This is probably one of the hardest blog posts I have ever had to write. And, it is something of a miracle that I can write it.
Our climb of Mount Cook proved much harder than anything I have ever done before. The weather turned out to be vicious and Aoraki the "cloud piercer" brushed her icy hand over me to remind me of my mortality and that I climb on her ground on her terms.
What I want to talk about here as I tap with 2 fingers (the rest of my hands are recovering but have been damaged by the cold) is what emerges from an experience like this?
Honestly, it is early days but here is a sneak peek under the lid of a couple of things that are emerging.
Breath of Life
When you don't know if you will ever take another breath... and then you do... it makes a simple thing like breathing in seem oh so sweet.
And actually, we just never do know where our next breath will come from.
So go on... take a great, deep, sweet breath and savour it - suck it up like a fabulous sip of the best and most expensive wine ever, Roll it around in your mouth and absorb its richness. Imagine the oxygen molecules racing to your brain, heart, lungs lighting them up with exuberance, strength, hope... Then ease it all out, confident that there is plenty more to go around.... this time.
This is life with all else stripped bare.
A BIG second chance
To say I am hugely grateful for a second chance at life doesn't even come close (thanks to the strength and selflessness of my amazing climbing buddy - but she probably does not want to make a fuss, so I won't ).
I have been given a very rare opportunity to look death right in its hairy eyeball. And am still here to tell you about it.
But I'm not yet ready to say what that means... watch, as it unfolds, and join me as the whole new world opens up (it already is).
After months of training, planning, talking and expectation it is now the night before the big journey begins!
Tomorrow morning, Monday 7 November, around 5ish we will be gulping the last slurps of tea, hoisting our packs, and heading off into the dawning reality of the Cook to Cook adventure!
Our plan is to walk up the Hooker Valley, by-passing the Lake and finding our way onto the Hooker Glacier. We are preparing ourselves for a snow slog up the glacier, as there has been a huge dump of snow in the last few days (so much for “summer” conditions!). The prospect of avalanches from the mountains around us will be on our minds. We have the safety equipment we need and we will need to move quickly to minimse the risk.
All going well we will arrive up at the Empress Hut in the afternoon. This Hut is one of the most spectacular in the whole Mt Cook National Park. Perched on a rocky outcrop at 2500 meters, it is surrounded by glaciers, and a panorama of mountains including Aoraki/Mount Cook itself.
We plan to settle in there and make ourselves as warm as possible for the next 2 nights. On Tuesday the forecast says we will have some rain in the morning, so our plan is to use the day to rest and hopefully in the afternoon get out and suss out the route for the next day. We have heard that the access to the higher parts of the mountain are challenged by crevasses and rock, so it will be important to get clear on the route we are taking while we have good daylight.
On Wednesday 9 th Nov we will be up VERY early – probably around 1am or so – and heading out into the night with our headtorches lighting the way ahead. We are hoping for calm crisp conditions to travel up onto the Empress Shelf and from there up the Hooker Face and on to the high peak of Aoraki/ Mount Cook. Everything hinges on getting good conditions. And yes, we will be VERY careful!
Once we reach the top we have a decision to make – either come back down the Western side (which involves a long traverse along the Summit Ridge) OR go down the Eastern side of the mountain using the route called the “Linda Glacier”. It is the most common way that the mountain is climbed and would result in us finishing a very long day at Plateau Hut.
After that we are likely to have a bit of a lie down :)
Then it is a day’s walk out back to Mount Cook village.
Of course our plans may well change as we learn more about the conditions. So, the best way to follow us while we are out of cell phone range (which is most of the time) will be using our SPOT tracker. This clever little device tracks our progress and posts it on this website… so you can walk with us in spirit. Don’t panic if it takes a while to update.. that may happen for all sorts of reasons and especially if there is bad weather.
So what am I up to next? Over the last year I have been thinking, planning, dreaming and training for a BIG adventure based in my home country New Zealand. It is a World First attempt!
Imagine heading for the Summit of Everest... for the 15th time!!
Today, as I write this, a small group of climbers is very high on Mount Everest. They have just reported in from a famous rest stop called "The Balcony" where they will be changing their oxygen bottles and heading on toward the summit. They are a few difficult hours from the top of the world.
The man leading them to the top is incredible. His father was a Sherpa on Sir Edmund Hillary's first climb of the mountain in 1953. He has been a Sherpa himself for 23 years and now guides for Adventure Consultants.
His name is Ang Dorje - and he is an Everest Legend
He has already been to the top of the mountain a whopping 14 times!
I had the huge priviledge of interviewing him when I was at Base Camp a few weeks ago.
Listen in to this interview. In particular, he talks about some of his most challenging moments on the mountain - including being part of the 1996 tragedy.
I hope you find him as inspiring as I do.
NEWSFLASH ! This interview has been profiled by ExplorersWeb! These are the people who provide the leading news on the best of the best in exploration on the planet. This is awesome acknowledgement of what Adventure Coaching are providing.
OK I admit it... even though I love adventures... I love coming home!
