Dispatch 12 To The Top:

May 18th

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It was wonderful to get out of Base Camp and start climbing after 10 days of waiting/resting. Now we were ready to do what we set out to do - climb the mountain, not to walk part way up and come down or hang out in a strange mostly-men village at 17,000 ft. The terrain all the way back up to Camp Three was familiar, which was good and bad. On one hand you knew what to expect - times from place to place, good safe resting spots, and the best way to negotiate different obstacles. On the other hand you had already done it so it didn't have that new feeling - you knew what lay around the bend, how much the next section would hurt, and you had already taken photos. The terrain above Camp Three was where all this changed.

We (our summit team Dan Barter, Brien Sheedy, Kevin Flynn, Ron Hoglin, and myself) left Camp Three early in the morning to get used to the cold and to get a good start to get into the South Col early so that we could rest and recuperate before the climb. Open slopes lead out of camp three up to the Yellow Band - a series of steep rocky bands. Despite the fact that we were breathing oxygen above Camp Three - the Yellow Band was hard work. Above the Yellow Band is another section of open slopes leading to the Geneva Spur. Above the Spur is the South Col - to get there we had to traverse steep rock and snow and then finally climb directly up some easy rock (easy at sea-level, but fairly challenging at over 25,00 ft.). From the top of the Spur a gently traversing trail leads to the Col.

 

Upon reaching the Col , my energies were divided - I had three worries (actually concerns). One was the weather, the wind was blowing very hard - hard enough that if it remained the way it was we would not be able to climb. Our weather forecast was for the winds to drop, so all I could do was hope. Another concern was my physical strength - would I have what it takes to climb to the highest point on Earth? All that I could do at this point was to make sure I was adequately hydrated, nourished (only in terms of total calories), and oxygenated - to accomplish this I sat in the tent and drank water while eating cheese, cookies, and canned fruit (you eat what sounds good), and breathing oxygen. My last concern was that since we were to be the first group of climbers of the season, there would not be enough fixed ropes to safely make the climb. From BC days before, we had managed to coordinate with Himalayan Guides to each send up two Sherpas to fix ropes up to The Balcony, these ropes were in place, but beyond this was an unknown. Kami (our lead Sherpa at the Col ) and I walked around and talked to other teams to coordinate the fixing of ropes above The Balcony for our climb. We ended up with a commitment that three Sherpas from the Chilean team and two Sherpas from the Greek team would go ahead and fix ropes up high and that our team and Mountain Link would carry some extra rope.

We woke up at 9 pm with plan of leaving to go up at 10:30 pm , the wind was still blowing pretty hard at 10:30 so we delayed our departure. The wind finally seemed like it was slacking off and we left camp at 11:15 pm . The wind was still blowing hard enough that as we were climbing the initial slopes up the triangular snowfield we were being blown around. We reached The Balcony at a little after 4 am . The climbing was fairly steep, but straightforward and the only delays were when other teams took breaks right in the middle of the route. There was some attrition on the way to The Balcony. Kami Sherpa turned around after a couple hours because of some intestinal problems, but passed off the oxygen bottle that he was carrying for Dan to Mingma Tseri Sherpa (who was then carrying 3 oxygen bottles - amazing!). However, Kami was carrying our portion of the fixed rope and neglected to pass it off. This wouldn't have been much of a problem except Mountain Link decided not to go and the Greeks turned around after the first few minutes of the climb. This left us with only the fixed rope that the Chilean Sherpas were carrying - not enough to fix everything that we needed to fix.

Above The Balcony the route follows the southeast ridge, some sections are easy and need no fixing, others are steeper and climbers can benefit from the protection that fixed ropes offer. Part way up the ridge on our way to the South Summit our team realized some of these steeper sections were not fixed and that was a problem. We also realized that it was getting later in the day - lots of time had been wasted waiting for rope to be fixed. Our team had a discussion as to what our options were: the Chileans were all tying into a short section of 6 mm rope (very skinny). We thought this extremely unsafe and didn't consider it as an option. Another small group had decided to just go ahead and climb without ropes. Many of us considered this suicidal and didn't think the summit was worth it. So, this left us with really only one option - to descend. Just as we were sorting this decision out in our 28,000 ft fogged heads, I decided to ask the two Sherpas that were still with us what they thought (two other sherpas turned around at The Balcony due to complications with a few of our oxygen bottles). Both Karma Rita and Mingma Tseri thought we should go up. I told Karma to go ahead a little with a radio and tell us if there were more fixed lines up higher - he readily agreed. After climbing for about fifteen minutes Karma called in that the Chilean Sherpas were pulling last year's ropes out of the snow and that they looked good. We were back in business!

