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Highest mountain on earth, 8.848m, Nepal/Tibet
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"If you can dream it, you can do it"
Walt Disney
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But why?
More than a dream, ascending the Everest was for me the accomplishment of a year and a half of hard training. About 17 months ago I knew nothing about high altitude mountaineering and on the 21st of may 2007 I summited the Goddess Mother of the World. I'm never satisfied with the situation I am in and I always need more. I've always loved big challenges and what seems impossible to achieve attracts me particularly.
This personal accomplishement would not have been possible without the professional work of Adventure Consultants wich includes sherpas, guides, doctors and BC manager.
Summit day :
The 20th of May 2007, we left camp 4 around 10pm in a complete dark night. We could just see what our headlight showed us a couple of meters in front of us. Walking during the night was part of the hardest thing to do on that summit day. The body was not really awake and the lack of sun made temperatures drop below -30°C. The breaks we took were extremely short and well organized. But as soon as the sun rose, around 5 am, we witnessed an amazing view on Lohtse and the other 8K peaks around. 40 minutes later we reached the south summit, from that point, you have an impressive sight of the summit ridge. On your left side a 2.000m drop in Nepal and on your right a 3.000m drop in Tibet. It was time to change oxygen bottle and start climbing towards the famous Hillary step. I had seen so many pictures of it, heard so many things that I was a bit nervous. But 30 minutes later we were on top of it.
At 7am we reached the summit! This was an amazing moment that we shared with the climbers around us. It was an international gathering, we were not anymore in Nepal nor in Tibet, we were on the top of the world, this is the 3rd pole! We stayed 45 minutes on the top and then started our descent. Going down was tiring and most of us lost their attention. It is always the most dangerous part of a climb as we are too tired and lost most of our energy reaching the summit.
On the way down, the rescue of Usha Bista:
On the way down, Baxter (my two-month tent mate) and I ran into a Usha Bista (22 years old Nepali woman) that had been abandoned by her Sherpa and guide. Close to death, due to a cerebral edema she couldn't move. Dave Hahn, an American climber was already helping her but he needed assistance. Baxter and I helped carrying her below "the balcony" on the way to camp 4. I was astonished to see how difficult it is to move an inert body above 8.000 meters after coming down from the summit. Hopefully, one hour later a strong sherpa that made an impressive quick ascent from C4 came to help her and she did survive. During the 2007 climbing season 6 people died on Everest while attempting to reach the top of the World.
Turning back before summit
During our summit day, one of our member had to turn around at the South Summit. This man has all my greatest respect. It takes a lot of courrage to turn around when summit seems so close. He might have been able to keep going to the summit very slowly but I guess he wanted to climb up and down the mountain in relative good condition and on his own two feet. He showed great respect to his team, his sherpas and guides. I wish that more people on Everest could have his courrage and respect for the mountain.
You have people on Everest that do mistakes, that keep climbing besides the warning they got. Then they have cerebral edema, pulmonary edema or frostbites and need help from guides, sherpas and other climbers. They put other's life at risk just for their own dream.
These two months on Everest were amazing. I had lots of luck during my summit day for the weather but also because I met another great climber on the expedition. Baxter shared the tent with me above base camp. We may climb together another 8K peak in 2009 ... so see you soon...
Congratulations to all the other belgians (Stef Maginelle, Bjorn Vandewege, Stein Tant, Marjolein De Bruycker, Wim Smets) who summited Everest and to Dawa Sherpa (23 years) who became the youngest Belgian-Nepali to summit Mount Everest!
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The team :
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Climbers : David Arnett (USA), Chris Burrows (USA), Michael Dunjey (Australia),
Baxter Gillespie (USA), Cedric Hayden (USA), Chuck Mc Gibbon (USA), Frank Slachman (USA), Andrea Moore (British/NZ), Sébastien Glorie (Belgium)
Guides : Guy Cotter (NZ), Mike Roberts (NZ), Luis Benitez (USA), Mark Sedon, (NZ)
Expediton Doctor : Dr Catriona MacGregor (Scottish), Dr Roger Wandless (UK)
Base camp manager : Suze Kelly (NZ)
Expedition Sirdar : Ang Tshering (khumjung)
Climbing Sirdar and Assistant Guide : Ang Dorjee Sherpa, (USA, origin : Pangboche)
Climbing Sherpas : 21 climbing Sherpas (will put names as soon as I get them)
Basecamp Member cook : Chhongba sherpa (Nunthala)
Basecamp Cook boys : Passang Sherpa (Khumjung) and Lhakpa Sherpa
Basecamp Sherpa Cook : Dawa Sherpa
Camp 2 cook : Jangbu Sherpa
Adventure Consultants NZ office Team : Tiffany Shervell
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| Climbed with : |
Adventure consutants |
| Duration, period : |
2 months, April-May 2007
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| Summiters : |
6 climbers, 4 guides, 15 sherpas |
| Route : |
Nepal, South Col route |
| Advice : |
Climbing another 8k peak before Everest helped me a lot. If you wanna summit,
train hard ! |
As you can see the long list of participants for the Everest Expedition, this challenge involves many people to help us achieving our goal. I would like to thank them for putting so much effort in the realisation of the dream of some of us. Sherpas are the real heroes of Everest. My expedition, my summit wouldn't have been possible without the help of these amazing men. I really want to thank them for their patience, hard work, humility and gentle souls.
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