The North Col...! – 7000m

25th April

There are not many Monday mornings when you have the option of climbing to the North Col of Everest, but this particular Monday I had my chance (it was a strange coincidence that it also happened to be the first day of the summer term – best wishes to everyone at Cheltenham College!)

Although Advance Base Camp (ABC) is at 6400m, the route there does not involve any climbing (just a lung busting walk), so the climb to the North Col was going to be the first time any of us used our technical climbing gear and skills in anger. So, having sharpened ice axes and crampons, and eaten a hearty breakfast of porridge and omlette, Andrew Sutherland and I set off from ABC across the glacier to the foot of the climb to the North Col. The route weaves its way up between crevasses and in some places across crevasses, where aluminium ladders have been placed (not so easy to cross in crampons). There is a rope fixed into the ice to indicate the route and to provide security. Despite the steepness of the ground below, most of one's attention is focused on inching up the mountain, with every few steps requiring a rest to regain a sustainable rate of breathing – heart rate remains well over 100 bpm throughout. After several hours, we saw the first tents that are perched under the lip of an enormous cornice, which marks the North Col and were delighted to have reached our goal.

The North Col represented a great milestone for Andrew and I, reaching 7000m for the first time and also providing us with a clear view of the route ahead up a snow slope to the next camp at 7600m and then across to the North ridge and the summit. After about an hour, and a very welcome cup of tea from a friend whom we had made at Base Camp, we descended back to ABC, both thinking that it had been a fantastically rewarding day and that after a few days rest, the next stage would be to spend a night at the North Col before heading higher on the mountain.

Posted by Seb

Gorgeous birds at basecamp...!

24th April

Well it's me and Dom left at base camp as Ro and Dickie forge ahead for Intermediate Camp (IC). I'm left with a choice - two weeks washing or an acclimatisation walk towards IC – that makes it two weeks and one day's washing ! After a distinctly non – alpine start ( 10.10am ) I head out to the side of the moraine and immediately there is a strong sense of walking towards the mountain as the landscape becomes more dramatic. To the right scree slopes and the bizarre structures of rock and glacial mud, some 50 ft high, upon which sit lumps of granite the size of a family car. To the left the crazy blues and greys of the ice of the Rongbuk glacier. On the way Yaks and their herders push on towards IC and advanced base camp (ABC). These really are magnificent beasts – the size of a small cow, covered in long black or golden hair – a fair pair of horns and the jolly chink of the bells around their necks. They carry their loads uncomplainingly as they are driven on by the ululations and shouts of their drovers. My slow pace annoys the Yaks and their drover asks that I move aside as his Yaks are unsure about these strange folk in climbing attire. A friendly, “Tashi delek !” ( hello !) greets each and everyone who passes.

Yes – there is wildlife up here ! Eagles circle at 6000 metres looking for the rabbits and curious pica ( cross between a guinea pig and a hamster) that thrive up here.Nervous tahr ( deer) visit the moraine and feed on the sparse grass. A mouse has been seen in one of the other expeditions tents – it is not thought to be indigenous but seems to have gnawed its way into a food crate and woken up in cold Tibet.Today I spotted a fabulous crimson bird with black and white striped wings and an incredibly plump quail like bird. These apparently are sacred so having little to fear their interests seem to be eating and mating. Each morning at 5.00am onwards they squawk and wake us all up but for us hardened mountaineers it is but a small inconvenience. All the team at IC and ABC are in good spirits and acclimatising well. As I write we have just heard from ABC that Seb and Andrew are the first up to the North Col ! Good effort ! Another step up the high mountain.

Posted by Patrick

The eyes have it...!

23rd April

Basecamp has fallen pretty quiet over the last two days as most of our climbers have begun the long walk back up to ABC (Advanced Basecamp) at 6400m. From there the hard part starts and they hope to begin the ascent to the North Col in the next few days at 7000m. We currently have 10 climbers en route to ABC and all are in good health and feeling strong.

I myself remain stranded here in basecamp, which is incredibly frustrating. Last week I had a mild case of HAPE (High altitude Pulmonary Oedema) and had to descend back to the valley for three nights to allow it to clear. HAPE occurs when you are not fully acclimatised and your lungs slowly begin to fill with fluid. It's a little disconcerting trying to sleep as you hear every breath gurgling in your lungs. The sound is very similar to blowing through a straw into a drink. Fortunately the descent helped and I am now back and feel on top form. Unfortunately I have also acquired another haemorrhage in my right eye. This was a problem that dogged me a few years ago when I was last on the mountain. There is no pain at all, but your vision becomes partly obscured and further ascent is not advised. It would seem that it probably happened during the exertion of cycling up here over a week ago. My immediate plan is to stay put for another week at least and see if things improve.

