A Night on Everest
I arrived at Camp 4 around 11:00 a.m.
after a 6:00 a.m. start from Camp 3.
I was still processing the one dead body
that I had seen just off the main route
above the Yellow Band four hours earlier.
How long had they been there? Who
was that? I wanted answers then, but I
was just trying to keep moving at over
25,000 ft. I was climbing with an 18 lb.
bottle of oxygen with a three liter per
minute flow rate. I was more worried
about leaving for the summit after what
I had just seen.
We crossed the Geneva Spur at around
10:00 a.m. and made our way to the
South Col and Camp 4. Climbers were
descending from the first of the two
good summit days of the 2019 season.
It was May 22. It was partly cloudy and
windy. Half of my IMG (International
Mountain Guides) group had already
summited and were either descending
or resting at Camp 4 while my group
was just getting into Camp 4. I wanted
to hear about the climb and what had
happened, but those descending from
the summit were either crashed and
asleep or not back down from the
summit. I was also exhausted and
happy to crawl into my temporary
tent and unstuff my sleeping bag
and sleeping pad. While I was resting,
Chris arrived and joined me in the tent.
We could hear talking on the nearby
radios that our Sherpa and guides
shared. On the radio we could hear one
of our team asking for help. She was on
the Balcony, about half way down from
the summit, and she was not feeling
well. She was told to get something to
eat and drink and then continue down.
We had no idea that she had symptoms
of pulmonary edema on the Hillary Step.
Chris and I were on oxygen at one liter
per minute while inside our tent. The
idea of pulmonary edema scared me.
16
JA NUA RY/F E B R UA RY 2020 | P EN N S YLVA N IA D EN TA L J O U R N A L
Summit
The Hillary Step
29,029 ft.
as only one mountaineer can ascend at a time.
The DeathZone
Lhotse
Camp
26,085 ft.
First camp within the DeathZone.
Most climbers at this elevation
can no longer acclimatize.
4
Camp
23,625 ft.
3
.
The Lhotse Face
A steep, shiny ice wall
Camp
21,000 ft.
Camp
19,685 ft.
Khumbu Icefall
A huge, Shifting pack of ice and
crevasses, this stage is considered
one of the most treacherous.
Base Camp
17,598 ft.
1
2