So Close
‘Getting to the top is optional, getting down is mandatory’ is the mantra long used by Ed Viesturs ever since he began his epic quest to climb all fourteen 8000m peaks.
On 19th May I myself abided by that very mantra when, semi blind with frozen corneas and struggling with an iced up oxygen mask, (it was -40c), I decided to turn around at the Hillary Step, heartbreakingly close to the summit.
It was a frustrating, but simple, decision to make. I was still feeling strong and could easily have reached the top, but stumbling around on the summit ridge was just not an option.
The irony is that Ed Viesturs was actually on the summit at the time! Valerie also turned around at the Hillary Step with frostbite and low oxygen.
In one, utterly surreal moment, Phil (who had just been to the summit), myself, Valerie, and our sherpa Tarke, all sat together on a tiny ledge at the Hillary Step with 10,000ft drops either side and held a remarkably lucid discussion about our situation for 20 odd minutes! Although serious at the time, it’s pretty funny looking back now at how Phil was attempting to count on his fingers how many hours of oxygen Valerie had used and failing miserably - that’s hypoxia for you!
Yes, of course it’s disappointing not to summit, but that disappointment is more for my sponsors, family and friends than myself.
I could have pushed on, but at what risk? The Tibetan and Sherpa people believe the summits of the highest mountains to be sacred places.
To them, Everest is known as Chomolungma - Goddess Mother of the Earth - and even today, despite the considerable financial incentive, some sherpas refuse to climb to the summit and instead remain at the lower South Summit.
For me Everest has been a journey, a pilgrimage even, and I have always believed that this great mountain should be climbed with due deference and respect - which is more than can be said for most people here I can tell you.
I’d like to think then, that in stopping short of the summit, I have in some small way honored the traditional belief that it is indeed a sacred place.
A huge thank you to my sponsor Control Risks, and in particular the CEO Richard Fenning, for their incredible support, without which this expedition would simply not have been possible.
Thank you too, to all my friends and family and those who have donated so generously in my effort to raise as much money as possible for Cancer Research UK.
Finally, many congratulations to my patron Sir Ranulph Fiennes who in successfully reaching the summit of Everest on 21st May entered the history books yet again! A true inspiration. Bravo Sir, bravo!
Namaste!
Friday, May 22nd, 2009
Published Date:
26/05/2009
Modified Date:
26/05/2009
Back at Camp 2
Wednesday, May 20th, 2009
Safe at Camp 2. Sorry folks so close but no summit. I turned around at the Hillary Step after problems with my eyes, not good at 8800m!
Published Date:
21/05/2009
Modified Date:
21/05/2009
Summit bid
Monday, May 18th, 2009
Camp 4 - South Col (7950m). Too windy today, hopefully try to summit tomorrow.
Saturday, May 16th, 2009
Camp 3 (7200m). How cool is it to be on a summit push at the same time as the legendary Ed Viesturs? Damn cool i’ll tell you!
Friday, May 15th, 2009
Camp 2 (6400m) - Thankfully no dramas in the Icefall this time!
Thursday, May 14th, 2009
Ok, here we go! The latest weather forecast is looking good. A big weather window has opened and in the next day or so we’ll be heading back up to Camp 2 (6400m).
If the weather holds then we’ll go for the summit! I’ll endeavor to keep my blog up to date on our progress (via satellite phone) but this might become more difficult the higher we go!
From Camp 3 (7200m) on the Lhotse Face we will each be climbing with a personal sherpa and I’m privileged to be with Pasang Gombu, a great guy who’s incredibly strong and has summitted Everest from both the north and south.
Pasang was one of the sherpas who trekked in with us.
Above Camp 3 we will also be using supplementary oxygen.
The big day then, has nearly arrived. Yes, the fear, the anxiety, the apprehension, is building in us all.
But so too is the excitement, the expectation, the drive and the determination to face the great challenge that lies ahead - to reach the summit of Everest, and stand atop the highest mountain on Earth.
Please don’t forget that I’m climbing in aid of Cancer Research UK, so please do sponsor me if you can. www.climb4life.co.uk
Wish us well!
