If you were all following the AAI cybercast, you know that Brian and I successfully summited Mount Everest on the morning of May 22nd!

I know it has been a couple days since we have been safely flown back to civilization and I haven’t posted an update until now, but we have been a bit busy.

Day 49: Our climb from Base Camp to Camp 2 was one of the more difficult days we have had since the beginning. It took us approximately 10 hours to get to Camp 2 and it was a sweltering hot day. We were all very dehydrated and tired at the end of it all. Dorjee (one of the Sherpa) met us at the edge of Camp 2 and brought us welcome juice, so we took a quick break before finishing the final 30 minutes into Camp 2. The question before dinner was whether or not we were going to have a rest day at Camp 2 as previously planned, or if we were going to make the push to Camp 3 in the morning. Camp 2 is where the guides make yet another assessment due to the incoming weather reports. Once they decide to make the move up to Camp 3, we are committed because that is when we start using our oxygen supply. At dinner Ben announced that we would be moving up to Camp 3 the next morning because the weather reports were indicating precipitation within the next few days. He also stated that we would be taking a rest day once we reached the South Col (Camp 4) which was a more critical rest day than the one at Camp 2.

Day 50: Just like the guides told us, the climb from Camp 2 to Camp 3 wasn’t nearly as bad as during the second rotation. We were on oxygen, plus we were more acclimatized than last time. It was surprisingly a nice climb and the weather was good. We made it there in about 4 hours in good spirits. Camp 3 is on an incline with basically no flat areas so walking any further than just around our tents wasn’t really allowed. We all watched a great sunset while eating our “microwave” dinner that evening. The next day was our climb up the very steep Lhotse face and over the Geneva Spur to Camp 4 so we needed our rest. We all went to bed early and slept on a low flow of oxygen to help our bodies recover overnight.

Day 51: This was a hard climbing day. The face was really steep and seemed endless. Because of how steep the Lhotse face is, we had to be extra careful during breaks not to accidentally drop anything. For one, if you did drop anything, it would probably be lost forever. Also, heavy objects that are dropped can become dangerous to those climbing below. So, even with all the warnings, three of us dropped items during two of the breaks. Brian lost his Ziploc full of snacks he was meant to eat the rest of the way up to Camp 4. One of our other climbers lost their helmet (which is a critical item needed to continue to climb higher….but our guides figured out a solution fairly quickly). I lost my light puffy jacket that I was planning carry as an emergency item in my pack on summit day. You try and try to not drop things, but sometimes it just happens. Oh well.

Once we were over the Geneva Spur, it was a nice, easy traverse over a lot of rocky terrain to Camp 4. One thing that surprised me was the amount of filth and trash at Camp 4. Torn old tents, toilet paper, poo, used gas canisters and all kinds of other trash were everywhere. It was unfortunate. I think they mentioned that next year there is (thankfully) a clean-up effort planned. We did our part all the way up and down the mountain and used wag bags (for going #2) and carried out our waste. Even with all the trash, we had a great view of the South summit of Everest. You cannot see the North (true) summit from Camp 4 so the photo you see is of the South summit.

After arriving at Camp 4, our job was to eat, drink water, rest and recover. Our personal climbing Sherpa (to whom we had been introduced just prior to leaving Base Camp for our summit rotation) had already arrived before us. My assigned climbing Sherpa was Nima Tenzing and Brian got Raj Kumar. I was happy to get Nima as I was already familiar with him. Nima has already summited Everest from the North (Tibet) side, so this would be his first summit from the South (Nepal) side. In one of my earlier posts I had posted a photo of a guy in a cool climbing outfit, but I didn’t explain who he was….well it was Nima – one of our climbing Sherpa. Nima would be climbing immediately in front of me on summit day, helping me along the way.

Day 52: This was our rest day so more eating, drinking and breathing oxygen. We were scheduled to depart for the summit at 10:30pm. It is difficult to sleep for the few hours after dinner but prior to getting ready for the summit push, so all I could do was close my eyes and try to rest. My alarm went off as scheduled but I was already awake in anticipation of the climb. I cannot eat oatmeal (makes me gag) so I ate a Nature’s Valley granola bar for breakfast. I got dressed quickly and was ready within an hour. As we were preparing to depart Camp 4, I accidentally tripped on a rock and then landed on my left knee on another rock. Wow did that hurt. Not a great way to start off summit day. About 20-30 minutes into our climb up the triangular face, I started to cough and then felt like I couldn’t catch my breath even though I was on oxygen. I had to step out of the line to try and collect myself. It took about a minute to subside, and then I felt better. I continued up the triangular face with Nima in front of me without any further issues.

