NOVA Online | Everest Quest | Through the Icefall (6)

Through the Icefall
part 6 | back to part 5

The Climb Continues
Clouds drift over the peaks lazily as the tents flutter in the wind. Choughs—Himalayan ravens—gather, chatter, and disburse in every direction in search of scraps left behind by the camps. Yaks munch on leftovers, their heads buried in buckets filled with yesterday's lunch. The days roll along, as the climbers make several trips up through the Icefall to film and to acclimatize. We yearn for any news from them on the mountain and keep the radios by us at all times. Although we're at Base Camp with all of our communications equipment and access to the outside world, it still takes 2 weeks to find out who won the Oscars.

climbing through icefall

For the moment, the expedition is progressing as well as hoped. Click here to hear David's assessment of the expedition so far (RealAudio). I ask David, who has spent many years climbing in the Himalayas, why he keeps coming back: "Climbing in the Himalayas for me is about so many different things, but an important element is risk. It takes one out of the daily routine of comfort, warmth, and easy control of your life. It takes you away from the telephone and the fax for the most part and the tyranny of the urgent that we experience every day in our lives. Physically, I like the movement of climbing, especially ice climbing: moving over steep terrain, moving around corners and seeing another beautiful floe of ice, or working your way up through the Icefall and finally stepping into the Western Cwm and having this astounding view up to the Lhotse Face and even further up an even more astonishing view of the southwest face of Everest. So you're rewarded for your effort. I like the effort, I like the fatigue. I like to wake up in the morning feeling stronger than I did the day before. But that's just putting it into little bits and pieces. ice boulders

It's so many bits and pieces: crawling into a cold sleeping bag, working up the courage to get out of that now warm sleeping bag and ventureing into the Icefall on fixed ropes placed by somebody else.

I can say that I don't want climbing that is this arduous in more than a 6 week or 2 month dose. People get worn out. But you go home, and it sounds very silly but you do appreciate, briefly at least, some of the simple things in life: clean sheets, a warm bed, running water, food that's not cold 5 minutes after being placed on your plate, a good night's sleep not troubled by altitude or thoughts of the day ahead, a big bowl of fresh green salad. At least for a month or 2 those things seem exquisite, and sure, three months later you're back in the same old routine. And with me 6 or 7 months later, I'm back on the mountain again."

Next Week: Will They Summit?

David talks about the Western Cwm