Day 13. April, 22. Middle Camp (MC) - Base Camp (BC)
Yesterday at 11 o'clock a group of the future conquerors of Everest went from the BC to the Middle Camp for acclimatization. MC is at the altitude of 5800 m above see level, which almost 150 m higher than the top of Elbrus (5642 m). In general, it is not alpinism to get there, in fact it is a high altitude trekking with the elevation changes of 600 m from start to finish. The whole route is along the Rongbuk glacier, which is, after a third of the way, divided into two - Eastern and Western Rongbuk.
In the photo (above) you can see the view from the fork to the Western glacier Rongbuk and to the The great Himalayan range, and the summit - in the photo on the right - is Pumori. Our path lies through the moraine of the Western glacier Rongbuk and after passing the fork of glaciers - Everest is hidden behind the other mountains.
Knowing, that the ascent in general is quite mildly sloping, I, without careful consideration, put in my backpack a few half-necessary things to make the backpack heavier, about what I regretted by the end of the way. I took about 5 extra kg, for sure. I had a clear motivation: to train and shake myself a little, since I had no physical activity for a long time. But I greatly underestimated the amount of energy required for this transition.
In some places a stone pathway was covered with unmelted snow and yaks caravans went through it, carrying cargoes of expeditions from the BC through the MC to the ABC (Above Base Camp, 6 200 m). First three hours of the way we passed quite actively, but after that the power began to wane. In general it depends on time, not enough spent on such altitudes. How my friend from Orenburg Dima Plyuschikov says 'I love trekkings, but only those, which are not higher than 4000 meters' - I remembered this maxim not once yesterday. It was hard to walk with the backpack higher than 5500 m.
A scale of ascents and descents here are truly Himalayan, and elevation changes too. In short, we went along these beautiful places for quite a long time, the whole way to the MC took more than 7 hours. Abramov says, that the third or the forth ascension will take twice less time. Well, time will tell...
What pleases me - there are not too many people on the pathway, only yaks, expedition members and sherpas. The ordinary trekkers are not allowed to get to the national park, only those who have permits for the ascents are allowed to get there. But as I understand that - it is possible to easily get there on the sly without any permits, if only someone wishes, but for that you have to know everything here.
Approximately an hour or an hour and a half before we got to the MC, the sun went behind the mountains, the pathway was in the shade and it got about 20 degrees colder instantly, I think it was about -5 C. The last half-hour of the way, when the power was completely over, we almost crawled up with the last bit of strength.
But how wonderful it was to see, that the tents in MC had been set up, the dinner had been prepared and waiting for us! There is nothing more well-timed and tasty, than a bowl of shurpa (soup) for the frozen and physically exhausted travellers! After two bowls the thoughts calm down, the body feels warmth and pleasure. It's freezing outside - I think -20 C and it is only 07:00 p.m. and we have nothing to do. It is too early to go and sleep and high altitude sickness shows itself in all its 'beauty': headache, weakness, apathy, confusion of thoughts. I took a small book to read, but my brain feels so bad in conditions of the lack of oxygen, that reading is out of the question. I'll better take a magic pill of doctor Larin - I can't handle it anymore.
On my way from the dining room I looked up in the sky - and oh my God, what the stars! They are so close and they fall! In under a minute I saw three brightest meteors flashed by! But it was so freezing outside, so it was difficult to admire the view for too long, so I quickly went into a tent. up to 02:00 a.m. I couldn't fall asleep - the head hurt, hands and feet froze - hey, what about the magic pill, huh? I had to enhance the effect of the pill by Nimesil (a powder to be mixed with water) by advice of doctor Pokhvalin, and it worked. After a time I woke up with a great feeling - nothing was hurt, feet were hot, I felt warm - I took off the jacket and downy socks. Sergey tossed and turned at night too, but after he had taken Citramonum, he fell asleep.
What a wonderful feeling to wake up in the morning without a headache and to drink a cup of coffee, made by sherpas! Coffee is not very good, of course, but I decided not to take my own coffee-maker with me because of one coffee making, and, despite the fact that I feel quite well, I don't want to make unnecessary movements. One should be careful at such altitude at first.
Everest from the MC looks different, than from below. We can see a shoulder, where we'll climb onto, it's clear, how will we climb. The elevation change between the MC and the top is of 3 km, but it seems so close! Bogomolov told me not once, how 'the bulk of Everest' breaks mountaineers by its power, beetling over them; how it seems, that it is impossible to ascend there, and a small man becomes limp under the weight of this enormous thing. Well, I haven't felt such effect of Everest yet.
Right after breakfast we are heading back to the base camp. Going down is not the same thing as going up, it's an absolutely different thing, but nevertheless we've spent 3 hours for the descent. Almost near the camp we've met the second group - the cameramen and Valdis Pelsh and the climbers 'not to the top' - the members of Abramov's team, who have permits to Everest. They move gasping with exertion, we moved the same way yesterday, and we sympathize to the colleagues at heart, because we know - that's still not the half of what will be further...
Finally, we are home. Yay! Tomorrow we have a day off in the BC, we will enjoy, come to the senses and collect our strength, and the day after tomorrow will be the next acclimatization walk: BC - spending the night in MC - spending the night in ABC - the descent to the BC. Step by step, little by little we will come nearer to the aim!