It really is worth mentioning for those back home how lucky we are to be well looked after medically, both in terms of resources and skills. Chris, who is a qualified optometrist, has been a great source of advice over the last week with my eye problem and I'm sure he'll be called on again. Andrew, our team doctor has been kept busy with no end of incidents but has handled them all with apparent ease. His care of Tarka was first class by all accounts and also of Pemba Sherpa, our ABC cook who was seriously ill a few nights ago. Pemba was very lucky to survive and owes his life to the prompt care that he received and the oxygen that we keep to hand. We also have a PAC (Portable Altitude Chamber) which once pressurised allows the patient to effectively decend a couple of thousand metres in a few minutes. As I write Pemba is cooking lunch next door so has managed to make a complete recovery. Many of these incidents seem to happen early on as everyone goes through the difficult process of acclimatisation but hopefully we now seem to have entered a period of relative calm as everyone's state of health improves.

We heard yesterday of the tragic news that three sherpas died on the south side of the mountain in the Khumbu icefall. One sherpa sadly also died here on the north side last week, working for another team. It is a good time to remind those back home that we are climbing on the safest route on the mountain and still we are taking every precaution available to us.

Posted by Dom

Life at Base Camp

22nd April

Having had everyone at Base Camp sitting out the bad weather for the last week, this morning Seb, Andre, Andrew, Pauline, Phil and Jamie set off for Interim Camp in the sunshine. Tomorrow the next wave will follow and Base Camp will be almost empty. Dom, feeling much better, is patiently waiting for his eye to recover and Dickie, Patrick and I are happy to let the potential summiteers leave first. As we only aspire to the dizzy heights of the North Col we have a less urgent timetable to follow and are able to stay here at base camp for a while longer.

With that in mind I thought I would take you through some aspects of a typical day at base camp..

The day begins at 3am when you wake up needing a pee! It is minus something ridiculous (-15?) outside the tent so instead of getting dressed and venturing outside you reach for your pee bottle and as neatly as possible (tricky for girls) do the business. Feeling better you creep back into your sleeping bag and after getting your breath back from the exertion, snuggle down for a few more hours sleep.

Breakfast is supposed to be at 7am but it is creeping towards 8am as everyone has realised that the sun hits our tents at 7.40am and the difference it makes to the temperature is well worth waiting for. Overnight the contents of your tent have frozen solid.. water bottles, toothpaste, sun cream, baby wipes, contents of pee bottle.. anything that can freeze will have done. Getting dressed is done very quickly - thermals (these double as pyjamas which mean they are already on and warm) down jacket, warm trousers, hat, gloves and boots. It is all very chilly but warms up quickly once on. Finally, before stepping outside, you put on sun cream and sunglasses. It is dazzling outside and sunglasses are vital. They go on as the sun comes up and don't come off until it sets. I learned that lesson very quickly as I had three days of blurry vision - we think a very early case of snow blindness, before it had even snowed! Much better now thankfully! During breakfast as the mess tent warms up most of these clothes are removed. Bliss. Out of the wind the sunshine is wonderful.

The day's activities are not too stressful. They can't be – it is too tiring to be very active. The main event is walking up the moraine around Base Camp, aiming to reach higher each day to help with acclimatisation. Base camp is 5100m. Walks to 5300m and 5600m are perfect and the views are spectacular. This should make the transition to Interim (5800m) and Advanced Base Camp (6350m) much easier. The walks are very slow and steady as the air is thin but there is no rush and with a packed lunch and plenty to drink this can take as long as you like.

