Subject: Back at Base Camp
Posted by Rob on 01 May 2005 07:34 GMT+1 12:19 NST
Hi all,
I've been up The Hill for a week and am back down and will update my adventures in a long message:
Base camp to Camp 2
First we went all the way from base camp (5300m) to Camp 2 (6300m) in one day. And it was a hard day! This is like climbing Ben Nevis in terms of distance and height gain, but it took us 8.5 hard hours! We left at 5 am to do the icefall before the sun hit it. It is actually very pretty with blocks of blue ice, layers of snow and many big deep holes. It went a lot faster than last time. There are now 21 ladders to cross between base camp and camp 2 and some are over very deep holes. In one place a whole area collapsed and the route goes around a different loose block. I've got the ladders down pat, but still can’t stand in the middle and take a picture - I need both hands for the guy ropes.
After a short rest at camp 1 (6100m), we went up to camp 2. Hill walking at this height is tough! The glacier had big waves of ice, so several times we have to drop 50 feet in to a wide slump, then climb up the other side, only to drop 50 feet again. Pretty demoralising at the height of Mt McKinley!
There is a huge crevasse with 3 ladders tied together a mile before Camp2. Spectacular! The last mile from 6100m to 6300m is a real killer. I took it at a very slow pace and kept it steady. This slow and steady technique worked and we passed a few people, but by then we had been walking out of breath for 8 hours. Even the snow chairs didn't leave me fit enough for this height.
Camp2 is a bit spartan. We have a dining tent and a gas light, but sit on tents on top of stones. Not many games of hearts in the cold there, but some. It is typically -15C at night, but my big bag is great.
After getting there, we had a rest day of lying about and reading.
Up to Camp 3.
I had been told by others that the climb up the Lhotse Face to Camp3 was one of the hardest days of the expedition - and it was! We started in good weather at 7 am. It takes 2 hours from Camp 2 to the base of the fixed ropes up the face. Easy walk at a slow pace and not even out of breath. The Face is the large glacier covered face of Lhotse, one of the highest 8000m peaks in the world. We camp in the middle of this huge face before traversing to the south col. It is fairly steep ice - 45 to 60 degrees. One uses a jumar to pull up the ropes. Right away it is steep, people on the ropes above you and below you, and hard work. Everyone is out of breath and stops, then we all try and move, but get out of breath and stop. This goes on for 4 hours. No chance to go slow and save your breath, it is up and up.
We were only 1 hour up the face and the wind picked up, blowing spindrift across the face. So far not too bad. After another hour, the wind really picked up, often 50 mph. Then it started to snow hard. I could see only a short distance up. Soon it became a raging Cairngorm-like blizzard. I dug out my bigger gloves and kept going. We wouldn't climb in this weather in Scotland, but at 7000m+, there was nothing to do but keep inching up. By now I was always out of breath, taking a few steps up the ropes, and then gasping for air. But the blizzard raged, so I had to move as quickly as I could. The only safety would be the tent, somewhere way above. Overall I was warm and fine, so just kept slogging up. Somewhere in there I set a height record for my self (PB). It seemed to go on forever, keep moving or else....
Finally we hit the tents and all was fine. There were just 3 of us that made it, one other turning back much lower down. But there we were at Camp 3!
The night wasn't bad. It was very windy all night, but a sherpa had brought my big warm bag up, so I had a good night. Well deserved after one of the worst blizzards I had been in for a long time!
Next morning (29 April) was very windy, so down the fixed ropes we went back to Camp2. This went OK and I was down in a couple of hours. I did drop a couple of things and almost froze my fingers when putting on my harness, but it was good preparation.
Then on 30 April, we descended to Base Camp for a rest. How great it is to sit in a chair again! Technically I have now done the basic preparations to be ready to go for the summit, but practically we are too early. We don't anticipate a summit window for a couple of weeks and most others have not been to camp 3 yet. So after a rest at base camp, I'll go back up again.
So far, from the start of the walk in, I have ascended 8,460m! That is like climbing Lhotse from sea level! Happy May Day from Everest Base Camp!
Rob
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