I looked up and saw a stream of headlamps, high above. It was summit day, and I was just about to begin my ascent. I had a long climb ahead of me, but couldn’t believe I was only hours away from achieving my dream of being on the top of the world.
Days 42 to 44 – Everest Basecamp
After a few days rest lower in the Khumbu Valley (You can read about this in Part II), we arrived back at Everest Basecamp on May 5th. The Nepalese Army announced that even if the Chinese don’t put the Olympic Torch on the summit, they will allow the route to be set to Camp III on May 10. That means that climbing will be allowed up to Camp III beginning May 11. Above Khumbu Icefall, the required fixed ropes and ladders are set up collectively by Sherpas from the various expeditions. Lakhpa from our team was selected to be one of the route setters.
To read the story from the beginning, here are links to Part I, Part II.
Over the next two days Ngima and the other high-altitude Sherpas took food supplies, tents and bottles of oxygen up to Camp II where it was cashed for the summit day push. Initially, I was planning to take 5 bottles of oxygen, but Ngima convinced me that 3 bottles of oxygen will be enough for my summit day. Ngima decided to go to the summit with only one oxygen bottle.
My chore on one of these rest days was to fix my tent. The melting glacier caused it to sag where I slept. I had to take the tent down and re-level the ice underneath with an ice-axe before putting the tent back up. I remembered setting up my tent in Camp Berlin on Aconcagua. It was so exhausting that I almost passed out. Everest Basecamp is 600 m lower than Camp Berlin, but even 2 weeks earlier I don’t think I could have done this much work without struggling. I could tell that my acclimatization routine was working.
It was starting to warm up, even higher up on the mountain. I saw a few avalanches come down the slopes above basecamp, but at least they were small and didn’t come close to camp. They were probably triggered from rockfall or cornices collapsing from the hot sun. In 2014 and 2015 deadly avalanches raged down the mountain, covering parts of the icefall and basecamp.
I met a man from Dallas, Texas in basecamp. He was disabled, not able to use his legs. He arrived to EBC by being carried in a basket on a porter’s back. It was his dream to see the EBC and today he achieved that dream. Two porters were able to carry him on theirs backs, in a basket, all the way from Lukla to EBC.
Day 45 (May 8) – EBC
On May 8th we were awakened by the sonic booms of Chinese fighter jets flying over Everest. We knew this was to celebrate a successful summit by the Chinese climbers!! That meant we could finally begin the final preparations for our summit bid. They reached the summit from the north side of Everest (Tibet) and since we were on the south side in Nepal, we never saw them.
Day 46 – EBC to Camp II
Elevation gain – 1,075 m (3,527 ft); Climbing time – 6 hrs, 15 min
We had yet another acclimatization trip up Khumbu Icefall, this time we would go all the way to Camp III. Ngima and I left EBC around 4:30 am and made very good time, arriving in Camp I in 3 ½ hrs. From there though, it was very hot and we had to slow our pace. I was carrying my backpack with warm clothes and my – 40° sleeping bag. The backpack weighed only 10 kg, but at these altitudes it felt like a 50kg expedition pack at sea level. I made it to the bottom of Camp II in 5 hours and 15 minutes. By the time I reached my tent, 100 m higher and one hour later, I was completely exhausted (6,430 m/21,096 ft).
Kalpana was very happy to see us. When Rosa and I went to Pangboche last week, Kalpana stayed at basecamp. To further aid in her acclimatization, she hiked up to Camp II five days earlier and had been there ever since.
Day 47 – Camp II, Acclimatization hike
Elevation gain – 230 m; Climbing time – 1 ½ hrs
There is a large bergschrund at the base of Lhotse, above Camp II. Rosa and I walked up to it to get a little more acclimatization and to take a closer look at Lhotse Face. It looked so close to Camp III, but took 1 ½ hours to get there. On the way we could see people making their way up the icy slope of Lhotse, taking supplies to Camp III. If you look closely at the first picture below you can see people on the slope.
