November 2008 Archives

As I took my final steps to the summit, my exasperated breath became deep and eager. I had reached the summit successfully. I fell to my knees, looked up at the sky and took it all in. I had neither energy nor space to run around and scream like an excited child, so instead, I took the time for the realization to hit me. The lyrics from the song “Beautiful Day” by U2 filled my head and I was overjoyed.

http://www.everest-2002.de/bilder/gipfelbild.jpg

From this remarkable height, I felt as if I could see the whole world. I recognized Makalu, Chomo Lonzo, Lhotse, Nuptse and Cho Oyu in the distance. Lhotse, at 8516 meters, seemed so close that I wanted to reach out and touch it. The horizon was clear and the sky went on for miles. This was truly how it felt to be on top of the world.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Himalaya_annotated.jpg

Although I was truly ecstatic to have reached the summit, I knew the job was only halfway completed. We all know and live by the quote, "What comes up must come down." In this situation, I knew that even though reaching the summit felt like I accomplished the mission, I still had to make it back down. Often times, the trek back down is much harder and more dangerous. I made sure that I stayed focused and kept my eyes on the prize.

After a solid twenty minutes of pure excitement and picture taking, we decided to begin the trip back down to Base Camp. It was hard for me to fully enjoy the summit knowing that I had to get down from the highest peak in the world. The thought was very intimidating. I took a final glance around me, drew in a deep breath, closed my eyes and thought to myself, "You can do it."

Looking back now, I’m confident that we made the right decision even though it was hard to give up the ultimate goal. It was the most anticipated day of the expedition. The sun was beaming now and the ever so perfect weather was only making the summit push more enjoyable. The group was in high spirits as we became closer to our goal. The circumstances were almost too ideal and I had a premonition that things may change.

http://project-himalaya.com/i-chomolungma/everest-summit.jpg

I was leading the group and all of the sudden I spotted something in the snow that stood out.Instantly, I knew it was the body of a climber. What I could not determine though, was whether or not the person was alive. I waved the group to follow me as I went to evaluate the situation. As it turns out, it was a climber who was alone and needed to be rescued.

http://blogs.news.com.au/images/uploads/JMLEverestSummit.jpg

Immediately, when this situation arose, I thought of the infamous Lincoln Hall case. When he attempted Everest in 2006, he was inflicted with high-altitude sickness and had to stop climbing. Although the Sherpas tried their best to rescue Hall, when they ran out of oxygen they had to retreat down the mountain. This left the other climbers in the group with the thought that he was dead. They made the dreaded phone call to his family and everything. Luckily, Hall was found the next day by another group of climbers. They stopped their pursuit to the summit to help him and make sure he was assisted by a group of Sherpas. This generous action saved the life of Lincoln Hall.

http://www.everestnews.com/Summitclimb2005/pictures/md-licoln%20finds%20his%20glasses.jpg

It was obvious that the climber was close to death and if we might not be able to save him. Other members from our group thought that we should just continue our push to the summit and help him on our way down. There wasn’t time for that. I acted as a true leader and sacrificed the summit, which was in sight, to help get him down the mountain. Although it sounds silly, but you must use the life lesson “treat others the way you want to be treated” in all aspects of life. If I were stranded in need of rescue, I’d hope that others would do the same for me.

We got the man down and ended up saving his life. While some were angry at the time, we are all in agreement that it was the right decision. The summit will always be there, while a man's life will not.

It is unbelievable to think that we are able to communicate across the world with others when on an expedition in the mountains. How is it done? What do you think it was like for past mountaineers that have not been as fortunate to have the same technology? Being able to communicate with our loved ones isn’t something that has been available for a long time. Rather, it is recent and is due to our cutting edge technology made by HumanEdgeTech.

http://www.humanedgetech.com/shop/home.php

HumanEdgeTech allows mountaineers to communicate with anyone within seconds. Their most prominent package that they offer is called the 8848 High Speed Package. This incredible deal is offered for $3,999 and provides mountaineers with the most efficient expedition technology today.

http://www.humanedgetech.com/shop/product.php?productid=185&cat=10&page=1

The features included are:
-Contact 4 Expedition Dispatch System
-Laptop with photo and video editing
-Satellite high speed modem
-Satellite phone
-Ultralight foldable solar panel
-Multifunction battery
-Wideye handset

What it can do:
-Live web conferencing
-Instant direct update of personal website
-Email
-Video and photo editing
-Ability to make and receive phone calls

One of the reasons that makes this the most premiere and used package today is through the type of battery they use. The HET Power 50, considered the smartest battery, has the ability to recharge through a small solar panel. It charges itself as it charges the other devices. The best part of all is the size. Unlike large, chunky batteries, the P50 is small enough to fit inside of a pocket.

HumanEdgeTech has changed the way mountaineers communicate with the world. These advances have helped tremendously with expeditions and will continue to throughout the years.

Sources:
http://www.humanedgetech.com/shop/product.php?productid=185&cat=10&page=1
http://www.mounteverest.net/news.php?id=17645

The conversation changed from pleasant to awkward within only a few minutes. Our expedition group had just completed the trek up to camp 1 and was now discussing our schedule. As the expedition leader, I told the group that we should descend to base camp to properly rest for the climb that lay ahead of us. As soon as I stated my case, one client immediately disagreed. That client went on to explain his point about how he felt fine and didn’t want to waste his energy going all the way down to 17,000 ft. He didn’t think it was worth the physical effort and thought he’d be sacrificing his opportunity to reach the summit.

http://t3.pacific.edu/teams/M043406/Mount%20Everest.jpg

I patiently explained to him the reasons for descending and that it would provide crucial rest for his body. His rebellion of this topic sparked another client to agree. The two were determined to continue up the mountain. They truly believed that they were untouchable and seemed to have forgotten that I was the expert on this expedition.

As this slight dispute was taking place, I had been simultaneously checking the weather report for the upcoming days. Although it showed forecast with little concern, a sly idea suddenly came to me. Since I was the group leader, I could use my access to useful information to help me in this situation. As this idea came to me, I had been glancing at the weather forecast. The argument was getting heated and I knew I had to come up with something or else they would leave. I told the two clients that I had received a weather warning and that it wasn’t safe to continue up for now. Base camp would get us out of the weather and provide us with additional rest.

The clients took my word for it and agreed to come down now that they knew their personal safety might be in jeopardy. I was aware of other expeditions in which failure occurred because of group dynamic problems. The situation in Into Thin Air with Rob Hall and Doug Hansen is a great example. Hall was a loyal leader and refused to leave Hansen. All of his extra effort that he put into helping Hansen could have been put to use in other ways and maybe things could have ended better for both of them.

http://www.k2news.com/oimages/DKPIC.jpg

I felt bad about lying but I would feel even worse if the two continued up without any assistance. I’m not proud of doing this but I knew the dangers that the mountain encompassed and had to make sure they stayed safe.