Sat 5th May 2012 Everest Base Camp

After breakfast we are told there will be a briefing at 10am.

Some people haven’t even surfaced this morning after the indulgences of the previous night. For special note seem to be Dan and Martin from WWTW. Martin slept the night in the White Pod and Dan suffered, not quite in silence, for many hours after the end of the party.

Once gathered in the White Pod, the smell of alcohol still in the ascendance, the mood was one of puzzlement. Did we misbehave that badly that we were all in for a group reprimand?

Then to add to the strange situation about 9 Sherpas, including the Head Sirdar, (Head Sherpa) Perbar Tashi joined us, sitting on the floor in front of Russ.

Russ then started off, hoping we had a good party. Seems like we are not in for a reprimand.

You could detect the emotion and sadness in his voice as he started off.

The Sherpa who suffered a stroke on the Icefall had deteriorated, was on life support and was almost certainly going to die. Russ said they were going to set up a Trust Fund for his dependents.

He then went on to say that he, the Sherpas and the Guides had never seen both the Icefall and the Lhotse Face in such a dangerous state. They still had some 120 loads to take through the Icefall between about 25 Sherpas which would mean additional 20 trips through the Icefall for each Sherpa. There was also no real chance that the Lhotse Face would be safe enough to climb this season.

As a result, having consulted extensively amongst the Ice Doctors (who maintain the Icefall), other expedition leaders, the Sherpas and Guides he had decided, with a very heavy heart and with great reluctance to cease the expedition with immediate effect.

You could cut the tension with a knife. There were tears in Russ’s eyes. It was difficult to believe.

He went on to say that the dangers to everyone were just too great to justify. They said that they expected a major disaster if everyone kept climbing this year although he hoped they were wrong.

Then Perba Tashi spoke, reiterating Russ’s words but then the emotion got to the better of him. This revered man who has been to the summit of Everest no less than 19 times left the room to hide his tears.

Another Sherpa spoke and then some members. We were all quite shocked but felt that this was why we were signed up to the best team in the valley. They had the courage to tell a lot of people who had paid a lot of money that it was too dangerous to proceed.

There were a lot of emotional scenes as the meeting broke up. I immediately followed Russ out to his office asked for his Trust Fund donation page. He hadn’t made one yet but he created one in his notebook. I made my donation. I was planning on taking a helicopter back to Kathmandu in order to be reunited with the one luxury I longed for more than anything else.....a bath and get home quicker. Now I would have to walk, the bath and my homecoming would have to wait!

Back at the White Pod everyone was consoling each other. Life dreams had been shattered. Sacrifices in terms of money and time had been in vain.

For some this was a one shot chance for others they were already planning to come back.

For me, I had already realised how many more things were more important than the summit of this mountain. Before I went up through the Icefall for the first time I really did stp and think about what my priorities were..

I enjoyed the physical challenge and enjoyed the journey, especially the trek into Base Camp, but I did not really enjoy the down time and the length of the whole process.

It has been a fantastic experience and given the chance I felt I would have stood on the summit. It would have hurt but I would have got there.

Do I feel an urge to come back and try again? No I don’t. It’s a huge commitment. It felt like such a long time away from family, friends, and work and there are so many other things to do, places to visit.

It’s off the ‘Bucket List’. Over a small Scotch one of the other climbers, Hector from Mexico said something very poignant.

He said ‘You have reached your Everest, you have got divorced, you have kept your house, your children are happy, your business is recovering and you are in love with your girlfriend. You want to go home, so go home’.

I realised he was completely right, the room went misty, I turned away to compose myself but it was no good. I wrapped my arms around him....... ‘You are bloody right... you wise old fart you are bloody right!’

I am coming home. If you want to see one of the most beautiful parts of the world you can just trek up here. If you want to stand on top of the world you have to like tents and spending a lot of time doing very little. If you want to enjoy the experience via a book or a television that’s cool too.

If it’s in you to do something then ‘just do it’. You will not know what you will discover out there or inside yourself until you do.

