EVEREST SUMMIT DAY (descent)

Standing on the summit of Everest, the main thing I could think about was coming down. I had only reached halfway (even less than halfway actually!). I had so far to go, including the tricky rocks that start almost immediately from the summit. I hugged Kris goodbye, who left as I was taking photos. It’s really special sharing the most significant life moments with good friends. I then headed down not long after.

It was too cold to just sit on the summit and appreciate the (non-existent) view, or to have a proper rest. I still hadn’t drunk or eaten since the balcony. Just off the summit Pemba changed my oxygen bottle, and I changed into some finger gloves, instead of mittens. I did this because I could not grab the rope tightly with the big mitts, and I would feel very nervous in the steep sections where this is crucial. My hands were okay, but I wasn’t sure if I was making a bad decision to change at the summit, when it was still very cold, and would be for many more hours. I knew I could change into the big mitts again at the South Summit (after the technical descent) if I needed. Due to the huge number of people I knew would be attempting the summit on the same day as me (20th of May), Dad had told me that I needed to get back to the South Summit before the long lines of people. We are all mostly on the same rope, ascending and descending. So it was important that I didn’t have to descend those trickier rocks, at the same time as others were climbing up.

Coming down the Hilary Step was technically easier than I had expected, after coming up it. However I would make fast movements climbing down, and instantly get very very out of breath, and needed to stop. It was easier to go accidentally too quick for what my breathing could handle, on the way down than going up.

Just as we were coming to the South Summit, I saw Regine and Jakob who were also in our group! Regine and I were chilling together at camp 3 (7100m), looking up at the huge mountain that we still had to go up. We were talking about how badly we wanted to summit, but also how nervous we were. At 8750m on my way down, and her way up, she gave me the hugest hug! She summited a couple of hours later!

At the South Summit, we climbed up the 8m section, and finally I could relax a tiny tiny bit, as I had passed the tricky section before all of the groups arrived. I didn’t need to rush anymore. Finally I could see some groups coming up. The lines were HUGE, and I couldn’t be more grateful to have left early and have had done the summit before the rest. Despite the lighter gloves, my fingers were doing great!

For those who don’t know, we are all wearing harnesses, with 3 ropes the length of our arm, coming off. 1 has a jumar attached (this bites onto the rope and slides up not down. This is how we ascend the rope), the other 2 ropes have carabiners that are for in case the jumar malfunctions (this is called a safety rope). It also allows us to have at least 1 point of contact with the fixed rope. Coming down, we don’t use the jumar, just the safety ropes. There is a special method to descend using the safety, called a Sherpa rappel – it is much quicker than a rappel, and multiple people can go at once. Through some sections of the icefall, it is too steep for this so I prefer to rappel/abseil normally.

Since we always want to be clipped to the fixed ropes, but people are coming up them, we need to clip around them, one carabiner/safety rope at a time so that we are always connected. It honestly is so annoying – even though it sounds like the most minuscule effort, doing it so many times after climbing for 10 hours at 8000m+ with almost no food or water, it is hard! But many accidents happen in that 1 second that people unclip, so it was worth the extra effort.

Coming down, I saw Emma!!! She’s so strong, and such a lovely person and I was so happy to see her doing well up there! I also saw Oliver! He’s from Australia, and was going for the record for the fastest time from sea level to the top of the world! He said something along the lines of “Yeah the Aussies!”, through his muffled voice. I know I’m talking a lot about other people, but its truly so special running into people who you have followed their journey training, and seen on the mountain. You know how much these people deserve to summit, and it was so special to hug them, knowing they would make it from this point onwards. We’re all struggling up there, but its nice to forget about it for a split second and enjoy those small moments.

Nearing the Balcony, Pemba, Ngudu and I were quite tired. We hadn’t rested since the Balcony on the way up (and kind of the summit). There was a small flat section and we plonked down. We were very tired. I went to get my bottle of water that was on the inside of my jacket, close to my chest. This was the warmest place I could put it, but it was frozen solid. I was sooooo thirsty but I was too tired to be mad. Luckily Pemba had a thermos of hot water! I was so grateful for that!

