To Summit or Not to Summit - Sent June 3

Hello Adventurers,
First:
You can play the bells in the tower at Kerrytown Market and Shops in Ann Arbor every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 12 Noon to 12:30 PM. Good summer fun! I am now involved with creating the Kerrytown Chime Magazine, a small publication that explores Kerrytown and Ann Arbor's unique lifestyle. We are looking for article submissions. If you have any thoughts about lifestyle, Ann Arbor or Kerrytown, send them to me.

Everest Adventure Journal: (5 of 6) TO SUMMIT OR NOT TO SUMMIT

May 15, 2002
Sean called at 6 AM this morning. The prognosis is NOT good. He is feeling worse and isn't even sure he can walk. He said he'll call back at 7.

Later
Things still aren't good. For the first time since I talked to Sean a year ago, I think maybe this is not meant to be. Maybe he should end the nightmare his dream has become.

Before just a few weeks ago, Sean had never been to extreme altitudes. 14,000 feet was his maximum altitude during training. Base camp was already 3,600 feet above that, and the summit of Everest is more than 10,000 feet above base camp! Though training for altitude is impossible, it is hard to imagine what 23,000 feet feels like without having been there. The void of the unknown is filling with fear. Sean's body is telling him there is something seriously wrong, and of course Sean is listening.

Sean said he will try to walk and will call back later.

About an hour ago Wongchu, the leader of this expedition, rolled into base camp. (Thank God!) He arrived in a record two days and two hours from the airport in Lukla! By 9 AM he was on the radio in National Geographic's tent with Pemba, Seth and me, talking to Sean, Kami and Gombu on the mountain. Finally we were all on the same frequency. Wongchu switched from English to Sherpa language and back.

"We came to climb a mountain," Wongchu said to Sean. "No going down -- only up." Then he rattled off fifty things, "You drink tea. Eat soup. Drink hot lemon. Eat oatmeal. Gombu give you massage. Take rest. Relax. You going up. No talking. Drink tea. Just going up."

And that's it! No talking. Sean is going up. They left camp 3 and are now headed toward camp 4(!), the "Death Zone" at 26,000 feet. Supposedly humans cannot acclimatize above 26,000 feet. From there and up brain cells are dying, one of many factors that makes Everest a difficult mountain. The more time a climber spends above 26,000 feet, the closer he is to death. I am waiting with butterflies in my stomach. Should Sean continue?! I know Wongchu is the most qualified man in Nepal to lead this expedition. I know Wongchu knows what he was doing. He is right, we came to climb a mountain. Sean came to inspire cancer patients. I guess Sean is going up.

"No talking," Wongchu says. I am waiting with him and a few other Sherpas at National Geographic's camp. I am sitting in one of their fold-up metal chairs just outside their $15,000 yellow geodesic North Face radio tent. It is HOT in the sunshine. Jamling and others from National Geographic's team are here chatting. Even a cup of COLD (mmm!) lemonade came around. Most drinks at base camp are hot because the water has to be boiled. Something cold was nice!

Later
I heard Sean's voice over the radio in National Geographic's radio tent. "Sean to base camp," he said. I was closest in position to answer it. As Sean spoke I heard something I hadn't heard recently. "It sounds like you're smiling!" I said. "I think I am," Sean said. He wasn't feeling 100%, but he is climbing toward camp 4 NOW. He'll call back at 12:30.

It seems Gombu, having climbed Everest 7 times, knew Sean was strong. The altitude related problems at camp 3 are just part of the territory, the misery one must submit to when committing to climb Everest. Keep moving, and the misery doesn't have as much time to catch up. Gombu knew Sean would feel better once he started moving. With the language barrier and communication crevasse, it was hard to convince Sean. Good thing Wongchu came when he did!

Later
Sean just called! "I'm 700 meters from camp 4. I'll be there in 20 minutes." And 20 minutes later he called again, "I made it! I'm here! I made it to 26,000 feet! Woohoo! I made it!"

His familiar confidence is back. From the beginning I knew Sean could do this. Wongchu was just in time. Things are looking good. It's an emotional roller coaster. Good, bad, good, bad, and now good again!

