We are at the highest point at which we will camp. We are at roughly 10,000 feet. I have been higher. Heck, i have skied at higher elevation.

What makes this effort significant is the fact that less than 33 hours ago, we were at 3,000 feet.

The tricky part of climbing is not just the absolute elevation, but the change in elevation. Terrill is reading the riveting “Into Thin Air”, a non-fiction book about the failed Everest Expeditions of 1996. It was written by an Outdoors magazine writer that joined a reputable tour group to summit the world’s tallest peak.

It is an amazing read. You learn that climbers spend 16 days just to get to the base cam of 17,000 feet. From there, they will spend as few as 4 days to make the final 12,000 feet. Typically, the “safe’ groups will spend 9 days going up in an effort to mitigate the altitude sickness.

[Note: Cool Sir told us that a Sherpa (the native people famed for their mountain climbing ability) ascended from base camp to the summit in just under 9 hours! I cannot wrap my mind around this accomplishment. It is akin to running a marathon at sub-5 minute miles. i simply do not know how a human can do this.]

In any event, the greatest threat for climbers (the weather disaster of the book notwithstanding) is altitude sickness.

Each of us has been drinking 3-5 liters of water ever day (90-150 ozs) and we are still flagging a bit. Higher altitudes require higher levels of red blood cells to process the lower levels of oxygen. It takes time to build these up. 33 hours is not a lot of time.

We have climb a lot quickly. We, however, should feel like superstars once we return to 3,000 feet. At least, i hope so.

I wrote the above last night. This morning, we woke at 4:30 to ascend the final 1,000 feet to Poon Hill to see the sun rise on the mountains.

A thick layer of clouds had settled in below us and the peaks, so the mountains looked like islands. We went from complete darkness, through the early ribbon of peach on the eastern clouds, to the white peaks exploding in pink. It was transcendently beautiful!

It was also freezing. I had 5 layers on and was still cold. The rigorous hike (45 minutes straight up) warm us, but the top was breezy and everyone got really chilled.

Susie and Terrill struggled with the pace. Unfortunately, the path is narrow and several group were going up, so rests were less frequent than some of us wanted. By the top, the cold, elevation, early hour and rigor had a couple of the Baskin crew teetering. But we arrived, savored the beauty and then got down.

I promise i will post photos when i get a faster connection.

Steve Sir

PS If you have sent me an email, I am unable to read my mail until I get wifi in 4 days. Please do not think I am being rude!