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.

Step - breathe - step - breathe - stop breathe… I could feel my heart pounding in my chest. The altitude was 6100m and we still had another 165m to climb - it didn’t seem like much but the throbbing pain in my temple indicated that it would not be a straight forward altitude gain. The rocky moraine crunched under my feet as yet another herd of yaks passed.

“Namaste!” shouted the weather-beaten yak herder. The yaks lumbered past, with their huge horns and shiny wet noses. These gentle giants are clearly made for these conditions ambling along the rocky path with their yellow hoofs. These particular yaks were coming back down from ABC and had been decorated with prayer flags and amulets. The bells around their necks seemed to clang steadily in line with their steps. The smell of a passing yak herd is quite overpowering - the best description I can come up with is a milky sweet smell mixed with wet woolly socks….

The old weather-beaten leathery-skinned yak herder walking up the moraine in the equivalent of fli-flops looked at me in silent amusement as I tried to put one foot in front of the other.

I knew that ABC (Advanced Base Camp) must be coming up as I had already hiked about 9 kilometres and took yet another ’resting step’ to take a photo as I reached a bend in the trail. I could see my teammate Max steaming off into the distance, followed hot on his heels by Torsten. Here I was met by two smiling sherpas, armed with three giant thermoses of tea and juice as well as a giant bag of stainless steel mugs. I collapsed in a heap at their feet as they proceeded to pour myself and Torsten the most delicious cup of tea that I’ve ever had.

I asked Nimna Sherpa how much farther it was to ABC. He smiled and said, ’Very fast, 10 minutes; very slow, 1 hour” which, in my mind, translated to “Sherpa speed, 10 minutes; Heather speed, 1-hour”. Worrying as I was already exhausted. My concern around this timing was also increased by the fact that a cold wind had begun to pick up while the sun began to disappear behind a cloud. I decided to continue on and, very slowly, at a turtles pace, travel the final kilometres along the rocky unstable path.

Up the moraine, down the moraine, down the moraine, up the moraine, one step forward, two steps back….

This continued on for what seemed like an eternity when finally, after a freezing cold windy and frustrating g 45-minutes, ABC, like a mirage in the distance, came into view. Relief! I was filled with a new sense of energy which lasted all of 20 seconds when my body was reminded that I as about 6200m - effectively six kilometres - above its normal ‘operational zone”. I learned onto my trekking poles gasping for breath as a German climber behind me muttered, “I can’t believe that we pay for this…” I managed a grunt in agreement between ‘huffs and puffs’.

After the longest 20 minutes of my life, I arrived at the bright yellow tents that marked ABC. I was given a huge “Congratulations & Welcome” by Stu and directed into the giant mess tent where hot soup and drinks were ready and waiting. A small, generator powered heater provided much needed warmth. As soon as I put down my rucksack at ABC I realised that my fingers were absolutely frozen. I couldn’t’ stop shaking from exhaustion, cold and hunger. The others in the tent were in an equally exhausted state. It had been one of our first true altitude gains and we were all feeling the effects.

When dinner was served at 7:30pm we all huddled around the long narrow tables and shared stories and concerns about the event greater challenges ahead. This was only the tip of the proverbial iceberg… This weighed heavily on my mind as I stumbled to the comfort of my tent that evening with Everest looking over me, tantilizingly close yet feeling like a thousand kilometres away.