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Greetings –
So in case you weren't aware, I'm making a bid at Mt Everest this spring, along with Valerie Hovland, my summit partner from Shishapangma in ’05. So this email will answer the FAQs and let you know what’s going on.
You’re getting this because you either asked to be on my Everest list, or I thought you’d probably like to be. Want to be dropped? A different email address? Add someone’s name/address? Feel free to contact me up until Mar 22; after that I don’t expect to be doing any more list maintenance. Please feel free to forward this email to friends, or to various e-lists that I'm on (you know who you are).
There are recurring questions that many people ask; I'm starting with those, and moving to the other FAQs.
What are you doing to train?
There’s a saying that the best training for climbing is to climb. So I've been up Hood 3x this winter, and hope to get up more as the conditions allow. I've never been one for structured training so I'm doing what I feel like when I feel like it - hikes/runs in the Gorge, long runs with friends, bike rides, a treadmill in the garage. I put out a call for help (to many of you!) asking to be invited along when you’re getting out to sweat. The response has been fantastic, and it’s not an overstatement that all of you are part of this summit attempt with me.
I always feel like I should be doing more, but this weekend tells me I'm getting there. Friday I climbed Mt Hood, leading much of the way in moderate-tough conditions, either post-holing in deep snow or kicking lots of steps on the steeper slopes. Yesterday we did a pretty grueling XC ski, exploring some new trails we’d never done before, and we were all pushed to our physical limits. So to cap it off today I ran a marathon; well, I did 26.5 hilly, muddy miles in Forest Park with two friends.
That was the psychological breakthrough I needed; knowing I could crank off marathon-level effort while already fatigued (a good skill to have on the mountain!)
So physically I think I'm about there.
I've debated whether to drop a few pounds (I have a few to drop) but estimate the trip will shed ~40lbs off me. I shouldn’t try Everest with this tummy roll… or should I? Well, with those so-yummy winter ales, the decision’s being made for me, one pint at a time!
With whom are you going?
Valerie Hovland will be my climbing partner. She and I summited Shishapangma (our first 8000m peak) in Tibet in 2005. We make a great team and I'm looking forward to getting to spend a few more months together. Beyond that, we’ve chosen International Mountain Guides in Seattle as our outfitter. They are one of the top companies out there and we feel we’re getting top quality support. Thru IMG, both Val and I have taken the ‘Personal Sherpa’ option, so we’ll really be climbing as a team of four. Our Sherpas together have five summits of Everest, eight summits of other 8000m peaks, and 24 other summits in the Himalaya. Although we’re going ‘unguided’ both Val and I feel we’re in excellent hands.
IMG offers both guided and unguided options on Everest; with the unguided, once you step out of Base Camp (BC) you’re climbing on your own. Well, it means you don’t have a western guide along with you, but we still have our Sherpas. IMG’s support is to take care of us from Kathmandu to BC – porters, yaks, transportation, dining tent, cooks – everything we need to relax and let the logistics into someone else’s hands. Above BC, they will have porters set up the four camps, climbing Sherpas set up the fixed lines, and porters delivering oxygen to Camp4 and the Balcony.
We will have a highly experienced BC manager (Mark Tucker) as well as a Sherpani sirdar (head of staff). The entire IMG team will be nine(?) unguided clients, three(?) guided, guides, personal Sherpas, porters, cooks, climbing Sherpas, etc. I'd guess our entire base camp including support will be around fifty people. For the whole mountain, Base Camp will likely be in excess of five hundred people.
How much does it cost?
Total – about $40,000.
IMG’s complete package is ~$31,000 ($65,000 guided), the Personal Sherpa is another $6,000, throw in staff tips and airfare, and we’re up to about $40,000.
I have opted to not pursue grants and sponsors. I’ve received grants on most previous expeditions, along with politics, expectations and overall mixed feelings on whether the money was worth the cost. So I'm going to Everest feeling I'm beholden to nobody, and it feels good.
The gear is expensive, but I have most of it already. Items I still need can mostly be purchased on one pro-deal or another, saving hundreds of dollars.
How long will you be gone/what is the schedule?
I leave Mar 23 and will be gone until mid-June; exact return date depends on our summit date. Basically 2 ½ months.
We fly to Kathmandu, meet the team, then fly to Lukla to start the weeklong trek to BC. We will be in BC by the 2nd week of April, then Val and I plan on a short acclimatization side trip to a local 20,000ft peak called Lobuche. After returning to Everest, the schedule from there is flexible and will depend on how we feel and the weather, but the basic plan is to climb to Camp1, then return to BC for rest. Then two days to C2, return to BC. Next to C3, back to BC, and then likely all the way to C4, then down to Base to prepare for the summit bid. This process, although it sounds shorter, will take almost a month, what with rest days, waiting for the weather, and days spent at high camps just sitting around while our bodies acclimatize. How we’re feeling, weather, and other team members’ schedules will determine how often we spend the night in higher camps. This process will help our bodies build extra blood cells necessary to adjust to the higher elevations.
