Blog – May 4st 2010
It’s been 2 weeks since I wrote my last blog, but it now seems we have the BGAN working.
On 22nd April we left around 5:30am for Camp 2. I made much better time through the icefall, arriving at camp1 at around 11am, about 30 minutes behind the others (Brandon, Kristine and James). A quick nibble on some cheese and crackers and some rehydration there and we set off for camp 2. Weirdly, the relatively straightforward journey through the Western Cwm, that I had found a breeze a few days earlier, I really struggled with. The GI upset which had reared its ugly head that morning was more than just a minor inconvenience along the way…. Mountain Machine Rob insisted on carrying my pack, as well as his, for part of the way, for which I was extremely grateful, albeit somewhat humiliated.
I was pretty wrecked by the time we got to camp 2. We were greeted by Victor Saunders’ group who’d arrived a little while ahead of us. I struggled to have much sensible conversation with anyone until I’d forced down copious amounts of fluid and made myself eat the meal put on by Lakpa, the camp 2 cook. We spent the next day trying to rest, rehydrate and get to grips with the altitude (6300m).
The next day we rested at camp 2, then the day after that we went to touch the Lhotse Face which leads up to camp 3 and to take a closer look at what we were going to have to haul ourselves up the next day. Three words came to mind…..icy, long and steep.
I was feeling considerably worse than I had done at a similar altitude on Cho Oyu in 2006, and just like on Cho Oyu I’ve had a nasty case of high altitude bronchitis. Stepping in from, or outside in to, the cold or moving about at all set me off in to horrendous coughing fits. I’ve been afraid that I’d separate off ribs as I had done in 2006, which had been excruciating and had almost ended the expedition for me. My poor tent-mate James, not to mention the rest of the camp, were kept awake by the coughing for 5 nights at camp 2. I was taking everything in my medical kit I could think of but the cough was so bad at the end I was barely sleeping at all and restricted to positioning myself upright at night. This made the trip up to camp 3 interesting. However I was determined to get there, knowing that this was the only way I could be “ready” for a summit attempt. I was damned if I was going to have to make a second trip though the icefall just so I could touch camp 3.
So we got up early to make our way to camp 3. It was still dark and freezing cold. We’d all figured that once the sun hit things would warm up, but there was an icy wind and it kept on blowing after the sun rose. Riches Sr and Jr bailed early whilst James, Brandon, Kritsine, Rob and I persevered. We had to wait for a while in the shade for some of Victors’ group to get over the overhanging icewall at the bottom of the Lhotse Face. This was the beginning of the end. I was cursing myself for leaving my Powertraveller boot warming system at camp, thinking I wouldn’t need them. Rob kept telling me to thump my thighs to get the blood going and to kick my feet hard with every step. We started to make our way up the steep blue ice at the bottom of the Lhotse Face. Whatever snow may have been there had been whipped off by the wind so we were toe pointing the whole way. It was really tiring. There was no option of stopping, not least because we just had to keep moving to stay warm. I made the decision to turn round after about an hour on the face. I wasn’t prepared to accept any more absence of feeling in my toes. I’ve had frost nip in my big toes before so the sensation is never quite normal there so it was hard to know how cold was too cold but one thing was for sure, they certainly weren’t getting any warmer. It was like dominoes after that, and the other three guys followed suit. I felt really bad, because I knew that if I hadn’t turned round the others probably would have carried on. We returned to camp feeling deflated, but the next day we had another crack at it.
We left slightly later and conditions were much milder with barely a breath of wind. The face was still blue ice most of the way but we were able to take things easier. I coped well until about the final 100m when I could feel myself running out of steam. This was still a very long way at that altitude. James did his best to encourage me to push on and we all made it to camp 3, with the two Riches following not too far behind. Again I felt pretty spent, and it took me a good half an hour to recover. Camp 3 on Everest is at a similar altitude to camp 2 on Cho Oyu (7100m) . I can remember finding the last 100metres pretty tough back then also, but then finding it much easier the second time around. I am hoping for something similar when we go to camp 3 prior to our summit push. From that point on I’ll be on oxygen.
The way down was quick for the most part. Again, I got tired just on the approach back in to camp 2 and could feel myself beginning to stumble a bit on the moraine . I dreaded to think what the climb up to 3 had done to my chest which felt pretty raw by this point. I knew that the only definitive treatment was going to be to get down to base camp, and perhaps beyond, the next day.
The next day Brandon, Kristine, James and I made our way back down to base camp with a spring in our steps. Rob had left early to look after one of the other clients who was unwell. The icefall had changed somewhat since we’d been through it 5 days’ earlier. Some places looked more stable. Others looked like they were ready to go, so we wasted no time getting past them. The other guys said they had never seen me move so swiftly. I couldn’t wait to get to base camp to get some relatively oxygen-rich air in to my lungs, to wash my hair, and to have a decent nights’ sleep. I was looking forward to making contact with home too, which I managed the next day from the sat phone.
The last few nights we’ve been in base camp waiting to see what the weather’s been going to do. We’ve had a couple of nights of heavy snow. Last night I lost a bet that I could not go a whole day without swearing when I commentented that the lights in the mess tent weren’t f**king working…. As punishment every other member of the team gets to throw a snowball at me (wearing only undies) from ten yards.
I plan to go down to Pangboche tomorrow to recuperate. I will post some photographs from here. Thankfully my chest is much better. I am taking a cocktail of meds to try to suppress the cough, and have mastered the art of self-administering menthol inhalations out of a Nalgene bottle. But I suspect I wont be fully recovered until I am back down at sea level in milder temperatures. I am dreaming of picnics in Hyde Park in the sunshine, strawberries and Pimm’s. Can’t wait.
Bye for now xxx
