Baruntse (30.10.2011)

After having summited Mera Peak and spent the night at Kongme Dingma with a good meal and cake for dessert, we were mostly ready to continue towards Baruntse. I had hoped that the sore throat and cold-like symptoms I had from Mera Peak high camp would have disappeared when I woke up this morning but unfortunately that wasn’t the case and I was feeling just as wiped out and generally not-in-form as the previous day. Fortunately the approach to the next camp at Five Lakes wasn’t going to be the world’s most exhausting day of walking. The route basically followed the Honku river valley northwards with some impressive and huge mountainsides on both the west and east sides (although I don’t remember what the names of these peaks are). We had a very laid-back lunch around halfway to the next camp and that helped to revive us a bit. We now had our first glimpse of the mountain as well, after a little over two weeks since leaving Kathmandu. The campsite at Five Lakes was pretty scenic, flat but cold since the sun dipped behind the surrounding peaks pretty early in the evening – and didn’t come back until some time after sunrise the next morning. Nicky arrived at dinner in the mess tent inside her sleeping bag!

31st October 2011: To Baruntse base camp
The following morning we packed up the tents and continued the walk up the river valley until we reached a kind of moraine ridge overlooking Baruntse base camp. It was a great viewpoint and good to see it was mostly downhill or mostly flat the rest of the way to base camp at 5300-5400m. We would be on the mountain for the next 10 days. It was a relatively short day of walking to reach base camp, so we had the rest of the afternoon and evening to chill out, recover and generally potter around and take in the awesome mountain and lake surroundings. Baruntse itself didn’t come across as the most amazing peak here in my opinion but the peak Hongku Chuli was a pretty impressive sight. But the fact that Baruntse towered over the glacier below made it seem like we had an exhausting goal ahead of us.

The day after was no more taxing, and we spent it making preparations for the summit attempt. Mark and Paddy gave us a number of options – it was pretty much up to us to decide how we wanted to ascend the mountain, but in the end everyone agreed on the same approach. We’d all begin the assault the next day by going up to camp 1 at around 6100m, spend a day resting and acclimatizing there, and then progress up to camp 2 at 6400m the day after. From there it would be a long summit day, back to camp 2 or all the way back down to camp 1 or even base camp. The sherpas held a puja ceremony which lasted a long time, and after that was over we had the job of figuring out how much food we wanted – or needed to take with us for potentially 4 or 5 days away from base camp. Our rucksacks grew in size very quickly with all the food, camping gear and climbing equipment we’d need. I’m pretty sure the size of Debbie’s rucksack was almost as big as her!

1st November 2011: Base camp to camp 1
The route from base camp up to camp 1 turned out to be extra long and rather tiring. The first part up the lower Barun glacier took us over moraine, which seemed to last forever. There was no defined path through the moraine so it was a matter of walking in and around all the boulders until we’d ascended to the snowline (I can’t remember how high this was). The weight of our packs was proving to be a challenge and I think it would be true to say that most of us felt the exhausting effect of load-carrying at altitude today. From where we met the snow and put crampons on it was easier and more even terrain to walk on, but the reflection of the sunlight from the glacier was really intense. Ahead of us we could see the col, over which our next camp would be placed, but it seemed like an eternity to get up to the start of the fixed lines leading up to the col; in some ways it was a relief to have an enforced break at the foot of the gully where the fixed lines started, since only one of us ascended each section of the fixed lines at any one time, which meant a good deal of waiting at times. It was pretty tough going with both the heavy rucksack and the altitude on the 50-degree slopes. There were three sections which covered the 150 metres of height gain we needed to complete to get up to the col. Us girls – Debbie, Nicky and I, were still on the fixed lines when the sun disappeared, at which point it became really cold. It was nearly 6pm by the time I arrived at camp 1.

Paddy waited for quite a long time at the col for Matt who was the last to come up to camp, he’d struggled quite a bit with the physical exertion and had resorted to leaving behind some of his boil-in-the-bag meals to reduce the weight in his rucksack (it turned out that he wouldn’t be getting hold of them again since some hungry birds had devoured their way through all the food which he’d left). The rest of the evening was spent making dinner, eating it and boiling as much water as possible to fill up bottles (some for drinking, but mostly to be used as hot water bottles inside the sleeping bags!). It took some time to melt the snow first before the water could be boiled so we didn’t get to sleep until quite late. It was a relief to think that we would be having a rest day at camp 1 the next day. A recovery day was definitely needed! I didn’t get going with making hot water until the sun had come up and it was warm enough to potter around to collect snow without freezing. Not a lot happened on the rest day. Most people just spent the day inside the tents reading or listening to music, or being ‘social’ and chatting to each other without actually going out of the tents. Uneventful would be one way to describe the rest day.