Ian
Published Date:
21/05/2009
Modified Date:
21/05/2009
Wrong place, wrong time
Wednesday, May 13th, 2009
Namaste,
In an earlier post I likened going through the Icefall to a game of Snakes & Ladders.
Some might now say it’s more akin to a game of Russian Roulette, but that’s perhaps rather too extreme.
Either way, it’s proved a risky place to be this year.
More than a few have now left the fray rather than face the dragon’s lair.
However, the problem is not so much the Icefall per se, rather a huge hanging serac (ice cliff) high on the western shoulder of Everest - a massive wall that encloses the Icefall to it’s left.
The serac has become unstable, with great chunks periodically breaking away in a monstrous avalanche of snow and ice which crashes down across the Icefall.
Early on there had been concern expressed by some that the route through the Icefall strayed to far to the left, and into this dangerous zone.
It seems those concerns were well founded.
On 7th May our team headed up into the Icefall for what we hoped would be the last time.
A small weather window had opened and we were on a summit push.
A summit day of 10th May looked good. We were making steady progress when, at about 4am, we heard the distinctive ‘crack’ from the western shoulder that has previously heralded an avalanche.
The thunderous roar that followed only confirmed our fears, and we knew that we were very much in the
wrong place at the wrong time.
It was also pitch black and we couldn’t see a damn thing. I was with Phil, Valerie and Pasang Tendi, and Joe, Pam and Dawa were a short way behind.
We sheltered as best we could behind some biggish blocks of ice and waited for the inevitable.
Would we be swept down the Icefall and buried? Would it simply just go over our heads? We didn’t know.
The icy blast from the shockwave - forced ahead by the sheer velocity and momentum of the avalanche - slammed into us with a surprising amount of power.
It was as if we had suddenly opened a door and stepped out into the most ferocious of blizzards.
It took your breath away, literally, but we tried hard not to suck in too much of the suffocating mixture of cold air
and snow.
Half a minute or so later it was over. The whirlwind had stopped and all was calm and silent again, save our own coughing and spluttering.
The main avalanche had missed us. We had survived.
The seven of us, now resembling snowmen, continued upwards, a little shaken but generally none the worse for our ordeal.
We topped out of the Icefall just as the sun began to rise and we were bathed in some much needed warmth.
After briefly stopping at Camp 1, we began the long slog up the Western Cwm to Camp 2.
A short while later we passed by the Indian Team who were descending, as were a Dutch/Canadian woman, Bernice, and her sherpa, Lhakpa.
Bernice had previously visited us at Base Camp, so Valerie and I stopped and had a quick chat.
She wished us well for our possible summit attempt and continued her descent towards the Icefall, whilst we pushed on up the Cwm.
Not long after our arrival at Camp 2 we learnt that another, much larger, avalanche had come down off of the west shoulder and that Bernice, her climbing partner Walter, and Lhakpa had been caught in it’s path.
Bernice and Walter were swept into a crevasse where they remained lodged upside down, but remarkably uninjured.
They were quickly rescued by members of the Indian Team, who had themselves been partially caught in the
avalanche.
Tragically, Lhakpa was swept away and couldn’t be found, seemingly buried amongst the debris.
It soon became obvious that the May 10th summit day was starting to look marginal at best.
The weather updates being relayed to us were not very favorable, with high winds forecast for higher up on the mountain.
We were also being warned that a storm front was heading our way. All in all it was clear that the small weather window we had been chasing had now well and truly closed.
We decided to wait one more day, but on 9th May we made our second tactical retreat from Camp 2.
As we nervously made our way back down through the Icefall we could clearly see the area devastated by the
avalanche.
The route had become a jumbled mess, and twisted remnants of ladders were dangling beside the new. A single boot and a rucksack lay forlornly in the debris strewn below.
We moved as quickly as possible, conscious of the danger that still lurked ominously above, and finally arrived into Base Camp just as the forewarned storm began to roll in.
Our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with Lhakpa’s family and friends.
Monday, May 11th, 2009
Ok, we’re all safely back down at Base Camp. Will write a longer update once i’ve got my breath back, so to speak!