Day 48 – Camp II to Camp III
Elevation gain – 950 m (3,116 ft); Climbing time – 5 hrs
Camp III would be the highest that I had ever been up to that point at 7,380 m (24,212 ft). I had a bit of anxiety, hoping my body would adjust and I wouldn’t experience high altitude sickness. We left camp at 6:15 am. It only took 1 hour to reach the bergschrund this time. At that point I realized I was glad our tent was at the top of Camp II, otherwise we’d have another hour of climbing to reach it.
Above the bergschrund is the icy Lhotse Face. It is a very steep, tall wall of blue ice rising 1,125 m (3,690 ft). Most of Lhotse Face is at a 40-50° incline but in places, it’s almost vertical. There were 720 m to gain on this ice wall to reach Camp III. Fixed ropes makes the climb on the icy wall safer. When using the fixed ropes you use a jumar, also called an ascender, and two carabiners. The jumar slides up the rope, but won’t slip backward because it has teeth that grab the rope. This allows you to use it to help pull yourself up. To get up the wall, you slide the jumar up the rope and then kick in steps in the ice with crampons. The rope is secured to the ice periodically with ice screws and the two carabiners are used to ensure you are always clipped in to the rope as you navigate around the screws. There were two rows of fixed ropes about 30-40 meters apart. One rope was supposed to be for up traffic and the other for down. The down rope though, crossed over steeper terrain, so most people used the up rope for both directions. I knew this was bound to cause problems at some point.
Fixed ropes are necessary for safety, but they also result in line-ups. The widely publicized pictures of Everest often show long lines of people on Lhotse Face. Luckily for us, it wasn’t as bad as on some of those pictures. It was a slow climb though. Some climbers who were very tired stopped to rest in the middle of the trail and wouldn’t move out of the way. It’s too difficult to get around them so it holds up everyone below in a cascade.
Camp III (7,380 m/ 24,212 ft) is built on icy benches on the slope of Lhotse Face. There aren’t many horizontal spots for tents so often a flat spot is chipped out of the ice and snow. It took 3 ½ hours to reach the second tier of tents in Camp III. Our tents were still above them on the 3rd and highest tier. Between the last two tiers we had to scale a 20 m (65 ft) high, 90° bench of ice. At this elevation, it was an exhausting hurdle.
After 5 tiring hours I reached my tent. My O₂ saturation on arrival was only 69%. I checked Lakhpa’s and it was even lower at 65%. I would do this climb once more on this expedition but Ngima did it at least 4 times. It was impressive to witness how hard he works on this mountain. It took Kalpana 10 hours to get from Camp II to Camp III. That was quite an achievement. Based on her previous experience, I didn’t think she’d make it that far. It was a testament to her sheer determination.
Camp III is an interesting place. It’s hard to imagine that the tents don’t slide right down Lhotse Face even though they are tightly secured to the ice. There are numerous crevasses in the area. To avoid them there are marked trails and in places, fixed ropes for safety. There were no toilets at camp or privacy. You had to go in the open, over whatever crevasse a fixed rope will reach.
There was a storm overnight at Camp III. My tent shook in the high winds. In the morning the tents were covered in a layer of snow.
Day 49 – Camp III to Camp II
Elevation Loss- 950 m
I had no major issues sleeping at Camp III. I was very surprised and happy that I appeared to be acclimatizing so well. The high-altitude Sherpas were supposed to go up to South Col today, but they didn’t because of strong winds.
After the storm overnight, we had a beautiful sky in the morning with a phenomenal view of Everest’s pyramid. There were often interesting clouds that formed over its summit and today was no exception.
