Having left the Base Camp on Saturday, Edita's team went up to the Advanced Base Camp and, early on Monday morning, set out on the summit push. They should climb to the North Col first (7,020 metres) and from there – straight to the top. Provided that the weather remains fair, the Lithuanian flag will be flying on the roof of the world on Thursday.
Life in base camp
Having performed acclimatization, Edita and her fellow climbers had to spend a week in the base camp. At first, they had to wait for the team's Sherpas to take their equipment to upper camps, then there was a spell of bad weather that prevented the climbers from leaving the Base Camp.
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| E.Nichols nuotr./At the Base Camp |
"We are still patient and cool about waiting. However, we are looking forward to going to the summit. It’s a game of waiting. But this is Everest, lots of waiting. And when the time comes, we go… and it’s over before you know it. This is the reality of Everest," Edita posted from the Base Camp.
Sherpas asked for lama's blessing
Even though seasoned older-generation climbers like to tease their younger fellows that, nowadays, all the hard work is done by their Sherpa assistants, Edita notes that these members of the expedition are by no means treated unfairly. Taking climber's load up the slopes of Mount Everest is indeed a hard and exhausting work, but they are more adapted to doing it than anyone else and can make good money. Meanwhile Phil Crampton, the expedition leader, takes as good care of his Sherpas as of the Western members of the group.
The Sherpas have their separate tent in the Base Camp for when they descend from upper camps. They eat and sleep as much as the rest of the team. Edita gave the following description:
"Sherpas left this morning for the Advanced Base Camp. They will rest for a day and finish load carrying to Camp 3. They will not be back before the summit push. Last night they all went to Rongbuk monastery to ask lama for blessing for the summit push. Of course, they came back late, happy – 3 boxes of beer consumed at the monastery – and two more carried back to the Base Camp. They got their favorite meal cooked by Da Pasang – famous fried chicken (this is usually pre-summit push treat). So they deserved all these treats as they will be working really hard in the coming days."
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| E.Nichols nuotr./Sherpas resting in dome |
Ingenious leader
Nor did Edita spare any praise for team leader Phil Crampton, who showed ingenuity and determination to keep his team entertained while they were kept in the Base Camp.
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| Bertos Tilmantaitės/15min.lt nuotr./Komandos susitikimas Katmandu. Grupės lyderis Philas Cramptonas |
"Yesterday, Phil spent the whole morning to make 100 questions for a trivia game we played the whole afternoon. I was quite impressed by Phil’s dedication as the leader to keep us all occupied and entertained. Phil seems to enjoy this role of control which is great as we need some structure and discipline."
True, some of his duties were less pleasant. As the group overstayed somewhat in the Base Camp, generators and solar batteries could not ensure reliable electricity supply. WiFi and other luxuries of civilization had to be strictly rationed.
Misfortunes around Everest
While stuck in the base camp, Edita and her team closely followed the news from other Everest camps. There were some bad news, too. This year, the world's highest mountain has already claimed four lives: three Sherpas and one climber from a Russian team.
"You may hear reports of a first death on the North side," Edita wrote. "I don’t have accurate information but it seems a climber passed away at the Advanced Base Camp in his tent. Rumors are that he is from the Russian team. I don’t want to speculate but the most likely reason of death is altitude related. My condolence to the family and friends."
A 37-year-old Sherpa passed away under similar circumstances on the southern slope. Suddenly he felt dizzy, lay down in his tent to rest, and stopped breathing.
The third life claimed by Everest was a 22-year-old Sherpa who fell off a cliff as he was returning from a 8,000-metre camp. He was a member of a Chinese team.
The fourth victim was a 47-year-old Sherpa who perished on the southern slope.
Group intrigues
There are quite a few teams of climbers pushing for the summit, but only a small window of good weather to do that. It seems that the teams at the base engage in a secret competition of who get the best spot to leave the camp. As a result, Edita's latest blog posts have been rather vague – the team leader has forbidden to reveal certain information regarding the expedition for fear that other teams might read it.
Altitude Junkies originally planned to start their ascent towards the Advanced Base Camp on 12 May, but left one day earlier. Even though groups are friendly and helpful to one another, the spirit of competition does come forth as they get nearer the summit. All groups want to be the first ones to climb the northern slope of Mount Everest this year. Thus the spying and attempts to overcome one another.
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| Editos Nichols asmeninio archyvo nuotr./The North Col |
Climb dedicated to poor African region
Edita dedicates her ambitious quest to a campaign called “Everest for Sahel 2013”. She says she wants to draw attention to a serious food crisis that affects millions of families in the region and also collect some funds to help.
“When I was working in Niger, the media initially paid much attention to the food crisis. But later the interest abated. And people there are suffering not just famine. An armed conflict is currently raging in Mali,” she says.
Sahel is a zone in west Africa stretching across eight states. The food crises was triggered by crop failure in 2011 due to adverse natural conditions. As stocks went down, food prices spiraled up. Many families cannot afford it and risk starving to death.
Edita saw suffering people with her own eyes and resolved to try and help them – she thought she could draw attention to their problems and maybe even collect some money for relief.
“To finance the Everest trip, I spend my own hard-earned money and borrowed funds. I finance all my expeditions myself. This trip, too, is entirely covered by my personal funds and those of my sponsors (this time, though, sponsors cover only 3 percent of the expense, - 15min). Meanwhile all the money donated or collected during the expedition, and intended for the people of Sahel, does not go to my own account but rather to one of the World Food Programme,” Edita points out.
You can support Edita's Everest quest. To learn more about how you can contribute, press here.
To support Edita directly, press here.
