Yes, we did have a near disaster on our hands, and I did find myself in the unusual situation of spending two long days at 27,400 feet crying and
weakening and hoping and working hard to find a way to keep hope and progress alive. I will write about it soon, but right now, my body and mind are not
quite in the same place.
I do however want New Jersey to know that Greg Pickering and I had a great time just a few feet below the summit (which was too crowded). We laid the Jubuliam cross, a few photos and a string of Buddhist prayer flags and then I held his picture aloft to let him enjoy the view -- him with his t-shirt on -- and I asked him to look out for us. It's a long way down and he knew all about falling over and paralyzing oneself. Certainly he would be an expert at the type of vigilance we needed.
The descent was crazy. So many people who were there were suffering from cerebral edema (swelling of the brain). I got caught up in the middle of this mess, with a client and two Sherpas. A Spanish man was going blind, but he had summited all 14 8,000-meter peaks: too arrogant for his own good. I had to physically restrain him many times, feed him drugs that he felt he never needed. In the meantime, I gave up my oxygen for Andy, Jaime and Asmuss, who were trailing far behind. Without "O" for over three hours I really got cold, to my bones.
I do need to write this dispatch but I'm not quite ready. I'm not trying to sound pitiful, but my shoulders are sore, my kidneys hurt, I'm dehydrated.
For now, remember that we are all safely down in Advance Base Camp. Fourteen of 15 of us summited (Owen West did not, leaving Ellen, Kieron, Naoki, Jaime, Evelyne, Marco, Robert, Asmuss, Andy, Loppsang, Phurba, Karsang-Nepal, Karsang-Tibet, Dawa and me). Marco snowboarded all of the North Face, Evelyne became the Swiss women to summit, Jaime the first Guatemalan (his wife thought it was cute that he was camping near the summit), Karsang the first Tibetan Yak man. Andy and Jaime survived (barely) an open bivvy at 8,700 meters. It was the first time no one died pulling this stunt.
Let's hope you have a sunny Sunday.
I do however want New Jersey to know that Greg Pickering and I had a great time just a few feet below the summit (which was too crowded). We laid the Jubuliam cross, a few photos and a string of Buddhist prayer flags and then I held his picture aloft to let him enjoy the view -- him with his t-shirt on -- and I asked him to look out for us. It's a long way down and he knew all about falling over and paralyzing oneself. Certainly he would be an expert at the type of vigilance we needed.
The descent was crazy. So many people who were there were suffering from cerebral edema (swelling of the brain). I got caught up in the middle of this mess, with a client and two Sherpas. A Spanish man was going blind, but he had summited all 14 8,000-meter peaks: too arrogant for his own good. I had to physically restrain him many times, feed him drugs that he felt he never needed. In the meantime, I gave up my oxygen for Andy, Jaime and Asmuss, who were trailing far behind. Without "O" for over three hours I really got cold, to my bones.
I do need to write this dispatch but I'm not quite ready. I'm not trying to sound pitiful, but my shoulders are sore, my kidneys hurt, I'm dehydrated.
For now, remember that we are all safely down in Advance Base Camp. Fourteen of 15 of us summited (Owen West did not, leaving Ellen, Kieron, Naoki, Jaime, Evelyne, Marco, Robert, Asmuss, Andy, Loppsang, Phurba, Karsang-Nepal, Karsang-Tibet, Dawa and me). Marco snowboarded all of the North Face, Evelyne became the Swiss women to summit, Jaime the first Guatemalan (his wife thought it was cute that he was camping near the summit), Karsang the first Tibetan Yak man. Andy and Jaime survived (barely) an open bivvy at 8,700 meters. It was the first time no one died pulling this stunt.
Let's hope you have a sunny Sunday.