On the return back to Camp II, I was able to use a running rappel for much of Lhotse Face but there were 2 or 3 steep benches that had to be properly rappelled. Luckily when I was rapelling, there were no climbers trying to come up the same rope. I made the mistake of wearing only light liner mitts and left my warm gloves and over-mitts in the bottom of my backpack. It was still very windy from the storm the night before and my hands were getting very cold. I didn’t want to remove my backpack to get my warm mitts while on Lhotse Face because if I dropped anything, it would drop hundreds of feet below. During one of the rappels I couldn’t feel my hands. This was dangerous as it was difficult to hold on to the rope during the rappel. At the bottom of that rappel I was able to find a safe spot behind a serac where I could warm my hands under my arm pits and get my warm gloves out of my backpack. My hands burned when they warmed up.
Day 50 – Camp II to EBC
Elevation loss – 1,075 m; Climbing time – 4 ½ hrs
As we hiked down the Western Cwm towards camp, we were treated to the most amazing sunrise over Everest. The sun’s rays highlighted a jet stream that is so often over the summit. There was at least a foot of fresh snow on the Western Cwm but it didn’t slow us down much.
Descending the ladders and ropes over Khumbu Icefall was getting easier, but it was still a scary place. On the way back to EBC I met Ngima’s uncle, Apa Sherpa (nicknamed Super Sherpa). At the time he held the record for having the most Everest summits. By 2011, he had summited Everest a remarkable 21 times. He was born in Thame, home of another famous Everest summiteer, Tenzing Norgay Sherpa.
In 2019, at age 37, Ngima became the youngest person in the world to have summited Everest 21 times. Apa’s and Ngima’s records were broken in 2018 by Kami Rita Sherpa who now has at least 30 summits.
On arrival, our cook Lundruk made us an amazing lunch with vegetables, rice and curried chicken. I was famished. I could eat at least two times as much at EBC than I could higher elevations.
Days 51 to 53 – EBC
I had a few free days in EBC to rest and eat in anticipation of my summit push. I had lost a lot of weight so I needed to put calories in my body. We tried on our oxygen masks and tested the regulators that remained at basecamp. The masks were old and didn’t fit very well, especially when wearing goggles. Ngima’s hose was leaking so he repaired it with duct tape. It seems to be a universal repair technique. The Quebecois had new masks that they bought from an English company for $600 each. I stuck with the old used one that didn’t fit well but was known to be very reliable.
Lakhpa and Ngima had gone up to Camp II. They each carried 20 kg of supplies from Camp II to Camp IV. It only took them 9 hours to climb 1,476 m (4,843 ft) up and 2,600 m (8,530 ft) down, and were back in basecamp by 4 pm. It was incredible how fast they could climb.
There was a rumor in Base Camp that the monsoon arrived a week early in India this year. I hoped this wasn’t true because the monsoon usually brings bad weather to the mountains, making it unsafe to climb.
The Sirdar (lead) Sherpas and guides had a meeting to try to organize all of the expeditions. They do this every year to try to prevent log jams. They decided that the route to the South Summit will be completed by May 20. Lakhpa and one more Sherpa from our team went to work on setting the route above Camp IV.
Day 54 (May 17) – EBC to Camp II
Elevation gain – 1,075 m (3,527 ft); Climbing time – 6 hrs, 15 min
Today is the beginning of the summit push. We left camp by 4:20 am and were at Camp I in 3 ½ hrs. After 6 hrs 15 minutes, I arrived at our tents in Camp II. Again, I was carrying my backpack weighing about 10 kg. A good weather window was forecasted to last until May 23. Things were looking promising.
Day 55 – Camp II
I had a rest day at Camp II. Kalpana arrived from Camp I and one of the Quebecois arrived from EBC. We were all planning to summit on the 22nd. The reports were that 150 people were planning to summit on May 22nd.
Day 56 (May 19) – Camp II to Camp III
Elevation gain – 950 m; Climbing time – 6 hrs 15 min
Plans changed again. The route to the South Summit would be completed a day earlier and therefore my summit attempt would be May 21st. We left at 11 am for Camp III. I struggled a bit on the climb and it took 1 hour and 15 minutes longer than the previous time.
