Action Asia - February-March 2018

— March/April 2018

nonchantly unstoppable force on the trails who

went walkabout every afternoon while others

rested. Today was no exception and Mark and I

joined him after lunch to climb a tempting grassy

ridge above camp.

To our surprise, the ridge became a wide

hilltop with views of the moraine beyond flowing

into the Imja valley beneath Island Peak. We

turned and slogged higher to overlook the camp

and pick out the route ahead to the pass. Ama

Dablam was sublime in the fading light and even

whorls of rock on the lesser peaks opposite camp

were entrancing in the crystalline air.

We rejoined the others to share a glorious

sunset, while out on the point, silhouetted

against cloud swirling below Ama Dablam, our

photographer, Clay, was busy with his tripod.

There was a real bite to the air now, at over

5,000m – we knew we were in for a cold night.

Previously, we’d been billeted in lodges or in

spacious tents you could stand up in, complete

with camp beds and the use of nearby facilities.

Now we ate dinner fully layered up, hunched

over the table in a cramped mess tent and bedded

down on mats in ridge tents.

We rose early in still-frigid temperatures

for the lengthy climb to Kongma La. “Does that

translate as ‘freezing your tits off’ pass?” Frosty

asked rhetorically.

Gradually the reviving sun slid down the

wall ahead as we inched up to meet it. At the top,

after a few pictures, we quickly plunged back into

shadow onto icy scree. It took concentration to

get down safely to the valley and lunch saw us

slumped and silent, our appetites dulled variously

by headaches, nausea or simple tiredness.

Now back in the main Khumbu Valley, we

had to cross a wide river of grey moraine, the

debris left behind by the retreating Khumbu

Glacier, to reach our overnight at Lobuche.

Clambering up a 50-metre bank along its edge, a

mess of shifting mounds and pools was revealed.

Subal told us how, 20 years before, he had

practiced ice climbing here. There was still ice

in sight but the main body of the glacier now lay

THE MONEY SHOT

From Kala Pattar, the approach to

Everest (the less snowy pyramid at the

back) looks painful and perilous.

64 Nepal