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I am dizzy the next morning, staring up
at the glacier-covered pass. We make our way slowly up the rock
wall, sometimes hand over hand. At some point Ang Chuldim, our Sirdar
(head of the trekking staff) notices my ragged condition and graciously
takes my day pack.
At this point I am not too proud to refuse help. This frees me up
enough to finally reach the top of the pass. As I stare at the sea
of ice surrounding me, I feel in the clear, realizing that most
of the remainder of the trek is downhill from here. But on the way
down the other side of the pass, I am still not feeling right. I
try to eat something at camp in Dzongla, but I canít keep it down.
This puts me into a new category as far as altitude sickness is
concerned. It is time for a very watchful eye, from Deb, Sona, and
myself.
In the morning we awaken to ice crystals
on the inside of the tent. We get an early start, unsure of how
long it will take to reach the summit, or whether it will happen
at all. It is a tough slog, one foot in front of the other, switchback
after switchback, breathing heavily the entire way. We stop frequently
for water and rest, and I am afraid to look at my watch. But little
by little we make progress. Eventually, the slope begins to level
off, and we are able to see that the top is within reach. Deb and
I reach it together, and embrace, tears streaming down our face.
It is one of the most emotional moments of our lives. We turn and
gaze in awe at our 360 degree view of the top of the world. Below
us, the Gokyo lakes shine their brilliant blue.
The Lungsampa Glacier stretches from one horizon to the other. Rising
above us are half of the eight highest peaks in the world, standing
starkly against a crystal blue sky: Cho Oyu, Makalu, Lhotse, and
the one we all came to see, Everest. Known as Sagarmatha to the
Nepalese, and Chomolongma to Tibetans, it is so high that it intersects
the jet stream, which explains the bare rock appearance of the mountain
and the plume of snow whipping off its summit. Given the struggle
to get where we were at 18,000 feet, I could better understand the
struggle it must be to summit Everest. While 200 climbers have reached
the top since Sir Edmund Hillary and Norgay Tensing first did it
in 1953, 100 climbers have died.
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