Saturday 12 May – Day 44 – Last ascent through icefall and a fall

I was awake just after 3am so I had half of a Duo chocolate bar. Get up time was 3:30 and I pulled on my climbing trousers over my pyjamas and a hooded top and insulated jacket, buff, gloves and hat. Then took my pre packed bag into the dining tent where Craig was. He already had the little heater on so it was nice to get my climbing gear on in the warm.
Hot water appeared about 4am so I had hot tea then the kitchen guy appeared with porridge and boiled eggs at 4:25, five mins before I had to leave. I ate a few spoonfuls of the porridge and was on my way.
We had to wait a little while at the puja chorten as we always send prayers to the mountain gods before we set out up the hill. One of the other kitchen staff was just lighting the juniper for the offering. We then take a handful of rice and throw it up in the air to the picture of the god taped to the top of the Chorten. We throw the rice three times. Ang Gelu is chanting prayers and as we move off he continues to chant for sometime. This is the routine we go through every time we set off. I have no problem praying to anyone for safety and successful climbing. I still wear the little necklace of folded up prayers held in colourful string around my neck for protection given to me at the puja by the Lama.
We’re making our way up the mountain and I’m aware that I’m struggling to breathe. I wonder if maybe I’ve lost a little acclimatisation. We continue on and I am really running out of energy fast today. There feels like there’s just nothing in the tank. And actually there isn’t much in the tank with not eating much dinner last night and no breakfast this morning.
It’s a really long, tough day and it’s freezing cold. The icefall here on Everest has to be one of the coldest places on Earth. Even when the sun hits, it hits base camp at the bottom and the western cwm before the ice fall which is trapped between high mountains and remains in shadow long after sun up. To add to my misery today there is a strong wind which adds wind chill on top of freezing cold already. My fingers are so cold I can’t grab the rope properly and it takes me a little bit longer to move my safety along each rope junction. But we’re making progress albeit slowly. We come to one of the new ice structures that I didn’t like the last time. It was a new addition into the icefall last time I went down and requires a steep climb of about 7m followed by a big jump over a crevasse and then down the other side. I remember being a bit afraid to make the jump last time and it took me about 2 minutes of plucking up the courage. So this time I thought I’m not moving well so the very least I can do is show a bit of bravery and get on with it. So I was up the first side stepped over the pinnacle then the big jump, well I did just get on with it, so much so that when all my weight was transferred to the other side my very cold, frozen fingers couldn’t grasp the rope properly so I wasn’t able to bring myself to a stop. Plus my rucksack felt quite heavy today so my momentum carried me on and as I was falling I held tight the two ropes that my safety was clipped into and fell the 7m to the bottom. It’s weird because I was very ‘together’ even as I knew I was going over and kept my body together in a line. I didn’t want legs flailing about to do damage.
I landed flat on my back and Ang Gelu who had been taking a picture of me doing the jump ran over and stood over me saying ‘oh my god’ over and over, while I had a little giggle I think from relief more than anything else. I knew I was alright, I had managed my fall rather well and engaged my brain as I knew I was going over and couldn’t stop. I lay on the ground for a minute before thinking ‘this snow is really cold, I’d better get up. Poor Ang Gelu didn’t know what to think and I said I was absolutely fine. I shook myself off, got my breathing back under control and off we went again. Slowly. The thing is in the icefall the cracks get bigger with time and with the flow of the icefall. Some gaps will also close but unfortunately for me not the big jumps I have to do. They’ve all got bigger. I am so glad this is the last time I have to ascend this bloody mess. If I had to come up through it again I’m not sure I could do it. I hate it. Even though it’s beautiful it’s also menacing and tiring and difficult and dangerous. I don’t so much mind going down it but I still don’t like all the obstacles but you have more energy going down to save for the times when you need it. Going up is just a full on assault of the entire body.
After just over five hours we reach Camp One. This was an hour slower than my last time. We are sharing a tent and crawl in. I know I have to eat as much as I can today. As if I feel this way again I’m not sure I can get up the hill. I eat a boiled egg and packet of nuts. We looked at the photo of me just before my fall and it came out great. If you look at it there’s absolutely no indication of the carnage that followed in the next five seconds lol.
We have noodle soup for later. I will eat lots of it.
Tomorrow is a short day, maybe two and half hours to Camp Two. So again I need to eat as much as I can here and at camp two. The appetite becomes even worse up higher but I will need more energy. As I’m lying in the tent writing, Ang Gelu is fast asleep making little noises. Don’t you just hate people who have the ability to fall asleep so quickly lol. I’m very jealous.
My face also feels hot now. We didn’t put sunscreen on today. It was too cold in the wind but I think we’ll regret this in the next few days. I might be a crusty again.