Kenton's Blog 2010 Part 2
Base Camp and Camp 1
Since the last update the team has been resting at Base camp, getting over the effort of the big push through the icefall to camp one and the return the next day.
The whole team is in great form with the one sad fact that poor David never really got over his problems sleeping here. The effects of Chayne Stokes breathing meant that it was almost impossible for him to sleep. As a result he decided to pull the pin on his trip and return home early, which was a real blow to morale for the rest of us.
The trip to camp one went like clock work. We steadily moved through the horrors of the icefall in the early hours, it was eerily quite as many of the Sherpa teams were having rest day down at Base camp. The only thing that split the quite of the darkness was our heavy breathing as our lungs fought in vain to get enough O2 into our bodies. The lack of Sherpa teams meant a quick passage through the different stages of the icefall and it was a swift 4hrs to the top of the final big triple set of ladders. From there the trail levels, but it’s still an hour to camp over some pretty big crevasses, and by this time we were fighting not only the lack of O2 but also the heat of the sun as she rose above the peak of Everest itself.
Camp 1 in never a great place first time round. Sitting in the shade of the tent pouch, my head felt like it had been cut in half and the pain from the headache was really quite impressive. As I melted ice to water the team slowly made their way into camp, it was a great run up and sprits were high. The afternoon was spent trying to shade from the glare of an oppressively hot sun and then as a cloud rolled past throwing on all clothes to hand to stop chilling down too much. This strange game with nature lasted all afternoon until the sun finally sank past the horizon and we all retreated to the tents.
I spent the night on my own, battling my headache, while melting snow and cooking a rather nice dinner of Chicken curry washed down with tea and some vintage cheddar on crackers…..quite the meal at 6100m I thought.
The darkness finally gave way to a grey fuzz and then a slow dawn finally emerged to my utter relieve, my prison of the tent was finally over and I could step into a bitterly cold morning on Everest. Despite the cols one couldn’t wonder at the situation of Camp 1 at the head of the The plan was to drop straight down to BC once all were ready and due to the cold this didn’t take long and soon all of us were zipping down the fixed lines to BC once again.That was 3 days ago and as ever rest days zip by. Tomorrow represents another 4am start and a climb back to Camp 1. After this we will climb through to Camp 2 (6400m) where we will rest for a day or so before trying to ascend to Camp 3 at 7000m.
I leave you this time with a memory from last night, while the teams were playing cards in the mess tent I went to my tent for an early night. The Moon is half full right now and it lit the surroundings of BC with a cool glow; I became engrossed with the stars and sat out side my tent watching the clouds dance around hiding the stars from view but never daring to cover the Moon. I watched this game for almost an hour until a shooting star cut the sky in two, it was the most incredible sight, never before have I seen one so bright, even the playful clouds couldn’t contain the star as she fell to earth. She cut through the clouds still visible to the eye behind the clouds before she burnt out and disappeared forever. I silently made my wish and unzipped my tent door and found contented happiness in sleep.