Finally the sun started to rise! Whether its on the way up, on the summit, or on the way down, I’m sure the sunrise is one of the highlights for many people. Pemba, Ngudu and I were lying on the snow, exhausted, icicles on our eyelashes, and all of our gear. This was one of the most special moments of my life. I could see the curvature of the Earth, something I had long dreamed of seeing. I could see into Tibet on my right, and on my left, many mountains in Nepal. Including Ama Dablam which I had climb 1.5 years ago. At almost 7000m I could barely see it because it looked so small! In this moment I was so tired, I still had a while to go, but sitting there, I felt so content. For a moment, I could appreciate the sunrise, without worrying about the rest of the day. I knew I wasn’t going to be exactly there for a long while, so I took it all in.

With the sun rising, I had to put on my sunglasses. I had been climbing with goggles, but I prefer sunglasses for when it is sunny and goggles for night climbing. Keeping sunglasses off in the daytime in the high mountains, for even just 15-30 minutes can bring on snow blindness – where you go temporarily almost fully blind. It can be the difference between the descent taking 6 or 20 hours.

I had some more water and we set off again. As soon as I began to walk, my legs went back to that same exhausted state. The only thing I can remotely relate it to, is how my legs feel after a hard sprint, where you can feel the build up of lactic acid in them. I just tried to go slow and breath very heavily, to maximise the (very little) oxygen getting to my legs.

Finally, we arrived at the Balcony! Pemba, Ngudu and I plonked back down on the snow – as if we hadn’t just rested only an hour ago. I was so tired. I was too tired to eat a gel, and the three of us just laid there on the snow for 10 minutes or so. Pemba then changed my oxygen bottle into the half empty one I had used on the way up to the Balcony. (don’t ask how everyone’s bottles don’t get mixed up and how people don’t end up stealing others’ oxygen, because I have no clue!)

We continued on… Even recounting these memories of the descent is giving me flashbacks. I was so tired, and I had so far to go! My legs were jelly. I was so uncomfortable because my sunglasses kept fogging up – probably because my face was significantly warmer than the outside air. With the sun out, I was getting warm and could not easily do anything about it. I was still thirsty, I hadn’t eaten since the Balcony on the ascent, and I hadn’t slept more than 30 mins in 29 hours (so far).

We got off the Triangular face onto the “flatter” section. Pemba and I’s legs were soooo tired, so we stopped again. I’m not sure if I was walking too fast, and my leg muscles couldn’t keep up – but they were so dead.

**More TMI** – I had not been to the toilet in a long time. I really needed to go (number 2 :), but I was soooooo tired. We slowly arrived in camp 4, and all I wanted to do was lie down. The tent we had left from and left our sleeping bags and other unnecessary gear in, was taken. I was too tired to care. Pemba and I found an empty tent and he crawled in. I took my crampons and harness off, and then walked about 5m off the side of one of the tents and went to the toilet. I had to keep my pack on, (to stay attached to the oxygen bottle) and unzip the butt zip on my down suit. There’s no privacy as camp 4 is just a flat area with tents. We have to use “wag bags” to poop in and carry it down. It is a truly humbling experience: pooping in a bag whilst many people can see you. I saw a lot of people going to the toilet so we’re all even! – with my goggles and oxygen mask, it would’ve been hard to recognise my face anyways! People often ask if I get frostbite from going to the toilet up there, but its not long enough (or often cold enough) that we are exposed like this. Last year when it was really windy, I had to use the wag bag inside of the tent. Also very humbling. I share ALL about the expedition! 😄

It was such an effort to go to the toilet, but I stood up and stumbled back to my tent. I looked around at other tents, and seeing people’s lifeless legs poking out of their tents, with the zip doors still wide open, it looked as though they were bodies. They were just very tired people! I recognised Pemba’s legs, and crawled into that tent. I took my pack off, keeping it close to my head as the oxygen bottle was in it. I was SO tired. There was nothing in this tent, apart from Pemba and I’s packs that we had brought to the summit. Ngudu was in another tent.

