Key Facts About Everest

Roughly 150 people made it to the summit in each of the 2004, 2005 and 2006 seasons – however, many of these were guides and Sherpas who had submitted previously. It’s estimated that around 70 of these would be first-time Everest climbers. (This is thought to be from around 200 climbers that attempt the mountain each year.)

In some ways, the North side is logistically easier as it is possible to drive vehicles to base camp and you don’t have to go through the ice fall. However it involves spending longer periods of time at higher altitudes and the route is more exposed to the wind.

I’ll be climbing on the South Side – the same as Fiona and I did last year, and the same way Hilary did when he first climbed it. The route up from this side is shown below:

On Everest, climbers generally wait at base camp for a weather forecast indicating around 4-5 days of clear weather (known as the “weather window”) before making their summit bid.

To acclimatise, you need to expose the body to the higher altitude (and lower oxygen levels) and allow it time to adjust before moving higher.

The only other way is to use a specially designed “altitude tent” that simulates the reduced oxygen environment. We have no personal experience with these systems but the simulated altitude is relatively low (approximately 3000 metres) and the effects are only short-lived (maybe a couple of weeks). For these reasons, altitude tents are not commonly used by mountaineers, but are more suited for giving an extra edge to athletes with events near where they use the tents (you may recall a mention of these in Lance Armstrong’s books).

From when we arrive in Kathmandu, we will take a few days to get organised and buy a few things, and then I’ll fly into the mountains (to Lukla). However this depends on whether the flights are going as they are often delayed due to weather. From here it will take me around 10 days to trek into base camp (including rest days for acclimatisation).

Once at base camp, I’ll need to rest further, and then I’ll begin my “acclimatisation rotations”. These will involve a program such as climbing to camp 1, staying the night, then returning to rest. Then climbing to camp 2, returning and so on up to camp 3. (For more information on this, see my description on Acclimatisation here.) Once I have finished this and feel fine, I’ll be ready to climb. This should be around 10th May but depending on the weather, it might not be until very late in May.

Once I leave from base camp for the summit, it should take me around 4 days to get to the top and 2 to get back to base camp – although I will probably go up to camp 2, and wait for weather from there.

Last year Fiona and I climbed with International Mountain Guides (IMG) and this year I’ve decided to climb with Asian Trekking. They will handle the massive amount of logistics associated with the climb. Unlike most other expeditions though, with both of these companies, each climber essentially climbs independently – which is a feature that Fiona and I liked. This way I’ll be able to climb when I am ready and won’t be rushed to meet a team’s schedule, or conversely, my climb won’t be delayed if other climbers aren’t ready to move on. In 2006, I had a chest infection which forced me to stay at basecamp for a long time and if I was locked into a group’s schedule, I may not have been able to do any climbing.

In addition, I’ve hired a personal Sherpa to climb with me throughout the expedition. Fiona and I also did this last year and found it to be fantastic.

The difficulties primarily lie in;

The Khumbu Icefall – this section lies just above base camp and consists of a choppy section of glacier. There are many crevasses to cross and some steep sections to climb. Despite the fact that fixed rope is used throughout the whole icefall, this section is notorious for accidents caused by people falling (although often by people who decide not to attach to the rope) or sections of the glacier moving while climbers are on them. Last year 3 Sherpas were crushed to death when a section of the icefall fell down on them. The Lhotse Wall – this section lies between camps 2 and 3 and is a long steep slope. Again, there are lines fixed along all steep sections but accidents frequently occur here. The altitude – no-one really knows how their body is going to react to being at such a high altitude (even when they’ve been there before). The lack of oxygen can lead to a variety of altitude problems and even mild altitude sickness can include chest problems, disorientation, nausea, dizziness, but worse – it can be a cause of bad decision making. The weather – on a mountain this high, the weather can change suddenly and cause temperatures to plummet, visibility to be reduced to just a couple of metres, and winds to make balance on steep sections difficult. Frost-bite is a constant concern anywhere above camp 2. Fatigue – related to altitude, this can lead to poor decision-making and hence susceptibility to weather problems.
And no, there are definitely no shops anywhere on the mountain (except perhaps in the delusional minds of hungry climbers!).

Most climbers will have their own tent and each expedition will have several larger tents dedicated to communal activities (mess tent, dining, communications, etc). To the untrained eye, this looks like a hotch-potch of different tents with no organisation, however everyone there knows exactly whose tent is whose (generally referring to them by the expedition companies’ name or the nationality of the team).

Each expedition will eat most meals together and will invariably spend time talking, playing cards and generally hanging out together. However as base camp is quite spread out and moving around at altitude is laborious, communication between teams may be limited to each team’s immediate neighbours. In fact, it is not uncommon for news about other teams on the mountain to be gleened from email or phone calls from friends and family back home reading web-updates from those teams!

At high camps, it is uncomfortable and often inadvisable to leave your tent at night should you get the call from nature. Instead, most people use Pee bottles.

Traditional Nepalese food consists of Dal Bhat (lentils and rice), lots of potatos, mild curries, flat breads, and eggs – so I’ll probably be eating a fair bit of that as well. Drinking tea is also very popular (great for warmth and to increase fluid consumption).

At other camps, I’ll be catering for myself and cooking pre-packaged foods. I generally eat museli bars for breakfast, pasta for dinner with soups, noodles, hot chocolate, etc. While I’m walking during the day, I’ll generally only have some Gu sports drink formula and Gu sports gels while climbing to increase the consumption of calories, salts and sugars.

Fiona is the 3rd Australian female to reach the summit of Everest.