Day 53: After 4 hours, we had finally arrived at the Balcony. That long push was pretty difficult for me. It was cold at the Balcony. I decided to eat some Gu energy gel (kind of nasty stuff but easy to get down and gives you energy), but as I went to open the first of two packets that I had brought, it slipped out of my hand and then was lost forever down the triangular face. Annoyed, I had to open my second and last packet which I successfully got down. As we continued up towards the South summit, the climbing got a bit easier. The pace Nima set was steady and good and I felt energized. As we neared the South summit, the sun began to rise. It was a beautiful, clear morning – a breathtaking view. Once we got over the South summit, we took a rest break and they changed out our oxygen bottles. After the break, we continued on the summit ridge all the way to the North summit. Some of our team members had already summited, so we congratulated them as they made their way down. It was too bad that we couldn’t all summit as a team, but that’s just the way summit day is…it never goes exactly as planned.

The summit was larger than I thought. There was plenty of room for all of us. Ben was alone at the top waiting for us so that he could call in our summit success to Lakpa at base camp. It was a perfect summit day. There was no wind and the sun was shining. The prayer flags at the top were barely blowing because of the lack of wind. I couldn’t believe we were standing there on top of the world at 29,035ft. I think I stood there for 5 minutes without moving or doing anything. I just took it all in. We had fantastic views of everything around us. Plus, the added bonus was there were no other teams with us – we had the summit all to ourselves. Ben had successfully orchestrated our climb and summit to have no crowds and great weather. We spent about 45 minutes at the top taking photos and enjoying our summit success. I didn’t take all the photos I wanted, but the ones I did take will have to do. Really it is the memory of it imprinted in my mind that is most important so I decided not to dwell on it. Like I said, nothing ever goes like you envisioned it would.

Our descent back to Camp 4 took only 3 hours. I must admit, I had forgotten about the dead bodies on Everest until I saw the body of a climber just a little ways down from the Balcony. He was wearing a red down suit and was partially buried by the snow. Terrible sight.

Once we were back at camp, it was time to rehydrate and rest for our descent to Camp 2 in the morning. We remained on oxygen to help us recover more quickly. We were all excited about the summit, but knew we still had two more days of climbing left until we could call it done.

Day 54: Did I tell you how amazing our Sherpa are? Well, they are. They are almost super-human. I couldn’t believe the loads they carried down from Camp 4 to Camp 2. We really couldn’t climb Everest without them. Our descent was relatively easy down to Camp 2. It was a very hot day and we had to roll down the upper part of our full body down suits after the first break. We were glad to be at the lower altitude (~21,500ft). We actually slept on oxygen overnight to again help with recovery.

Day 55: Our descent to base camp went without incident. The icefall had changed again significantly since we last climbed through it. It was amazing. You could even seen the changes in the terrain as we climbed down from Camp 4 to Camp 2…the snow was melting. Once we arrived at an area called Crampon Point (this is the place where we put on/take off our crampons as we enter/leave the icefall), we were greeted by Subas. He had brought beer and Coke for us to drink. I have to tell you that was the best Coke I have had in a long time. It was a nice team moment. We were done climbing (minus the 20 minutes left to get back to base camp), we had all summited and we made it down safely.

Later that morning and afternoon, we took showers and packed for our flight to Kathmandu scheduled the next day. In the evening after dinner, we had a Sherpa tipping party in the Sherpa dining tent. We all gave thanks to our hard-working Sherpa team. They are a group of humble men that never complain and appreciate what little they do have. Once the tipping and formalities were over, they turned on some music to get the party started. Shakira kicked it off, but then they turned to more of their traditional music. It felt like a high school dance…the Sherpa were lined up on one side of the tent and us climbers were lined up on the other side. Everyone was looking awkwardly at each other across the table holding their beers not sure who was going to make the first move to break the ice. I don’t recall how things loosened up, but eventually there was a lot of dancing, laughing, hugging and drinking going on. We all had a great time and it was nice to be able to get to know some of the Sherpa better.

Day 56: It took three legs of heli flights to get from Base Camp to Kathmandu. We flew from Base Camp to Pheriche, Pheriche to Lukla and then Lukla to Kathmandu. We had 20 large duffels and 9 people we had to get all the way to Kathmandu. When we arrived at Lukla, there were hoards of people waiting for a flight to Kathmandu. Many of them had been stuck there for 3-4 days waiting for the weather to clear so that fixed-wing planes could land. Luckily, we had paid a little extra to take a heli out instead, so we only had to wait about 30 minutes in Lukla. Plus, we have Jiban. Who is Jiban? Jiban handles a ton of logistics that made our entire Everest trip work. He has been operating in Nepal for many years, has a lot of connections and knows a lot of people. Jiban is the reason we got out of Lukla so quickly.

They say you can lose up to 15-20lbs on Everest.  Well, I weighed myself and I lost about 10lbs.  That’s a lot for me.  Brian doesn’t quite look like himself because he lost so much.

Day 57: We are back at the Yak & Yeti Hotel, showered and clean and have had some normal meals (including our celebration dinner). Some of our teammates have already flown home, but Brian and I are still planning to depart Kathmandu on June 1st.

I want to thank all my friends and family for their support over these last seven years and throughout these recent two months while on Everest. I can’t believe I have finally completed the 7 Summits. Several people have asked me what is next, and the answer is I don’t know. Right now I just want to enjoy this accomplishment. I love you all and I will see you soon.

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