I laid in the tent, before I decided I needed to start preparing for the way down. We didn’t have enough oxygen to stay in camp 4 for another night, so no matter how long it would take, we had to move to at least camp 3. My phone and satellite tracker/messenger had died from the cold but I remembered that I brought a small battery so I plugged my tracker in first. Even from just sitting upright from lying down, I needed to catch my breath. I knew this was due to the lack of food and water. My bottle was still frozen, and so were most of my gels. I had a few that had thawed, and I force fed myself as much as I physically could.

This is not a place where you listen to your body’s signals (unless very severe of course). It is not a place where humans are meant to be, so our bodies lose hunger signals, and we just want to sleep and sleep forever. We just need to do what we know is the right thing.

Once my phone and the tracker had some battety, I texted my mum and dad. They kept asking me so many questions via text, and I was way too tired to type. I just let them know I was okay, and in camp 4.

Mum kept sending me satellite messages about how many media channels were talking about me, and how many people were doing interviews about me. But I still had so far to go, and I was far from being in a safe position. I myself couldn’t celebrate the fact that I had summited, in fact, I had barely even thought about it. I was so grateful for all of the support from back home and all around the world, but I felt like I had the hardest part to go still, and everyone thought I was done.

I then rested for a long time, I’m not sure if I slept much, but it was nice to lie down. Although it didn’t feel long, from looking at the timing of videos I arrived at camp 4 at 6:30am, and I woke up at 11am!! When I woke up, Pemba was gone (he was just in another tent with his gear that he had left in c4). I felt better than when we had arrived, but still exhausted. I wasn’t going to get any better, as we were still in the death zone, and our bodies were slowly deteriorating. I rested some more, and woke up to someone hitting my foot in my boot (that was still lying outside of the tent). Other climbers had just arrived back to camp 4, and all the tents were taken so they asked me to get out. It was fair, since I had rested for a few hours, and I knew exactly how they felt. But I still didn’t feel much better.

I gathered the gels I had eaten, my still frozen water bottle, my phone, battery, and garmin device. I put my pack on and headed out of the tent. I found Pemba, and we now just had to sit outside. It wasn’t too cold, but pretty uncomfortable and awkward just sitting on a rock – as is everything at 8000m. Ngudu had made some water (melted snow) and I could drink a bit. I ate more gels, and all I could think was: “how the hell am I going to get down this”. We packed our bags up with the gear from our tent, and put our crampons and harnesses back on. I was soooo tired and dreading the descent so much. Right before we left, I saw Kia, a great friend who was in our dining tent at base camp! I also saw River who was about to become the first Afghan woman to summit Everest!!! She lives in Melbourne too! And…I saw Regine just as she was arriving back in camp 4, it was so nice to mutually know that we had both summited, even if we couldn’t really talk.

As soon as we started moving, I felt surprisingly much better. We moved slow and steady, and I didn’t feel like a needed a break too often. Carbohydrates are magical! We came down the steep and rocky Geneva Spur, and towards Lhotse camp 4. We rested near one of those tents, and I had a caffeine lolly, which woke me up more than the long nap and other non-caffeinated gels. I then recognised Kristen’s Sherpa (Mingtemba), further down the steep Lhotse face I spotted Kristen!!! I was so incredibly happy to see her! She feels like family to me, and at a point where I was going through so many emotions, it was lovely to see someone I knew. She was climbing with no oxygen, from camp 3 to Lhotse camp 4. She gave me the biggest hug, and checked if I was wearing sunscreen (I was!). She’s really like my super cool mountain aunty! We obviously couldn’t chat for long but seeing her gave me so much motivation.

We were well on the steep Lhotse face, and were “Sherpa rappelling” down. Ngudu had gone ahead, but Pemba and I would rest every second or third rope length (each is 50m). I should also mention how hot it was! Similar to the ascent of the Lhotse Face, coming down with the sun beaming down on us, made it very very unpleasantly warm. I had unzipped the zippers down the side of my legs, (exposing my leggings underneath), opened my armpit zips, and opened the jacket as much as I could. I still had to keep my gloves on as I had to grip the rope tightly, and I couldn’t take my jacket off, since it was too steep and we would risk dropping something. At least my glasses weren’t fogging up anymore!

