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Mount Everest (8850 m / 29,035 feet)
Northeast ridge - Himalaya, Tibet

Mount Everest from the Base Camp (© P. Gatta)

Mount Everest is the highest summit on earth. The top reaches 8850 meters. The mountain, which is part of the Himalaya range in High Asia, is located on the border between Nepal and Tibet. It is also known as Chomolungma which means “Mother of the Universe” in Tibetan. Mt. Everest is also one of the 7 summits.

Edmund Hillary and Tensing Norway Sherpa made the first ascent from the Nepalese side on 29 may, 1953. We climbed the Northeast ridge on the Tibetan side which was climbed first in 1960 by a Chinese and Tibetan expedition.

The video of the Everest expedition

The story of our Everest expedition

April 17 - May 16: from Katmandu to Everest base camp and acclimatization

We arrived in Katmandu on April 15 and spent two days to review the gear, food, etc.
Apr 17-22: we flew to Lhassa (3660 m, Tibet) then we left Lhassa and crossed the Tibetan plateau toward Everest.
Apr 23: we arrived at Everest base camp at 5150 m / 17,000'.
Apr 24-May 16: we made a first rotation up to the North Col of Everest at 7050 m / 23,000' to acclimatize and carry loads.

Mt. Everest and Asia's map (Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech)

May 17: Base Camp (5150 m /17,000 ft) - Interim camp (5750 m /19,000 ft)

24th day of the expedition. We came back from our acclimation trip to the North Col of Everest (7050 m / 23,000 ft) 10 days ago. Even though we train 3h a day, I am a bit worried that those 10 days spent at the Base Camp have been too long and that we lost part of our acclimatization. My Oxygen saturation seems to confirm it. It was at 90% a few days ago, it is now at 86%. In fact, we planned to leave for the summit two days ago and shoot for the middle of the good weather window (May 21-22) but the weather forecast was still uncertain.

We are going up today, toward the Interim camp. It is a walk of 12km (7.5mi) on the East Rongbuk glacier. 3h30 on the moraine.

Interim camp (© P. Gatta)

Yaks are ordered to the liaison officers several days in advance. Then he contacts the villages around to find enough Yaks to fulfill the needs. Some villages are far away from the Everest and it can take up to 9 days for the Yaks and their owners to join the base camp, carry the loads to the advanced base camp and then return to their villages.
In total we have 2.5 tons of gear, food, tents, etc to carry to the advanced base camp. As each Yak can carry around 40 kg, we needed 60 Yaks to bring everything to the advanced base camp. Multiply that by 15 expeditions and you will have an idea of how many Yaks travel on this trail regularly.

Our tents at Interim Camp (© P. Gatta)

Yaks on the way to Advanced Base Camp, Everest behind (© P. Gatta)

As the previous days, it is snowing in the evening. It is too cold in our tent so we eat in the warm kitchen tent with our Tibetan cooks.

May 18: Interim camp (5750 m / 19,000 ft) - Advanced Base Camp (6450 m / 21,000 ft)

We continue our walk on the East Rongbuk glacier on the famous "miracle highway". It has been named this way by the first explorers because there is an easy strip of stones splitting the glacier in two parts. We progress along this strip instead of crossing 10km of glacier and crevasses.

Miracle Highway (© P. Gatta)

Panoramic view from Advanced Base Camp of Everest (© P. Gatta)

May 19: Rest day at the Advanced Base Camp (6450 m / 21,000 ft)

We stay at the advanced base camp to recover from the last two days and to review the gears one more time. We will have to carry up food again for the North Col of Everest.

Advanced Base camp, the North Col is on the right and some clouds cover the Pinnacles.
The summit of Everest is the small pyramid visible in the right background. (© P. Gatta)

Last check up of oxygen bottle, regulator and mask. Several regulators didn't work properly last year so we will have to carry spare ones. One bottle weights 3.8 kg (8.3lbs), the O2 pressure inside the bottle varies from 200 to 260 bars depending on the temperature. The autonomy in minutes = pressure x 4 / flow setting in l/min, i.e around 4h30 at the highest flow. We won't do the math at 8000m so we define the strategy now. We will carry two bottles each, we will change them above the second step and use 3l/min. That will give us 9 hours of oxygen which is not enough for the round trip camp 3 - summit - camp 3. Thus we will have to reduce the flow each time we can.


Clothing (10 kg / 22 lbs): 2 layers for the legs, 4 layers for the body, beanie, balaclava, 2 pairs of gloves, 1 pair of down mittens, socks, goggle, hands and feet warmers, down suit and plastic boots.

Gear (12 kg / 26 lbs): ice axes, crampons, carabineers, jumar, head light, knife, water, snacks, camera, rucksack and 2 oxygen bottles.

May 20: Advanced Base Camp (6450 m / 21,000 ft) - Camp 1 at North Col of Everest (7050 m / 23,000 ft)

Last time I climbed to the North Col of Everest I baked, so this time I leave the advanced base camp early. Geff is sick and will not go up with us. There is no problem with the climb but speed up as we pass below the big serac half way to the col.