I wanted to do it, I did it. There is plenty more to do, something else has just replaced it on the Bucket List......it always does.

Good luck and happy travels.

Mark

Fri 4^rd May 2012 Camp 1 6500m to Everest Base Camp

Minus 20 Deg C, it is FREEZING this morning!

I am completely organised, hot chocolate, porridge, boots on, kit packed and am away with the first group at 4.55am. Mustard keen!

It has snowed a few inches overnight and I can appreciate the beauty of the Western Cwm as I scamper and skate on the ice and rocks behind the lead pair before we track midway into the middle of the valley. Weren’t we supposed to put on our crampons around here somewhere?

The sun is starting to shine on the mountains in front of us. It’s a wonderful sight.

It’s amazing how quickly we make our way down. It took me about 4 hours to come up from Camp 1 but will take me about an hour to get down!

Eventually we come to the first crevasse and ladder, just before Camp 1 then I realise all of the lead group already have there crampons on! I stop to put mine on but the bottoms of my boots are layered with packed snow so quite a few people catch and overtake me.

After passing Camp 1 we soon reach ‘Blood and Guts’ ladder. The start of the really dangerous part. I am with Doc, Alexis (TV man) with Wisey is just behind us, despite a couple of unscheduled quite traumatic ‘bathroom’ stops.

We can now see the Icefall in the light. It is indeed quite scary. Huge areas of ice up on the Western flank of Everest are poised to cascade down onto our path. Four to Six storey slabs have already split away from the main icefall, directly above us, leaning preposterously like a succession of Leaning Towers of Pizza. We have to proceed directly over the rubble field where a multitude of buried fixed ropes bear testimony to the number of icefalls and avalanches which have already taken place this year.

I note that Doc and Bruce (one of our guides) are not clipping into the fixed rope in order to speed up progress. In fact Bruce, who previously had been assisting us over the ladders, has now sprinted on ahead. This is so dangerous that as far as the guides are concerned it’s every man for him or herself.

We have just entered the top of the rubble field when it happens.

There is a loud crack and the sound of falling ice and snow.

A terror goes through my soul. I am completely stranded. There is nowhere to go.

Doc just below me stops in his tracks and turns to look up, expecting the worse.

Time stands still, where is the cascade of ice, snow and rock?

It doesn’t come; the fall is somewhere high behind us. There is no time to dwell, speed is of the essence. These falls seem to come in pairs.

We race through the Icefield, jumping small crevasses without clipping on the safety lines. It takes less than 20 mins to get to the safety of the ‘Football Field’.

Looking back upwards it’s a scene of destruction and looming destruction. We don’t dwell too long, it’s getting warmer and we still have the danger of the big and small popcorn to negotiate.

Progress is swift, don’t look up, don’t ponder, what happens happens. Concentrate on your technique; assess where to clip on and where not to.

There are still quite a few people coming up. Thankful to be going down and not up, down and down we go.

Eventually the Base Camp area comes into view and just after 815am, Harry, with three Sherpas are there on a small ice hillock with some hot sweet black Sherpa Tea.

As they have bothered to make the effort I stop to have a drink. Wisey, who is probably on a mission to find a civilised commode bypasses the tea stop.

Henry, Alexis, Doc and I enjoy the sunshine and the safety, and then make our way down and back to Base Camp.

There is a full English Breakfast awaiting; some of the Guides have a beer in hand.

Lots of man and a few woman hugs. It’s good to be home.

Showers, lunch, beers and whiskey.

A party is organised and just after supper Doc mans the decks, some people from another expedition have been invited and fro about 8pm the White Pod is transformed, once again, into the coolest, wildest night club in the valley.

Once again the acrobatic drunken climbers scale the White Pod metal frame until the early hours....but something is amiss. Where is Russ? No suited disco dancing entrance as before.

I retire at 1145am, just as the battery for the music runs out. I drift off to sleep as I hear them trying to start up the backup generators.

I later hear they get it working and continue until almost 3am. I am dead to the world, thankfully.