About halfway up Lhotse Face a huge boulder dropped from Geneva Spur. I was on the fixed rope and Kalpana was right above me so I couldn’t move. The boulder bounced around and luckily the last bounce took it away from us. It may have dislodged itself because of melting snow from the hot sun, or been knocked down by Sherpas who were high above on the Geneva Spur setting up the route.
I was pretty mad because the Aussie guy, who is climbing Lhotse, got his own tent at Camp III and refused to share it with anyone. This meant I had to share a small tent with two Sherpas.
At 70% O₂ saturation I had a mild headache. Experimenting with my oxygen flow, I found that even at a very low setting of 0.5 l/min, my headache was almost completely gone.
In the evening, monsoon clouds filled in the valley below. It was an awesome view with Cho Oyu and Pumori’s peaks proudly sticking up above the boiling clouds. The next morning a clear sky allowed me to see the entire scene.
Day 57 (May 20) – Camp III to Camp IV
Elevation gain – 526 m (1,725 ft), Climbing time – 6 hrs 50 min
I couldn’t believe that I was on my way to South Col, the location of Camp IV. There were at least 120 people on the way up resulting in a lot of traffic jams at the technical sections.
After an hour, we reached the well-known feature called Yellow Band (7,620 m/25,000 ft), a distinctive rocky cliff band on Lhotse Face. As with the location of our tents at Camp II, I was happy that our Camp III tents were located on the highest tier. There was a fixed rope to help climbers scale the feature. It wasn’t difficult, especially since I’m used to technical rock climbing, but it was tiring. Some people sat on the rock to rest, making it difficult to pass them. They were too tired to even try to move out of the way.
If you look closely at the first picture below you can see the trail toward Yellow Band in the snow. The second picture shows the area from a distance for context.
Not long after crossing Yellow Band we met Rosa. She had summited Lhotse and was on her way down! I was so happy for her, but I still had a long way to go myself today. Above the Yellow Band we passed Lhote’s Camp IV.
After Yellow Band I was glad to have an easier climb until a large rock buttress called Geneva Spur. The route climbs a 20 m (65 ft) high rocky step on Geneva Spur. When we arrived at the base of the climb there was a long line of climbers waiting their turn. There were also a few Sherpas coming down after setting the route higher up, making the wait even longer. Since we were getting close to the Death Zone, before attempting to climb Geneva Spur I decided to use oxygen from now on.
There were so many ropes coming down the rock that they looked like streamers on a Christmas tree. Most were old ropes from previous years so I had to be careful to chose the best one. The rock has large holds for your hands and feet but at this elevation and with crampons, stepping on bare rock was a difficult scramble. This was definitely the most challenging and technical part of the climb today.
From the top of Geneva Spur the terrain levelled out all the way to Camp IV (7,906 m/25,938 ft). It was a very long day taking 6 hours and 50 minutes. According to Ngima this time was very good.
Camp IV is a wind swept, desolate place set in the col between Everest and Lhotse. The ground is littered in shredded tents, broken tent poles and even dead bodies tucked behind boulders At almost 8,000 meters high, it is situated at the start of the Death Zone. It’s called the Death Zone for a reasonhe human body can’t survive for long with such a low pressure of oxygen. I couldn’t do much at camp. I just laid in my tent and tried to rest. Even going to the toilet left me completely wasted.
Day 59 (May 21) – Summit Day
Elevation gain 848 m, Elevation loss 2,418 m; Climbing time to summit – 10 hrs
We began the climb to the summit on May 20th, just after 10pm. It was 10 of the most difficult hours I’ve ever had. Dressed in my –40° C down suit, big warm mits, warm boots and oxygen mask I left Camp IV. There was a full moon so it was brighter than usual, but we still had to use headlamps. Not long after leaving camp we arrived at the base of the pyramid. It was dark and I could see a stream of headlamps high above. Some people left much earlier and were already close to the Balcony. It was a bit disheartening to see how high I had to climb to reach it.
