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.

I am nervous – there is absolutely no denying that. Sitting in my tent a BC in the shadow of Everest, the biggest physical challenge I’ve ever faced in my life is quite a surreal feeling. I wondered how many people have sat in my position, about to leave Base Camp wondering what will transpire over the coming days. Even though this will be the 3rd journey up to ABC, I feel as though I’m going into the unknown. I can now certainly better understand why Everest is as much a tremendous mental challenge as it is a physical one. After weeks and weeks of waiting, hundreds of conversations, questions, and so much anticipation, the time has nearly come.

I threw on my rucksack and had started to trek out of BC when Bohlle and Raj indicated that I had to wait just a few more minutes before taking my first few steps to the summit of Everest. Stepping over Maxs’ masterpiece of a stone patio, they led me back to the carin where we’d had our team puja 1.5 months before and lit some juniper and incense. As the smoke trailed into the cloudless blue sky, a tray with rice was handed to me which, following the tradition, I threw over the carin.

I closed my eyes for a final moment of reflection... Unfortunately, I thought about things a bit too much and my emotions got the better of me and I had what the boys have called, ‘a girl moment’. Fortunately Matt, Pete and Geordie were on-hand for a much needed hug and for some words of support and encouragement. It is so nice to have such a great team and such a great group of friends.

And with that, I was off... The final ascent up the Moraine Superhighway.

It was, once again, an annoyingly long journey over annoyingly endless scree. The succession of lateral moraines and the loose rock seem never ending and every time you think that camp is just over the next moraine, there is a succession of about 5 more moraines to cross. I was so happy to see camp about 4 hours later and was about ready to collapse as I landed on the doorstep of the IC kitchen tent. My hacking cough managed to draw out the occupants of the 2 other tents –3 of the 4 Montenegrins!

The Montenegrins also use ‘Himalayan Guides’ as their local outfitter so we share a number of different facilities such as tents, cooks, logistics support etc. They travelled with us into Tibet in early April and we’ve bumped into them here and there along the way. Their story is a fascinating one. There are 4 members in the team including 1 doctor and this is their 2nd summit attempt in 2 years. Last year they had to turn back just above Camp 3 at 8300m because of deteriorating weather conditions on Summit Day. One member of the team also made an attempt on the south side of the mountain in the disastrous year of 1996 when 15 climbers lost their lives on the mountain in the well documented tragedy. He turned back a few short steps from the summit as the ropes had not yet been fixed.

One of the Montenegrins speaks English really well and the others communicate through hand signals, a few words and facial expressions. That night we all piled into the kitchen tent to enjoy some hot garlic soup, popcorn and dhal baht, courtesy of our Sherpa hosts. It was great to speak with them and hear of their adventures and backgrounds. If successful in their summit attempt, they will be the first Montenegrins to ever summit Everest..! You could see the pride (and excitement) in their eyes. It was clear that they were 120% committed to achieving their goal and had worked extremely hard to get to this point.

I crawled into my tent with a very full and content stomach at 9pm for a good nights sleep courtesy of Maxs’ thermarest (thank you!!!)