MOUNTAIN LIFE - Coast Mountains | Summer 2018

SUMMER 2018 MLCM 75 The Climbing On our seventh day of trekking we reached Namche Bazaar, known as the “gateway to the Himalayas.” Roaming the cobblestone streets in this little town, I could picture Hillary and Mallory heading through there on their way to Sagarmatha (Everest), and feel the anticipation of the many expedition teams gearing up with last minute supplies before they headed up and into the unknown. All roads to the Khumbu Valley lead through this small village and I marvelled at the tales those narrow streets could tell. From Namche Bazaar, it quickly felt like this trip was getting real. As an acclimatization exercise, we soon split off from the main trail, camping at 4,500 metres and reaching 5,200 metres before turning back due to whiteout weather conditions. This was my first encounter with any sort of altitude, and I quickly realized that all the cardio in the world wouldn’t help me when the oxygen got thin. I wheezed like a twenty-year smoker, huffing and puffing my way up hills that I would eat for breakfast at home. Note to self: leave ego in Namche, pick up on the way back out. Our first proper summit was a few days later – a rarely travelled peak called Ngankar Tshang, which tops out at 5,578 metres and required some moderate route finding and scrambling. We left the teahouse at Dingboche at 3:30 a.m., silently moving upwards under a canopy of twinkling stars, our path illuminated by moonlit glaciers. I was cold. My water froze within the first hour and my extremities felt like they did too. Wearing every layer I had with me to ward off the cold, icy winds that whipped around us, I counted down the hours/minutes/seconds until sunrise when those rays finally broke over the ridge… We just kept climbing, choosing our route based entirely on what we could see above us. We gained a saddle just below the summit, and Ben and Justin opted not to push upwards for the final 300 metres as they were feeling the effects of the altitude. Chris, Saman and I pressed on, moving through some fourth class “choose your own adventure” scrambling terrain that had some moderate exposure before we finally topped out on our first summit. Chris was especially elated. This was everything he’d imagined when we first envisioned this trip – steep scrambling with small holds that was still well within the abilities and comfort level of a crew competent enough to travel quickly over this type of terrain without the need for ropes and belays. As we stood on that summit, surrounded by 360-degree views of mountains both higher and lower, I was struck by the contrasts of the space we were moving through. Here I was, several thousand metres higher than I had ever been in my life, and yet I was still dwarfed by 8,000-metre peaks that seemed to stretch up to the sky. It was as if I was simultaneously on top of the world and yet still on the valley bottom. This feeling persisted with me as we continued our journey. No matter how high we climbed in our subsequent ascents, we were inevitably left staring upwards at something far larger and more imposing than ourselves. I watched little avalanches regularly let loose on Ama Dablam as I travelled beneath its shadow, and felt the immense power of Lhotse as it loomed directly above me in all of its hostile and forbidding beauty. Surprisingly, Everest itself, for all of its notoriety, didn’t have the same impact on me as some of its lesser known neighbours. It really has earned its reputation purely based on the human need to stand on the “very top,” but aesthetically it doesn’t cut nearly as intimidating a figure. I stared up at this most famous of summits with a level of detachment. This mountain had claimed so many lives and been the obsession of so many others, but in reality it’s just this giant snow-covered mound with no other claim to fame besides its sheer height. I quickly realized that all the cardio in the world wouldn’t help me when the oxygen got thin. I wheezed like a twenty-year smoker, huffing and puffing my way up hills that I would eat for breakfast at home. TOP LEFT A lesson in perspective. Saman, the tiny climber in this frame is at 5,500m, dwarfed against the immense backdrop of Lhotse and Nuptse. TOP RIGHT Hilary and Saman share a room with a view (of Everest). CHRIS BRINLEE JR. MIDDLE LEFT The donkey-to-human ratio heading into Namche Bazaar was approximately 500:1. MIDDLE CENTRE Prayer flag-lined street in Thamel, Kathmandu. MIDDLE RIGHT Hilary, staying chipper during a frigid Himalayan morning. CHRIS BRINLEE JR. BOTTOM LEFT 5,100m in unchartered territory and Hilary gets her first taste of the impacts of altitude. CHRIS BRINLEE JR. BOTTOM RIGHT Hardy yaks can cling to impossibly steep trails along the mountainside, watching the world through curious eyes.