Friday, May 8th, 2009
Holding at Camp 2. Weather/wind speed forecasts keep changing. Maybe we go on a summit push, maybe we go down!
Published Date:
21/05/2009
Modified Date:
21/05/2009
Avalanche
Namaste!
On Saturday (2nd May) we had our leisurely breakfast dramatically interrupted by a huge avalanche crashing down from the west shoulder of Everest.
A great billowing cloud swept across the whole width of the Icefall and enveloped us down here at Base Camp.
One section of the route through the Icefall collapsed, stranding quite a number of climbers and sherpas just
above it.
Mercifully, there was nobody in the collapsed section at the time.
The Icefall Doctors were quickly on scene with new ladders and managed to re-establish a way through.
It would have been a pretty frightening experience for those caught up in the Icefall, and we’ve all made a mental note not to descend through the Icefall at that time in the morning, especially as another avalanche came down in the same place again today (Monday)!
For the last few days we have been primarily resting and enjoying Sarki’s amazing cooking.
I doubt anyone in Base Camp is feasting better than us!
In fact, I doubt anyone has a better Base Camp set-up full stop and all credit must go to Phil for that.
We are situated at the upper end of Base Camp, nearest the Icefall, and are fairly isolated from the rest of the ‘zoo’ lower down.
We have had very few visitors and we’re too far away for trekkers to reach, which although sounds a little anti-social is actually no bad thing as it is generally a quiet and easy place to relax.
We are a small team and this has allowed us to focus on doing our own thing, rather than worry about what anyone else is up to.
It has also given us great flexibility on the mountain and an ability to quickly adapt our plans
according to the weather etc.
All in all, it has meant that we are now in great shape for our summit bid.
However, two tropical storms (one near the Philippines, the other near Bangladesh) are currently causing some concern as these can adversely affect the weather systems here on Everest.
High winds have been forecast for when we were expecting to be at Camp 3 on our summit push, not good at all, so we are currently holding down here at Base Camp to see how the weather pans out over the next couple of days.
It’s obviously quite frustrating, but Everest is a waiting game and we have to be patient.
We will probably head off and climb up Camp 1 (6000m) on neighboring Pumori tomorrow, Tuesday, just to
stretch our legs.
Hopefully I’ll be able to update you soon with regards our summit plans!
Bye for now,
Ian
Published Date:
05/05/2009
Modified Date:
05/05/2009
Camp Three & Back
Namaste!
Apologies once again for the delay in posting my dispatches. Alas, we still have a few power/charging/communication issues - basically Phil writes the Altitude Junkies dispatch and then everything goes dead!
So, here’s a catch-up of the last few days……
Wednesday 22nd April - Base Camp to Camp 2 (6400m)
Another bracing am start saw us enter the jaws of the Khumbu Icefall for the second time in as many days. This time, however, the route through was clear, the Icefall Doctors having done a great job of bypassing the previous day’s collapse.
Even so, we witnessed a further two serac falls along the way, which were big and scary and rather too close for comfort.
A brief stop at Camp 1 saw us continue on our journey upwards, as this time we were heading direct to Camp 2 - an Advanced Base Camp (ABC) of sorts with a smaller kitchen and mess tent set up - situated in the upper Western Cwm.
It proved to be a long, relentless, trail, which meandered its way from Camp 1.
To make matters worse, at about half-way you can see Camp 2 shimmering in the distance like some desert mirage!
I was following Temba, one of our accompanying Sherpas, when I happened to look up to my right and was
horrified to see a large avalanche careering down off of Nuptse towards us.
I quickly pointed this out to Temba who replied with an encouraging ‘Oh s**t’! We both instinctively ran, but this was more akin to headless chickens than anything else and we soon realized that this would serve
little purpose.
Instead we stood and giggled nervously as we watched the avalanche billow into a huge cloud of powder snow that stopped harmlessly short of where we were.
Valerie, who had been tailing us a little way behind, found our antics most amusing! We plodded on, merciful for the breeze that took away some of the intense heat radiating from the Western Cwm, and after a punishing 9hrs from leaving Base Camp we finally staggered into Camp 2!
