sandles with socks... shudder...). Having said that I have come to appreciate the true utilitarian quality to not-so-fashionable mountain hardwear and have embraced with giant, down filled open arms the advances in climbing technology since the days of Mallory and Irvine. Gone are the days of grandmothers home-knitted socks, sealskin - wool jackets combos.... Welcome to the new era of mountain fashion featuring  merino wool, kevlar liners, gore-tex of every size, shape and color, nalgene bottles, mittens weighing less than a burger from your local Argentinian steakhouse and crampons that double as corkscrews for the celebration vino upon a successful summit attempt...

Spinning for Sport Relief - Pulse racing, adrenaline pumping for Sport Relief

With "Lady Gaga" booming through the speakers and wishing that I'd indulged in my usual full-fat morning latte, relaxed with my feet up on the sofa, I found myself sat on the familiar and excrutiatingly hard saddle of a stationary bike at my local gym, Body Works West at 8:30am on Sunday morning peddling furiously through the first 'Rise and Shine' spin session of a 12-hour long spinning bonanza, all in aid of Sport Relief. I'd intially only committed to 4-hours but then, somehow, managed to convince myself that peeling the layers of wet clothing off my back four times in one day would somehow be more painful  and uncomfortable than actually cycling all 12 spin sessions... so instead settled for a compromise and cycled 11 back-to-back-super-sweaty-spin classes, winning a months free membership to the gym, getting a snazzy David Beckham designed Sport Relief t-shirt and contributed to raising over GBP 1,500 for Sport Relief in the process..!

Altitude Training... at Sea Level

''Place this plastic mask against your face and try to relax,'' said Richard Pullan, the Director of the Altitude Centre in Covent Garden as he handed me a clear-plastic surgical mask. The mask was linked via an omnious thin tube to a greyish white box about two-foot square called a "hypoxicator", which micro-filters the air to reduce oxygen and remove impurities. ''It is the purest air in London,'' he promised, switching on a widescreen television directly in front of me and as I felt my heart start to race.... I felt as if I was part of a strange science experiment as two lines on the console in front of me plotted my pulse (a red line) and the percentage of oxygen in my blood (a blue line) on a graph. The blue one was dropping fast: 98 per cent, 97, 90, 85 … I stared at it anxiously as I tried to relax wondering if it had been a wise move to trust a relative stranger with control over one of  the most critical elements - oxygen- reqired to keep my body going...

The Second Step... in Scotland

Scotland has always conjured up images of horizontal rain, old castles, haggis, men in kilts... not to mention Braveheart, Mike Myers (part Canadian), and the lovely Ewan McGregor ('sigh!')...  Scotland now takes on a meaning much more significant than men in kilts and Scottish gastronomic tendencies.... The Glencoe Hills and Ben Nevis provide some of the best winter walking and climbing conditions in Britain suitable for the beginner and the expert alike. It is the perfect training ground for Everest and there are many people who say that if you can survive the conditions in Scotland then Everest will be a 'walk in the park' (errrmmm... well, maybe not a walk in the park but it will be a good training ground..!!).

Keeping Fit

Aconcagua, Argentina