Tag Archives: khumbu

Himalayas Day 14 – Kyangjuma to Lukla

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So this morning I woke up to beautiful clear skies, and the news that the two day backlog at Lukla airstrip had cleared, and that I would be able to fly today. Then I woke up properly from my dream. It was actually 2am, and it was snowing. My heart then sank at the prospect of even getting down the Khumbu valley today, let alone the airstrip reopening.

I tossed and turned for the remaining four hours of the night, and hoped that the clouds would lift by the time Saroz knocked on my door at 6am.  They sadly hadn’t, but a boy has to keep hoping, that’s all. The snow that fell in the night was thankfully just a dusting at this level, although my thoughts turned to the rest of the troupe up in tents at Island Peak, and I hoped that they weren’t snowed in altogether.

Saroz and I set off for our long trek at about 6.45am, accompanied by a porter to carry my kit bag and climbing stuff, which had come down from Island Peak the previous evening. We were in clouds for much of the way. The path round to Namche Bazaar was a quick one though, Saroz setting off at his breakneck speed, the porter in pursuit, probably not used to such a light load as 30kg on his head (some of them can carry over 100kg this way), and we got there inside an hour.

Following Saroz down the path from Kyangjuma - the clouds now below us...

After Namche (which I hardly noticed, so dense were the clouds) we set off down the steep hill and made the 500 or so metre descent to the Khumbu river in no time at all. Soraz was on the phone most of the way, either getting updates from Lukla or Kathmandu on the weather conditions. It was bleak bleak bleak basically. No planes were coming in or out due to the low cloud.

The problem is that the planes, being 8, 12 or 16 seaters, have to be flown entirely manually, and therefore rely entirely on being able to see the airstrip before attempting the hair-raising landing. If there is low cloud, they don’t fly, simple as that.

Saroz kept trying though, and told me that he had said a prayer for me. An ‘Om Mani Padme Hum’, or something like that. I think this is the Buddhist mantra but can’t rememeber what it means for now, but hope it works whatever it is. He also kept turning the prayer wheels on the way down, and never missed a prayer flag or mani stone, so he must have meant it.

We reached Monjo in about two and a half hours, and then Phakding, where we stopped for lunch, in about 4 and a half. Lunch was again my usual spaghetti with Tomato sauce, in case Ben is reading this once more – are you there Ben?

Setting off after lunch at about 12.45, the clouds appeared to lift, and Saroz got his hopes up when he thought he heard a plane. This thought vanished though when it turned out to be a rescue helicopter. They must be nuts, or it must have been a total emergency, for them to be even attempting to fly in these conditions.

The walk back to Lukla from Phakding is largely uphill, and gains in fact about 300m, making this at the end of a 20+ mile haul a real slog. I was therefore very happy to arrive at about 2.45pm.

The North Face Lodge, my home for the next 'x' nights....

As we arrived at the North Face Resort, my lodge in Lukla for the night, it was chaos. There were bags and people everywhere, as most folk had been sat here for two days waiting for a plane. The airstrip is the only way out of the Himalayas, other than on foot, which would take a week or more, so there is simply no choice but to sit and wait. The problem will get worse day by day as more people arrive hoping to fly out of here too. I was told shortly after arriving that the forecast was for rain for the next four days. Oh heck, and words like that.

Lukla - not really much happening under the clouds at all.

I had a quick look into Lukla, which is a pretty nasty place, but it does have a pub or two, for people to “enjoy the last time in the Himalaya”. I ventured into an ‘Irish’ bar, to kill the time, and had my first beer in a fortnight. It would have tasted good if I knew that I would be able to leave anytime soon, but instead I sort of stood there frustrated. There was a muted atmosphere everywhere in fact, people walking around a bit zombie-like.

This place at least offered me something to while away the odd hour or three.

Dinner back at The North Face Resort was a fairly somber affair. I did meet a Canadian guy, a dentist from Toronto, who had just arrived from Kathmandu however. He had managed to charter a private helicopter to get him to a village about two hours walk down the mountain. It was apparently the only helicopter to leave Kathmandu the whole day, so I am guessing he paid a rather large fortune for the privilege. He told me he is acclimatising in the Himalayas for a running event in the Annapurna circuit next week which is 250km over six days. He had to be totally nuts, as he does these things about 10 times a year apparently.

After dinner I caught up with Pasang, another Exodus trek leader, who we have seen several times up and down the mountain. He is in charge of around 16 sixth-formers from Wells School, and he told me that he has a place reserved for me on a flight at 11am in the morning. The chance of it flying of course was written all over his face.