Before the summit bid we may descend below BC for rest at an even lower elevation, then move back to BC and prepare for the summit push.
The actual climb will take about a week – one night at each camp, then the summit push from C4, then after summiting descend as low as we can. The following day(s) will be returning to BC for some well-deserved rest and celebration. Most all climbers will summit in the last two weeks of May.
BC – 17,600ft
C1 – 19,900
C2/ABC – 21,300
C3 – 24,500
C4 – 26,000
Summit – 29,035
Why does it take so long?
Three things are happening simultaneously as climbers prepare. During the winter, the jet stream is kicking the teeth out of the summit, with 100+mph winds pretty consistent. As the oncoming summer monsoon weather moves N from the Bay of Bengal, the jet stream is pushed northward; it is the brief window between jet stream and monsoon in which there is relative calm on the summit. This period lasts two weeks at most, and is most often in late May.
Second, teams are setting the fixed lines and stocking the camps with tents, fuel, food, etc.
Finally, climbers must acclimatize slowly, allowing their bodies to adjust to the altitude. How well you felt at one camp will help determine when you’re ready to advance to the next camp. There is no set schedule, and each climber is different.
With luck, the weather, logistics and acclimatization all come together at the same time, allowing for summit attempts. This is also why there are reported traffic jams – it’s a narrow summit window, and everyone wants in.
What are you doing to acclimatize?
Nothing. There’s really nothing I can do from here at sea level.
Practically speaking, the acclimatization will begin with the flight to Lukla (9400ft) and the trek to BC. Living at sea level will put me at a slight disadvantage to Val, who lives at 5,000ft, but my body should catch up and be OK. The Lobuche climb should also help us get some extra acclimatization.
What do Margaret, Allie and Amy think of this?
They have all been wonderfully supportive. They’re concerned for my safe return, but understands this is part of me, and none has never made even the slightest overture that they might want me to reconsider. Margaret’s eagerly learning all she can about the climb.
It looks like she’ll get to see what all the fuss is about – we’re making plans to return to Nepal in the fall, planning a month-long trek around Annapurna, which will include her first (of many!) ascent of a 20,000ft peak.
Will you be maintaining a blog from base camp?
That is the plan. Although our outfitter will have satellite email and internet access from Base Camp, it is not open to general use by the clients. Any electronic access must be conducted by the climbers on their own equipment, so we will be taking a satphone and laptop. Even if the email doesn’t work, we should be able to call and leave updates, which one of you can post to a US-based blog. So one way or the other, you should be receiving updates from the mountain. If photos can be sent, we'll send a few of those, too. I hope to set up an actual blog in which you can opt into. Stay tuned.
Are you excited/worried/nervous?
Excited? No – I really don’t get excited about things like this. Worried and nervous? Yes, of course. I want to think the best, but I'm realistic enough to understand that there are both controllable and uncontrollable risks on any peak, and the altitude only introduces additional risks. The best I can do is “Expect the best and prepare for the worst”.
I want to believe that the training and experience of Val, our Sherpas and me will help us through any difficulties we encounter, but I'm not so naively optimistic that I'm discounting the risks.
What are your greatest concerns?
Many.
In the short term, I'm worried about getting injured. Skiing is my greatest concern, as well as running on muddy trails.
The other climbers are a great concern to me. A friend told me that he encountered a disappointing array of adventurers, not climbers, on his trips to Everest. I'm very disappointed that commercialistic companies have accepted so many unprepared people whose qualification is a fat checkbook, and I fear these people may compromise our safety or chances of summiting.
I sure hope this next one is overblown, but I fear being put in the position to make a life or death decision on a fallen climber. Will the hypoxia or summit fever cloud my judgment? To what extent will I risk my life to save someone who I believe is almost, or guaranteed to soon be dead? What if that person is me? What if it’s Val? Those thoughts haunt me.
Lastly, I'm worried for Margaret, Allie and Amy. What IF I don’t come back? Is taking greater risk in my life worth possibly taking their husband and father away?
Are you leaving any body parts on this mountain, too?
It’s been debated whether I've already left my brain on one peak or another, but I've decided to come home with all my remaining fingers.
What about your fingers? Will your previous frostbite affect you?
Undoubtedly. To overcome this, I have purchased the biggest, warmest mitts made (OR’s Himalayan mitts) which I'll use with one or two pairs of gloves under, and chemical handwarmers (which don’t do much at high altitude, but hey, can’t hurt!). I'll also make sure that, unlike on Shishapangma, my gloves will never, ever get wet.
Will; you cry like a baby if you don’t summit?
Yes. With kicking and screaming, too.
Monty