Once back in camp there is plenty to do. You can wash your clothes in a bucket and hanging them out to dry – on a windy day these freeze solid outside so we have hung up a washing line inside one of the bigger tents. This warms up wonderfully during the day and clothes dry quickly. You could take a shower… this involves filling a bucket with warm water from the kitchen, and hanging it in the shower tent. It has a small tap, which slowly releases water on your head (if you are not too tall) whilst spinning gently on its rope, causing you to do a little circular dance. The alternative is to put the bucket on the floor and use a jug to poor water where needed – much quicker and I think, much warmer. This is wonderful on a hot day but chilly round the ankles on a windy one. You could sit in the mess tent, drinking tea or coffee (diuretics, so not recommended) or hot lemon and honey, or hot chocolate or anything at all.. hot water and sugar, hot powdered milk, hot Tang (orange powder). All day you need to keep drinking (and consequently peeing!), as the air is so dry up at 5000 metres dehydration is a constant threat. If you don't then you will inevitably get a headache. Whilst drinking you could read, chat, write diaries or emails or play cards. Gentle activities. There is no point in doing anything more strenuous. Just living at this altitude is tiring. You can feel your heart beating whilst sitting at the table. Racing away like you have just run up the stairs. Relaxing is part of acclimatising. Even having a snooze in your tent in the afternoon while the sun is on it is recommended. There will be plenty of activity when the climbing begins!!!

When the sun goes down all the clothes pile back on as the temperature plummets. Dinner is a chilly event. The food is hot the company is great but your breath freezes and crystals form on the inside of the tent. After dinner we all move to the North Face dome tent. This is the most cosy. We fill our bottles with hot water, put them down our jackets and climb into our sleeping bags. Wearing all our clothes, hats, gloves and head torches we watch a movie, play cards or have a singsong. Your breath condenses on your jacket collar making it wet and again ice crystals form on the inside of the tent. At about 9.30pm everyone goes to bed – possibly the worst moment of the day.. The North face tent is by no means warm but it is definitely better than our own tents (commonly known as “fridges”). We step out into the night, look at the stars and are amazed… we are at Everest Base Camp and it is stunning.

Posted by Ro

Descent from ABC and a health update

21st April

How to convey how tough the descent from ABC had been a couple of days ago? After all it's only the equivalent of coming down from the summit of Snowdon, albeit with the added distance of getting all the way to the coast – a downhill stroll surely? Tarka, feeling a bit unsteady on his feet, had set off ahead with Chris and two Sherpas, Khamar and Tsering; the tents being too small and squashed with snow for more than one to pack up gear at a time. It was immediately obvious that, despite a few days acclimatising, breathing was going to dictate the pace considerably. Light snow flurries were soon replaced by a bitter headwind with the spindrift filling in the tracks in places and raising concerns about route finding later on. A group eventually loomed out of the mist ahead but it took ages to close on them despite discovering, while passing, that they were shuffling slowly down clearly with altitude related problems. Shortly afterwards there was a group of Sherpas taking turns to piggy-back someone down in an even worse state. After three hours while passing interim camp, I was definitely feeling ready for a break, sustenance and over-gloves, but there was no respite from the elements. Partial shelter before a rise allowed some snatched food and much needed drink in swirling spindrift, before the staggering, interminable plodding continued. I kept asking myself, particularly when others passed me, “if I'm finding this tough, what is Summit day going to be like”. Things did eventually clear and settle down as we turned into the main Rongbuk valley, and I tried to convince myself that I could still enjoy the moraine ridges and valleys draped in snow and the evening sun. Arriving was a welcome relief, as well as a great welcome from all, tea and warmth. Hopefully the descent will not always be quite so Scottish !

Tarka's condition had not improved as much as hoped with the lower altitude, and it was with great sadness that on the 20th we bid him farewell. Nic is to accompany him to the border on his way back to Kathmandu and we heard that their progress had been hampered this morning by snow before Nyalam.

Spirits were raised considerably later in the day when Dom arrived back up from Shegar, having spent several days recovering from the chesty cough he'd arrived with from all the dust of the cycle. Everyone was pleased to brief him and let him take charge of the myriad of organisational and logistical issues.

In the sun at base camp life is quite comfortable despite the snow on the ground, which actually keeps the dust down when the wind blows. Domestic duties abound, clothes washing and the new shower (a suspended bucket with a dribble tap inside a loo tent) is much in demand and adds an air of sophistication! Shopping too, across at the tent village: shoes for the cook boy's trench foot and a blanket to hang over the broken zip of the mess tent - it is still bitter at night.

The day ends with most huddled together in sleeping bags, maggots, in the large North Face Dome tent for a DVD, James Bond again - Die Another Day. Unfortunately it is the batteries that die before the baddies.

More seriously the start is interrupted by the arrival of the ABC cook with serious breathing difficulties and Andrew is on duty yet again. Pemba had had a ten hour trip down on a Yak, including three falls and the last three hours in the dark. The Gamoff bag ( a simple, foot inflated pressure bag) is used and oxygen helps him through the night. Fortunately he is much recovered in the morning but still needs to descend further.