I went to bed in the same state as the day before, hoping, praying for sunny skies the following day. Om Mani Padme Hum…….

Himalayas Day 13 – Dingboche to Kyangjuma

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So today was a very up and down day, both literally and emotionally. I would wake up at 4,400m, and end up at 3,740m, but covered a heck of a lot of ground inbetween in every way. Let me explain:

There was firstly only Mo, who was suffering badly from a sinus infection and AMS, and myself, with just mild AMS, staying in the Friendship Lodge in Dingboche last night. It was a very weird feeling having stayed in full lodges all the way so far, so walking into the dining room here it was so strange to be the only person there.

Inside the Dining Room at the Friendship Lodge at Dingboche

I awoke at about 6, and got ready for our departure to Tengboche at 7. The idea of Tengboche was that it would be the stopping place of the rest of the group, including Mo’s husband Dave, who remained with the rest of the climbing group at Island Peak. I was to accompany her, and we were accompanied by two guides, Pasang would look after Mo until Thursday when the rest arrived, and Saroz would come with me all the way to Lukla. Today though we would just go to Tengboche, at 3,940m, a journey of about five hours.

The weather turned today, and we walked in cloud practically the entire way. The mountain tops were largely obscured, although there were occasional glimpses of Lhotse, Ama Dablam, Pumori, and even Everest herself along the way. All were fleeting though, and as we were walking away from them all, and also predominantly downhill, it really was not a sightseeing sort of day.

Already out of the snow and ice, our descent down the valley was well and truly underway now.

It was actually a great walk though, although I was helped by feeling better as I descended into more oxygen rich air. Mo was still feeling terrible, and it was sadly just a chore for her. We walked along the Khumbu river, which flowed like the torrential white water that it is, about 200 feet below us.

I could have done with one of those horses on the way up!

After an hour or so, the path split to the high path on the one side, where we had come from Phortse last week sometime, and to the left for us, down and across the river towards Tengboche. The bridge over the Khumbu way below us was breathtaking, if thankfully just a short walk of faith:

About to cross the Khumbu before heading to Tengboche

Saroz seemed to be pushing along the pace, and secretly hoping that this was a challenge of some sort (I certainly did not want to just stop at Tengboche if I could get away with it, I wanted to go lower) I went with him. We left Mo and Pasang some way behind, and although I felt sorry to be not walking with Mo, she was in safer hands than mine alongside Pasang.

Not long after we crossed the river, I noticed that we were down to about 3,600m or so, and knowing that Tengboche was at 3,940m, and wasn’t too far away, it would mean a steep climb. It was indeed a bugger of a climb. We stopped at the start of it, and realising also that we were going to get to Tengboche before noon, I chanced my arm with Sarod. I said “it’s a real shame that we can’t go further down the valley today”, hoping that he would sense what I wanted from the statement. He clearly did, and just said in reply “let’s see when we get to Tengboche”.

The next 30/45 minutes were brutal, and if he wasn’t testing me out before, he clearly was now. He just walked up that steep hill “Sherpa style”, and if you have ever been to the Himalayas before then you will know just what that means. I knew I had to try to keep up. I couldn’t of course, but neither was he at full tilt, and I felt really strong now, and just gave it all I had. We got to the top without stopping, and I was breathing as hard as I ever have, but we were in Tengboche inside four hours, for a journey at we were told would take five, and so I just hoped that that would win me a further walk this afternoon.

By the time Pasang and Mo arrived at our lunch stop in Tengboche, Sarod had already come to me with the news I hoped for. He said we could go on today to Kyangjuma, some three hours further down the valley. I was delighted, although again sad to have to leave Mo on her own. I knew that Mo was in good hands with Pasang though, and also she desperately needs rest, so a couple of days with little to do (although Tengboche does have the most attractive Gompa in the whole of the Khumbu region to while away a little time) will no doubt be good for her.

After a delicious lunch (my usual of Spaghetti with Tomato sauce in case you are reading this Ben :)), I wished Mo a speedy recovery, a Happy Birthday for Thursday, and a fond farewell. I hope to be able to keep in touch with her and Dave, and in fact with everyone on the trek. It really was a great group, with no issues between anyone at any time. I also wished Pasang goodbye, and thanked him for everything and asked him to say the same to Ngima for me. Everyone at Exodus really has been faultless, but more of them in a later post.