The first section climbs a steep, icy wall at a 30 – 50° incline. There were fixed ropes and thankfully the line-ups weren’t too bad. Slowly, one foot after the other, sliding the jumar along the ropes, I reached the Balcony at 8,383 m (27,500 ft). As its name suggests it’s a flat spot where quite a few people, including me, stopped to rest. Here at the Balcony I changed to a second, fresh oxygen bottle while I rested. The picture below shows the approach to the Balcony from above, later in the day.
From the Balcony to South Summit the climb continued up a 30° ice wall. I was in the middle of a slow line of climbers, but just below the South Summit, a final steep section brought everything to a stop. The 30° incline steepens to 60°. We had to wait at least an hour behind climbers who were trying to scale the rock bands. I was getting cold but the sun was rising, so I hoped to warm up soon. The climb to South Summit (8,747 m/28,700 ft) is not how I had pictured it. It was much steeper and longer than I had imagined.
From South Summit I could see Everest’s true summit which was still a long way away. The climbing route descends a little and then follows an exposed, razor-sharp ridge for about 120 m (400 ft). There are steep drop offs on both sides of the route. On the north side the ridge is plastered by a huge cornice with ice axe holes in the snow. At times I could see right through the holes to the ground in Tibet, thousands of meters below. On the other side, below a steep drop, I could see all the way down to Camp II over 2,000 m (6,561 ft) below.
Slowly we made our way up this narrow ridge until we reached the famous Hillary Step, 8,763 m (28,750 ft). The rocky spur is about 15 m (40 ft) high and consists of 2 benches of rock. The route is different from year to year, depending on the amount of snow. This year the route climbed up and around one bench and then up the second bench. I didn’t find it very difficult and actually I barely remember it.
From Hillary Step, it is a moderate-grade, snowy climb. It undulates a little so you still can’t see the summit and have no idea how much further there still is to climb.
Finally, after a gruelling 10 hours, at 8 am, Ngima and I reached the summit of Mt. Everest, 8,848 m (29,029 ft)! I was on the top of the world, literally and figuratively. I spent about 30 minutes on the summit, soaking it all in. What an amazing feeling, the entire world was below and I could actually see the curvature of the earth. At this elevation the sky is almost black.
There were amazing views of the Himalayan Range. Giants like Makalu and Cho Oyu were beneath me. Wanting to see how it feels with no supplemental oxygen, I took off my mask. It was not too bad at the beginning, but a few minutes later, I could tell that I could not last more than couple of hours, so I quickly put it back on.
The summit is not large. There were a few other climbers there and others were arriving. I could see a queue of people on the ridge slowly slogging their way up. I didn’t want to leave but at the same time I didn’t want to get caught in a long line-up on the way down, so I knew that I had to begin my descent.
On the way down I had to stop at each technical section to wait for people coming up on the ropes. There’s not enough room for two lines of rope so we had to move down when there was a gap between climbers. It can be challenging to time it properly. I remember one section specifically where I had to step on a frozen slab to avoid climbers. It felt very exposed, but thankfully my crampons kept me from slipping on the ice. Somewhere near South Summit I met Kalpana who was on her way up.
It was dark on the way up so I didn’t see any bodies on my climb from Camp IV, but I did see two on my way down. One was near the Balcony and another near Camp IV. They looked so peaceful, even though I know they must have had a horrific last few minutes and hours. Most of the dead are moved away from the trail so they are not easily seen, but it is too dangerous to be bring them off the mountain.
The Quebecois were at Camp IV on their way up. We had a brief chat about the climb still before them. Some people, after summiting, stay overnight in Camp IV, but not being completely exhausted, Nigma and I decided to head down. After resting for a couple of hours in Camp IV, we continued down. Shortly after downclimbing Geneva Spur, my 3rd bottle of oxygen ran out. I removed my oxygen mask and noticed that at this elevation, it was not as bad as it was on the summit. Further down, we stopped at Camp III where where we took down one of the tents. Ngima carried it all the way down to Camp II. By 6pm we arrived to Camp II (6,430 m).
