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| Looking ahead to the summit |
To-knows before reading:
- AMS = Acute Mountain Sickness, also known as altituded sickness where the body tries to compensae for lack of atmosphere and oxygen to the brain
- EBC = Everest Base Camp
- All heights are calculated in meters. Multiply by 3 (roughly) for feet.
Where: Everest Mountain Range
Destination: Lobuche Peak (6,100) via Everest Base Camp (EBC - 5,600) and Kala Pattar (5,900)
Acclimitization process: 2 days in Namche Bazaar (3,200), 2 days in DingBuche (4,700). Acclimitization hike to EBC (5,600). Day rest. Acclimitzation hike to Kala Pattar (5,900). Retreat to Lobuche Base Camp (4,900). Final height 6,100 meters at Lobuche Peak
Company: Travel Ways Nepal - Things not included were gear rentals and emergency high altitude rescue insurance.
Support team: 1 guide, 2 porters, 2 climbing guides. 2 Client total.
Number of days: 16 days on paper. 22 days total (Stuck 6 days in Lukla because of adverse weather)
Cost: ~2,000 USD
To skip right to pictures, check it here
Click the map to see what happened that day during the climb up. Not all events are documented in the map.
You may also click on the map and check out the links.
View Nepal Everest Base Camp and Lobuche Peak in a larger map
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| Streets of Thamel, Kathmandu |
Not that we’re in love with Thamel, but that’s where everything happens in Kathmandu. And it’s a pretty cool area.
We left Hasera with bittersweet good byes. Mito’s awesome food and Govinda’s uplifting spirit will be sorely missed. We head with Sujan, our volunteer coordinator who placed us there, to the taxi waiting for us that takes us back to Thamel.
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Day 2 - Immigration visa extension
Pema picked us up at 10 am to head to the immigration office. Not a difficult procedure to get your visa’s extended. Just requires 30USD for 15 days, minimum and then 2USD for every additional day afterwards. We get back and Ian unpacked and re-packed the packs switching unnecessary stuff from India with needed stuff for mountaineering. Our hotel room is now a mass of boxes, back packs and half of our belongings from Korea.
Day 3 - Last minute scramble before departure
Epic scramble for last minute things! No time to write. Not much happened. Just a lot of running around. Plane ride in the morning.
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| Lukla runway |
Day 4 - Let the suffering commence!
Ian looks out the cockpit window of the twin otter plane twin proppeller plane. The runway is in full view of and covers the whole window. That usually doesn't happen when you're about to land. A huge "thunk" and jostle and the plane lands.
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Day 5 - Trek
We wake up, pack, eat breakfast and set out for Namche Bazaar at 8 am. It was 3 hours away. This is also the first big altitude hike. Climbing from 2,700 meters to 3,400 (appox.) We didn't know it could take 4 hours to climb 700 vertical meters.
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Day 6 - Namche last minute gear purchases.
Nothing of significance. Stayed in Namche for acclimitization. Bought a few extra items for the up coming big trek. Resting for 5 hours of hiking on day 6. Namche marks the Alpine level where trees stop and rocks start becoming the common scene carved from the glaciers.
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| Namche Bazaar |
Day 7 - Out of namche and onwards!
"1 more hour" Buba, one if the porters said. He said 1 hour an hour ago. We must be going really slow. Were at 3,900 meters and struggling through the clouds that have completely sucked any joy of being in the mountains. Each step is becoming more laboured. At 3,300 meters, the atmosphere provides 13% of oxygen, where as sea level is 21%. We've really reached above that level now.
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Day 8 - Dingbuche and more acclimitization.
A 4 hour hike that otherwise would've taken 2 hours. It seems like every time frame that's given to us we should add 1.5 to it. These porters and guides not only carry a load of stuff, but theyre also pre-acclimatized to this altitude. We made it to 4,300 meters today.
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| Dingbuche Area |
Day 9 - AMS and learning from it.
On the rest day in Dingbuche, Ian went for a bike for acclimitization while Christa rested her blistered feet. Ian climbed too high too fast and came back down with the worse AMS (acute mountain sickness) he's felt yet.
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Day 10 - Lobuche base camp and storm
Not the worst storm ever. But being at 4,900 meters make it seem a lot more real when thunder is going off beside you. The winds are starting to pickup.
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| Everest Base Camp |
We pack only a day pack to head up to Gorakshep which is the kick off point to head to Everest Base Camp. The packing took much longer than we expected as we are tired, frustrated and sick of AMS. The day was incredibly slow going. The altitude and AMS played such a huge role in making the trek really slow. Christa felt neauseas got sick a few times. But she continued to be badass and headed the trek.
