Mount Everest Expedition

26th May 2009

Valerie Parkinson reports from Everest Base Camp

26 May Update

It was with great relief that we received the news that Exodus' Nepal Base Manager Valerie Parkinson had safely returned to Kathmandu following her epic Everest summit attempt. Valerie had to climb over the notoriously dangerous Khumbu Icefall no less than six times, she endured low oxygen levels, a diet of rations and two months sleeping in a tent. She made it to the near vertical Hillary Step (8670m) before frostbite started to creep into her toes and she wisely decided to descend.

Everyone at Exodus is immensely proud of Valerie's amazing achievement and we are very much looking forward to seeing her soon to hear all about her adventures. 

Previous Reports (as Valerie's adventure unfolded)

22 May Update regarding the summit attempt on 19 May by Valerie and the team
On May 19 at 7:00am Nepal time, team member Phil Crampton reached the summit of Mount Everest.
Ian Rogers and Valerie Parkinson supported by Tarke Sherpa reached the Hillary Step but wisely decided not to continue to the summit. Ian had suffered from some vision problems on the ascent and Valerie was suffering from cold feet.

We all spent nights at camp four and camp two respectively on the descent and are now all safe at base camp.

18 May report
We have heard that there are many teams attempting a summit bid tonight and that most of these are currently leaving the camp on the south col. We believe Valerie is amongst them. The timings should be that successful climbers will reach the summit from around midnight onwards our time (BST).

Report date: 10 May

Had a few eventful days. We set off on 7th May for our summit bid as it seemed as though there was a short weather window around 10th May. We set off at 3am in the dark as usual to get through the ice fall before the sun came up. We had only been going an hour when there was a huge crash overhead. We knew immediately it was a serac collapse and an avalanche was on its way. However in the dark we could not see where it was coming from but we knew it was coming in our direction. Suddenly we were hit by the ice debris and were covered with ice and the temperature plummeted. A bit unnerved we carried on as fast as we could hoping there would be no more avalanches until we were through the icefall. It took us 8 hours to reach camp 2 without further incident.

Sadly later that day we heard the news that just after 10am there had been an even bigger avalanche in the same place which had caught several climbers and unfortunately a sherpa was killed. The brave sherpas go though the icefall more than us and it is a huge risk for them. This year the icefall seems to be more dangerous than usual and we hear avalanches all around us.

Our plan was to have a night at camp 2 and then go on to camp 3. The weather reports were changing to marginal so we decided to wait a day. Pam was not so well so Chewang, her sherpa came up and took her down to base camp.The rest of us spent a second night at camp 2. However the weather window we were expecting disappeared and high winds were expected. So Phil decided it would be safer to drop back down to base camp and wait for a bigger window weather. So on 10th May Phil, Ian, Joe, myself, Tawa and Dawa Gyalsen descended to the luxury of base camp.We will now wait here until we get better weather reports.

Report date: 04 May

Have now been here almost a week waiting for good weather for our summit attempt. Our sherpas have been up at camp 2 for a while now carrying tents and oxygen for us to camp 3 and 4. They came back today and will have a few days rest here. We have been at base camp resting and going out for daywalks every other day to keep moving. Life at base camp is fairly comfortable and relaxed. The sun rises at 7.15am and we have a lazy breakfast at 8.30am. If its warm and sunny it gets really hot at base camp. We have a nice shower tent so can have a hairwash and shower whenever we want. After a stroll round base camp its time for lunch. Sometimes Pam and I go for a walk in the afternoon and that's the day over. Every day down here seems like a Sunday!

We try and have a walk every other day and have been down to Gorak Shep a few times and to Pumori Base Camp and Pumori Camp 1. We should be leaving here in a couple of days for our summit bid but we have to wait for good weather. The forecast does not look so good for the next few days so we may be here a while longer. The Khumbu Ice Fall is getting more and more unstable and we have seen some spectacular avalanches after breakfast. The other day there was a huge avalanche that came right down to base camp and covered us in ice. Luckily the people coming down from camp 1 were OK. Had a visit from the Chocolate sherpa the other day and on 3 May went to the highest chocolate tasting in the world at base camp - we came back to camp with quite a few bags of chocolate!!

Report date: 29th April

Well a lot has happened since I last wrote. On 21st April we left base camp at 3am to go to camp 2 for our acclimatisation week. We had climbed through the Khumbu Ice Fall in the dark for about an hour and a half when suddenly all the sherpas ahead of us started turning back. Apparently a huge chunk of ice had fallen off and blocked the route. So we retreated back to base camp and by 5.30am were back in camp. Next day, 22nd April we were up again at 2am for a second attempt. Lots of sherpas were on their way up as well carrying loads to camp 2 and today we were in luck as the trail had been repaired by the icefall doctors and there were some new ladders in place. The route winds up and up and through this amazing jumble of ice and it is frightening as chunks fall off. You have to keep going as it is so dangerous. As we were climbing up there was a huge crack and a huge area just disappeared in a puff of smoke.