And so we were off, now just Saroz and me. I was on my way home, sort of. After Tengboche there is a huge descent, going quickly down to about 3,500m, from 3,940m at lunch. We raced down it, and that was good as far as I was concerned – it was all progress to get nearer to Lukla, and the plan now was to try to get there inside a further two days, which would be tough.

As we mowed down the hill, past mainly knackered trekkers on their way up, Saroz was almost continually on the phone, making arrangements for me to change my flights out of the Himalayas, my accommodation in Kathmandu, and also my international flight back to the UK. At one point we had it sorted that with a heap of good fortune (and also my legs and lungs holding out on me), I could be on a flight out of Nepal as early as Friday (this is now Tuesday). I was overjoyed, the thought of a shower, a bed, a shave, another shower, followed by a bath etc, were just so exciting to me. The hotel in Kathmandu might get the surface layers of dirt off, but I really needed a lot more than that.

Then came the bad news. As we almost ran our way through the clouds, Saroz got a call to say any plans would have to be shelved. Apparently Lukla airport has been closed all day, and there are no flights out of the mountains scheduled tomorrow either. Worse, the bad weather is expected to last four days, and so there a no point in planning for anything. If this happens, there will also be a backlog like no tomorrow at Lukla itself of people trying to get out. Saroz explained further that accommodation may be a problem, and that I might be lucky to get a place on a floor in a lodge somewhere, and that he would try for me. Bummer. It was so disappointing, but what can you do? I would get a flight when I could, and the weather might change for the better, although of course it could also get worse!

For now I concentrated on my second big uphill stretch of the day. At 3,500m we had to get up to about 3,780m to the lodge in Kyangjuma. It was again a horrible hill, but it was helped by the fact that the weather was so overcast. We reached the lodge before 3, just one and a quarter hours from Tengboche. It is supposed to be a three hour journey. Saroz is a great guide, very patient and very friendly, and very quick!. My bags would take another two hours to arrive by porter, and so I sat in the lodge room drinking hot lemon by the fire until dinner time came.

I would need to sleep tonight. The journey to Lukla from here is normally a two day trek, and we are now aiming to do it in one. Sarod could do it walking on his hands of course, but he tells me that it will be for me “around nine hours”. That is him judging me on today when I busted everything I had to get me a chance at tomorrow. I will need to do it all over again to hopefully get myself a place on someone’s dining room floor for maybe one, two three or four days depending on how long this weather lasts. Apparently these things are not that uncommon at Lukla, but I feel a bit narked that I am going to be caught up in it nonetheless.

Oh well, just another day in the Himalayas I suppose. Overall I am still so enormously happy and privileged to be here at all, so I will take whatever I get, and just continue to enjoy my time in the greatest mountain range on planet earth. It is all just part of my greatest adventure ever, and every day is so different still.

We leave at six in the morning……

Himalayas Day 10 -Lobuche to Gorak Shep, via Everest Base Camp

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I had the worst night’s sleep of the trek yet in Lobuche at 4,950m. Perhaps it was the anticipation of getting up at 5am to get to Everest Base Camp that had something to do with it. It was more probably to do with a banging head and an inability to get my breath though. There was one (thankfully brief) moment when I just about couldn’t get my breath at all, and I thought that my whole trip was over there and then. Somehow I managed to get myself calmed down again, and tossed and turned the rest of the night until the 5am wake up call came.

The temperature in our room was -3C, and the outside temperature -9C as we set off after a hurried bowl of porridge. I was wrapped up in practically everything I had, bar my down jacket, as I figure that if I make to Island Peak I’d like to appreciate its benefits as much as possible. Daylight was just breaking, although the sun would be another hour before it made an appearance. I felt like a bit of a zombie for the first hour or so, but nothing was going to stop me getting to EBC.

Even the yaks have ice on their backs this morning!

The start of the trek towards Gorak Shep, at dawn, looking between Pumori and Nuptse

We walked along the edge of the same glacial moraine from the Khumbu glacier that we had finished off seeing yesterday afternoon. It is truly spectacular, although it was literally so cold that even with my ski gloves on it was too cold to grab the camera out for a while. The views ahead though, continued, as they have every day, to get better and better, and the crisp dawn air makes the mountains even more intimidating and monstrous than ever before. We had the gargantuan west wall of Nuptse on our right, and the eastern approach of Pumori on our left. It is truly staggering to think that in the photograph above, we are are walking at an altitude of above 5km, and yet there are peaks towering two and three kilometres above our heads still. This really takes some getting your head around, and is true mark of the majesty of the upper Khumbu valley.

