Trave l But we went even higher than base camp! Adjacent to base camp is a mountain called Kalapatar. From the top, we had heard, there were amazing views of the surrounding peaks and Everest, but at 5,545 metres high, while we all were excited about the prospect of climbing it - we were all dreading the effort it would take to get there. The next morning we awoke at 3.30am to commence our ascent at 4am. It was -10 degrees and I was wearing thermal tights and top, trekking pants, another long sleeve thermal top, two fleeces, my down vest, a down jacket, two pairs of gloves, a scarf and a beanie. Every step of that climb was physically gruelling. I was breathing hard and on numerous occasions I thought I would be sick! But we endured and eventually we reached the summit just before sunrise. At this stage in my journey it might seem strange to point out that I don’t like heights! So reaching the summit of Kalapatar, for me, was utterly terrifying. I literally crawled up the rock face that was only two to three metres wide and had a sheer drop on one side to finally stand on the summit. The view from the summit was spectacular and the sense of achievement euphoric! We were very lucky, we reached the summit just before the weather turned and the view was taken over by clouds, and the snow commenced. By that evening, we had descended to a nice altitude of 4,240 metres. We had been walking through light snow and had just arrived at our destination for the night when the snow really kicked in. It looked like we were staying in a ski lodge! Very beautiful and special but quietly we were all also wondering what would happen if the snow continued at this pace. Luckily, the snow stopped. on the top of kalapatthar "So reaching the summit of Kalapatar, for me, was utterly terrifying." pindaramagazine.com.au Pindara Magazine 69
Pindara Private Hospital Magazine - Issue Four
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