Nepal - Mount Everest - South Col | Expedition-Logistics

Nepal

Everest — South Col (continued)

Mount Everest (29, 034')

Itinerary

Days 17 - 18 — Casual wake-up; mandatory rest days in basecamp. While we use this time to rest and recuperate in basecamp, our leaders and climbing Sherpas will be moving food and equipment to Camp 2, which we will operate as an advanced basecamp (ABC). This will be the highest camp on the route for fresh, hot food.

Day 19 — Early wake-up; climb to Camp 2 (ABC); overnight. This morning we once again depart basecamp and cross the Khumbu Icefall by headlamp. We arrive at Camp 1 in the afternoon and take a necessarily short break in the bitter cold to hydrate and replenish our energy. We continue up the gentle slopes of the vast glaciated area beyond Camp 1, known as the Valley of Silence, crossing over crevasses and clipping fixed lines. This section of our route could be entirely uneventful, or a real challenge, depending on snow conditions and visibility. We arrive at ABC (21,000’) in the late afternoon, where spend the remainder of the day recuperating from our climb and preparing to overnight.

Day 20 — Casual wake-up; acclimatization in ABC. Today is an acclimatization day in ABC, during which we will closely monitor the team’s health for signs of altitude sickness. ABC is a rocky area at the base of the impressive Lhotse Face, and is Those feeling strong enough today are encouraged to take a “day hike” farther up the route to the start of the Lhotse Face (22,965’).

Day 21 — Early wake-up; descend to basecamp. This morning we get an early start and return to basecamp. We arrive in the late afternoon and spend the rest of the day resting and recuperating from our climb.

Days 22 - 24 — Casual wake-up; mandatory rest days in basecamp. While we use this time to rest and recuperate in basecamp, our leaders and climbing Sherpas will be moving additional food and equipment to ABC.

Day 25 — Early wake-up; climb to ABC; overnight. This morning we depart basecamp by headlamp for more acclimatization overnights above 21,000’. The team is starting to feel stronger, and our progress with acclimatization is evident, as we move more surely and rapidly through the Khumbu Icefall and higher up on the mountain. As before, we stop for a short break at Camp 1 before continuing to ABC, where we arrive having made better time than ever before. We spend the rest of the day recuperating from our climb.

Day 26 — Casual wake-up; acclimatization in ABC. Today we make several forays up the Lhotse Face to further our acclimatization. After dinner we make preparations for tomorrow’s climb to Camp 3 and call it an early night.

Day 27 — Early wake-up; climb to Camp 3; overnight. This morning we tackle the Lhotse Face on our way to Camp 3. The face isn’t difficult in the technical sense, but it’s a steep, four-thousand-foot high wall of ice where one misstep means disaster; this section of the route will sap your strength and test your mettle as you ascend fixed ropes of questionable provenance. A little way up the wall we encounter a section called “The Bulge”, which some climbers find tricky, but otherwise we just grind our way up until we arrive at Camp 3 (23,700’) in the afternoon. At Camp 3 we retire to our tents to drink hot liquids, attempt to stay warm, and recuperate. You will be positively amazed by our tiny perch on this steep face. Indeed, the Lhotse Face is so steep that many Sherpas will not overnight here, choosing instead to play through from Camp 2 to Camp 4, on the South Col.

Day 28 — Early wake-up; descend to basecamp. This morning we’re up early for the descent to basecamp. We arrive in the late afternoon and spend the rest of the day resting and recuperating from our climb.

Day 29 — Casual wake-up; descend to Dingboche. After a casual breakfast we shoulder day packs with a small amount of gear and trek down for a few days of quality recuperation in the oxygen-rich air of Dingboche. During this time our leaders and climbing Sherpas will be moving food and equipment higher up the route to establish Camp 4 (High Camp) on the South Col, from which we will make our summit attempts.

Days 30 – 32 — Casual wake-up; trek to Dingboche; R&R. These days will be spent at leisure in Dingboche. While some climbers express concern about a climbing team’s exposure to colds and flu viruses brought in by trekkers, our experience has shown there to be many benefits to descending to a lower altitude in the days before a summit attempt. Resting at the lower relative altitude of Dingboche will restore our appetites, and afford us several nights of quality sleep, thereby allowing us to recover more rapidly from our days of living and climbing at high altitude.

