These are pictures from my Everest climbs. I have marked the camps and routes we used in 2002 and 2003. Also see the North Ridge route map.

Elevations of the camps and time between them.

• Base Camp: 17,500'/5334m
• C1: 19,500'/5943m - 4-6 hours
• C2: 21,000'/6400m - 2-3 hours
• C3:23,500'/7162m - 3-6 hours
• Yellow Band - 3 hours
• Geneva Spur - 2 hours
• South Col: 26,300'/8016m - 1 hour or less
• Balcony: 4 - 5 hours
• South Summit : 28500' - 8690m - 1 to 2 hours
• Hillary Step - 1 hour or less
• Summit: 29,035' / 8850m - 1 hour or less
• Return to South Col: 6 -7 hours
• Return to C2: 3 hours
• Return to Base Camp: 4 hours

Typical climb schedule

• March 27 - Leave US
• March 29 - Arrive Kathmandu, Nepal
• March 30,31 - Kathmandu
• April 1 - Fly to Lukla(9200'/2804m)
• April 2-10 - Trek to Base Camp (17,500'/5334m)
• April 11-13 - Setup BC
• Apr 14 - 29 May - Climbing Period:
  • C1 (19,500'/5943m)
  • C2 (21,000'/6400m)
  • C3 (23,500'/7162m)
  • South Col (26,300'/8016m)
  • Summit (29,035'/8850m)
• May 30 - Disassemble BC
• May 31 - Trek to Lukla
• June 1 - Fly to Kathmandu
• June 2,3,4 - Weather days or Kathmandu
• June 5 - Depart for US

Eat as much as you can and top off your water bottles (not hydration packs since they freeze) and start heading towards the icefall. Depending on where your Base Camp is located, this can take 10 to 30 minutes to reach the last flat section before the climbing actually starts. At this point a.k.a. Crampon Point, you put your harness on (checking yours and your partner's webbing to make sure it is doubled back for safety). Attach your crampons to your boots and you can't help but look up.

The first section is pretty much a continuous climb that ungulates wildly. Sometimes it is a 60 degree climb, others a more gentle 20 degree. After an hour in a "normal" year you reach the first ladder. For most climbers this is a moment of truth. You can prepare, read, talk and dream about this moment but when it comes time to actually placing your cramponed boot on the first rung of a ladder crossing a crevasse that is 100' deep ... well I think you get the idea.

But you did it. And you do it again and again and again since you will make at least 4 round trips on your summit bid - maybe 6. Your breathing is heavy and labored the first couple of trips up. Maybe from the altitude or maybe from the stress but you breath heavily through your mouth and welcome any stalls up front. Even though there is a thin nylon rope that is attached to your harness with a metal carabineers, you think about falling. Most sections of the Icefall are not knife-edged. They are on large expanses of relatively flat snow and ice. But there are these huge seracs that teeter above you threatening to fall at any moment. And then you hear it - a loud crash. Instinctively you lower your shoulders and raise your arms over your head. You just heard an avalanche in the Icefall or maybe one of those towering seracs falling. More than likely it was off your route since the Icefall Doctors are careful to avoid the South side of the Icefall where most of these crashes happen but you just don't know.

Climb, more climbing and then you reach a flat section known as the football field. A large area of perfectly flat hard packed snow. Take a break, drink some water, slow your breathing and eat something. Congratulations you are about a third of the way up and it has taken at least two hours. You sit on your pack and enjoy the view. It should be sunrise but you are on the West side of the Icefall and the sun does not hit this are until 9:00 at the earliest. It is cold. If the wind is blowing you feel very cold. Pull up your hood, add a down parka if you have one and focus on eating and drinking. Times up, get going. More of the same for another two or three hours. Sherpas are now returning from the previous day of load carrying to the high camps. You have already been passed like you were standing still by Sherpas making carries to Camp 1 and Camp 2 earlier in the morning. They had loads that made you feel like a wimp. You struggle with your 20lb load and they scoot pass you with their 60lbs. Your respect for these special people grow not because of their strength but because of their completeness.

It took you five or six hours but you made it to the top. The final section always involves steeper ladders and sharper grades so you suck it in and make the climb. And you are there. A completely flat expanse of snow that reveals the Western Cwm. Oh my God, I made it! Camp 1 is another half to full hour from here but you are through the Icefall. You cannot help but stop and look back. Even though you can only see a few hundred yards of the 'Fall you see every step, every ladder, every climb in your mind.

Congratulations you've just climbed the Khumbu Icefall on the South side of Mt. Everest. You on your way to the summit!

Western Cwm between C1 and C2

Western Cwm route from Camp 1 (top triangle) to Camp 2 (bottom triangle) as seen from Camp 3 on the Lhotse Face. This area is heavily crevassed and smart teams rope up. It takes about 2-3 hours to walk from C1 to C2 and it can be extremely hot.

Narrative

For many climbers The Cwm is the first "taste" of Everest. While you still cannot actually see Everest until you go another quarter mile up the Western Cwm, you do have a spectacular view of Pumori and other 7000m hills. I have already described climbing the IceFall so here is a description of the last steps to Camp 1.

