Trekking Above the Clouds in 2016: The Himalayas
Okay, this one will be the real deal.
In April 2016, I’ll be heading out to Kathmandu, Nepal, and meeting up with my guides, sherpas, and fellow climbers that will trek through the Himalayas to Mt. Everest’s Base Camp, and onward to Island Peak.
Following a quick flight from Kathmandu to Lukla, a long acclimatization hike begins. Shortly after we arrive at EBC and settle in, we will attempt to summit one of Everest’s close neighbors, Island Peak (or Imja Tse), which sits at 20,305ft.
The entire trek will take 18 days, and will gain over 14,000 vertical feet across about 45 miles.
Mountain climbing is a great challenge that involves risk, danger, hardship, and endurance.
Like most things in life, though, you get out of it what you put in. Which is what makes it one of the most rewarding things a person can do.
My friends Paul and Gordy and I started out innocently enough, with not-so-challenging weekend hikes in Snoqualmie, Washington (just outside Seattle) found through Instagram hashtags and recommendations. Once a week, we would continually up the ante, pushing a little farther from sea level every weekend.
5 hours at a time up in the snow-hooded Cascades was not enough. A gain of 600ft quickly became boring. So we stepped it up a notch and set our crosshairs on the knobbly summit of Mt. St. Helens.
With minimal experience and no real gear, we summitted St. Helens in a day. Feeling accomplished but unsatisfied, we turned our gaze to her taller neighbor, Mt. Adams. After renting crampons and ice axes, YouTubing how to climb a glacier, and googling routes, we met our first true test.
We spent the night at over 6,500ft to acclimate to the elevation, and got a true alpine start at around 3am. 14 hours of semi-technical climbing in a day was exhausting- not to mention it was our first climb above 10,000ft. It was without a doubt the most physically (and possibly mentally) draining experience I’ve ever endured. I was instantly hooked.
The most irresistible feeling in mountaineering for me is the one of complete mindfulness: being exclusively where you are right now. Not off in la-la land thinking about plans for dinner, or that project you have going on at work. You’re not day dreaming about the weekend. You think solely and entirely of your next step, and your safety. Long distance runners will be able to relate to this feeling of “presence”.
Hearing only the crunch of the snow under your feet, your own labored breath, and the howling of the wind across a tundra of flat white Earth forces you to be there and only there. The moment your mind wanders, it becomes dangerous. That demand for complete focus has earned my total respect, and has no doubt given birth to another fiery passion within me.
Mountain climbing isn’t all about the stunning panoramic views of Earth’s greatest beauties. It isn’t all about the satisfaction of reaching the summit. It forces you to push yourself where you thought you couldn’t go, to dig deeper than you knew you could. It forces you to respect Mother Nature the same way you wouldn’t turn your back on the ocean- except she can be much more treacherous miles above sea level. When you’re in the mountains, you are completely at their mercy.
Above 18,000ft, the risk of high altitude sickness is very prevalent. The brain can start to swell from lack of red blood cells and oxygenation, and the lungs can begin to fill with fluid. (called HACE, and HAPE respectively) Unfortunately, there is no way to train for it, and there’s no way of knowing to what degree you will suffer from it until you’re up there above the clouds. So this is sort of a test run for that next echelon of mountaineering, if you will.
If we successfully summit Imja Tse, we will have joined an elite class of respected climbers. Few mountaineers see over 20,000ft, and I’m ready to find out if I have it in me.
I can’t wait to look Everest in the face from 10km away, thinking that one day I might be back to stand at her summit. 8 months from now, I’ll post my version of the above photo. Wish me luck!
-Tony
P.S. For those that think I’m insane or ill-prepared, don’t. The guides and Sherpas leading my team on this expedition are among some of the most experienced in the business. It’ll be fine, mom.
