North Col - What the brochure doesn’t tell you

I woke up with the condensation from the inside of the tent dripping on my head. Confused, I checked my watch - 6:00am - and tried to get my bearings. I was inside a tent. In spite of what felt like Chinese water torture, I was warm and relatively comfortable even though my thermarest had slid from under me during the night and now formed what looked like a bright yellow version of the Great Wall of China between my still comatose tent mate Chris and myself. 

North Col Acclimatisation Ascent

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,

Pursuant to last years correspondence, please accept this letter as my proposal for some significant developments for the commercialisation of the NE Ridge of Everest. I hereby whole-heartedly support the building of a high-speed escalator from Base Camp to ABC. I hereby also support the installation of a tow-rope from ABC to the headwall of the North Col (with snack bar selling sausages and waffles at Crampon Corner as well as crampon fitting service and massage bar). Please also consider this recommendation to build a heated gondola from the headwall up to the top of the North Col where an Everest themed bar with some lively, up-beat music would not go amiss. A zip-line can be installed for those with a stronger constitution. I would be happy to recommend some experienced Canadian commercial operators (look to the resorts in Western Canada as evidence of our engineering prowess) who would be delighted to help you with this project. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns. Thank you in advance for your consideration.

Kind regards,

Heather

Picture: North Col Camp

ABC

I’m about 120% positive that my least favorite part of the trip up to ABC is the section of the Moraine Superhighway after Interim camp. Interim Camp is situated at the top of a steep section of moraine which then falls away into a serac-filled jungle and a fast flowing stream and then a steep uphill climb onto a long, undulating lateral moraine which lies adjacent to Everest. These are the first three obstacles that one faces first thing in the morning after leaving camp (all that without the benefit of a Starbucks latte!!).

I’m generally a positive person, but I can’t bear the walk between IC and ABC – it drags on and on and on and on and on and on and on…. By about 11am I was so bored bumbling along the scree that I begin to video-tape my feet walking ’fast’ and then ’walking slow’ (note: there is no difference!!)… and the a few hours later decided to start writing messages in the snow with my trekking pole for Chris, Stephen and Salam (who were coming up from BC). These included – “Canada Rocks” as well as “Go Team Scotland!” and “Yaaa Bangladesh!”. I nearly killed myself falling into a snow-covered crevasse writing, “Almost There!” accompanied by a giant smiley face….

Geordie provided some entertainment at noon during the regular radio call. It’s difficult to learn to resist the temptation when utterly bored and starved of conversation to engage in an irrelevant full-fledged conversation on a radio that is to be use for check-ins only!

I was incredibly relieved when at 2:30pm one of the Sherpas from ABC came down to meet me with a drink of hot tea and some moral support. Then the final painfully frustrating hour passed when you constantly think you’re close to camp or you think, “it’s just over the next moraine” only to be disappointed time and time again by a frustratingly endless series of hills and fruitless climbs. I was incredibly relieved to see ABC and dive into the comfort of the warm and entertaining mess tent where I could unleash my frustrations about the giant toilet that is Interim Camp and attempt to rehydrate. 5 minutes later after a bowl of noodle soup, all was forgotten and I could smile and laugh once again. It was now time to prepare for the new challenges ahead! North Col ascent in 2 days!

Interim Camp – Yak Rodeo

I threw down my ‘North Face Blue Kazoo” sleeping bag and gagged. The absolutely overwhelming smell of yak dung and the fresh steam yak ‘welcome gift’ in my vestibule made me seriously question whether splitting the 21km walk up to ABC from BC on the Moraine Superhighway had been a wise move. To be honest, I’m used to at least a mint on my pillow….! Don’t get me wrong – I think yaks are great – big, beautiful, docile creatures without which the journey up to Advanced Base Camp would be significantly more difficult. I just haven’t particularly ‘warmed’ to their potpourri…

Back up to the North Col - The Graft Begins

It’s been a busy two days at Everest Base Camp and laying here in my tent eating chocolate covered raisins stolen from the luxury barrel (sorry boys!!) I contemplate the challenges ahead. Tomorrow we head back up the 21km Moraine Superhighway to ABC and will then spend 3 nights on the North Col. During one of the days we will make the grueling climb up to 7500m as part of the acclimatisation process.

For many reasons I’m trying to refrain from comparing ‘this year’ to ‘last year’ but I want to highlight the absolutely fantastic work done by our guides, Zac Poulton and Chris Szymiec. With their ‘Nothing New on Summit Day’ approach I feel prepared for the many challenges ahead. Everest is a tough and unpredictable mountain and both Zac and Chris have done what they can to enable us to control what we can and make informed decisions about the things that we can‘t.

Yesterday we had an intensive 2 hours of ‘oxygen and mask’ training where we were ‘refreshed’ on the basic principles of using oxygen systems at altitude. We were then tested on the application of this refresher by fitting cylinders to masks and discussing common and avoidable problems with the systems. Basic stuff but absolutely critical and can ultimately make or break a summit attempt -- and even go so far as to save your life. Last night we were then all hauled out of the warmth of our tents and into the cold wearing our masks and head torches to walk up the ‘Frozen River’ just outside of Camp to simulate the feeling of claustrophobia experienced during Summit Night in the walk up from 8300m.

It will be good to set out again for ABC tomorrow and complete the final stage of the acclimatisation process. When I think of all of the challenges and unknowns in the week ahead I can’t help but feel overwhelmed but know that no matter what happens it will be an adventure and an integral part of the experience of a lifetime.