What to Expect
Technically Everest by either of the standard routes is moderate to easy. However, you will be moving over broken mixed snow, rock and icy ground at night, at 8500m in a down suit carrying oxygen bottles in your pack, with your pathway illuminated by the glow of a headlamp. You will not have slept well for the last two evenings, having battled exhaustion just to get to high camp at 8300m, stepping past frozen bodies along the way. As you glance down to BC some 3500m below you it might occur that you are in a slightly exposed position. Given that a good day being –20ºC, and all this after 4-6 weeks of living out of a tent a long way from home, you will realize that the climb is a little tougher than if it was in your own back yard...
Admittedly you have not had to carry the loads, fix the camps, set ropes to the summit before the climbers arrive, or download and interpret weather forecasts. Nor will you need to buy all the food, ensure fresh vegetables are arriving from the nearest markets days away, cope with the permits and logistics, medical backups, or the hiring of Doctors, Sherpa and Tibetan staff. In this regard you have a huge advantage over the early explorers such as Mallory and Irvine who battled up in tweed jackets and leather boots on a 7 month expedition which started by sailing from London... You will be well catered for with fresh bread baked at BC in our oven (brought in by truck), have the latest weather information available, latest radios and other equipment, and be looked after by a team of proven Everest summiters who are professional climbers with international experience. Your personal equipment will be the latest design, a far cry from the frozen cursed boots that Mallory and Hillary wore on their journey into the unknown. If you get ill an experienced high altitude Doctor will treat you, if you need rescuing a team of fast, motivated Sherpas and western guides will come to your aid.
As you make your way to the top you will be led by western guide(s) and Sherpas who have summited before and know every step of the way. They will support and encourage you to stay on target and climb to the roof of the world. All sleeping bags, mats, stoves, cooking pots and gas cylinders will be pre-placed at every camp for you. BC, IC (interim Camp) and ABC are attended by a cook and kitchen hands, and fresh vegetables are carried in each week by porters from the Shigatse markets. Well appointed dining tents with gas heaters and covered floors keep the dust and cold out. Medical and comms tents at each main camp are also provided. The kitchen tent is a hive of activity and will be placed nearby to provide 24HR hot water for drinks, supplying three meals a day, plus plenty of snacks in-between. Remember, good food and hygiene are essential for a successful summit.
Skills, experience, fitness and determination required to succeed
Equipment:
The equipment on the list is required. So bring it, and DO NOT skimp on poor quality or no-name brands. Your fingers, toes and life are at stake.
Fitness:
We suggest a 6-12 month training program which focuses on extreme cardio and endurance in the legs. You will not need hugely strong arms as the more muscle you carry up top the more it will slow you down and draw down oxygen that your legs will be screaming for. Whilst endurance is of prime importance, short incredibly intense “sprints” such as the second step will require severe lactic acid burn resilience. You will need to climb a short 30m high section broken into two parts with a rest ledge half way. Whilst most of this is covered by a ladder, you will need to move quickly and efficiently through this section. Practice climbing ladders with boots and mitts on.
Fitness guidelines: you should be capable of covering around 50kms in approximately 6 hours on foot in hilly terrain.
Skills:
You need to master basic fixed rope techniques. Moving along a fixed rope with a jumar on all angles of terrain including vertical, passing knots and anchors using lanyards (or “cowstails”) to maintain safety very efficiently: practice, practice, practice. You should also be able to switch to abseil and descend fixed line quickly and efficiently on BOTH hands i.e. abseil left OR right handed so you don’t get tangled in ropes. You need to be good at putting on, taking off, adjusting and re-fixing your crampons onto your boots with thin liner gloves on. You must be able to put your harness on fast correctly over huge down suit lying in a tent in a cramped location. You will need efficient french cramponing technique, the more efficient you are at this the faster and safer you will climb: practice practice practice!! You do NOT need to front point or swing your ice axe above your head or any form of ice climbing, it is NEVER that steep.
Summary skills: high profficiency in fixed rope skills; french cramponing; practice and familiarity with all equipment.
Experience:
Ideally you would have served an apprenticeship of 3-5 years of climbing. This typically starts with a climbing course such as a H5P (Himalayan Five Peaks) or a course in New Zealand (TMC). This would be followed up by some personal rock climbing to give you familiarisation with ropes and you would own your own harness and jumar, with extensive practice of fixed line work at your local crag or in the trees in your back yard. A season of climbing some 3000m peaks in Europe or New Zealand and some multi pitch rock routes would cement the learning and some would begin leading their own rock climbs. A trip to the Himalayas on a more technical major expedition peak such as Ama Dablam 6856m or Himlung 7126m where you are sleeping out in high camps and doing load carries would be ideal. Even better subsequent to this would be a climb of Cho Oyu or to 8000m on Everest itself. Alternatives that would constitute a major expedition peak could be Denali, Vinson or Aconcagua, which all require multiple days immersed “in” the environment.
Summary experience: H5P or TMC; moderate rock climbing; fixed rope profficiency; two 3000m to 6000m peaks;
+ one minimum, preferably two or more of: Ama Dablam, Himlung, Denali, Vinson, Aconcagua or another 8000m peak.
Note - if we are uncertain that your training or experience is indeed adequate for this undertaking, we may require you to employ an extra personal climbing Sherpa for the trip (see options for costs) to keep you safe.
Mental Toughness:
You need to be able to endure sleepless nights, nausea, extreme cold, high winds, dusty conditions, horizontal snow, and long periods isolated from friends, family and work. Lactic acid will burn your legs every step up the mountain. You must resist the temptation to turn around and let gravity take you home and take away the pain of climbing up. You will be a long way from your favourite restaurants and luxuries. Climbing Everest is not for the faint hearted.
Word of warning:
To summit you must be operating at a level of 100% of both your physical and mental capabilities. If you cave in mentally you will descend before your physical high point. IF however you are having a bad day but are stubborn, if you do not listen to your body and realise you are not capable physically on that day you can easily push yourself too far and become one of the statistics... You must know your own limits, push right to the edge but don’t overstep the mark. I recommend in your training you do some severe sessions to exhaustion where you discover in a safe environment just how far you can push your body until you can go no further, (for example walking continuously until you drop; 24-36-48 hours, whatever it takes). You do not want the first time you do this to find yourself at 8830m totally spent...