I smiled confidently at the dull thud of my crampon kicking into the well-packed snow and grunted in a rather un-ladylike way as I slid the jumar up yet another foot on the icy face of the North Col. The ultimate goal of today’s mission was to reach the top of the 500m ice face and spend 2 nights sleeping at the North Col. From there we were to make our way up to the 7500m ‘marker’ and then turn back to complete our final altitude push and preparation for the tremendous challenges ahead.
The rest of the group had already gone up the previous day but under the leadership of Chris, our guide, Nick, Jason, Stephen, Salam an I had decided to hang back at ABC an extra day to give those suffering from various tummy bug’s and coughs some additional time to recover. Unfortunately not all of the coughs and tummy bugs subsided, so on that morning, Chris, Nick and myself made up an intrepid group of three, braving the elements and, with each heavy, plodding step, further committed ourselves to the adventure ahead.
The journey up the steep, icy face of the North Col, begins with a 1 hour ‘walk’ over some rocky moraine from ABC to ‘Crampon Corner’- a ‘meeting point’ where climbers collect and deposit their crampons, harnesses and gear in big blue barrels strategically positioned at the outer perimeter of the Rombok glacier. Inevitably your crampons and harness - or anything that you urgently need - will ALWAYS be at the bottom of the barrel and will ultimately add an additional 20 minutes of ‘prolonging the inevitable‘ (otherwise known as faffing) - something that I have managed to get quite good at.
One can easily get to Crampon Corner wearing hiking boots but crampons are necessary in order to make the crossing from Crampon Corner over the cravasse packed Rombok Glacier to the headwall of the North Col. Navigating the icy glacier takes about 25 minutes, leaving you to stare up at the giant wall of ice, the obstacle for the next 4 hours, with a sense of both awe and dread. Normally, the entire ‘journey’ up to the headwall of the North Col is fairly uneventful, the biggest challenge involving jumping a few gaping blue crevasses and figuring out how to use the ‘self timer’ on a camera to get in a few token photos...
On this particular day however an additional level of complexity was provided by the blistering heat from the sun and radiation from the snow. It was absolutely sweltering and a bikini would not have gone amiss (apart from the obvious cultural ramifications!!). As I walked from Crampon Corner to the headwall I felt as if I was a ‘boil in the bag’ meal in my uber -girly pink gore-tex jacket and it felt as if the energy was being sucked out of my body by the heat with every step. Had we been planning a day at the beach or a day of tanning the conditions would have been perfect… (given my sunburn track record this option was quickly scrapped!!!). As I had already learned the hard way, the sun provided additional threats and challenges - sunburn, heatstroke, dehydration, radiation off of the ice and snow, snow-blindness and it also served to add an additional element of physical exhaustion to what was already a challenging climb.
With a ‘chilled out’ Canadian outlook, Chris and I ambled our way at a leisurely, relaxed pace up the North Col. It was a fantastic and thoroughly enjoyable ascent (I NEVER thought I’d say that!!) because (1) the ropes were incredibly quiet (we could have been anywhere!); (2) in spite of the heat the weather was fantastic; (3) because the snow was packed down it was easier to find purchase and move along the ropes and finally; (4) it was nice to take things slow and steady enjoying a long lunch (and a Baby Bell cheese!) whilst clipped to an anchor to break up the day. The gaping blue cravasses didn’t even phase me!
I was feeling strong well into the initial 3.5 hours of the journey - step, step, breathe, slide jumar up; step, step breathe, slide jumar up….. Every few metres I’d look around, smile and sigh happily and take in my surroundings - a brilliant blue sky, my fantastic team mates below, the giant wall of ice and snow with Everest looming ominously to my left. It was an awe-inspiring yet daunting sight.
That feeling of strength eventually began to dwindle. Heading into the final section of the climb I began to count down the steps and breaths to the comfort of my tent. Unfortunately we (I) had one major obstacle to contend with… a double aluminum ladder angled at 45 degrees and straddling a giant blue crevasse that would easily transport one on a rapid journey to the centre of the earth. Chris assured me that it would take me directly to Canada which was fortunate since I was craving a donut and a Tim Hortons coffee. I managed to ‘clip into’ the rickety ladder and make it across without any dramas. I did my best to ignore the fact that the only thing that was stopping me from a complimentary journey to the centre of the earth was a 3mm ice ledge, some 6mm cord and some high altitude, hypoxia induced Chinese engineering…. After crossing the ladder I nearly turned to ‘High 5’ Chris but then realised that it was neither the time nor the place…. Plus, I needed to maintain an image of mountaineering prowess in spite of the sweat, white knuckles and carabiners clipped into anything and everything in sight.
I won’t go into detail about the final 5 minutes of the ascent to 7000m except to say that when I finally saw the North Col camp I was soooo relieved. An oasis of orange in a sea of white. I was so tired that it seemed to take every ounce of will-power to put one foot in front of the other and I managed to muster about two steps at a time. Of course, in true form, as soon as I saw Zac and the rest of the team sitting relaxed and bronzed around their tents I was all smiles and all sense of exhaustion was quickly forgotten.
That night, reflecting on the experiences I’ve now had on the North Col I composed the following letter while Chris attempted to prove ‘best-tent-mate-in-the-world-status’ boiled the water for our boil-in-a-bag extravaganza…..
Dear Everest NE Ridge Tourism Authority,
Kind regards,
Heather
Picture: North Col Camp
Dear Heather,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your suggestion, however we are currently in the early design stages for a scientific research base on the North Col. This building will provide lodge-style accommodation, flushing toilets, solar-showers - and a McDonalds. In order to service this research base, we shall be building an ice-road with 154 switchbacks.
I hope this will go someway to making your North Col ascent easier.
Yours
Everest NE Ridge Tourism Authority
Dear Ms Geluk
ReplyDeleteThank you for your letter. We are grateful for your correspondence as it has been reminder that the route to North Col has become rather "littered" of late with ropes/ladders/crampon buckets etc.
We like to maintain a tidy mountain and we have therefore decided to initiate a "clean up" policy and would be grateful if you could remove all said ropes/ladders etc as you go along to maintain the appropriate pristine "look and feel" of the mountain and to ensure that the route does not become too "pedestrian".
Many thanks for your kind assistance
Yours sincerely
The "Everest is for Nutters" Department
Everest NE Ridge Tourism Authority