Along the way are various memorials, and they put things, and this particular mountain that we are approaching, into some perspective for you:

One of many memorials en route which mark the deaths of those who have died up here.

As the sun starts to rise from behind Nuptse, it shines upon the great peak of Pumori, at 7,165m staright ahead of us, and the path we are on now gets significantly more rocky and harder to walk upon.

Pumori dominating our path ahead - another spectacular sky too.

The upper Khumbu Valley - Lingtren, Changtse, Nuptse. Colossal.

After about two and half hours we came to the highest settlement in the world (true that), called Gorak Shep, at 5,180m (17,000ft). It is not a true settlement probably, as it consists of just a few lodges for trekkers, but it must set a lot of records. We had our second breakfast of the day before setting out at about 10am for the highlight of the trip so far, Everest Base Camp. I actually don’t mind admitting that everything became rather overwhelming for me at this point, and I shed a tear. I was stood outside, and the enormity of everything that I was doing just hit me. Ngima came over to me and asked if I was OK, and I just told him that I was incredibly happy, which was a huge understatement.

Gorak Shep is finally in sight, the Khumbu Icefall in view in the distance too!

The weather by this time was gloriously sunny, and we set out to ascend the remaining 200m or so in height, and three or so miles, which would take us another two and a half hours. The walk is mainly along a ridge, with the Khumbu glacier on one side, and Pumori on the other. We were able to clearly see some climbers on Pumori making their way to the final summit ridge at about 7,000m. Rather them than me is all I can say, it is one steep and brutal mountain, but breathtaking too.

Stopping often, as I was determined to do, not just to breathe, but to take it all in, was just fantastic. I can’t use words to adequately explain any of this at this point. Here is a picture taken back down the valley now, which shows you just the sort of landscape we are in – this is the Khumbu glacier, the highest glacier in the world, cutting its way through 7,000m peaks like they weren’t there. It is ridiculous, mesmerising stuff.

Looking back down the valley along the Khumbu glacier

The sign points the way! The magnificent west wall of Nuptse dominates the skyline.

After a very undulating walk, Base Camp came into view! We could also briefly see the summit of Everest herself poking above Nuptse.

A teasing view of Everest's summit over the shoulder of Nuptse, the Khumbu Icefall on the left.

I just thought I would point out something in the above picture too, to put things into perspective here. The mountain on the left, the one under the wispy cloud, doesn’t look that big from here does it? Well it is Changtse in Tibet, and it is 7,583m, or a shade under 25,000 feet high. That might give you a clue as to what looking at the walls of Nuptse, Lhotse and Everest are like, and just how stonkingly monumental they are, even when viewed as here from 17,500 feet up. Nothing can possibly tell you what it is like to be in this picture unless you have been fortunate to stand here. I am so incredibly lucky, I really am.

At the far end of Base Camp, away from where the ‘public’ access is, were a number of yellow expedition tents – people choosing to climb either Lhotse or  Nuptse probably, as they share the same Base Camp. Everest herself is almost always only ever climbed when a small weather window opens in late April/early May. We were now very close, and the excitement soared.

Expedition tents visible at the far end of EBC - away from the 'public' area.

The view, albeit brief, of Everest today was a huge bonus too. I hadn’t expected to see it at all today, as I know that you cannot see it from Base Camp. The weather again helped – we have been so lucky, and the sun again shone on us incessantly. Pure magic!

The walk now to Base Camp itself is now a bit of a scramble over boulders and onto the glacier itself. The part where the expeditions go from in April/May time is further along slightly, so to be away from the trekkers and tourists. You are still in the same vicinity though – actually staring at the totally incredible Khumbu Icefall, a massively stacked section of seracs, some taller than houses, which starts up between the South Col of Everest and the Lhotse face at about 7,600m. From here you forget about the altitude altogether, as adrenaline just takes over – there is no way you aren’t going to make it to Base Camp, and everyone does.

And so finally at about 12.30 Nepal time, we arrived at the inscribed stone on top of the glacier which officially denotes Base Camp at 5,360m.

And here, recorded for all time, is the ‘money shot’:

"Everest" marks the spot!

The whole group, including our guides, at EBC.

The Khumbu Icefall as seen from Everest Base Camp.

What is Base Camp like? Well before I went on this trip, I had it variously described to me as ‘dirty’, ‘boring’, ‘just nothingness’, ‘a pile of rubble and rocks’, and ‘you don’t see anything at all from there’. Anyone who makes those remarks must have had the worst altitude sickness in the world, or just hasn’t been there. Look at the photographs and see for yourself. And what do people expect after all, a gift shop or something? We are at almost 18,000 feet up in the Himalayas for pity’s sake!

