Expenews

We returned on Friday from a couple of days up the mountain. We spent a
night at camp one (6000m) and then moved to camp two (6350m) for a further
two nights. I am really pleased to say it all went really well as it was at
camp two that my expedition in 2011 ended. I was slightly nervous but all
went well and we also managed to take a walk to the bottom of the Lhotse
face (6650m) which is on the way to camp three.

Whilst descending with Matt and Rob, we had a pretty major scare; being
caught in a huge avalanche was an unfortunate end to a really successful
acclimatization cycle.

We were on the descent from camp two to basecamp when a major avalanche
fell from Nuptse, a mountain which towers just above camp one. We had left
camp one half an hour earlier when we heard on the radio “look behind
you!”, a message from basecamp. We turned to see a huge avalanche about a
mile away.

The plume of snow must have been at least 200 meters high and it was
clearly encroaching on us. We had no option but to run briefly in the
opposite direction before clipping into the fixed lines and cowering on our
knees as we felt the cold rush of air that preceded the snow plume. The
snow surrounded us blocking out the sun for around a minute, although it
felt painfully long.

Despite the source being a long way away, due to the magnitude I feared the
large snow cloud would be followed by the deadly blocks of ice that pose
the danger of an avalanche. Fortunately it didn’t. It all sounds dramatic
but where we were we were not in any great danger. Nevertheless, once the
cloud cleared and we dusted ourselves off our thoughts soon turned to those
above. The trail had been busy and camp one had many people around when we
had been there half an hour earlier. It all became a bit of a blur, but
with Rob being a doctor experienced on Everest, he decided to climb back up
as he was certain there would be casualties and fatalities whom he should
help. Matt and I descended alone.

On reaching basecamp I felt exhausted, emotionally more than physically. I
went straight to my tent and couldn’t help crying. I was so sure that
people would have died, so when I headed to see our expedition leader and
found out that there was just one casualty, I was immensely relieved. Rob
assisted the severely injured casualty who was later airlifted off the
mountain, expected to survive. As yet there have been no reported
fatalities, although there may be in the coming days. Our camp has been
totally wiped out but we are all thankful it was only a few tents that we
lost. Had we began our descent half an hour earlier, we would have met the
full force of the avalanche.

It’s great to be back in the comfort of basecamp, with great meals and the
first shower for over a week. Having said that though, you don’t forget for
long that you’re camping on a glacier at 5,500m altitude! It’s about -10 to
-15 Celcius at night but the glacier is gradually melting as it gets
warmer. The base of my tent is melting into a bit hole and the barrel that
is the toilet is gradually falling down the hill; I now have to using my
hands to scramble down to it! Good training though I guess!

I should also mention I’ve been doing some uni work although it’s not all
that easy as some of my pens are freezing whilst others are exploding due
to the low air pressure with the altitude!

Now we have a couple of days resting at basecamp before we head back up the
mountain probably on Tuesday on our way to camp three (7300m) for further
acclimatization. We’ll be looking to come back to basecamp around the 3rdor 4
th May, after which will have a wait until the weather allows for a summit
window, which could be anything from a few days to a few weeks. I hope to
do another blog after the next rotation in a week or so.

Hopefully there are two photos included. One is me drinking (compulsory)
whisky at the puja- a religious ceremony we had on the 18th which asks the
mountain Gods for permission to climb. Another is me crossing a ladder in
the icefall. Fingers crossed they both worked!