Camp 4

At  12:30 this morning I got that ever so important call, and I heard my favorite voice say “I’m here, it was so hard but I feel really good!” I asked if he was freezing and he replied, “not right now, I’m still warm from the climb.”  He had just blown up his air mattress and was waiting for his sleeping bag, which one of the Sherpa had carried. They will get a few hours of rest and will be departing this morning at 8:30 for the climax of this long journey.  Remember, since they are about 12 hours ahead of us, he will be climbing through the night.  From what I’ve read it usually takes 8-11 hours to the summit.  Stay tuned…

Bart: I slept very well in the tent at Camp 3, alone and with the help of a good meal and an Ambien.  I knew a good night’s sleep would be essential to moving higher.  My energy level had improved some, and I was excited to think I’d soon be seeing first hand the Yellow Band, Geneva Spur, and Camp 4 at the South Col, all places I’d read about.  The Yellow Band (25,000 feet) zapped what little energy I had. Rock climbing is required and proved to be more a challenge than I’d imagined.  Pk seemed to be getting increasingly impatient with my slow pace, and at one point, approaching the Geneva Spur, he tried pulling me to increase my pace.  I was moving about the same as other climbers and felt silly, but knew it wouldn’t last long.  He gave up on that idea after a couple of minutes.

PK soon stopped me again, this time to prepare me for what was ahead.  He told me not to be scared because there was a body up ahead on the Geneva Spur.  Sure enough, we passed a recently deceased woman in a suit just like mine.  I had expected to see some of the 200 bodies reportedly up there, but was surprised to see one so recently passed.  A large group of Indian climbers on their way down passed shortly after and we had to clip into an old rope above to get out of their way.

A steep pitch, the crux of the Spur, took us up to the South Col.  I was wasted again, but excited to see the Col and the trail up to the Balcony.  We arrived around noon and I was assigned a tent with the Italian, Enrico.  We spent the next eight hours eating, drinking, and resting, and I became increasingly excited about our fast-approaching summit attempt.  Enrico and I got along well sharing snacks.  Pk brought my MRE dinners around 4:00 pm.  Scalloped potatoes for one and meatballs for the other really hit the spot!  I put my “game face” on and got ready.  I became super excited to finally be doing it, and the fatigue vanished.