After 26 hours or so flying from Kathmandu to Wellington, our flight was greated with a very bumpy landing at Wellington airport (good on ya Windy Welly), and I was VERY pleased to be home with loved ones and enjoy sleeping and eating.
But I will also admit that I still have a close eye on what is happening up at Everest.
In particular, keep your eye on these inspirational people:
Sarah and Sharon at Everest Base Camp
The first is my good friend Sharon Cohrs, pictured here at Everest Base Camp with me.
Sharon is an Australian who is a breast cancer survivor and an incredibly determined woman. She is aiming to climb Mount Everest and raise a quarter of a million dollars for breast cancer research and support... wow! AND she has a great sense of humour!
The other team I am keeping a close watch on is the Adventure Consultants team. They are a great group of people from all over the world. They are very capably managed by Caroline who is their Base Camp manager.
I had the priviledge of spending a few nights staying in their Base Camp and it was great. Actually, it was very comfortable, what with a great dinning tent as well as my own tent that I could stand up in! It almost felt wrong to be so comfortable in the mountains!! However, as this is a key resting spot for the climbing team as they acclimitise and as they prepare for their summit bids it is essential that they are well looked after.
We'll be watching their progress with great interest over the coming weeks. Summit week is normally around the 3rd week of May.
I'll be loading up video and more images in the coming week.
Wishing you a life of inspiration and adventure
Sarah Wilson Adventure Coach
Posted by Sarah Wilson on 28th April, 2011 | Comments | Permalink Tags:
Taking in Base Camp
Today has dawned beautiful and clear after snow overnight. Apparently the team at Camp One were hammered with strong winds and snow but down here all is peaceful. I have just had tsampa porridge for breakfast and we videoed the first ever Everest BC Masterchef performance by our cook Dendi. He did a great job of demonstrating how the barley flour is skillfully mixed with milk tea and butter! More to come on that one.
Today I will be catching up with Sharon Coyrs from Australia. She is raising money for breast cancer through her Everest climb and has just come back from a successful trip up to Camp One and the Western Cwm. She is probably the smallest woman on the mountain but has the biggest personality!
She is great and I will get some video footage of her fresh back from the very challenging trip through the Icefall (also known as the "dragons lair").
So today is my last full day in Everest Base Camp. Tomorrow I will set off back down the valley and in a few days time I will be in touch from Namche Bazaar.
I made it up to Everest Base Camp yesterday morning and I am feeling fit and well. It is great to be here amongst the colourful village of tents housing so many hopes, dreams and egos! I am being well looked after by the Adventure Consultants team and have my own tent that I can stand up in and a camp bed - pure luxury and definitely a step up from Cho Oyu.
The timing for my arrival was really good. I had stormed up the valley from Lukla taking just over 3 days to get here (it is so much easier when already acclimitised). Yesterday was a rest day for the Adventure Consultants team before they headed up into the Ice Fall this morning at 3am - they are now up at Camp One and will be away for the next 5 nights. I had a chance to do some video interviews yesterday afternoon. I have some great footage from some team members as well as from the legendary guide Ang Dorji who has climbed and guided on 17 Everest expeditions and been to the summit 14 times. It includes him talking about being with Rob Hall on the fateful 1996 expedition. So I am looking forward to putting that material together when I get back home at the end of the month.
I got up at 3am to see the team off as they crunched away on a crisp moonlit night into the jaws of the incredible Khumbu Ice Fall. As I went back to the comfort of my sleeping bag I thought of them in the midst of towering seracs of ice which could crumble at any moment, and crossing ladders that bridge deep crevasses. The territory that is sometimes called "the dragons lair". Meanwhile in my tent the frozen lake next to me gave an enormous crack. I was not sure whether to interpret this as a good sign or not! I slept lightly, woken every hour or so by the rumble of the glacier as it makes its relentless way downward continually wishing the climbers well. It was a relief to get up at 8am and hear over the radio that all the teams were safely in Camp One.
I will be staying here in Base Camp for the next few days and will update you when I can. It is an incredible privilege being here and having the opportunity to "take in the Everest vibe".
Wishing you all a life of adventure and inspiration.
We awoke this morning to crisp blue skies and welcome sun as we sat out on a big outside deck and ate our breakfasts of eggs, french toast etc all washed down with delicious coffee. In front of us the woman owner of the lodge was saying her morning prayers and burning sweet juniper which wafted up to the incredible mountains alll around us.
Then we headed off for the day and took in our last big views of Everest complete with it's plume of wind cloud from the strong winds that are still blowing up high.
We are now in Namche for about an hour before heading on down the big hill to Monjo.
Everyone is doing really well. As we descend to warmer temperatures all the colds and other ailments are improving and everyone is enjoying our last few days together on the trek.
We had a couple of bad weather days on Saturday and Sunday with some snow and cold wind, but we were really pleased that we had had the good weather on the days we really needed them - especially Base Camp day.
So we are now just a couple of days away from finishing our trek together. We are already thinking of the delights of a hot shower and other luxuries when we get to the end.
Thanks for joining our journey, you have been in our thoughts all the way.
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