Things We Won’t Miss about climbing Everest (initial list)

1. Getting dressed on your knees in a tent.....

Base camp - The Waiting Game

Waiting for the weather window feels a lot like Groundhog Day. The weather is generally the same every day (blue sky, sunny), we eat meals daily and regularly at 8:30, 12:30 and 6:30 every day, and conversations generally revolve around the summit window, or summit day generally or the ever popular weather forecast. Somehow these conversations always degenerate into one or another toilet joke or a ‘silent but deadly‘ fart by a member of the team where the next 20-minutes are spent arguing over ‘who-dunnit’.

Base Camp - Salted Plums and the Condiment Challenge

Spare yourself no illusions that we are heroically trudging knee-deep through a steep snowy slope in the Death Zone of Everest, clinging onto our jumars with clenched teeth, breathing each breath as if it were our last… Oh no. Rather, the greater proportion of us are laying in our tents, completely bored out of our rapidly shrinking hypoxic brains for the 5^th day in a row.

The days have started to run together and the ‘time warp’ that we are currently stuck in has begun to affect our mental capacities. Last night we hit a worrying climax at dinner when the ‘Condiments Challenge’ took an interesting twist.

Base Camp - Birthday Celebrations!

I’m fairly sure that I won’t be starting too many birthday celebrations bathing in a ¼ full potato pan in the vestibule of my Hilton of Base Camp tent…but regardless, a wonderful way to start my 35^th birthday. The first proper wash in quite sometime, with an end result that would definitely be a contender for a ‘Head and Shoulders’ commercial (not Herbal Essences as I‘m sure that would alarm the boys!!). My usual clothes smelling ritual (eg. Going through my kit bag to see what smells the least) was also avoided as I decided to treat myself with a clean(ish)wardrobe and a fresh coat of lip gloss before heading to breakfast.

Everest Base Camp - Partying Russian Style

Last night we went to a party. Not just any party. An Everest Base Camp Party. Russian style.

Drama at the North Col

“North Col calling ABC over; North Col calling ABC…” the radio in the mess tent about 10 feet away from my tent at ABC crackled to life. I checked my watch - 6:45am. Crap. An unscheduled call that early in the morning meant problems. Looking up at he dark shadows on the roof of my tent I suspected that the evenings heavy snowfall and accompanying winds had something to do with it..!

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.