3rd – 4th November 2011: Camp 1 - camp 2 - summit attempt 1 – base camp
I had hoped that now we’d both summited Mera Peak and spent a day acclimatizing at 6100m, that the small 300m height gain would not be too taxing. I was wrong. After we’d packed up all our gear it must have already been late morning time and the sun was as scorching as it ever could be. The ascent up to camp 2 was not all technical and we only had to ascend some relatively easy-angled slopes, but only moments after leaving camp I realized it was going to be yet another physically tough day. Even the day up to camp 1 seemed more overcome-able than today. I was in tears at one point just from feeling so wiped out. I don’t think my legs could have felt any more immobile. I couldn’t figure out if this was just another exhausting effect of the altitude or the apparent chest infection that my cold had progressed into. Whatever it was, it made my journey up to camp 2 extremely slow and tough.

Somehow I managed to pull myself together mentally and just focus on maintaining a steady and slow pace upwards until I finally arrived into camp 2. I mostly sat outside the tents doing nothing for a long time until I could summon up enough energy to unpack my rucksack again. I shared a tent with both Debbie and Nicky that evening which was somewhat cozier than previously, especially since the tents were supposed to be 2-man size. It worked OK though – at least we’d be a bit warmer with all three sleeping bags squashed in together! Remainder of the afternoon and evening was spent preparing for an early start the next morning, namely rehydrating, eating and packing rucksacks – a routine we ought to have been used to by now! Plan for summit day was to get up at 2 and leave by 3am. None of us really expected to sleep all that well, this was definitely the highest camp I’d slept at until now and on top of that it wasn’t exactly warm either. So I actually surprised that I’d fell into such a deep sleep that I had no clue that the alarm had gone off until I realized that a lot of activity was taking place around me with Debbie and Nicky rummaging around and getting ready for leaving camp. Seemed like they had not thought to wake me up……. After having realized that the time was already 2.45am and I had literally only 15 minutes to pull on clothes, boots, climbing gear and have something quick to drink and eat, it became a somewhat hectic and stressful start to the summit day. Added to that, I appeared to have an almost-dead headtorch which didn’t produce any useful amount of light.

Once I was finally ready to get going it was a matter of trudging upwards in semi-awake mode up the snow slopes which lead to the fixed lines. There was absolutely no conversation, everyone was as silent as each other and going at a very slow pace. My legs were feeling just as heavy as the previous day and it seemed like there was never going to be any improvement. I realized after only perhaps ½ hour of trudging that this was not going to be a summit day for me. Mark was the closest of the two expedition leaders at that point and I told him I wouldn’t be going any further; I came back down to camp 2 with one of our sherpas and got back into my sleeping bag for the next few hours. Turned out I wasn’t the only one who’d given up on today’s summit attempt. Not long after Mark came back with Debbie, and I think Ian and Roy also showed up around the same time. Well, it was one thing to turn around and come back to camp 2, but there was still a long way back to base camp, especially while feeling totally exhausted. At least by descending back down another 1000m in altitude there would be a little more oxygen and warmer, ideal for recovering if we wanted to make another summit attempt later with the extra days we had here.

I don’t remember much from the descent back down to camp 1, but once we’d arrived there we took another good break to eat something before continuing towards the col and descending the fixed lines back down to the glacier. It felt like a never-ending journey back down to the moraines and for most of the time I and Debbie stuck together in an effort to motivate each other with jokes and thoughts of what could be enjoyed once we actually got back to base camp. We were saved by one of the boys who helped out our base camp cooks who met us when we were on the descent back down the moraine. A surprise drink and biscuits did nothing but lift the morale for the last few hours of slogging back to base camp and I think it would be true to say that we are still eternally grateful for the efforts of the whole team of cooks and sherpas we had with us on the trip.

