Traverse and Aftermath

Hotel Tibet, Kathmandu, May 17 — Phurba Tashi and I summitted Everest at 6:10 a.m. on May 15. We spent a relatively modest 15 minutes on the summit, taking photos and absorbing the exceptionally beautiful views.

Suddenly, we stepped off into the unknown and were descending down the south, or Nepalese side of the mountain. As we were warned, there had been no rope fixing or, indeed, any exploration by climbers or teams, which meant we had to both belay ourselves in rotation using a 25-meter piece of rope, and break trail through knee-deep snow.

The depth of the snow wouldn’t in itself have been an issue had it not been for the fact that we were attempting to balance along knife-edged ridges with five-mile vertical drops six inches to either side of our cramponed boots. It was unnerving to say the least.

After six hours we had reached the South Col at 7,900 meters and briefly relaxed and tried to hydrate. However, conscious of the fact that our previously positioned equipment was languishing at a distant Camp 2, we forced ourselves upright and continued the descent.

At this point it started to snow, creating a complete whiteout, leaving us only with the rope for guidance. We eventually reached Camp 2 at 6,200 meters at 6:30 p.m. on the evening of the 15th, at that point having been awake for 36 hours and been descending virtually non-stop for 12 hours.

We were made very welcome in the Adventure Consultants camp and soon crawled into welcoming sleeping bags. Ironically, sleep was hard to come by, not least because of severe dehydration, and (for me) painful muscles just above my knees. The almost constant 12 hours of lunges whilst arm-wrapping down almost the whole South Face in knee-deep snow had taken its toll on my poor legs.

The following morning we began the grueling second leg, from Camp 2 to Base Camp, a drop of 1,000 meters, but with an estimated descent time of approximately five hours, owing to the need to negotiate the notorious Khumbu Icefall, perhaps the most dangerous part of the whole mountain.

The heat was intense, reflecting off the amphitheatre of snow and ice. Unfortunately, I had to struggle through all of this still clad in my down suit, further exacerbating my dehydration. For some inexplicable reason, Adventure Consultants hadn't bothered to transport my much-needed equipment to Camp 2.

We must have crossed upwards of 40 ladders precariously positioned over huge, gaping 50-meter-deep crevasses, all the time our hearts pounding from both exhaustion and deep fear of the abyss.

Eventually, we staggered into Base Camp at approximately 12:30 p.m. and were given a generous welcome once again.

We had achieved BC to BC — at last.

During the later part of the endless, painful descent I realized two things. First, I was not going to be able, in all seriousness, to motivate both mind and body to turn around and do it all again, at least not in the timeframe allowed.

Comparing my performance on a minute-to-minute basis with someone so superior to me was humbling, especially considering the fact that I originally wanted to climb solo and "set a record." It essentially made my quest appear a little futile.

There might be some supermen in this world, but I discovered that I am frankly not one of them. The men who are however, are people like Phurba Tashi and his band of awesome cohorts, who day in and day out climb, stock, rope and carry loads up and down Everest without the slightest hint of complaint. In fact, they appear to accept it as a privilege. They have an almost alien mindset and a work ethic no one in Britain can even imagine.

The second moment of clarity amidst the pain was the simple (and previously much considered) fact that in order for me to pander to my ego and claim to be the "first person to double-traverse Everest," I would have to ask Phurba to step aside at the moment before we hypothetically summitted a second time. This was frankly unacceptable to me.

I'm sure there are many people out there who claim success when in fact everything is owed to some obscure unmentioned Sherpa. Well, the fact is we both traversed Everest the first time as equals, despite his immeasurably superior experience and skills, but if I indeed had the surplus energy to attempt a second summit, I would have been a fraud in asking him to let me summit first. This wasn’t going to happen.

I have way too much respect for Phurba and the Sherpa community to affect such a lie. He deserves the title if one indeed exists! I would love him to claim it.

However, we were both exhausted from the first traverse and Phurba has decided, as I have, that discretion is the better part of valor and that we will both call it day, him returning via road back to the Tibetan Base Camp and Himex, and me back to Blighty.

That's where you find me, extremely burnt face, extremely sore legs, feet and toes, a famous Khumbu cough and approximately two stone lighter (sadly, all muscle).

But, I'm glad to say that I can claim two things. The first is to be the "first Brit to traverse Everest north to south" and the first Westerner to do the same, and, of course, two summits. Any world firsts belong to climbers like Phurba as far as I'm concerned.

Anyway, this is nice, but essentially trivial. I hope people have heard my NSPCC message. I think I've bored enough people over the months and I also hope the powers that be at the charity find a way of using both the significant money and minor profile I have raised in a positive way, one that makes all worthwhile.

I'm sorry I haven't described the last seven to eight days in greater detail. I have to admit that I plan a book, in conjunction with the charity, in which I will try to tell the tale (not just Everest) in full. I hope it will be worth reading and also help who I intend: other abused children.

Thank you for your overwhelming support, every little bit helped in the dark moments.

David