16th APRIL CLIMB TO CAMP 1.
Alpine starts never really agree with me and it was a struggle to claw myself out of warm sleeping bag. It was 4.30am and freezing, I threw on my clothes as quickly as possible and burst from the tent. I knew there would be hot tea in the mess tent, and this would help shake the cold. We all ate breakfast in silence each of us thinking about the days work ahead, along grind through the icefall up to camp 1. This is all part of the slow process of acclimatisation, we slowly climb up the mountain, sleep in ever higher camps until our bodies become use to the thinner air. Then and only then are we ready for an attempt on the summit of Everest.
This day I found myself climbing up with Greg and Omar, we wound our way through the lower part of the ice fall in the first of the morning light. This area is pretty flat and is know as the pinnacles and the track goes up and down and round about. The way was busy with Sherpas carrying huge loads up the mountain and some of the other teams who were also off to camp 1. Days like this are very sociable and I climbed slowly up with Guy Cotter, a friend from NZ. We spent almost an hour catching up on what's been happening to both of us and bitching about how bad we think the icefall is this year.
Finally Greg and I reach the top of the icefall (our high point from a few days before) as the sun hits. It's a welcome break from being cold but we know that in a few brief minutes it will be like being in an oven. We move slowly in the heat and the path winds dangerously close to the seracs (huge hanging blocks of ice) on the west ridge. Moving fast here is the safest way but we are to tired to do so and we crawl through the danger zone like sloth's. Camp 1 must be over the next rise I keep telling myself but each time its not, the heat gets to me as does the altitude, finally I walk into camp 1 pretty shattered. Greg is 10mins behind me and he is also pretty tired, Omar comes in 30mins later.
Camp 1 is perched in the entrance of the Western Cwm. A huge white valley that is bounded on each side by the giants of Everest, Lhotse and Nuptse (some of the highest mountains in the world), when I walked into this cwm for the first time I was speechless. I had read about it many times and to see it first hand was breathtaking. Its impossible to describe the sheer size of it on a small computer screen. Our camp this year is small, just 3 tents pitched on a small rise. It looks distressingly small under the huge north icy wall of Nuptse.
The 3 of us sit out in the sun melting snow to water and trying to re-hydrate after the days climb. We radio BC to let Henry (BC Leader) know that we are safe and sound, and also speak to Ben who is still climbing up with Torri. The heat is incredible and there is no escape. The white icy walls around us act as huge reflectors and we slowly roast like stuffed turkeys at Christmas. The only respite is when some cloud covers the menacing sun and then the temps drop and we run to put back on layers that we cast aside just a few mins ago. The game continues all afternoon. Ben and Torri finally roll into camp after an exhausting 8hrs in the icefall. We feed them hot soup and tea and soon they seem recovered from the ordeal, the miracle of tea never ceases to amaze me.
Stay safe
Kenton
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Kenton Cool
IFMGA Mountain Guide
www.dream-guides.com