Thursday/Friday 23rd/24th April - Camp 2 (6400m)
These were officially declared ’snow days’ and we just spent our time resting and watching the ‘crazy Koreans’ attempting to forge a new route on Everest’s South West Face.
The altitude really starts to kick in here and most of us were feeling pretty lethargic.
On the Friday, as I was contemplating whether I could muster the energy to clean my teeth, I saw one of our sherpas, Pasang Gombu, arrive having just carried over 25kgs of oxygen and other supplies direct from Base Camp - extraordinary and deeply humbling.
Saturday 25th April - Camp 3 (approx 7200m)!
Today we made the steep ascent up the bullet hard blue ice of the fearsome Lhotse Face and tagged Camp 3!
It was wild and windy, despite the blue skies and sunshine.
As yet there were also no tents, for such is the precariously exposed position of Camp 3 that they would simply be blown away long before we came to use them.
Instead, they will be placed a day ahead during our summit bid.
Some teams choose to sleep at Camp 3 for one or two nights acclimatization, but I agree with Phil that this can
often prove counter-productive so miserable is a night at this altitude.
We stopped briefly to survey the next stage of the route ahead, a diagonal traverse across to the Yellow Band and the formidable barrier of the Geneva Spur, before reaching the iconic South Col (Camp 4) at 7,950m - gateway to Everest’s summit pyramid.
It was all tantalizingly close!
As we descended to Camp 2 the weather began to deteriorate further, and by nightfall the blustery winds had strengthened into a full-on howling gale.
For the next 12hrs Camp 2 was battered beyond belief - I’ve never experienced winds like it - yet somehow the camp as a whole stayed remarkably in tact.
Well, mostly!
Our own domed Mountain Hardwear mess tent was destroyed, unable to withstand constant buffeting against it, though perhaps it was not so surprising given its age and patchwork condition!
Phil was hoping it would last one more expedition but it wasn’t to be! Other teams had a number of tents shredded or blown down the Cwm.
A group of sherpas tried to hold down one team’s kitchen tent, but were simply lifted off the ground.
They all let go simultaneously for fear of each becoming airborne a la Mary Poppins, and the tent promptly disappeared into oblivion!
Sunday 26th April - Base Camp
A tactical retreat from Camp 2! Huge lenticular clouds hovered over Everest and Lhotse signifying raging jet stream winds overhead.
Camp 2 was still being hammered and it was therefore a unanimous decision to exit stage left and go down.
Though much less brutal than on the way up, the decent was nevertheless extremely weary and we were all thankful to climb out of the Icefall and into the relative luxury of Base Camp.
For the last three days we have been resting and enjoying Saki’s wonderful cooking.
It’s astonishing what he and his kitchen crew can produce given where we are. Bravo!
We will probably be here now for another week or so, watching and waiting on the weather and the sherpas fixing the route higher up.
Once everything looks good our summit push will begin!
Thank you for all your messages of support; they’re very much appreciated!
Bye for now,
Ian
Published Date:
30/04/2009
Modified Date:
30/04/2009
Snakes & Ladders
Well I never thought I’d liken climbing on Everest with Snakes & Ladders but
that’s how it feels right now!
This morning we departed Base Camp early heading direct to Camp 2.
We made good progress and had reached about a third of the way up the icefall, (via a fair few wobbly ladders), when at around 0430am we suddenly realized a stream of lights were rapidly descending towards us.
“Route blocked, no way through”, said one heavily laden Sherpa as he came past. He was quickly followed by many more, but the main difficulty was that we could see an equally large number of lights streaming up behind us too! The result was perhaps one of the more bizarre scenes witnessed in the Icefall, as some 100 Sherpas (and us four!) collided together from opposite directions in something resembling Piccadilly Circus in rush hour!
It was pretty chaotic for a while, and not a little scary too, especially when we all turned around to descend.
As we were waiting to cross one particularly dubious ladder, a Sherpa in front of me lost his footing when the ladder shifted and he ended up flat on his face spread-eagled across the rungs, staring into oblivion.