While back at base camp later that afternoon we got news from Mark who had radio contact with Paddy, that the rest of the group who’d continued had all made the summit of Baruntse. Turned out that Eoin had suffered bad frostbite on several fingers after temporarily taking off his mitts which meant that he needed to get treatment as soon as possible. We soon got to see how severe the frostbite was when he arrived back in base camp the following day. During the course of the day it was decided by Mark and Paddy that Eoin ought to get off the mountain as soon as possible to get proper medical treatment, so a number of satellite phone calls were made to arrange for helicopter transport out from base camp. With the frostbite injury it would have been pointless to try and continue the trip back to Lukla which would involve the crossing of the Amphu Lapcha pass, something that required an abseil off the other side and therefore use of the hands. Meanwhile, Debbie and I spent the rest day helping each other out with a hair wash and generally chilled out while also mulling over whether to go back up the mountain for another stab at the summit.

7th November 2011: Summit attempt 2
After two full days of doing very little, most of the worst memories from summit attempt 1 seemed to have been toned down a bit and the four of us who’d quit the first time had all decided we’d give the summit another go. So with Mark we were a team of 5 which left base camp for the second time. After about hour of trudging back up the moraine again, it turned out that Debbie was not totally psyched up for another ascent of the mountain and promptly told Mark she’d head back to base camp. She kindly left me behind her mp3 player with some motivating tunes (most memorable was Lady Gagas ‘Edge of Glory’) to get me back up the mountain. The plan was to sleep at camp 1 again, without a rest day this time (assuming we were better acclimatized) and then head up to camp 2, the summit and straight back down to base camp again. That would leave us with one day to rest and pack up before we left the mountain for good.

The ascent back up the moraines and up to the fixed lines below the col by camp 1 felt notably easier on this occasion. We arrived before sunset this time, and I took this as a good sign that I was at least in better shape than on the first attempt. The following day up to camp 2 was hard work again, but nowhere as demoralizing an experience as before. I think it was only 2 or 2 ½ hours from camp 1 to camp 2 this time which meant we had plenty of time to relax in preparation for summit day. Roy and Ian shared a tent at camp 2 and I shared with Mark. In addition we had two sherpas with us, Dawa and Sonam. It turned out that Dawa would accompany me the next day on the way up, Mark would go with Roy and Ian with Sonam. In effect we could each go at our own pace on the fixed lines. Later on in the evening just before settling down to sleep, Mark did a final radio call to Paddy at base camp just to update him with what was happening up here at camp 2 (not much) and plans for the summit day. I had already dozed off to sleep at this point and wasn’t fully awake while Mark was on the radio to Paddy but for some reason or another I remember talking what I think was utter nonsense to Mark before dropping off to sleep again. Weird experience. I was aware of the radio conversation but I have no idea what exactly I was rambling on about.

9th November 2011: Summit attempt 2 – base camp
Anyway, fortunately I woke up in a less dazed state and even though I wasn’t exactly buzzing with excitement, I was at least feeling psyched up for a last summit attempt. Getting ready went a bit more efficiently this time and the trudge away from camp and up to the start of the fixed lines went by relatively effortlessly in comparison to a few days before. It was still physically tiring but I was feeling stronger on this occasion and that was a bit more motivating. Soon I was clipping in to the fixed lines for the short section of steep terrain to reach the ridge proper. The only concern I had at this point was with my stomach. Ever since the first attempt I’d noticed that my digestive system appeared to be ‘more ‘active’ than usual from ca. camp 1 and upwards. While ascending the fixed lines I realized that another toilet stop was going to be unavoidable. Not exactly the most convenient of times and places for this to happen, but fortunately we reached a slightly flatter point after the fixed lines and I made the necessary stop here.

From there the ascent continued on a broad ridge rather steadily upwards without fixed lines, and the sun was on its way up. It was a terrific sunrise and without being tied into a rope with several other people it was also rather easy to take a pause and take some photos. After some 2 or 3 hours from leaving camp 2 we’d all made quite good progress. Roy and Mark were a little way ahead of myself and Dawa, and Ian was some way lower down behind us. But once the sun had come up we had good time to take a short break to eat and drink, before the next slightly strenuous part, a steep pull up over a bergschrund. Here there were fixed lines which helped, but it was exhausting. I continued to go at a snail’s pace above this section, maybe some 100m or so before realizing that my body was completely emptied of strength again. Two steps up and a 30-second stop to breathe. Then another two or three steps again and another breather. This pattern repeated many many times Mark and Roy had by now disappeared over the nearest top we could see. We were now at approximately 6900m.

