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.