What follows is a short summary of our climb and my decision to return. I did not have a blog during this 2007 climb so I wrote everything down here. Scroll down to the next post for the very long version and please excuse typos, mis-spellings, poor grammar.In mid-January of 2007, I received an email from Julio Bird, a cardiologist from Wisconsin whom I met in 2005 while climbing Denali. He asked if I would be interested in joining a small, unguided, but fully supported expedition to the north side of Mount Everest. We would be leaving at the end of March and the cost was $16,000. That didn't leave me much time but I replied, "um...okay?"
The expedition would be organized by World Records Expeditions and Treks (WRET), a company started by Julio's Sherpa friends, Lhakpa Gelu and Apa. Lhakpa Gelu holds the world speed record on Everest, having ascended from Base Camp on the south side to the summit in just 10 hours, 56 minutes. Apa has the most summits of Everest, at that time 16, but since this last 2008 season has reached 18. Apa and Lhakpa Gelu would not be on our expedition because they were going to climb on the south side as part of a Super Sherpa team. They're big show-offs. : )
Our team consisted of four climbers (Julio, Gene, Con and me), three Sherpas (Phanden, Lama Jangbu and Lopsang), two cooks (Nima and Kami) - one at Base Camp (BC) and another at Advanced Base Camp (ABC) - and a Tibetan kitchen boy named Tamting (I don't know how to spell his name). Julio and Gene had both previously reached the summit of Everest from the south side. Con works as a professional mountain and rock guide.
To acclimatize, we planned to ascend to camp 2. However, the fierce wind limited our ascent to the north col. This was not enough.
On May 15, we attempted to summit from below 8,000 meters, which proved to be too low on the mountain and too long a summit day, especially since we were not properly acclimatized. In retrospect, our camp location may not have made a difference but our lack of acclimatization likely did.
Gene and Phanden turned around before the First Step.
The rest of us continued to the Second Step (8,600m / 28,230ft), where Julio determined he and I would run out of oxygen before making it back to High Camp if we did indeed reach the summit. That was a risk neither of us were willing to take. It didn't make sense to climb the most difficult and dangerous section if we weren't going to reach the summit, so after spending 30 minutes enjoying the amazing view from the northeast ridge, Julio and I turned around with Lama Jangbu.
Con, a professional mountain guide and stronger climber, continued to the summit with Lopsang and summited around 10:30 to 11am.
After our summit attempt, Con and Julio stayed at Camp 3 with Phanden, and they descended back to ABC the next morning.
Gene descended to the North Col with Lama Jangbu. I began my descent to the North Col about an hour or two later. Lopsang and Lama Jangbu carried huge loads of gear to ABC, where we all met the following day.
What an experience! Although not reaching the summit was disappointing, it always is, I was thrilled to get the chance to climb Everest and go as high as I did. Joining a small, unguided expedition, making our own decisions, right or wrong, gave me an appreciation of what it takes.
Everest is more about fitness and physiology than climbing ability but the physiology part is significant. If your body can't take the altitude, you can't climb. It doesn't matter how fit or talented a climber you are.
Everyone experiences different symptoms in altitude. Some climbers get headaches, nausea, lack of appetite, have trouble sleeping, etc... and others get more severe forms of altitude sickness, like pulmonary or cerebral edema. Experience in high altitude is the only way you'll know how your body behaves and what remedies work.
But that can always change.
Thankfully, I didn't experience anything new on Everest - I got the same controllable headache, only a few nights of cheynes-stokes (gasping for air while sleeping, scared the hell out of me the first and only other time I got it in 1999), and a loss of appetite.
The challenge for me was dealing with my loss of appetite in altitude for such an extended period of time. A day or two on other climbs has had little effect on my performance. Three to four weeks of low appetite while at BC and ABC is another story.
Everest is also about weather and I realize we were pretty lucky with that. We didn't have a forecasting system, so we relied on information provided by those who did. Our Sirdar (lead Sherpa), Phanden, heard from Russell Brice's camp that May 15 would be a good day to climb.
Back at BC, I wanted to go up again. My body was shot but my mind felt confident I could reach the summit. The rather impatient "Return to Everest" wheels had already started turning. I am so addicted.
Many thanks to our magnificent Sherpas - Phanden, Lama Jangbu and Lopsang - our cooks - Nima and Kami - and Tamting! I will never forget seeing Lopsang carry and drag down about five loads full of gear following his first summit of Everest!
I also want to thank Julio, whose email got me off my couch and on the greatest adventure of my life. He is the first and only Puerto Rican to summit Mount Everest (from the south side in 2002) and is not only brilliant but also a lot of fun to have around camp!
Until I received Julio's email, I had no expectation that I'd ever attempt Everest. It's ridiculously costly in terms of money and time. I also imagined my body eating itself the way Jon Krakauer so vividly describes in Into Thin Air.