It is only a figurative, or commemorative place of course, but that is irrelevant. This is the place from which Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing first ascended the world’s highest mountain. It is from where all the great Everest treks have commenced. You feel it almost. You see the start of the climb in the Khumbu Icefall, you see so much of everything that the Himalayas has to offer, and that is simply more than any other mountain range in the world. Consider this too: The world’s highest mountain outside of Asia, is Aconcagua in The Andes, at 6,962m, or 22,840ft. The Himalayas has over 100 mountains exceeding 7,200m, or 23,600 ft. You get to stand in the heart of it all, the place of giants. You get to say that you have been here too, and I am so happy (ecstatic in fact) to have that particular T shirt.

So after about half an hour or so, we turned and headed back towards Gorak Shep. The walk back was long and hard, which although was overall a descent of 200m or so, has many ups and downs, and after about 8 or 9 hours of walking above 5,000m, every part of your body feels it. I was absolutely drained, emotionally and physically when I got back, and don’t think I could have walked another step. My head pounded with the altitude, and after a couple of Paracetamol went and found my room and was asleep within about 30 seconds. It was just a short nap however, as I was conscious of not wanting to sleep for long and then not sleep tonight.

Back at Gorak Shep - in the shadow of Pumori, a mere 7,165m

Tomorrow we again get up at 5am, to get to the highest point of our trip so far. We also get to do a true summit, Kala Pattar, at about 5,650m, or 18,500 feet, which is about 1,000 feet above Base Camp. This is about the only place where Everest can be truly seen in most of her glory. If you have seen a picture of Everest before it was probably taken from the summit of Kala Pattar. At that sort of height, it is no mean feat of a mountain in her own right, and although not a challenging or technical climb, everything at this altitude is just bloody hard work, make no bones about it.

If I make it, I suspect that this will be the highest that my body lets me go on this trip, as I just feel drained with lack of sleep. I’ll be giving it my best shot.

Himalayas Day 9 – Dingboche to Lobouche

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So I woke this morning for the second night in Dingboche at 4,370m or so, and my head was thankfully reasonably clear, despite not the best night’s sleep I have ever had. Nights at this altitude when you listen to your heart beating and you cannot properly get your breath are just not easy, and certainly not condusive to restful sleep. My terrible dreams (like really horrific grisly nightmares) seem to have abated slightly however, which I was having slightly further down the valley.

Yesterday we did an acclimatisation walk up to around 5,100m, which involved my first ever Himalayan peak, called Nangkartshang. It was stunning in every way, if very hard work at this altitiude.

The morning was again totally beautiful, without a cloud in the sky, and barely a trace of wind. We would again today get to an altitude of around 5,000m (16,500ft), with our destination being Lobuche, the final resting place before Everest Base Camp on Saturday.

Ready for the off to Lobouche, and a very cold start despite the sunshine.

The walk begins at around 7.20am with a fairly steep uphill section, the start of the same trail that yesterday took us up to Nangkartshang Peak at 5,050m for our acclimatisation walk. It then flattens out into a valley, and is a beautiful walk between the peaks of Cholatse (6,440m), Taboche (6,376m), and Pokalde (5,749m), mountains that we haven’t seen before, but are breathtaking the whole way.

Not a bad spot for a cup of tea......

After about an hour and a half the path then descends and reaches the Khumbu river and crosses it at Thokla (4,600m). We stopped here for tea before a brutal uphill section which takes us up a further 300m or so. During this stretch I thought on several occasions that my heart was going to literally burst out of my chest, and that was walking almost as slowly as I possibly could. It made me think (or should I say ‘know’) that I will struggle even more than this when more than one and a half kilometres higher and on a 50 degree ice wall.

I did make it to the top however, alongside my now very regular walking partner Mo. She and I are ‘on a par’ I would say in the struggling stakes, although I should give her the benefit of the doubt as she is feeling terrible with a bad cold and sinus pains. She christens us the ‘tail end Charlies’, which is very apt I have to say.

Reaching the top I had my biggest (in terms of emotions) ‘moment’ to date. At the top of the pass, at 4,840m (15,479ft), there are a large number of memorials. These are to the climbers who didn’t make it back down Everest, including Babu Chiri, a very famous Sherpa who summitted Everest 11 times, but died in 2001, and Scott Fischer, a legendary climber who was one of the eleven who perished on that fateful night in May 1996 (and to anyone who hasn’t read “Into Thin Air”, I would heartily recommend that you do so).

