Khumbu Mountaineering Trilogy (page 4)

Oct 19, Summit Day

Anyone who reads a lot of mountaineering literature is familiar with the routine that's followed on summit day.

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Everest/Lhotse at sunrise	Makalu (center), Chamlang (rt)
from 20,000 ft.	at sunrise

You get up just after midnight after a short, sleepless night, melt snow for drinking water, pull on your gear, and start up the mountain in the dark, by the light of a headlamp. I would have been thrilled to actually be taking part in this classic activity, if I weren't so cold, hypoxic, and miserable. I had a splitting headache, and I was exhausted. Chris seemed to be as bad off as I was. When John Lama woke us up at 2:30 a.m., the Sherpas had already melted snow for water and made tea and breakfast. We weren't hungry, but we tried to force some food down. Chris and I slowly put our gear on, and we pushed off at about 3:45. John led the way. Stuart followed him, then me and Chris. Pema brought up the rear. The moon was almost full, and we really didn't need the headlamps. The sky was perfectly clear, and the air was freezing, but there was no wind. In the moonlight, we could just make out the outlines of Everest and Makalu to the north.

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Sunrise view towards the summit	Chris Bidle (l.), Stuart McLaughlin

Stuart kept a slow, steady pace. I passed him and went on ahead, but he soon overtook me, as I slowed down. My hands were freezing, but my feet were warm. Stuart had to stop and warm his feet once or twice. I dropped my glove shell twice, and both times Pema chased it into the deep snow, retrieved it, and returned it to me, always with a smile on his face.

After about two hours, the eastern sky began to redden, and the twilight gave the mountains in the north a soft orange glow. The cloud cover was very low, probably about 16,000 ft. As the sky lightened, we could see, in a spectacular panorama, five of the six highest mountains in the world.

Panorama, looking north	(click to enlarge)	(click to enlarge)
Cho Oyu, the world's sixth-	Everest/Lhotse (left-center	Makalu (left, w/ plume),
highest mountain (center,	w/plume), Makalu (right,	Kanchenjunga (rt. distance,
w/plume), from 20,000 ft.	w/plume)	w/ plume). Pema (l.) and Chris

Off to the west, Cho Oyu was easily identified by the plume clinging to its summit. Everest and Lhotse were clearly visible, and the view of Makalu was classic. In the east, far in the distance, we could see Kanchenjunga, the world's third-highest mountain, towering above the clouds. I don't know that a view like this exists anywhere else in the Himalayas.

After a short, finger-freezing picture-taking break, we continued on. The climb was excruciating. By the time we reached 20,000 ft, we were moving in slow motion. We were climbing unroped, on a hardened track that had knee-deep snow on either side.

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Kanchenjunga (distance,

with plume)

Because of the shape of the Mera glacier, you never know how close you are to the summit while you climb. You can only see as far as the next rise. When you reach the top of the slope, you see yet another rise in the distance. Finally, after five hours of climbing, we saw the central summit over the last rise. Stuart and John reached the base of the central summit first. John ran a fixed rope up the last steep slope, and anchored it with his ice axe. It took me over a half hour to walk the last 200 yards to the summit base. I'd take three steps, then rest for ten seconds. Chris and I followed Stuart up the snow slope to the top. We held on to the rope, but there were plenty of steps cut into the ice. Chris and I crawled on top at about 9:45, staggered to our feet, and began to take it all in. For some reason, I spent ten minutes trying to strap my camera to my ice axe, as a sort of makeshift tripod, so I could set the camera's timer and get my summit photo. It then occurred to me that I could give my camera to Chris, and ask him to take a picture of me. It's funny how stupid you get when you're four miles up. I don't think we really believed we'd make it until we were actually there. We spent about a half-hour on the summit (surrounded by Germans), then headed down.

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Mera central summit: 21,198 ft.

John Lama (l.), Stuart (rt.)

We rested for an hour or so, then headed down towards Mera La. As usual, I ran short of water, and when we finally reached high camp, they'd already taken down the kitchen tent, so we couldn't melt any more snow. I started feeling worse and worse. Chris stayed close by, and John Lama made sure he kept us both in front of him. The Sherpas have a way of staying far enough behind to not make you feel self-conscious, but close enough to help out if something goes wrong.

After a couple of hours, we reached Mera La, descended a few hundred yards down a thin, rough snow patch, and followed the trail down the rocks into the valley. I was about to pass out from thirst, so Chris found a Sherpa in the campground and got him to fill up my water bottle. I felt better immediately, so we both continued down the valley to our campsite, about a half-hour away.

Bob and Nick and Dave were there to greet us, with a congratulatory cup of tea. There was a real feeling of accomplishment and pride. Though ilness and injury prevented all ten members from attempting the Mera, we had seven people go for the summit, and we all made it. Al, unfortunately, was sick in his tent, so we didn't see him at all that evening. He told us later how proud he was of his staff (and us) for making the climb a success without him.

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Chris Bidle on the Mera summit	Joe Giammarco on the summit	Pema (left), John Lama

I don't know how many times the senior members of the Sherpa staff (John Lama, Kedar, Phrua, Lhakpa) have worked with Al on climbs and treks, but it's more than a few. He's trained these guys to the point that they know what to do without being told. I doubt that there's any greater factor in having a safe trek than being with an experienced leader and staff who work well together.

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Makalu, the world's fifth-	Everest, from Mera
highest mountain, from Mera

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