Over the Kongma La and Across the Khumbu Glacier

The first of the Khumbu’s famed “Three Passes” brought us to heights of 18,000 feet above sea level and across the highest alpine glacier in the world.

Coming down from Chukhung Ri, we spent the rest of the day acclimatizing in the village of Chukhung and set out over the Kongma La the next morning. Leaving Chukhung, we passed over the outflows of the Nuptse Glacier and climbed through meadows of alpine tundra and glacial erratic boulders. The sun was still low in the east, and the peaks of Baruntse, Hongku Chuli, and Num Ri threw shadows across the valley. The air was musky with airborne debris, reducing distant mountains to hazy blue contours. We gained a ridge above the valley of the Imja Khola and climbed into a high basin.

I was leading the way as we rose above the valley, but I was hiking too fast. I quickly lost my breath. Blood pounded in my head, and my vision pulsated with a reddish hue for a moment. I stopped to let the sensation pass.

“Quentin is putting on big pace,” Jakob said with a laugh.

“Too big,” I said, rubbing my eyes. “Slow and steady is key.”

“This is true,” Jakob said, trekking passed me at a leisurely pace. “Slow and steady.”

The basin was a landscape of tundra and stone ringed by rugged outcrops of black and gray rock. Beyond them rose the high white walls of Lhotse and Nuptse…