That caused the heart to flutter a bit!
The cause of the chaos was a large section of the route that had collapsed higher up, taking with it several ladders.
Thankfully nobody had been in that section at the time, but it was still a stark reminder that the Icefall is a dangerous place.
As I write the Icefall Doctors are endeavoring to bypass the area and put in a new route.
If they’re successful then it will be another 3am start for us tomorrow.
You expend a huge amount of energy climbing up through the Icefall, so we will be hoping that this next time
we’ll make it up all of the ladders and not have to slither all the way back down to Base Camp again!
Namaste,
Ian
Published Date:
27/04/2009
Modified Date:
27/04/2009
Camp 1 - 6000m
Hi all!
Sorry for the delay, but here’s my latest dispatch to bring you up to date.
On 13th April we made our first climb through the infamous Khumbu Icefall to
Camp 1 (6000m), returning to Base Camp the next day.
The Icefall is a vast labyrinth of towering seracs, gaping crevasses and house-sized blocks of
ice.
It’s a mesmerising maze of breathtaking beauty, yet it is also a place that demands speed and concentration.
Huge chunks of ice can shift and tumble without warning, snow bridges and seracs can randomly collapse.
On some exposed sections, aluminium ladders span the crevasses or are mounted vertically against the seracs. Thankfully, this year these are relatively few in number and only one or two consist of more than one ladder strung together.
Even so, care has to be taken to negotiate these ladders and there is still an unerving amount of time to stare into the bottomless blue-black depths!
The route and ladders need almost daily adjustment to correct for the continual movement of the icefall, and this job is carried out by a select band of Sherpas called Ice Doctors.
It is difficult and dangerous work for which they are handsomely paid, and quite rightly so.
To mitigate the risks we climbed through the icefall in the early hours of the morning when everthing is still frozen, or mostly frozen!
Normally we wouldn’t stop but for brief pauses to catch breath, but on our way up Phil and I bumped into Dave Hahn (10x Everest summit) and Ed Viesturs from the First Ascent Team.
Ed is a Himalyan legend and of course I couldn’t resist such a good photo opportunity!
Both were very gracious and happy to take the photo despite our precarious location.
After some 5hrs we finally clambered out of the jaws of the icefall and into the magnificent ampitheatre of snow
and rock that is the Western Cwm.
This hallowed ground, this ‘Valley of Silence’ as it was called by Tenzing Norgay Sherpa and the Swiss team of
1952 - the first humans to enter the Cwm, is simply jaw-dropping in its awe and wonder.
As I looked up the valley, the fearsome Lhotse Face rose some 4,000ft to its pinnacled summit, the route to Camp 3 and beyond etched diagonally across this icy wall.
The massive ramparts of Nuptse enclosed the Cwm to my right, and to my left - invisible from Base Camp - the stupendous South-West Face of Everest, first climbed by Doug Scott and Dougal Haston during Chris Bonington’s brilliant 1975 British Everest Expediton.
The Cwm acts like a giant solar reflector, and the sun’s rays collect and concentrate here. The radiant heat soars to a searing 40c, despite the ambient temperature being closer to freezing.
We retreated to our tents for the afternoon, and as the cloud rolled in the temperature plummeted.
By sundown it was way below zero, and the cold and altitude made for an uncomfortable night.
Dawn brought cloudy, cold and windy conditions, but as we made our descent back through the icefall the sun slowly broke through, and it proved an energy-sapping last couple of hours into Base Camp.
Since then we have been enjoying several days of R&R, although the problems with our power and charging is still causing much vexation!
Camp 2 (6400m) has now been established by our fantastic Sherpas, and the route to Camp 3 (7200m) is due to be fixed very soon.
So, our plan is to climb direct to Camp 2 on Monday 20th April, stay a few days and hopefully tag Camp 3 before
returning to Base Camp.
If all goes well, we will then be ready for that all important weather window and an attempt on the summit!
Bye for now…..namaste!
Ian
Published Date:
24/04/2009
Modified Date:
24/04/2009