The summit was some 200m in height above us. It was some time around 8am I think when I started to wonder seriously if it was time to consider turning back again. But surely we weren’t so far from the summit now? We’d already ascended 500m from camp 2, so 200m more wouldn’t take so long…..? I asked Dawa, he would know for sure. The answer didn’t come in the form of a distance. ‘6 hours’ was the reply. Seriously? Another 6 hours? I couldn’t believe it was still so far away. It had to be a joke. Then I started to ponder over getting myself back down the mountain. Oh God. I was already dreading the effort needed to do that. I had my answer then. If I was so exhausted that it was going to be a struggle just to descend the mountain, then it would be completely meaningless to even consider continue ascending. At the same time I was filled with a horrible conscience that I was deciding to quit for the second time. Could I really go back down thinking that it was the right decision and that I’d done my best? So many questions and thoughts swam around in my head. Despite the questions I quite frankly didn’t want to answer I ended up turning back anyway. There was a three-way conversation with Mark and Roy above us and Ian below to let each other know what was going on. Ian, who was some way below myself and Dawa, had decided to turn around too.

The descent back to camp 2 alone was one of the most exhausting experiences I can remember. The sun was by now baking hot and energy-draining and I’d not drunk a lot which didn’t help. There were many stops between where I turned back and camp 2. Stops to sit in the snow and psyche myself up again for the next part of the descent. I remembered an experience from when I’d ascended Ishinca in Peru in 2006 and had an equally exhausting descent down the mountain to get back to base camp again. That feeling of being so worn out that I was almost unable to move myself at all. I could have sat in the snow and gazed all morning at the mountains around me but that would not have been particularly helpful. I was no longer in doubt that I’d done the right thing in not continuing upwards. After a never-ending journey back down to camp 2 where I met Ian again, we took a few hours rest before having to dig deep for energy again and pack up for the rest of the descent down to base camp. I was so worn out I couldn’t be bothered to melt some snow and make something to drink and eat. I could have very easily stayed at camp 2 and gone to sleep for the remainder of the day but Dawa wouldn’t let me. He and Sonam were determined that both I and Ian should try and get back down to base camp where there was at least more oxygen and good food waiting for us. Sensible, but the thought of that long slog back to base camp was not at all inspiring. We’d already done it once (in pretty much the same exhausted state as we were now) and didn’t look forward to doing it again, and especially not with all the heavy loads we had to carry.

Well anyway, pretty much everything between camp 2 and reaching the moraine on the glacier is something of a blur, I don’t actually remember much of the trip back down except for that there was a short break at camp 1 to eat up more of the food supplies so there would be less to bring back. It was well after sunset by the time I stumbled my way into base camp, the only main consolation being the gorgeous purples and pink colours in the sky on the last stretch of the way, going past the lake and slipping on some icy rocks in the process. There are no other words other than ‘relieved’ to describe coming back to base camp and knowing there would be a full day of rest before we would be leaving the mountain for good.

11th November 2011: Baruntse base camp to Chukung
So after a complete day of recovering and sorting out gear we made an early departure (like 6 or 7am kind of early) from base camp and began the long day towards the Amphu Lapcha pass which we would descend over and continue onwards to Chukung. It was a pretty scenic walk which started initially with a descent down to a river valley but then continued mostly along flat and at times uneven terrain. We passed a couple of glacial lakes but didn’t take a proper break until we’d reached the foot of the pass where the ascent began. Both Nicky and I were struggling today and didn’t seem to have any energy in reserve for this long day back. The ascent up to the top of the pass was straightforward walking but once we reached the snow and ice we switched from hiking shoes to climbing boots and put on crampons and helmet etc. It felt like one of the most laborious uphill climbs ever and I was really thirsty by the time we finally reached the top of the pass.