Day 33 — Casual wake-up; return to basecamp. This afternoon we trek back up the glacier into basecamp, and spend the rest of the day relaxing and reacclimatizing to basecamp life.

Day 34 — Casual wake-up; mandatory rest day in basecamp. We spend today relaxing in preparation for tomorrow’s start of the first summit push.

First Summit Push

Day 35 (first summit team) — Early wake-up; climb to ABC. Today we climb up to ABC (21,000’), where we eat, drink lots of hot liquids, and rest in preparation for tomorrow’s climb to Camp 3.

Day 36 (first summit team) — Early wake-up; climb to Camp 3. Today we climb to Camp 3 (23,700’), again hydrating to excess and resting up for tomorrow’s climb to High Camp.

Day 37 (first summit team) — Early wake-up; climb to Camp 4. This morning we leave Camp 3 breathing supplemental oxygen; we will remain on supplemental oxygen above this point. We make a climbing traverse across the Lhotse Face until we encounter a rocky section of the climb; this is the famous Yellow Band, and it is climbed by way of fixed ropes. One final climbing traverse leads us to the base of a steep, but short, wall which we surmount using fixed ropes, shortly thereafter arriving at Camp 4. Here we pay strict attention to our state of hydration and nutritional intake, and recuperate from our climb.

Day 38 (first summit team) — Casual wake-up; mandatory rest day in Camp 4. Today is a rest day in high camp in preparation for tomorrow’s summit attempt; we breathe supplemental oxygen, eat, hydrate, hydrate, and hydrate. Our high camp is a lifeless, rocky plateau more closely resembling the surface of the moon than anything here on earth. To break up the monotony, we take a short hike to peer over the ridge at the Tibetan Plateau far below; otherwise, we sleep as much as possible in preparation for an insanely early start to summit day.

Day 39 (first summit team) — Alpine wake-up; Mount Everest Summit Day! Actually a continuation of yesterday, we depart our high camp at 11 p.m. and head for the top. It is bitter cold, and the route above is steep and icy; there is little talk going on as we fight for breath despite breathing supplemental oxygen. After many hours of dark — sunrise. We arrive at The Balcony (27,500’), where we stop just long enough to eat, drink, and perhaps change over to a fresh oxygen cylinder, before moving on again to beat the frostbite. We follow the Southeast Ridge to the South Summit, from where we can finally see the true summit. If it looks as if we can reach out and touch it from here, rest assured that it is still several hours away and that several difficulties still lie ahead. First there is the intimidating, and very steep, Knife Ridge — with what appears to be a freefall into Nepal on one side, and the same proposition into Tibet on the other. We move along just off the ridge proper clipping fixed ropes. Next there is the storied Hillary Step, a short section of 5.8 rock climbing at 28,800 feet, and the crux of the climb, which we negotiate as well via the use of fixed ropes. Then, after some low angled terrain that usually goes unroped, and what seems like an eternity of slogging, we stand atop the roof of the world — the summit of Mount Everest (29,034’). We’ll take our obligatory summit photos and then, depending on the weather conditions and the time of day, we might lounge around for a bit before heading back down. We arrive back in high camp in the early evening and collapse from exhaustion into our tents.

Day 40 (first summit team) — Early wake-up; descend to ABC. This morning we leave Camp 4 and descend to advanced basecamp for hot food and much needed rest. Also today, the second summit team departs basecamp and treks down to Dingboche for rest and recuperation in preparation for their upcoming summit push.

Day 41 (first summit team) — Casual wake-up; descend to basecamp. This morning we leave ABC, cross the Khumbu icefall, and return to basecamp for the day. Those feeling strong enough may remain in basecamp, otherwise we will descend to Dingboche for R&R.

Days 41 – 43 (second summit team) — Casual wake-up; trek to Dingboche; R&R. These days will be spent by the second summit team at leisure in Dingboche.

Day 44 (second summit team) — Casual wake-up; return to basecamp. This afternoon the second summit team treks back up the glacier into basecamp, and spends the rest of the day relaxing and reacclimatizing to basecamp life.

Day 45 (second summit team) — Casual wake-up; mandatory rest day in basecamp. The second summit team will spend today relaxing in preparation for tomorrow’s start of the second summit push.

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