The Only Thing Certain: Uncertainty

Day 29/April 19, 2009 (Sunday)
Medical Theme Day at Everest Base Camp

The expedition is now in its 29th day, so it shouldn’t surprise me that the unusual and difficult living environment of EBC now seems so comfortable. I am home here: I can zip over to the comm. tent, a 100 yard trek, without thinking about breathing or ending up short of breath. Despite the sub-zero temperatures most mornings, I think nothing of quickly switching from sleeping bag warmth to down jacket cool, and then hiking to the dining tent for breakfast. I seem to have acclimatized to base camp and the terrain above quite well --- knock on wood --- as have most all of the camp’s residents. The medical events of today are a stark reminder that things can change quickly up here, as the body doesn’t readily heal at these altitudes.

The Himalayan Rescue Association (HRA), or “Everest ER,” treated a 70ish climber on another team for chest pains last night, and

sent him on his way to Katmandu via the newly established EBC helipad this morning. By report he is doing fine, thanks to oxygen and their attentive care. Another recent arrival to EBC spent a couple of hours in a Gamow bag, a pressurized chamber which lowers the environmental altitude by 5000 feet or more, in order to alleviate symptoms of mountain sickness and shortness of breath. In our very own camp our Sirdar, Ang Pasang, is being treated for painful gout --- a condition involving inflammation of a joint. Another Sherpa was diagnosed with strep throat, and will descend for a few days on antibiotics. Common ailments occur commonly, as they say, but it’s much harder to get rid of them once they start up here. At IMG we’ve generally been a very healthy lot, thanks to the gradual acclimatization schedule we followed, as well as the excellent hygiene and cook staff here.

Flexibility is Paramount

One of my favorite quotes comes from my friend and former EVA (spacewalking) mentor, Dr. Story Musgrave. He would often say:

“The only thing certain about EVA is uncertainty.”

What he meant by this is that while its imperative to train down into the details of things, in the often-hostile environment of EVA, real time changes almost always occur. You need to remain flexible for success.

Even the best-laid plans need to be modified. NASA missions are detailed down to the minute and, on many occasions, the second. A Space Shuttle rendezvous and docking mission to the International Space Station has a very brief launch window: as the space station zooms overhead the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the launch initiates a very time-critical game of catch-up in space. While not nearly as time critical, an expedition to Everest’s summit requires substantial planning to have your logistics and personal physiology ready by the 2nd or 3rd week of May. Getting camps established, gear and oxygen provisioned, and the route fixed by this timeframe requires a master tactician. On the climber’s part, it takes several trips up the mountain to progressively higher altitudes to prepare the body to take on the thin, cold atmosphere of Everest. Before departing for Everest this spring, we had published a best guess at the climbing schedule, which included 4 round trips across the Khumbu Icefall, with a possible summit date of May 14. The plan has changed for a variety of reasons --- detailed below --- and will likely change again!

• On my first rotation up the mountain, I was able to acclimatize to the altitude of Camp II (~21,500 feet) --- making two trips there from Camp I, and spending a night there. [I would have spent a second night, but weather concerns brought us down a few hours early]

• We have seen three collapses of the icefall route in the past two days, as well as several small avalanches from the west shoulder of Everest. I’m not sure if the generally warm conditions have led to more activity this season as compared with 2008, but I’d rather not spend a minute more in the icefall than absolutely necessary.

• We’ve heard the route to Camp III, up the Lhotse Face, will be fixed on 4/23 if all continues to go as planned. This may take a day or two, and then our IMG Camp III can be occupied.

• Keith and the NASA Trek Team should arrive here at EBC on 4/28 --- very much looking forward to this!

New & Improved Highly Tentative Second Rotation Plan:

4/23: Climb to Camp II direct
4/24: Rest day at Camp II
4/25: Climb to Camp III, stay overnight without oxygen (on summit push, we sleep on oxygen here)
4/26: Climb to Yellow Band on oxygen, descend to Camp II
4/27: Descend to EBC, take shower so as to not offend house guests

We’ll see how this all pans out. Weather, problems with the route and a million other factors make this a house of cards, but it would be fantastic to climb on this schedule. If successful, I’ll be fully trained and acclimatized for the summit push when the NASA trekkers arrive, and I’ll do so in one less transit of the icefall.