Not for the first time, Andrew says we have had our share of incidents. Let's hope it is the last time!

Posted by Nigel

Chris Returns From ABC

20th April

Our arrival at ABC was accompanied by an awful nights sleep. I had the reoccurring dream that I was selling a never ending amount of Tibetan paintings at some stuffy art show – where this came from I have no idea! The night was cold, and I was pleased to be sharing a tent with Phil, which made things marginally warmer. When we awoke there had been 4 inches of snow and the landscape was white (ABC the morning after shown in the picture).

We journeyed to the mess tent, where Sonham informed us that there would be no move today. The North Col was heavily laden with snow and there was a high risk of avalanche, hence the North Col would remain unoccupied. Phil, Nigel, Tarka, Andre and Seb, ate breakfast with little vigour and recounted our poor nights sleep. Andre and Seb left shortly after complaining of feeling unwell. This left a hardy 4 of us to sit it out. Nigel decided to teach us bridge to kill some time, but this highly confusing game resulted in the loss of a further member (Phil), who decided to cut and run to the pleasures of BC. This left 3! That evening we dined on the garlic soup (surprise, surprise), yak and rice (I had great difficulty in eating this), and delightful poached apples in whiskey sauce. We tried to stay up and play cards but the falling temperatures forced us to our beds. After another cold night we had made the decision to retreat to BC, there was no point waiting at ABC while the conditions would not be right to continue for another 5 days or so (assuming that the weather improved). So, armed with water and pack lunches we set off on the 22 km hike to BC. We arrived 8 hours later, looking wind swept, thinner and distinctly hairier. The climate was warmer and the lungs filled easily. Chocolate cake and tea awaited our arrival – although this was scoffed before I could get a chance to partake. When cakes appear over the next few days, I will be scrumming down for a piece.

Posted by Chris

The art of sitting still

19th April

It would be fair to say that we are not a group of people that naturally sit still for prolongued periods of time. Yet here we are on Everest being asked to do just that. It has been snowing for the past couple of days and we now have a covering of 6" on the ground with drifts reaching several feet. Everyone is coming back to Base Camp from various points on the mountain for a bit of r'n'r and the snow will probably stop us moving very far for a couple of days at least. There is almost a continuous game of rummy with Patrick becoming a master of the cards, Seb is reading books he's meant to read for years, Dickie is catching up on his diaries (he's still in India!), Pauline is brushing up her guitar skills, Dom is liaising with Thamserku (our Everest company), Andre seems to have a million emails to write, Nic and Dickie are rewiring the solar panel, Jamie has a water bottle permenantly attached to his lips, Ro is doing some washing, and we seem to be getting through a film a night.

Climbing high mountains is a game of patience, stamina, self-discipline and strength of mind. The body takes time to adjust to the change in oxygen at these altitudes and the best thing you can do is chill out and give it time. This is a really hard thing to do. There is a massive mountain to climb and everyone is keen to get to the bench marks; Interim Camp, ABC (Advance Base Camp), the North Col (Camp I) and Camp II . I arrived with the start of a cold and have been waiting for that to clear before moving much out of Base Camp. It's been really frustrating seeing other people going off for acclimitisation walks, but everyone has a different schedule dictated by their body and the weather. It's part of the challenge of climbing Everest to go at the speed that's right for you.

We are lucky as a team in that there is not the peer pressure you find in some other teams. If you're not feeling well then you can just say and no one will huff or puff and make you feel like you're holding them up. Andrew is doing a fantastic job of keeping an eye on us (even when we don't realise!) and advising us on how best to approach the mountain health wise. If anyone thinks that Everest has become something that any Tom, Dick or Harry can do with enough cash then please think again. The boys coming down from Interim Camp and ABC have said that it's the toughest walking they've ever done and it can only get harder the higher we go. Even Phil, named Tigger by the expedition, looked shattered when he came down from ABC yesterday after battling through thick snow for 5 1/2 hours. Headaches, sporadic breathing, cold, tiredness and lack of appetite come with the territory of climbing a mountain as high as Everest – I have it all to look forward when the weather clears and I head up the mountain. Hurray! We are expecting Chris, Nigel and Tarka down from ABC today and we'll let you know how they've found it.

Posted by Sarah