.
Yesterday at 11 o'clock a group of the future conquerors of Everest went from the BC to the Middle Camp for acclimatization. MC is at the altitude of 5800 m above see level, which almost 150 m higher than the top of Elbrus (5642 m). In general, it is not alpinism to get there, in fact it is a high altitude trekking with the elevation changes of 600 m from start to finish. The whole route is along the Rongbuk glacier, which is, after a third of the way, divided into two - Eastern and Western Rongbuk.
In the photo (above) you can see the view from the fork to the Western glacier Rongbuk and to the The great Himalayan range, and the summit - in the photo on the right - is Pumori. Our path lies through the moraine of the Western glacier Rongbuk and after passing the fork of glaciers - Everest is hidden behind the other mountains.
Knowing, that the ascent in general is quite mildly sloping, I, without careful consideration, put in my backpack a few half-necessary things to make the backpack heavier, about what I regretted by the end of the way. I took about 5 extra kg, for sure. I had a clear motivation: to train and shake myself a little, since I had no physical activity for a long time. But I greatly underestimated the amount of energy required for this transition.
In some places a stone pathway was covered with unmelted snow and yaks caravans went through it, carrying cargoes of expeditions from the BC through the MC to the ABC (Above Base Camp, 6 200 m). First three hours of the way we passed quite actively, but after that the power began to wane. In general it depends on time, not enough spent on such altitudes. How my friend from Orenburg Dima Plyuschikov says 'I love trekkings, but only those, which are not higher than 4000 meters' - I remembered this maxim not once yesterday. It was hard to walk with the backpack higher than 5500 m.
A scale of ascents and descents here are truly Himalayan, and elevation changes too. In short, we went along these beautiful places for quite a long time, the whole way to the MC took more than 7 hours. Abramov says, that the third or the forth ascension will take twice less time. Well, time will tell...
What pleases me - there are not too many people on the pathway, only yaks, expedition members and sherpas. The ordinary trekkers are not allowed to get to the national park, only those who have permits for the ascents are allowed to get there. But as I understand that - it is possible to easily get there on the sly without any permits, if only someone wishes, but for that you have to know everything here.
Approximately an hour or an hour and a half before we got to the MC, the sun went behind the mountains, the pathway was in the shade and it got about 20 degrees colder instantly, I think it was about -5 C. The last half-hour of the way, when the power was completely over, we almost crawled up with the last bit of strength.
But how wonderful it was to see, that the tents in MC had been set up, the dinner had been prepared and waiting for us! There is nothing more well-timed and tasty, than a bowl of shurpa (soup) for the frozen and physically exhausted travellers! After two bowls the thoughts calm down, the body feels warmth and pleasure. It's freezing outside - I think -20 C and it is only 07:00 p.m. and we have nothing to do. It is too early to go and sleep and high altitude sickness shows itself in all its 'beauty': headache, weakness, apathy, confusion of thoughts. I took a small book to read, but my brain feels so bad in conditions of the lack of oxygen, that reading is out of the question. I'll better take a magic pill of doctor Larin - I can't handle it anymore.
On my way from the dining room I looked up in the sky - and oh my God, what the stars! They are so close and they fall! In under a minute I saw three brightest meteors flashed by! But it was so freezing outside, so it was difficult to admire the view for too long, so I quickly went into a tent. up to 02:00 a.m. I couldn't fall asleep - the head hurt, hands and feet froze - hey, what about the magic pill, huh? I had to enhance the effect of the pill by Nimesil (a powder to be mixed with water) by advice of doctor Pokhvalin, and it worked. After a time I woke up with a great feeling - nothing was hurt, feet were hot, I felt warm - I took off the jacket and downy socks. Sergey tossed and turned at night too, but after he had taken Citramonum, he fell asleep.
What a wonderful feeling to wake up in the morning without a headache and to drink a cup of coffee, made by sherpas! Coffee is not very good, of course, but I decided not to take my own coffee-maker with me because of one coffee making, and, despite the fact that I feel quite well, I don't want to make unnecessary movements. One should be careful at such altitude at first.
Everest from the MC looks different, than from below. We can see a shoulder, where we'll climb onto, it's clear, how will we climb. The elevation change between the MC and the top is of 3 km, but it seems so close! Bogomolov told me not once, how 'the bulk of Everest' breaks mountaineers by its power, beetling over them; how it seems, that it is impossible to ascend there, and a small man becomes limp under the weight of this enormous thing. Well, I haven't felt such effect of Everest yet.
Right after breakfast we are heading back to the base camp. Going down is not the same thing as going up, it's an absolutely different thing, but nevertheless we've spent 3 hours for the descent. Almost near the camp we've met the second group - the cameramen and Valdis Pelsh and the climbers 'not to the top' - the members of Abramov's team, who have permits to Everest. They move gasping with exertion, we moved the same way yesterday, and we sympathize to the colleagues at heart, because we know - that's still not the half of what will be further...
Finally, we are home. Yay! Tomorrow we have a day off in the BC, we will enjoy, come to the senses and collect our strength, and the day after tomorrow will be the next acclimatization walk: BC - spending the night in MC - spending the night in ABC - the descent to the BC. Step by step, little by little we will come nearer to the aim!
.
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