Climbers on their way to the North col.
The tents are close to the large serac underneath the col. (© P. Gatta)

Kathapu Peak (7283), Lhakpa-Ri (7045m).
Trail between the Advanced Base Camp and the North Col.
Picture taken from the North Col (© P. Gatta)

May 21: Rest day at North Col of Everest

I am not sure we needed this rest day, many teams skipped it and went straight to camp 2. Anyway, we will stay here at 7050 m / 23,000 ft all day melting snow to drink, eat and rest. Many climbers who summitted earlier are passing in front of our tent, we cheer and congratulate them but we are scared to see how exhausted they are.

Our tents at the North Col. (© P. Gatta)

May 22: Camp 1 at North Col of Everest (7050 m / 23,000 ft) - Camp 2 (7700 m / 25,000 ft)

We just got a call from Duncan who is at the camp 3; he told us to be prepared for a cold and windy day. Let's be positive, I will wear the down suit instead of carrying it in my rucksack already full.

Climbers on the way to camp 2, the summit is on the right. (© P. Gatta)

The snow conditions are good but the wind is getting stronger as we climb up. When we reach the camp 2 the wind is blowing at 60 km/h (37 mph). As there is no large spot to put all tents together, they are quite spread out. I share a small tent with Gavin. We spend a part of the day listening to the radio conversations between the Sherpas trying to help out a climber who broke a hand in the second step.

The wind is blowing hard during all night. We sleep with all the clothes on and we keep everything in the rucksack in case the tent is blown away.

Changtse (7583m) seen from camp 2. We can see the tents at the North Col below. (© P. Gatta)

May 23: Camp 2 (7700 m / 25,000 ft) - Camp 3 (8300 m / 27,200 ft)

We got the last weather forecast by radio early in the morning and it is bad. The wind will be stronger than expected, from 40 km/h (25 mph) raising to 80 km/h (50 mph), the temperature will drop to -25/-30ºC (-22ºF). We have a long discussion between us. Finally Kirsti, Kevin and Gavin decide to go down. I decide to go with Namgyal and Nima. Jamie stays at camp 2 to follow our climb.

We leave early to the camp 3 that we reach in 4 hours. I am not sure we should call this place a camp, it is rather a 30º snow slope where we can pitch a few tents. Going in and out of the tent once we had taken off the crampons is quite a challenge.

Climbers on the way to camp 3 (I'm 2nd from the bottom) (© P. Gatta)

Nima in front of our tent at camp 3 (© P. Gatta)

We spend the afternoon resting, drinking and eating some snacks. At 11pm we have all our clothes on and not an inch of skin is exposed to the wind. We have to wear the goggle even if it is dark to protect the eyes from the frostbite. I put 2 bottles of boiling water inside my down suit. It takes a while to put crampons on; the buckle are frozen and the metal is so cold that it sticks to the gloves. Fortunately we covered the ice axe with soft plastic and hockey tape to avoid this problem and to isolate the metal from the gloves. 11:30pm, we are ready to go.

View from the steep camp 3. Only 5 mountains in the world are higher than this camp. (© P. Gatta)

May 24: Camp 3 (8300 m / 27,200 ft) - Everest Summit (8850 m / 29,035 ft) - Everest North Col (7050 m / 23,000 ft)

The route above camp 3. Picture taken from 8770 m on the way down from the Everest summit (7am) (© P. Gatta)

We leave the tent at 11:30pm (on the 23rd), the wind is not too strong but it is very cold. The first part of the climb up to the Exit Cracks (8500 m / 28,000 ft) is steeper and more technical than I thought. It requires ice axe and crampons front point technique. The snow is soft and around calf deep and the trail broken is instantly filled in with fresh snow. With the oxygen mask, the goggle and the hood it is very hard to see, actually it is impossible to see our feet.

It is a relief to reach the ridge (8500 m / 28,000 ft) where we can find better snow conditions. The flip side is that we are more exposed to the wind which doesn't allow us to stop for any rest.

The First Step is a short climb at large boulders (PD, II). Then the traverse continues to the right on the narrow ridge. The second step (8610 m / 28,250 ft) is the hardest section of the route. The lower part consists of large boulders (III) that I climb in a hideous style, using my knees, elbows and everything I can. Above, a steep snow gully leads to the bottom of the famous ladder. The first ladder was placed there by the Chinese expedition in 1960 in order to ease the vertical slab (V+). Climbing the ladder is easy but the traverse from its top is very exposed and technical. I have to take my oxygen mask off several times to see more precisely where to put my feet. The fixed rope is poorly placed; they are so low that they are useless and would not stop a fall.

Second step seen from below (previous year) (© Jamie McGuiness)

Kevin climbing down the 2nd step, reaching the top of the ladder (Jamie McGuiness)

Passing the second step was good mentally, now it remains 2 hours to the summit and it's easier. We change our oxygen bottle. The first one is not empty but there are very few comfortable places to do it and we don't want to be caught by surprise. We keep the empty bottle in our rucksack and will take them down. The third step is easier (II) and shorter (10m).