Another group of climbers that just arrived to Camp II were listening to a radio chat between descending climbers and their support team in ECB. They got a terrible news, one of the Swiss climbers, trying to summit without supplementary oxygen, passed away just below the Balcony. It tells you how dangerous the sport can be.
Day 60 (May 22) – Camp II to EBC
Elevation loss – 1,075 m (3,527 ft); Climbing time – 4 hrs
In the morning at Camp II my O₂ saturation was a remarkable 82%. On the way down, making my final crossing of the Khumbu Icefall, it began to snow. I was very glad that I wasn’t higher up the mountain when it was snowing. Coming down though, I was very tired and tripped on my crampons a few times. One time my crampon got caught on a fixed rope and another time, on the gaiter on my other leg. I fell and slid down the icy slope but managed to stop before falling to a crevice. I was lucky, it could have been much worse. Most of the climbing accidents usually happen on the descent when you are exhausted.
It felt so good to be back in basecamp after a successful summit. Our cook made a celebratory cake for Rosa and I, and we all had a shot of whiskey.
Kalpana also summited today, but had serous problems getting down and needed help from her Sherpas. She arrived in basecamp after I left. From basecamp she had to be taken by a helicopter to a hospital in Kathmandu where she spent over a month.
We were saddened in 2019 to hear that Kalpana died in an accident on her way back down the mountain after summiting Everest for a second time. That summit made her the first Indian woman to summit Everest twice, but unfortunately she died on her descent near the Balcony. Rest in Peace Kalpana.
Days 61 to 63 – EBC to Lukla
Elevation loss – 2,564 m (8,412 ft)
It felt so good to be on the way out. I lost a lot of weight and was feeling elated and exhausted at the same time. I arrived in Lobuche where my daughter Eliza was excitedly waiting for me. We spent the next two days hiking down to the airport in Lukla.
On the way down, we visited the climbers’ memorial. It was a difficult site to visit. So many lives were lost on the mountain.
The trail was full of trekkers and also yaks heading up to basecamp to take supplies off the mountain. We stopped at my favourite bakery in Tengboche for another apple strudel and cup of good coffee. I was eating a lot, but was always hungry. In Namche Bazaar I had to buy a new pair of pants. I had lost so much weight that none of mine fit.
The valley was beautiful with so many flowers in full bloom. The Rhododendrons coloured the valley in pink.
Kathmandu
In Kathmandu I went for my free meal at Rum Doodle. The restaurant gives free dinners (for life!) to Everest summiteers. We returned to the restaurant in 2011, but when we tried to go in 2018 it had moved to another part of town so I missed my free dinner.
While in Kathmandu I met with an officer from the Himalayan Mountain Chronicler for my post-summit interview. Ngima invited us for lunch at his home in Kathmandu. Getting to his house was another adventure. In Khatmandu buildings don’t have addresses so we could only tell the taxi driver the name of an intersection near his apartment. Ngima met us at the intersection to take us to his house.
Finally, 72 days after I arrived in Nepal I was home. I had spent almost 50 days in a tent and lost close to 40 lbs, but it was all worth it.
For more pictures of the entire Everest expedition check out our YouTube video.
To read about my other Seven Summits click on the links for Aconcagua, Carstensz Pyramid, Denali, Elbrus, Kilimanjaro, Vinson Massif.
Here are links to stories from Richard’s other summits. Everest Parts I, II (Nepal), Aconcagua (Argentina), Vinson Massif (Antarctica), Kilimanjaro (Tanzania), Denali (Alaska), Elbrus (Russia), Carstensz Pyramid (Indonesia).
If you’re interested in hiking to Everest Base Camp you can read our posts from our trek over Everest Three Passes. Part I (Kongma La), Part 2 (Cho La), Part 3 (Renjo La).
Coming Next – Top 10 Things to do in Golden, BC in the winter
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