Once you top the 'Fall there is a large flat expanse of snow. It looks easy but you are tired. Normally climbers take a rest and take some food and water before they continue. You cannot see the actually camp site nor tents from here but you leave anticipating a quick walk. Is always a surprise how meandering the route is since you soon discover that the area is filled with crevasses. This is the end of the Western Cwm and the initial section of the Icefall just before the glacier drops over a steep rock fall to create Khumbu Icefall. Of course all this is hidden by hundreds of feet of ice so all you see is snow, ice and deep cracks.

There are normally five to 8 ladders in this area along with a fixed rope. Climbers are told to always attach themselves to the rope and be extra careful in this area. There is a tendency to relax your guard but now is not the time. The walk has a gradual climb but you soon find yourself breathing hard and looking for the Camp. Anywhere from half to a full hour later you make it. The sight of yellow, red or green tents on the pure white snow is amazing. But even more so is the Cwm unfolding in front of you. While not all of it is visible, you can see Nuptse on your right, Lhotse ahead and Everest on your left. Most climbers seem not to notice all this since they are focused on getting into their tents and having a brew and some food. Normally each tent prepares their own food at this camp so it starts to feel like a real climb at last.

Next is the climb to C2 in the Western Cwm.

Let's take a look at the climb above C3 and onto the South Col. As I have said before the terrain starts out fairly steep from C3. Most climbers are on supplemental oxygen and leave their tents after sunrise. It can be extremely cold before the sun moves over Lhotse and if the winds are the least bit strong, it is miserable. But as soon as the sun hits, and there are no clouds, then it can become horribly hot. Many climbers are in their full down suits trying to minimize the weight in their packs.

After about an hour they approach the Yellow Band,a strip of limestone that cuts through the Himalayas in this area. They leave snow and climb on smooth rocks at a 30 to 45 degree angle. This is only for about 100 - 300 feet depending on the route but it takes concentration. A jam usually occurs in this area if several teams are going for the summit on the same day. Once clear of the Band, it flattens out until the bottom of the ridge defining the South Col. This is actually on the Geneva Spur. Climbers are a little weary at this point more from the altitude than anything else so when they see 150' of 60 degree rock, ice and snow, it causes a long pause. But it is actually easier than it looks. From all the traffic, there are decent steps but also the uneven rock allows for good foot placement.

Topping the ridge, climbers follow a rocky "path" worn by other climbers and soon step on the South Col proper - an area the size of a football field with ten or twenty or thirty tents huddled together on the west end. But most climber notice the tents second - after they see the actual summit pyramid of Mount Everest for the first time.

Everest Southeast Ridge

Summit route as seen from Camp 4, the South Col. The true summit is not visible from this angle. It
was still 10 hours to the summit from where I turned around.


Narrative

In 2002, we were fortunate that there was no wind - no wind, incredible! And the temps were around zero. It was very comfortable in our down suits. We arrived in C4 between noon and two and rested, drank and ate until 9:00. We were woken up by the Sherpas who then took full control. This was where they shined in interacting with us. While they had been working hard for the past five weeks, we saw them occasionally at BC or other Camps and spoke with them rarely. However at C4, they knew each of us and called us by name - as we did them. They checked our crampons for tightness, that our harnesses were doubled-backed and that our Oxygen was set properly with the regulators. They helped us on with packs and then lead the climb to the summit.

It was obviously dark at 10:30PM when we set out. Headlamps lighting up the way, the departure from C4 was like boarding an airplane. Everyone milling around for position and then when one group started, every group started for fear of getting stuck in long lines up the mountain. The frenzy and disorganization was real and alarming considering we had taken six weeks to get to this point! Our team left in small groups, not all together. At this point it felt like 'every person for themselves', except for the Sherpas. Each climber had been assigned to a Sherpa. There was Ang Dorge in the lead, Sherpas assigned to the middle and one bringing up the rear. So actually, each climber had several eyes upon them the entire time. Also each Sherpa and Guide had a radio.

We started up the Southeast ridge towards the balcony. The activity was fast paced. Climbers passing climbers. People stopping to adjust Oxygen or gear. The lines took over two hours to spread out. At some points you simply stood in place waiting for the person ahead of you to move, not wanting -or able -to pass them.

It was about two hours in that I started to feel worse. Extreme coughing episodes ending with vomiting or gagging. I continued like this over another hour when I concluded that I would never make the summit and going higher would put me, my Sherpas and the team at risk. I made the decision to turn around at that point. It ended up that I had contracted a lung infection a few days earlier and it was preventing my lungs from working properly thus causing fatigue and dehydration. Upon my return to BC, three days later, the expedition Doctor heard 'crackling' sounds in my lungs and put me on antibiotics immediately. She also gave me two liters of fluids via IV to get me rehydrated. I was in bad shape as it turned out.

Summit Ridge

Summit Ridge. South Summit on the left. The summit is not in the picture. The lite cloud (plume) is normal and shows some winds but still marginally climbable. This picture was taken from Kala Patar using a 10X optical zoom lens

Narrative

A little more on the summit attempt as told to me by friends. The trip from the Balcony to the South Summit was longer than they thought it was not too difficult. There were queues at the South Summit and Hilary Step while Sherpas fixed lines. About 45 minutes each place. The Hilary Step was not bad at all and in fact, easier than the Yellow Band in many's view. It is a long day, however, very long.

That's about it. Incredible journey to a unique place. Deserving of every harsh word ever written or said. AND deserving of all the mystique and attraction. Everest is like a magnet to Mountaineers. Be careful what you wish for...