Thurs 3^rd May 2012 Camp 1 6500m

A rest day, but the LAST day up here.

More sadness yesterday as one of our Sherpas has a major stroke on the way down. He’s in a very bad way and is evacuated by helicopter to Kathmandu. His prognosis is not good.

There are more grumbles and at least on more fall of ice as the other group make their way down.

Today yet another climber gets hit on the Lhotse Face this time very seriously, in the face.

It takes four hours to get him down and our Doc, Francis, is involved.

The guy has a badly broken jaw, was unconscious for about an hour and has right hand side paralysis.

The helicopter arrives at Camp 2, some 22,000 ft in old money, on the very limit of the aircraft’s limit to make the evacuation.

An Italian pilot, very well known and admired locally makes an impeccable landing and at his own personal risk accepts the semi conscious patient into the left hand side seat (the patient could at anytime awake and act in a volatile manner).

He scoots off and turns down the valley, all within ground effect (within 10ft of the ground) due to the extreme altitude and off towards Lukla Hospital.

I pack, leave my downsuit up in one of the storage tents and after supper get to my tent for 8pm. Attempted sleep at 9am, alarm at 4am, off down at 5am. YIPPEE.

Don’t get too excited, it’s the gauntlet of the Icefall!

Weds 2^st May 2012 Camp 1 6500m

Groundhog Day.

We repeat the breakfast we did yesterday. We repeat the walk we did yesterday.

I set off a bit later than yesterday and don’t feel so good. I am one of the last up.

The lunch is similar to yesterday. The weather is the same as yesterday.

I almost join the ‘cards club’ but am just to slow to step in.

I am struggling with finding appropriate music on my Ipod, just like yesterday

Supper is similar to yesterday. Spam is involved for the fifth day running.

The wind blows the same as yesterday.

Tonight is my last night with Greg. He slips back into the ‘hole’. He has snored on previous nights but the wind has been louder. Tonight he ups his game dramatically. It’s an Olympic effort.

The falling into me, the wind, his snoring.... I can take my pick of any to ensure I get almost zero sleep. It’s a fantastic all round effort to make me determined, that come what may I will carry my own tent up to the Camp 2 next time to guarantee I don’t have to go through this again.

He is up at 4am to leave Camp at 5am to return to Base Camp. Lucky blighter, at least I have the tent on my own for the last night.

By the way he is a lovely bloke....providing he is sleeping next to SOMEONE ELSE !!!

Tues 1^st May 2012 Camp 1 6500m

Not feeling great. Greg is talking to me ...just. I suggest he might like to relay his floor to avoid any more personal injury! Meaning the rocks of course.

We all go for a hike up to the bottom of the Lhotse Face. It’s supposed to be an hour and a half yomp with 200m vertical height gain but I seem to be able to keep up with the lead group and do it within an hour. Good for confidence. Photos and down within 30 mins.

Lunch and the news that yet more people have been injured on the Lhotse Face and we are definitely not going up to Camp 3. Apparently one of the world’s most famous female climbers, Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner and her husband had spent the previous night at Camp 3 and suffered one of their most frightening nights on a mountain due to the hail of rocks smashing onto and around their tent. This is a woman who has summated all the worlds’ 8,000m peaks without Oxygen.

Another enormously boring afternoon. I am joined in the tent by Greg. It is stiflingly hot even with the vents and doors open. Then when the wind gusts its icy cold.

Still three nights to go.

With the news that we are not going to Camp 3 my morale fades.

Whilst there are some really taxing physical days I know I can do 8 and 9 hour days. On Mont Blanc my summit day was 14 hours. I always go at a pace that I can sustain for 8 or 9 hours. It’s a mental thing because this is where I want to be, this is what I want to be doing.

It’s easier at 50 than it was at 21 years old because you have chosen to be here and don’t want to be elsewhere, to be in a pub, by a pool or making money however the mental strain of the lack of cerebral stimulation is clearly something that is getting to me.