When I left for Kathmandu in March, I was so nervous I almost cried at the airport. What on freakin' earth was I doing?! It was overwhelming to think I was going back to Nepal, not as a trekker, but as an Everest climber.
But now that I've been there, I want to go back.
To ease my family's minds, as well as enhance my summit chances and have a completely different experience, I decided to join a guided expedition on the north side.
Gulp.
The expedition would be organized by World Records Expeditions and Treks (WRET), a company started by Julio's Sherpa friends, Lhakpa Gelu and Apa. Lhakpa Gelu holds the world speed record on Everest, having ascended from Base Camp on the south side to the summit in just 10 hours, 56 minutes. Apa has the most summits of Everest, at that time 16, but since this last 2008 season has reached 18. Apa and Lhakpa Gelu would not be on our expedition because they were going to climb on the south side as part of a Super Sherpa team. They're big show-offs. : )
Our team consisted of four climbers (Julio, Gene, Con and me), three Sherpas (Phanden, Lama Jangbu and Lopsang), two cooks (Nima and Kami) - one at Base Camp (BC) and another at Advanced Base Camp (ABC) - and a Tibetan kitchen boy named Tamting (I don't know how to spell his name). Julio and Gene had both previously reached the summit of Everest from the south side. Con works as a professional mountain and rock guide.To acclimatize, we planned to ascend to camp 2. However, the fierce wind limited our ascent to the north col. This was not enough.
On May 15, we attempted to summit from below 8,000 meters, which proved to be too low on the mountain and too long a summit day, especially since we were not properly acclimatized. In retrospect, our camp location may not have made a difference but our lack of acclimatization likely did.
Gene and Phanden turned around before the First Step.The rest of us continued to the Second Step (8,600m / 28,230ft), where Julio determined he and I would run out of oxygen before making it back to High Camp if we did indeed reach the summit. That was a risk neither of us were willing to take. It didn't make sense to climb the most difficult and dangerous section if we weren't going to reach the summit, so after spending 30 minutes enjoying the amazing view from the northeast ridge, Julio and I turned around with Lama Jangbu.
Con, a professional mountain guide and stronger climber, continued to the summit with Lopsang and summited around 10:30 to 11am.
After our summit attempt, Con and Julio stayed at Camp 3 with Phanden, and they descended back to ABC the next morning.
Gene descended to the North Col with Lama Jangbu. I began my descent to the North Col about an hour or two later. Lopsang and Lama Jangbu carried huge loads of gear to ABC, where we all met the following day.
What an experience! Although not reaching the summit was disappointing, it always is, I was thrilled to get the chance to climb Everest and go as high as I did. Joining a small, unguided expedition, making our own decisions, right or wrong, gave me an appreciation of what it takes.Everest is more about fitness and physiology than climbing ability but the physiology part is significant. If your body can't take the altitude, you can't climb. It doesn't matter how fit or talented a climber you are.
Everyone experiences different symptoms in altitude. Some climbers get headaches, nausea, lack of appetite, have trouble sleeping, etc... and others get more severe forms of altitude sickness, like pulmonary or cerebral edema. Experience in high altitude is the only way you'll know how your body behaves and what remedies work.
But that can always change.
Thankfully, I didn't experience anything new on Everest - I got the same controllable headache, only a few nights of cheynes-stokes (gasping for air while sleeping, scared the hell out of me the first and only other time I got it in 1999), and a loss of appetite.
The challenge for me was dealing with my loss of appetite in altitude for such an extended period of time. A day or two on other climbs has had little effect on my performance. Three to four weeks of low appetite while at BC and ABC is another story.
Everest is also about weather and I realize we were pretty lucky with that. We didn't have a forecasting system, so we relied on information provided by those who did. Our Sirdar (lead Sherpa), Phanden, heard from Russell Brice's camp that May 15 would be a good day to climb.
Back at BC, I wanted to go up again. My body was shot but my mind felt confident I could reach the summit. The rather impatient "Return to Everest" wheels had already started turning. I am so addicted.
Many thanks to our magnificent Sherpas - Phanden, Lama Jangbu and Lopsang - our cooks - Nima and Kami - and Tamting! I will never forget seeing Lopsang carry and drag down about five loads full of gear following his first summit of Everest!
I also want to thank Julio, whose email got me off my couch and on the greatest adventure of my life. He is the first and only Puerto Rican to summit Mount Everest (from the south side in 2002) and is not only brilliant but also a lot of fun to have around camp!
Until I received Julio's email, I had no expectation that I'd ever attempt Everest. It's ridiculously costly in terms of money and time. I also imagined my body eating itself the way Jon Krakauer so vividly describes in Into Thin Air.
When I left for Kathmandu in March, I was so nervous I almost cried at the airport. What on freakin' earth was I doing?! It was overwhelming to think I was going back to Nepal, not as a trekker, but as an Everest climber.
But now that I've been there, I want to go back.
To ease my family's minds, as well as enhance my summit chances and have a completely different experience, I decided to join a guided expedition on the north side.
Gulp.