A few minutes later there was another mini explosion and more ice just fell into nothingness. We tried to hurry but at 6000m it's hard to rush. 5hrs after starting we got to camp 1 where we had a short break and drink. We then continued on up the Western Cwm to camp 2. It's less steep but no less harder as the altitude is above 6000m. It took us 3hrs from camp 1 to camp 2 which is set at 6400m at the left side of the Western Cwm just below the Lhotse Face. We have a full camp set up here with cook and kitchen and dining tent so it is quite comfortable. We were to spend 4 or 5 nights up here to acclimatise. I woke up on 23rd April, my 50th birthday in this amazing place - won't forget it in a hurry - mind you I felt dreadful because of the altitude. But the views compensate for everything - ahead is the very steep and intimidating Lhotse Face and from there we can see the Yellow Band which leads to the Geneva Spur which leads to the South Col and we can even see the summit.

A couple of days rest and we all felt a bit more at ease and on the 25th April Phil, Ian, Pam and myself set of to camp 3. The sherpas had fixed the rope the day before. The route to camp 3 goes directly up the very steep and icy blue Lhotse Face. Helmets on, we fixed our jumars onto the fixed rope and set off uphill. It's very steep - looks even steeper if you dare to glance down - I was not sure how I was going to get down! Its was cold and the wind started to get up. We got to about 7100m nearly where our camp 3 would be when Phil said we should descend as the winds were getting up. Finally we made it back to camp 2 for lunch and a rest. We had been so lucky as in the afternoon the wind picked up. The jet stream above Everest dropped right down to camp 2 and by teatime it was howling round camp. It was like an express train roaring through camp all night and by the morning we had lost our toilet tent and dining tent and the kitchen was just holding on.

The wind was still howling and it was decided to retreat to base camp. We packed our things and left them in the tents for the summit bid and then weighted everything down with huge rocks on them so they will not blow away. By lunchtime we were back in base camp weary after our time up there.

That night there was a treat in store and we had my belated birthday party. Sarkay cooked a brilliant cake and we had wine and could relax once more.

We are now waiting for our summit bid and will be here for a week or so. Shower, hairwash, laundry and good food are here in base camp so it's very comfortable. Patience will be the name of the game now as we wait for the sherpas to fix the rope to the summit and wait for the window of good weather. We sit and eat and drink and try to keep strong. Walks to Gorak Shep or through base camp keep us occupied so fingers crossed for good weather for our summit bid. We are all happy we only have to go through the ice fall one more time. The sherpas are incredible - they have carried all the food, tents, oxygen etc to camp 2 and are now on their way to camps 3 and 4 to set them up for us. We could not do this without them.

17th April
Back in base camp having a few days rest after our first climb to camp 1. On 14th April we were up at 4am and after a quick breakfast we set off at 4.30am. Warmly dressed with climbing boots, harness, crampons we set off in the dark into the icefall. The Khumbu Ice Fall tumbles directly above our base camp - a huge mass of ice blocks and snow. There is already a route through the icefall which has been fixed by the icefall doctors - amazing sherpas whose job it is to fix the ropes and ladders in the icefall. The route winds its way up and over and around crevasses. After an hour we came to the first of about 25 ladders. Some are vertical and some horizontal fixed by rope into the ice - some are more stable than others! Thank goodness I practiced at home in the garden on my ladder!

The trail goes up and up forever and finally we emerged at the top of the icefall - it took around 5 hours. The sun was now out and the temperature suddenly soared from minus C to plus 20C. The last hour went on forever as we plodded around crevasses to camp 1. Camp 1 is at 6000m in the Western Cwm - an amazing valley set below the Lhotse Face. We were there around lunchtime and our great sherpas had already set up the tents for us.

The temperature was now around 35C and the heat just zapped us. We melted snow and made some tea and more tea and lazed around in the heat all afternoon. The view is amazing - the Western Cwm rises slowly to the Lhotse Face and to our right the great wall of Nuptse rises as a  huge ice wall. To our left we can see the summit of Everest and we can almost see our route to the summit. By 5pm the sun had gone down and the temperature plummeted. We made a quick dinner of soup and croissants and were in our sleeping bags by 6pm. At 5.30am we were woken by our sherpas arriving from base camp with loads which they were carrying to camp 2. We got up in the cold and packed quickly and left camp 1 to return to base camp. We got to base camp in just over 3 hours in time for breakfast. We are now resting in base camp until our sherpas have set up camp 2. We have had Joes birthday on the 16th and Sarki our cook did us proud with a great cake.

We aim to go up to camp 2 on 19th or 20th April.

13th April:
Arrived at Base Camp on 8th April and we are all settled in here now. Its been nice and sunny most days. Yesterday we practiced the ladders and some climbing on a serac near our camp. Our camp is right at the top of the base camp just below the ice fall - we have amazing views of the Khumbu Ice Fall. Tomorrow is our puja and then we will go into the ice fall for the first time. Most of our gear has finally arrived so at least I have boots and crampons now. Base camp is getting busy with lots of other teams on the mountain.

Yesterday (12 April) was an auspicious day and we had our puja at 8am in brilliant sunshine just below the Khumbu Ice Fall. We have the most amazing camp almost on the ice fall itself. Its been full moon so amazing views at night - we look directly up the ice fall. After the puja we geared up and had our first foray into the Khumbu Ice Fall. We walked up for about 2 hours to the first ladder - only a small one. It was then way to hot to be in the ice fall so we came back to base camp for lunch and a shower.

All our gear is here now and all our sherpas so all ready to go.

Good luck Valerie from all of us here at Exodus and from your many friends all over the world.

Follow the expedition's progress as Valerie updates her online Blog

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