4:20am, we are above the second step, note the curvature of the Earth. (© P. Gatta)

4:30am, I am climbing the third step, 8700 m / 28,500 ft (© P. Gatta)

From the top of the third step. (© P. Gatta)

Just above the third step, 2 dead bodies lay down only few meters away from the route. I saw several others at a lower altitude too. Two of them died only a few days ago, some last year and others several years ago. I am shocked and sad. I know that it is not possible to get the bodies down from this altitude but perhaps their team mates could have buried them a bit better.

The sky becomes orange as the sun rises. We catch up the Colombian team on the last snow slope. Then we leave the ridge and go right to impressive North face of Everest that we will follow for a few pitches. This face is very steep and we can see the glacier 3500 m / 11,500 ft straight below.

Nima and me climbing the snow slope, 8770 m / 28,700 ft (© P. Gatta)

From the snow slope looking down, we can see the route following the ridge. (© P. Gatta)

We exit the North face to the summit ridge that we follow to the top of Everest. We reach it at 5:45am and stay there for 45 minutes.

Summit ridge and top of Everest.
We can see many prayer flags on the left (© P. Gatta)

Photos from the top of Mount Everest

Panoramic view from the summit. Everest Northeast ridge (left), Kangchenjunga, Makalu and the beginning of the Lhotse ridge (right) (© P. Gatta)

6:30am, it is time to go down. Namgyal stays a bit longer to take more pictures. No problem on the way down until the second step. When I reach the second step, Nima and Namgyal are way behind. I start climbing down anyway and soon get my left foot trapped in 5 or 6 old ropes. I can't move up or down, I can't use the fixed rope either because it is badly placed and too low. I try to stay calm, remove the mask to have a better look at the situation, and put it back on to breath heavily before moving. I take off my foot from the mess and move slowly to reach the top of the ladder. The full process took me probably 15 minutes but it went well and I can continue the descent.

From the top of the 2nd step, looking up (on the way down) (© P. Gatta)

I do not fully trust the fixed rope and prefer to climb down rather than rappelling. I still use a cows tail though. It takes longer but I finally reach the camp 3 around 9am. We stay there a few minutes to melt some snow to drink, eat a snack and I continue the descent alone. At 8000 m, mythic altitude, I stop to take a last movie.

I reach the camp 2 around 11:30. Jamie gives me 0.5l of juice that I drink straight. What a pleasure! Stupidly I am still carrying the water in my down suit even though it is so cold that I can't drink it. Since we left the camp 12 hours ago, we almost didn't drink or eat. I pay the price now, being very tired and sleepy. The wind is blowing at 80km/h (50 mph) and conditions are getting worse so we can't stay here and have to go down quickly.

The descent to the Everest North Col takes me almost 4h while I climbed it in 5h with a heavy rucksack few days ago. At several occasions I seat in the snow, more or less falling asleep. I reach the North Col at 3:30pm, we have been climbing for 16 hours, with 22 kg of gear, mainly above 8000 m in deep snow and cold weather. That's enough for me today, I decide to sleep there and I'll continue the descent to advanced base camp tomorrow. Finally I enjoy this last night at this nice camp now I know that it is over.

May 25: Everest North Col (7050 m / 23,000 ft) - Advanced base camp (6450 m / 21,000 ft)

After a good night, I feel great and I am ready to go down. Jamie and I clean up our two tents, gather all our gear and leave the camp with big rucksack again. Just before reaching advanced base camp, Jamie realizes that he put his camera on the ground when we took off the crampons and forgot it there. He goes back up again to recover his camera while I am eating the first real meal in several days. In the afternoon I pack all my gear (40 kg / 88lbs) that will be carried down by the Yaks.

May 26: Advanced base camp (6450 m / 21,000 ft) - Base camp (5150 m / 17,000 ft)

I leave the advanced base camp and I am glad to walk down the 25 km / 15 miles along the Rongbuk glacier for the last time. Four hours and a half later I reach the base camp, this is the end of the walk and the climb of Everest. It is nice to be back into a thicker air. I spend the afternoon to pack everything and eat.

May 27-28: Base Camp (5150 m / 17,000 ft) - Zanghmu (2300 m / 7,545') - Katmandu

The travel from the base camp to Katmandu along the Friendship highway is quite an adventure. Actually I wouldn't call it a highway, not even a road but fortunately the scenery compensate for the lack of comfort. In total it takes 14 hours with a 4 wheels drive to reach Katmandu. As far as the hotel in Zanghmu goes, I would give it less stars than my tent in base camp, but at least there is a wonder...called shower. The first one in weeks.

Shishapangma, 8013 m, the 14th -and last- of the 8000m summits.
Picture taken from Lalung La, 5050m, on the way to Zanghmu (© P. Gatta)

Crossing the border between China and Nepal was my last adventure. Especially because in the rush, I forgot the Visa paper. Fortunately our representative from the Chinese Mountaineering Association did a great job with the Chinese immigration and spared me few years of "extended trip" in China...

The "road" to Zanghmu. (© P. Gatta)

7 Summits Challenge

Mt. Everest is part of the 7 Summits Challenge which consists in climbing the highest mountain of each of the 7 continents.