I think I got as far as Everest Base Camp last time so I shall continue.
When we first arrivd on the trek we had all of our backpacks as well as three huge duffel bags full of climbing equipment. We had employed one porter, Lapa, who devised a complicated logistical system on a schedule that differed to our own so that he could scurry up and down the mountain depositing the duffel bags in various locations where we wold need them and we would be free to carry our (still rather heavy) backpacks. Once we reached Gorak Shep though we had to share the weight between us and carry it together the remaining few hours to EBC.
I can't tell you how incredibly difficult this was - we really got a taste of what it was like to be Lapa - he carried 50kgs (he does not weigh that much) and still he hopped along ahead pausing only to wait for us along the way! Well finally we arrived and not a moment too soon we were totally exhausted, the weather was baltic and of course Jon was starving...!
I mentioned that the first few nights we found it quite difficult to sleep. This was due to a number of things there were the altitude headaches, but then there were also the avalanches that go off every couple of hours. Great thundering booming avalanches that you are sure are going to reach the tents this time.. and finally there is the glacier. We camped our tents on the actual glacier and the thing about glaciers is that they are constantly on the move and all throughout the night you would hear a huge crack when the ice would split and a whole mound of rock and rubble would just pour straight into the newly formed hole. Well of course we WERE one of these mounds of rubble and so it made it quite hard to relax as you can well imagine. After a few nights of this we weren't as bothered by all the noise and sleep was a little easier but the first couple of nights we did often look at eachother and wonder what on earth we were doing!!!
I thought I would just also tell you what we ate whilst at base camp. Breakfast - "Sherpa Porridge" - flour, sugar, butter, hot water
Lunch and Dinner - Noodles
We spent most nights dreaming about some food or another , which is basically all we have done since we got to Nepal but it was a million times magnified on the trek!
Right so 6 days after arriving we set off back down to a town called Dingboche where we were to have a rest day and let our bodies recover slightly before the final summit attempt of Island Peak. It took around 7 hours to walk to Dingboche and we were all really in the mood for a celebration by that point. Chang is a mountain beer made from (you guessed it) RICE! It is actually pretty good and so the first thing we ordered was a big jug of it. The lodge owners, realising it was a special occasion decided to get us an extra special Chang. So they warmed it up, added a raw egg and a knob of yak butter and voila ?Mountain Champagne!! mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
So the final section of our trek was the Island Peak Climb. We trekked to our base camp (5000m) from Dingboche which was an exceedingly strenuous day and the next day to our high camp (5400m). After we set up camp we ate (alot), drank and generally just lazed around. Jon went to the glacier to cut ice for us to melt but I did very little. The walk there had actually been a long climb over the moraine and there was a point where I had becme seperated from the group and had actually gotten so scared I almost cried. That sounds a bit silly but climbing on that stuff is seriously dangerous if you do not know exactly where to put your feet and I was carrying a pack and trying to scramble over boulders the size of a small house.. anyway thankfully Jon had come to save me and arrived just in the nick of time (before I had a breakdown!!). We then climbed the remaining section together and vowed to stay that way until we got down!
Summit Day:
We woke up at 2.30am hoping to beat any other climbers on the mountain. Unfortunately by the time we left at 3 there were already 2 groups (around 20 people) ahead of us so we were a bit disappointed. BUT! Lo and behold within half an hour we had overtaken all of them! Grown men mountaineers!! I was very proud as I had been worried that I would slow Jon and Tendi down. We reached the crampon point in 1hr - around half the time we had estimated! I was pretty happy by this point and starting to think for the first time that we would actually make the top.
We roped up and headed out over the cravass field - we were by now way ahead of the other climbers and had the whole mountain to ourselves. Climbing to the light of our headtorches and the moonlight was absolutely beautiful. There were a million stars in the sky twinkling away with the Himalaya as a backdrop. If my lungs weren't about to explode I would have had a tear in my eye!
It takes around an hour to cross the cravass field and then you see IT. IT is a sheer almost vertical ice wall (say 80 degrees) that is about a 200m climb. Gulp. So up we went climbing in a three with Tendi leading the climb putting in protection as we went and me gasping and gulping for air the entire way!! After that you have a further climb up a (rather narrow) ridge to the summit! Unfortunately on the ridge the winds reach around 60mph but when we reached the summit at 6.25am the winds stopped and the sun came up and it was absolutely INCREDIBLE!!!
After some photos we headed down to pass all the other climbers on the cravass field, we had overtaken them by at least an hour so I was so proud of how well and quickly we had summited. Tendi says we beat his fastest group by over an hour and all the other Sherpas were radioing eachother to say that there was this crazy group of English racing to the top!!
It was awesome, one of the most amazing things I have ever done. We were sad to leave but there was a lot of beer on the way down.
Got to go now but everything else is a bit boring after all of that!
Caroline x
The ridge we traversed is just behind us
Another one at the top (I am just showing off now!). Temp is around -30 C
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