For the few sections where there were no fixed ropes, Karma cut ropes from below and tied them in where we needed them. The Chileans still had some ropes and fixed new ropes in particularly difficult sections. From this point on it was all about endurance - the weather was beautiful and the ropes seemed to be dealt with - I just needed to put one foot in front of the other and keep breathing. Three of our team members climbing with Karma Rita pulled out in front and were climbing faster than me (I was using 2 L/min instead of the 3 L/min that they were using because of the oxygen complications at The Balcony I had less oxygen to use). One member climbing with Mingma Tseri was falling further and further behind me.

Karma and the three team members had just left the Summit as I was approaching it and the Chilean team left right as I arrived at about 1:30 pm . I had the whole Summit to myself (the tippy-top is actually very flat and about 3 ft by 10 ft). This was pretty cool to be by myself on top, but hard to take photos. I spent 10 minutes on top and started to descend. I passed our last member and Mingma a few minutes below the summit and caught up to our front group as they were going back up the South Summit . One of the front three climbers ran out of oxygen on the South Summit (we had been climbing a long time) and Karma gave up his oxygen so this climber could use it. Karma and I descended back to The Balcony where we could switch to the bottles we had used on the way up. We sat there and waited and watched our team descend. After waiting for awhile we heard from Mingma that our last member was back on the South Summit , but not moving - and he had run out of oxygen. Mingma gave him his oxygen and was urging him on, but to no avail. Finally, we got word that he too started to descend. I waited with Karma at The Balcony for about 3 hours and greeted two members as they came in and helped them to change oxygen bottles. I was getting very cold and the sun was starting to go down, and I could wait no longer for the two others.

I descended from The Balcony to the South Col mostly in darkness using a headlamp and got in a little after 8 pm . On my way down I passed two of our Sherpas headed back up to The Balcony with oxygen for Mingma and our highest member. One of the two members that was still above me arrived shortly after I did at the Col. Finally after 10 pm our last member arrived with Mingma Tseri and the two Sherpas that did the extra oxygen carries - all safely down to the South Col. Once back at the Col we ate, drank, and breathed lots of oxygen at a high flow rate.

The next day we got up early and descended to Camp Two, all of us were dehydrated and exhausted. The next day we came down to BC… tired but happy and successful.

Over the next few days the Sherpas are bringing down all of our gear and equipment from the mountain and then packing up Base Camp. We project to be back in Kathmandu on the 25th and hopefully back in the US at the end of May.

The Numbers . . .

3 am - when climbers from another team (climbing the same day we did) got back to the South Col.

5 breaths per step near the summit.

21 hours spent above the South Col on summit day climbing and waiting.

Day by Day

7 May - Rest at BC.
8 May - Rest at BC.
9 May - Rest at BC.
10 May - Rest at BC.
11 May - Climb from BC to Camp Two.
12 May - Rest at Camp Two.
13 May - Climb from Camp Two to Camp Three.
14 May - Climb from Camp Three to Camp Four ( South Col , 26,200 ft.). Start climbing towards the top (leave camp at 11:15 pm ).
15 May - Climb to the top of Mt. Everest (29,035 ft.)
16 May - Descend from Camp Four our to Camp Two.
17 May - Descend from Camp Two to BC.
18 May - Write final dispatch.

Photo Captions:

Vashon on top
Mr. Tanguay on top with his Vashon Pirate flag.

Climbing Toward Yellow Band
Just above Camp 3, climbers making their way towards the yellow band, a major obstacle on the move day to the South Col. Beyond the yellow band on the right is the summit of Lhotse (4th highest mountain on Earth) and on the left is the Geneva Spur, the final obstacle climbers must tackle on the way to the South Col.

In Yellow Band
Climbers ascending the steep rock of the yellow band on the way to the South Col.

Team on Col.
The team IMG western climbers on the south col. From back to front left to right - Jason Tanguay, Dan Barter, Brien Sheedy, Kevin Flynn, and Ron Hoglin. The climbing route is in the background: up the central gully to where it Y's out, then turn right to hit the flat point on the right skyline (the balcony), finally follow the skyline to the south summit ( South Summit and true Summit not visible in photo).

Above The Balcony
Kevin Flynn ascending the southeast ridge between the balcony (lowest visible point on ridge) and the South Summit .

Below South Summit
Climbers negotiating the steep snow and rock below the south summit ( South Summit is snow point visible on right).

Summit Ridge
The summit ridge viewed from the south summit. Climbers can be seen negotiating the famous Hillary Step about midway across the ridge. The true summit is visible.

Descend below Balcony
After waiting for team members to descend, the light is waning. The South Col and tents are visible below as a climber descends below the balcony.