Summit Day

Hi All, Walid here. Here is a brief description of Max's upcoming summit day which starts at about 1pm EST.

He is now at 8200M, roughly, sleeping in an uncomfortable tent at about -40 degrees. The wind is probably blowing and the team mates are hard at work trying to melt water for their bottles, hydrate themselves and eat some food. They may or may not be eating anything substantial but will surely be living off GU, Cliff bars and the like.

At about 10pm their time they will do their best to have a last bite, drink and fill their water bottles before leaving for the summit. Max will be wearing a full down suit, huge boots with integrated gators, and full underlayer thermals. In his pack he will have 3 oxygen bottles, some food and an extra pair of gloves. He will most likely store his water, camera and radio inside his down suit near his skin to keep the batteries from freezing.

As they depart the tent they may or may not have moon light, but it will most likely be pitch dark. The climb goes from the tents upwards and to the right where, after several hundred meters, they will clip into the fixed line that will lead them upwards. Every year this line is fixed newly, but the old remains so it has become a spider's web of lines and it is important that the climbers find the new line, as that is the strongest. For 4 or 5 hours they will climb up the North Ridge towards the Northeast Ridge. The climbing is fairly steep and flucuates between ice and snow. They will have to take extra precaution to place their cramponed feet gingerly on the rocks, as the points can slip because Everest is made up of down sloping shale. As they climb upwards in the dark, their feet lit up by their headlamps, they will have little to focus on but forward movement and breathing. They will also be driven by the crazy adrenaline rush of climbing Everest, which is something indescribable.

The final portion of the climb is the Northeast Ridge, which, once they reach it, will lead them all the way to the summit. They really can't get lost as their is a 10k foot drop on one side and a 9k foot drop on the other. The climb along the ridge is less steep and more of a long traverse, but it is defended by three steps, or small cliffs. You can see some in the photos below. The climb to the first step is a very straight forward and, if all goes to plan, they should be there at about daylight. It will be hard for the climbers to get used to rock climbing at that altitude with big boots, cumbersome gloves and decreased visibility due to the oxygen masks. Their should be no problem in over coming this step, which is about 40 feet tall, though the slowed pace and the use of their hands may result getting cold and out of breath. It is at this point that they will also most likely have to change oxygen bottles, as the first may have run out. They will know within minutes when the flow is not strong and will scamper to get the next one attached. This is a scary manuever, as you leave yoruself for some short time just breathing the ambient air, which is very thin. (About 27% of the pressure, therefore the oxygen, of sea level)

Once they have reached the top of the first step there is a long and straight forward traverse to the second step, which is the tallest and hardest of the three. The step in total is 150 feet but is broken by a snowy ledge half way up. The first half can be climbed with crampons, hands and ice axes, but the second part has a ladder. The history of the ladder is very interesting. A Chinese team in the 60s liked this route but thought the second step to be too hard so they carried up a ladder and used it on the hardest part. The original ladder has since been replaced, but every person to climb the ridge now uses this artificial aide.

I have never been above the second step, but I hear that if you make it that far, barring anything out of your control (like an accident to a team mate, like in my case) you should reach the summit.

Once Max is on the summit, he should not linger. Take some photos, yell a cry of victory, regain your humility and descend. This is not a place for humans and they must remember that, they have to get down while they are still hydrated, warm and have oxygen.

I hope that Max summits prior to midday so that he has the stregnth and time to descend to 7800M, where he is relatively out of danger. If he needs another night at high camp it is not ideal but not the end of the world either.

This is, without a doubt, the biggest day of Max's life and let's all hope for his safety, success and quick return.

View out of High Camp Tent