Life has flooded back into our camp site. We are alive and awake again. The Sherpas are rearranging all the rocks and improving all the trails, repairing the rock walls, carrying rocks, moving rocks. Under the direction of Wongchu, even a few Sherpas from National Geographic's team came to help. Wongchu is a super hero among the Nepalese. I will write a book about him someday! On the way to the summit, Sean is eating mashed potatoes for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I learned potatoes are essential for an expedition. In Kathmandu the room fell silent when I told Wongchu I forgot to bring them. My mother was kind enough to Federal Express two kilos of dehydrated mashed potato powder which thankfully arrived just in time for Sean's summit attempt.

Sean will sleep at camp 4 from now (3PM in the afternoon) until 10 PM tonight. Then he, Kami and Gombu will start for the summit in the dark. They'll climb all night and hopefully reach the top of Mt. Everest early tomorrow morning! I am contemplating staying up all night since Seth, Pemba and Wougchu will be. Sitting by the radio is better than lying wide-eyed in my tent. It's already cold. The clouds have been moving in for the last hour. Yuck!"

Wongchu has instructed Pemba to keep juniper burning in the fire by the Buddhist ceremony altar. "It should burn all night for good luck," Wongchu said. He also washed his feet. "Everyone must wash their hands and feet," he said. "It's good luck. Sean depends the luck." Our camp looks great after all the repairs and back breaking, rock dozing work the Sherpas have done. "It depends the luck," Wongchu says. "It depends the gods."

The waiting is torture! Again, tomorrow we will learn more.

May 16, 2002
The waiting is REALLY torture. It's now 7:30 AM. I'm up and listening to the radio in front of the puja stupa. The juniper is still burning and Pemba and Seth religiously kept it burning all night. Wongchu says the gods like the smoke. I'm adding branches now too. He says it's best when the smoke rises straight in the air without turbulence. He pointed to it when it was just right. "This is good luck," he said. "It depends the luck."

Wongchu slept on the floor of National Geographic's radio tent all night waiting for a call. He said he heard static several times and jumped to pick up the radio and then heard nothing. I didn't stay up. Instead, I slept SO well, the first sleep I've had in two long days.

We still haven't heard anything from Sean since he left camp 4 last night at 11PM. We think he and his Sherpas are at the end of a long line of climbers. The last thing Sean said was, "It looks like everyone's gone. I better go!" It's 8AM. We just heard from Tashi, the grandson of Tenzing! He is with the Swiss team and Apa Sherpa, the man who holds the record for 11 times summiting Everest. For him this will be Everest summit number 12! They are first in line this morning. Apa and 2 other Sherpas are ahead fixing the ropes. They say the snow is waist deep and it's slow going!

Tashi just called again. It's 8:10. He said he may have to wait another hour. The Sherpas here say it will be longer. They are at the South Summit with about 100 people behind them. Tashi said he can see a long line of climbers moving slowly along the ridge they just came up. Sean is at the back of that line -- we think. We still haven't heard from him. Also the third Nepali woman to climb Everest is with Tashi. The climbers sound out of breath and pause for air between words. They can't talk on the radio with an oxygen mask on. The Sherpa woman, Pemba Doma, age 34, was coughing. "There's a lot of snow," she said laughing, excited she is almost there, sounding very happy. "Maybe two hours and I'll be at the summit!"

We are also overhearing radio conversations from climbers on the North side, the Tibetan side, who are hoping to summit today too. Before this, the most climbers to summit in a single day was 34. Today there are at least 60 in line on the South route with Sean. Wow! The FIRST climbers have reached the top! 8:42 AM. Tashi is there. Gombu finally called and said they are doing well! Sean has enough oxygen and is still strong. Things are looking good. It seems the first Sherpas fixing the ropes have to take turns because it's tiring work. Gombu is now helping, meaning Sean is right behind him! He might be up there sooner than we think. They must have passed 50 people or more!

The waiting is painful. We are predicting Sean will be on the summit within the hour, maybe 2. We hope he calls, but Wongchu told Gombu to call only if something goes wrong. Still around the puja stupa, we hear a few hoots and hollers coming from around base camp. When the climbers reach the summit, they radio down and then we hear cheering from various camps. It's great!

9:32 AM! We just heard from the summit. Sean is up there now! Taking pictures! Wow, what a feeling. It's amazing. He made it! We did it. Sean did it. He is amazing. The Sherpas are the most amazing!

Sincerely,
Heather O'Neal
Of Global Interest LLC Adventure Travel
Ann Arbor, Michigan
(734) 369-3107
www.ofglobalinterest.com

Back to the journal index