The memorial ground to Everest's fallen heroes

The Scott Fischer Memorial

The Babu Chiri Memorial

At this point my emotions come out totally, and I have to walk to the other side of the plateau so the others do not see me shed a tear. I realise that here am I, struggling to walk up a path to 15,500 feet, and here I stand, totally unworthy, in what is effectively a graveyard to the greats of mountaineering. In total, 162 people have lost their lives on Everest. At this point in time I want to be at home, with a glass of wine. I stand here, inadequate, but very humbly respectful and in tribute to the people who have succumbed to the mountain.

The views from here are breathtaking too, and composing myself I take a few shots (click to expand these, as you can actually with all the photographs in my blog).

Looking back down from the memorial ground towards Thokla

And a wider shot back down the valley again. I think this photograph is going on my wall as a picture somehow.

From hereon upwards the walk changes perspective quite considerably. We are now in the main part of the Khumbu valley itself, in what is principally miles of moraine (debris, rock etc) from the glacier as it originally was. It is again stunning, and we are now in the shadow of even more staggering peaks. In front of us looms Pumori, at 7,165m, and on our right the towering mass that is Nuptse (7,851m). In the distance now also are Lingtren (6,813m) and Changtse (7,583m). We are looking in fact now directly at Tibet (Changste is in Tibet, as in fact is half of Everest) which just makes me have yet another gasping awestruck moment.

We cannot yet see Everest or Lhotse as they are hidden behind Nuptse – they will (hopefully) be tomorrow’s reward, but today’s rewards are more than anyone could wish for in a normal lifetime. Around every corner everything gets simply better and better and better. I probably uttered the word “fuck” (excuse my French here, but if you were here you would too, believe me) in total astonishment about 30 or 40 times this afternoon.

Heading towards Lobouche, with Pumori (23,494 ft) left and Nuptse (25,790 ft) right

Further up the Khumbu Valley towards Nuptse as the clouds start to descend

We reach our destination, the Eco Lodge in Lobouche, in the early afternoon. We start early and finish early to get the views and the best of the weather, as in the afternoon the clouds always roll in up the Khumbu valley. I sadly have a crippling headache when we get here, and immediately take two painkillers. I’m just grateful it didn’t really affect me during the walk itself. Thankfully my appetite is ok, and I wolf down a rather enjoyable (and surprisingly good) Spaghetti Carbonara. The lodge here though is not terribly nice, and has outside dirty squat toilets with icy floors where you fear that you are going to slide through the hole. I have to say it didn’t bother me, but just thought I would mention it in case you expected something else!

The "Eco Lodge" at Lobouche, 16,400 feet - pretty it certainly wasn't.

The settlement of Lobouche, a desolate place indeed

After sorting our stuff out in our rooms and a quick half hour’s sleep (I am exhausted), at 3pm we walk up to the glacial moraine to the right of the lodge, so gaining another 75m or so in height to around 5,050m. Sadly the clouds have rolled in by now, but all the same the sight is totally incredible. The swathe cut into the valley by the Khumbu glacier is incredible, the blueness of the now receding glacier itself still shining through in places.

The swathe cut by the Khumbu glacier below us

Better still, there up the valley, clearly visible, is snow on the Khumbu glacier itself, alongside Kala Pattar, the iconic viewpoint for Everest herself, and in the far far distance, Everest base camp. It is not really visible from where I stand, but Tony points to me where it is. We will, I hope, stand there tomorrow morning.We are nearly there! For now, I feel like I have almost made it. I am at 16,700 feet, and I can ‘see’ Everest Base Camp. The Khumbu Icefall, about which I have read tens of books in the last six months, will be there in front of me tomorrow. I feel like I can almost touch it, that I can smell it, feel it.

Looking up towards the head of the Khumbu Valley, and the Khumbu Icefall itself.

Back at the lodge, and after dinner, we are informed that tomorrow morning we will get up at 5am for our trip to Everest Base Camp. It will be a very long day, the longest day so far in fact, but this is the reason I am here. I so want to be able to be there. I know it will be an incredibly emotional day whichever way it goes.

The feelings I have here right now stagger me, I can’t even describe them to you, but if you ever hanker to go into the Everest region, all I can say is do it, experience what I did this day, and you will get the biggest buzz of your life.

From everything that I have now seen, and knowing that tomorrow is Everest Base Camp, I know full well that if this were a world of superlatives, then tomorrow would be the day when the world simply came to an end.