The views were top-notch but we didn’t really have a lot of time for hanging around to admire the mountains around us. This was only halfway. The descent down the other side required a relatively straightforward but nonetheless exciting abseil of around two rope lengths (maybe three? I can’t remember how many there were now). From the last abseil point we continued to walk down to the valley bottom on steep snow slopes. Once down there we had the luxury of switching back to hiking shoes again for the rest of the journey to Chukung. Now it was a matter of perseverance for the long and seemingly endless walk along the valley, passing Island peak and continuing westwards towards Ama Dablam. It was well after sunset by the time we arrived at the tea house in Chukung (yes, we stayed in a tea house for the night, absolute luxury after 4 weeks of camping!). On the other hand we did get to see a gorgeous sunset and the silhouette of Ama Dablam against the purple sky was a memorable view. The seemingly epic 12-hour journey was rewarded with a dinner of dhal bhat and a ridiculously warm fireplace. It was a relief to go outside to the cold rooms to sleep afterwards!

We continued the return journey the next day by descending first from Chukung to Dingboche og downwards again to Pangboche. Not a particularly eventful or interesting walk but on the plus-side it was relatively short and we had a long afternoon spent inside the house owned by our sherpa Sonam and eating boiled potatoes (with salt). There was a lot of fog over the valley when we reached Pangboche so there wasn’t exactly much motivation for doing anything outdoors. From Pangboche we continued downwards and then back up to Tengboche. Some decided to look around the monastery there but I think most of us were keen to get on with the walk back to Namche Bazaar, still a few more hours away still. Once we’d reached there it would at least be another big step closer to getting back to Kathmandu. The weather continued to be boring and we saw pretty much nothing for the rest of the time. But - the lack of exciting views was replaced with a lot of social activities at a number of tea shops and pubs later in the evening once we’d reached Namche Bazaar. From what we heard the following day, Debbie, Nicky and Matt had a rather lively night with a little too much alcohol consumed. I think they suffered a bit the next day when we began yet another long walk back to Lukla from Namche Bazaar.

13th November 2011: Namche Bazaar to Lukla
It was tedious and the fog deteriorated into heavy rain which made our arrival back to civilization at Lukla something of an anticlimax. It would have been nice to end the journey on a high note but instead we arrived soaking wet and tired – and later found out that there were very few flights taking place from Lukla going back to Kathmandu because of the horrendous weather. Consolation was found in the form of Starbucks and numerous other cafes offering wifi and a connection to the outside world. Anyway, the cancelled flights and continued poor weather essentially meant that a lot of hikers and climbers were now beginning to accumulate in grey and rain-drenched Lukla (some even had problems finding somewhere to stay because the tea houses were full) and there was a long waiting list for getting seats on the next flight back to Kathmandu. To cut a long story short we ended up being delayed in Lukla for 3 days, after which time most of the group risked missing their flight back home to the UK from Kathmandu because of the delay at Lukla. In the end we all opted for the helicopter option, which was a super expensive way to get home – but fortunately was covered by travel insurance because it was still cheaper for them to pay the cost of that than covering the cost of a new plane ticket from Kathmandu to London.

16th November 2011: Finally on the way out of Lukla
However, the expedition to get back to Kathmandu didn’t end when we’d got the helicopter flight confirmed. Oh no. Not only did we have to walk/run down to the helicopter landing site at Surke in torrential rain at 6am, but it turned out that the helicopter wasn’t flying us direct to Kathmandu. We got dropped off part-way back at a field in the middle of nowhere, where we – and several other groups spent in the region of 8 hours trying to find some way to keep ourselves amused. Any remains of food we had with us were dug out of kit bags in an effort to keep us in good humour. There was quite literally nothing else there except a patch of grass and a couple of buildings. Finally we were picked up by another helicopter later in the afternoon and delivered to yet another landing site (also seemingly in the middle of nowhere) and had to endure a nauseous minibus journey back to Kathmandu. It was without doubt a day which I won’t forget! Finally we made it back to hotel Manaslu in Kathmandu in the evening and had just enough time and energy left over to take a quick shower and go out for a final dinner together at the Rum Doodle bar.

In conclusion, it had really been a terrific and at times physically-demanding trip, the views had been varied and superb and the most memorable aspect of the trip had been the people I’d shared the experience with – the group members and the awesome team of sherpas, cooks and porters. And there were a lot more hilarious moments than disappointments (including only reaching 6900m and not the summit). Unfortunately both Nicky and I ended up with a fever the day after we arrived back in Kathmandu, so spending that day in bed alternating between shivering and sweating was not exactly how I’d planned to celebrate my 28th birthday!