Some people are good at spending day after day with the same group of people in the same place essentially waiting. Yes we are acclimatising but there are so many hours of emptiness. I have no communication, no worries, no book, and no stimulation.

These are my issues. From seeking periods of peace and quiet in my ‘normal’ busy life to this. This, rather than anything else may provide the limitation to my mountaineering aspirations. It just takes too long!

Tonight the wind is really up and I sleep is again poor although Greg’s ‘ground works’ have improved our sleeping inter contact.

Mon 30^th April 2012 Camp 1 6500m

I awake and despite my wind interrupted sleep feel good.

After breakfast I decide to go for a ‘bimble’. As much to try on my downsuit as to take some exercise. We will be using downsuits to go any higher, onto camp 3 and above.

 I get it out in my tent and ensure the price tag and shop label has been taken off. Not so good for ‘Mountain Street Cred’ otherwise!

It’s a bright red North Face ‘Telly Tubby’ suit as it’s probably half a size too big for me.

I have to adjust my harness to allow for the extra bulk and off I go.

I just wander up the hill for 30 mins or so then wander back. Job done, it’s quite hot so next time I will wear fewer layers underneath. Mission accomplished I wander into lunch in a fairly sanctimonious mood as only Francis (the Doc from WWTW) has also ventured out.

No we begin to learn that the Lhotse Face is in a very dangerous state. Already over the past two days five people have been hit by falling rocks. The mountain is very ‘dry’. Meaning that very little snow has fallen for some weeks and therefore there is nothing to bind the smaller rocks, up to the size of footballs, to the slope. The face is some 1300 to 1800m high (4,500 to 6,000ft) so these rocks are almost at terminal velocity (120-180mph). They can and will kill.

The guides and Sherpas are so concerned that they are considering not going to Camp 3 because of the danger.

Later that day two more people are reported to have been hit. One has sustained a major shoulder injury, the other a hand injury. \For both of them their expeditions are over.

I rest but try not to sleep in the afternoon. Already I am as bored as I have been for a very long time.

Tonight my tent partner Greg, a 58 year old American, has removed some stones from his side of the tent, causing a dip and I spend the whole night initially gently nudging him and latterly not so gently nudging him as he keeps ‘falling’ on me.

I am not sure if he is going to talk to me in the morning! Meanwhile the wind howls and crashes against our tent.   

Sun 29^th April 2012 Camp 2 6500m

Rest Day

After my immense sleep I actually feel totally refreshed in complete contrast to yesterday when, apart from completing the London Marathon in 2005 (when suffering from a stomach bug and in unseasonably hot sunshine) I have never felt so exhausted.

My moments of exhaustion and emotion were captured by the TV crew doing the WWTW documentary. Just my luck my only moment of fame will be a crying mess in amongst the soy sauce and tomato ketchup bottles!

This is only day 2 at Camp 2. We are scheduled to stay here 3 more nights, then go up to camp 3 halfway up the Lhotse face and back for another night at Camp 2 before going down to Base Camp.

Even by the end of this first day I am regretting not bringing up a book (in the interests of weights and space) as there is the Mess Tent or my ‘shared’ tent and nowhere else to go.

Our tent has a ‘card’ circle who once the meals are finished dive into their game. They are playing ‘Hearts’, a kind of reverse trumps where the aim is to end up with as few a points as possible. Only Hearts and the Queen of Spades score. It looks intimidatingly fiendish and I lack the courage to force my way in if one of the ‘players’ is temporarily absent.

1230 lunch, afternoon nap, 5.30pm supper, bed around 8pm, listen to music sleep around 10pm after listening to my IPod.

Tonight the wind howls around the tent. Huge gusts can be heard approaching, just like a train and then batter and shake the tent with such ferocity that you are immediately awoken and wonder how the tent has not collapsed. In fact we learn that it is only due the tents being occupied that in this wind they do not literally fly off the mountainside.

Sleep is a pattern of drifting in and out of consciousness between seemingly hurricane force winds.