My legs were still turning to jelly, but not quite as bad as up high. We were still in the death zone. Finally after a couple of hours, we reached camp 3. I was so happy to be there! Pemba and I found some tents to sit by, and some kind people gave us some water. I had more gels, and caffeine lollies and we sat there for quite a while. I could feel the lower altitude, and how much nicer it felt to breathe. Even though we were still at 7100m! We still had a long way to go, but we were at a safe altitude and I didn’t need to rely on the oxygen anymore, but I had some left so I could turn it up! After about 30 minutes spent resting in camp 3, I messaged Dad that we would be in camp 2 that night, then we headed off.

We were still on the steep face, but we could move much faster. After about 40 minutes of descending, we ended the Lhotse face descent with the very steep bergschrund. This brought us to the almost flat Western Cwm. At the bottom of the Lhotse face, there was a man who was descending, and had what seemed to be severe HAPE. He couldn’t speak English well, and I’m not sure where his Sherpa guide had gone, but Pemba gave him his oxygen bottle as he went to camp 2. We were close to camp 2, and made sure this man had help and oxygen.

We could now walk quite fast, without stopping. Pemba was talking on the radio quite a bit, which was weird since we had no problems. About 5 minutes later, man who worked in the cook tent in camp 2 came walking up with a small backpack full of coke bottles! I was SO happy! I had actually gone ahead of Pemba as he was with a friend of his, (who happened to be climbing down too) so I just stopped alone on the slope. It was very safe (if you stay on the path), in fact there were no ropes at all here.

This was an absolute highlight of the entire expedition. Lying on the snow, drinking a much deserved coke, and finally letting the summit feeling soak in. It was warm, my legs were drained, but we had done the hardest part, and I had climbed Everest. I looked out at the view in front of me, where we still had to go tomorrow, and behind me, what we had just climbed down. I was so grateful to be in a place as special as this, with so much beauty, yet so much suffering. I didn’t know when I would be back, but I knew I would.

After about 15 minutes of me lying there, I realised I actually had to walk to camp 2 in order to be there :)). And Dad was there! I set back off, Pemba was chatting away with his friends – he needs a rest too! Finally, I arrived back to camp 2 at about 6:30pm. This was 24 hours after we had left for our summit bid from camp 4. Dad had walked up to the end of the camp, about 10 minutes away from ours, to meet me. I was sooooo happy to see him! At the same time, I didn’t feel like my safety was at a huge risk (it still was, but it didn’t feel like it) as long as I felt in control of myself. So it wasn’t as emotional as many may think. I also was still dreading the further descent!

It felt soooooo good to arrive in camp 2 – it was about 5:40pm. I saw Louise, (the super cool doctor) and she made me a tea and the three of us chatted in the dining tent. I hadn’t noticed on the descent too much, but my eyes were very sore from the wind blowing in them in the night as we were approaching the summit – so Louise put so drops in :)). Kris who I was on the summit with, was also in camp 2!!! We got given dinner, but I wasn’t really hungry. Even though I had pretty much eaten nothing in the past 24h and had been climbing for almost that whole time, it really messed with my body and I did not feel like eating. Dad had set up my mat and sleeping bag, and I laid down in my tent. I managed to get my boots off, and crawled right into my sleeping bag, without taking anything off because I was too zonked.

The day had been so long that I had forgotten that I had summited! I still didn’t want to celebrate because I had arguably the most dangerous part of the climb to go: the Khumbu Icefall. As much as I wanted (and needed) to sleep for a million hours after summiting that morning, Dad and I had to set our alarms for 3am – so that we could leave by 4am to hit the dangerous Icefall before the sun hit.

… I fell asleep before I could have another exhausting thought. This now 44 hours since I had slept more than 30 minutes properly. Wow. But I only could get 5 hours of sleep before we got up again! We chatted with friends at camp 2 until quite late!