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Day 12 - Kalla Pattar and back to Lobuche Base Camp
We jerked awake at 5am and tried to shut the alarm off. Then Pema came knocking at our door at 5:05. It was time to get up and climb Kalla Pattar. With bloodshot red eyes, we crawled out of bed. Ian went first to meet Pema. Christa was still in no good shape to tackle the mountain. At 5:30, departure time, she worked her boots on and coat on, like a boss.
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| Lobuche base camp |
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Day 13 - Push for the summit
"Wake up Didi!" Won shouted. Didi meant sister in Sherpa. He shouted at Christa.
"We're up! We're up!" Ian responded back.
It got real the second time the alarm went off and our guides smacking and banging our tent. Christa cursed her AMS and Ian tore out of his sleeping bag... and then cursed his AMS.
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| Trek from Lobuche Base Camp to Lobuche Village |
Day 14 - 2nd attempt for the summit
"Wake up Didi!" Won shouted. Didi meant sister in Sherpa. He shouted at Christa.
"We're up! We're up!" Ian responded back.
Well, second attempt for the summit. Hours earlier we had as gourmet of a feast as much as our AMS would allow. It's funny, we'd thought we'd acclimitize faster. It's been 4 days already living at 4,900 meters ASL and we're still not fully acclimitized.
After the longest approaching of our lives; 12 days hike, of which 4 days was for acclimatization, and 8 hours of actual approach to the top of Lobuche, we begin the journey downwards. For the past 5 days We lived at no less than 4,900 meters.
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| Victory summit salute! |
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Day 15 - To Namche we go
We wake up to a very misty day. Rather, we were in the clouds. And its only called "fog" because we were standing on the ground, otherwise, it's clouds.
We begin our death march back down. A grueling 9 hour day. With 2 major uphills that takes us back to altitude, or so it seems.
We get into Namche bazaar at 5 and just crash. That marks the longest day hike on this trip. Not counting the summit day.
Day 16 - Resting in Namche. Souvenir shopping!
Not much happened today as it was rest day. Our bodies still tired from the hike. No longer do we have the porters, we have to carry our own packs. 15-ish kgs isn't so bad... for 3 hours. But for 9, it was painful. Christa blistered are getting worse as we have zero off days to let them heal completely. We can only tend them so much while not on the move.
We spend the day in namche bazaar shopping for 3 dollar gloves and 10 dollar shirts. Then caught a short movie based off Jon Krakauer's book, Into Thin Air. Good thing Christa watched it after we went up the mountain....
We went to bed to prepare for a 6 hour hike to Lukla to get ready to fly out.
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| Our porters |
Day 17 - The great descent.
So remember day 15 as the longest hiking day? Scratch that one. Today we broke 11 hours of hiking straight. Summit day was still 13 hours of uphill/scramble/climb, so that still takes the gold. But today carrying the 15kg pack for 11 hours was probably the best feat we have done together.
Atleast we are in Lukla now. We're resting for our flight back to Kathmandu. The weather has been pretty wild. Some days, no flights go out. We wake up tomorrow preparing to go down, but if not, were in Lukla for another day.
Some people have waited 10 days for the weather to clear out. Lets hope we catch our flight straight.
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| Namche Bazaar is really a Bazaar! |
Day 18 - Stranded.
This was the first day to see if we can get a flight out. We woke up in the morning and not too soon after clouds rolled in. This was 8:30. No more roaring of engines landing in the field behind the lodge. We read, ate, and slept to pass the time.
Day 19 - Missed flight
Our actual departure day. The weather held out a bit, but they were letting all the backed up passengers go first. We missed our flight.
Sitting here now, at night listening to the rain hammer the tin roofs. Just last night the monastery held a party to commence the monsoon season. How fitting.
Day 20 - Waiting for breaks in weather
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| Finally getting off this mountain! |
Day 21 - Considering helicopters at this point
Now we're getting anxious. We still have to get back down to Kathmandu and pack for South Africa. We're looking at different helicopter options and alternative route down, including hiking to another village and taking a bus. The only flights that are going are helicopters taking dead corpses off the mountain because of the storm hammering at higher altitudes.
Day 22 - Weather breaks! Finally out of Lukla!
Yes!! We're out of here! The weather breaks! We're pushed up in flights! Flying out!! 10 minute notice! Scramble scramble scramble!
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| Our support team that brough us up, minus 1 climbing guide, Won |
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