Am I being too hard on this chap who wants to climb Everest?

Dear xxxx,

Many thanks for your time earlier this week and I understand where you are coming from with your interest in going to Everest.

On a personal note, however, I am concerned about your lack of experience and, as a result of that, would feel uncomfortable about you being with my group. I know that you plan on going on a climbing course in January but I only recruit people who are already climbers and mountaineers, and have been for some time, and are therefore suitably well qualified by experience. It is only with years of experience that things become second nature.

I know that you feel that you may pick up all the skills very quickly but the mountain demands a lot of respect. If the conditions take a turn for the worse, or if your Climbing Sherpa were to become incapacitated, then you may find yourself on your own and need to be wholly reliant on your own ability to deal with steep terrain in a potentially very demanding and ever changing environment.

I can’t have a situation where more experienced climbers, or my Climbing Sherpas, have their lives, or their summit bid, jeopardised as a result of a very inexperienced member in the group.

It is an all inclusive trip and is already very competitively priced. There are a couple of operators out there who are similarly priced, or slightly cheaper, but generally they don't provide as comprehensive a package. Anyway perhaps they will be open to negotiation - but I’m afraid that I am not.

Yours sincerely,

Tim Mosedale

So come on folks ... am I being too harsh here? Any thoughts?

The worrying aspect is that 'I'm good in the gym' and 'I can learn skills really quickly' just doesn't cut the mustard with me. I find it worrying that some people are completely naive and feel that they can watch a programme, or read a book, and then 'give it a go.' Everest is too big and too serious to just come along and 'give it a go.' It demands a huge amount of respect and it is this approach that will be the undoing of people every year. And unfortunately that then tarnishes the reputation of Everest and undermines the achievement of the climbers and mountaineers out there who do approach it with the right background and mountaineering pedigree.

'It's been my lifelong ambition for the last 5 years.' Well unless you are only 5 years old then that isn't a lifelong ambition. And why haven't you done something about it in the last 5 years then (which, with a bit of hard work and plenty of time on the hill, would possiby be long enough to get yourself suitably well trained by the way).

I am all for people venturing in to the realms of ultra high altitude mountaineering - personally some of the most rewarding experiences that I have had have been on expeditions with like minded people. But start at the beginning and work your way up. I know that not everyone feels that they have the time, or money, to go on loads and loads of trips and work their way up through the ranks. But even so, don't just dive in with Everest. UK hills, UK rock and UK (Scottish) winter all provide fantastic opportunities to further your skill level and be subjected to some ever changing and demanding conditions (as well as some fantastic memorable days out). If you can get to The Alps and maybe an expedition or two as well then this will be a bonus.

But don't turn up to Everest to 'give it a go' and be surprised when it spanks your arse.

It's only a rich man that buys a cheap suit.

Now then … please please remember that not all Everest trips are equal. We have an expression over here that goes something along the lines of ‘If you are going to compare apples with apples, at least make sure that you start out with apples.’ So, whilst there are some exceedingly expensive trips available, there are also some that are way too cheap. And you have to ask yourself why they are cheap and what you aren’t getting. 

For instance, there are deals out there for around US$35,000 to US$38,000 - but what people don’t realise is that this price might not include Climbing Sherpas, oxygen, masks, regulators, food and accommodation on the trek in etc etc. Other aspects where teams cut corners are the Base Camp facilities, provisions on the hill, weather forecasting, a Western leader and the quality of their Climbing Sherpas. How on earth can people spend that amount of money having not researched what they are, and are not getting, and end up paying through the nose for various add ons that potentially increases the final bill by another US$10,000?

The expensive trips may well be recouping some of their overheads that they incur with office staff, glossy brochures, networked computers and company cars. But all this does not count for anything when you are on the hill because the brochure, networked computers, office staff etc are a complete irrelevance. What counts on the hill are the Base Camp facilities and quality of the food, the logistics, the Climbing Sherpas, the weather forecasting, the provision of oxygen and the leadership.

So, firstly, I use one of the best agencies in Kathmandu. They are a VERY good operator and have an extremely proficient team, particularly when it comes to rescue and evacuation. This is something that we always hope we will never have to call upon – a bit like having insurance. But, like insurance, when you do have to call upon it you want to know that you are with one of the best providers.

Kame (left) is one of the best Sirdars on the hill and Bhim is one of the best Base Camp cooks.

Similarly I use one of the best Sirdars on Everest. He is very well respected amongst the Climbing Sherpa community, he is held in very high regard amongst Western leaders and his team of Climbing Sherpas are some of the strongest on the mountain. Just because Climbing Sherpas have summited Everest numerous times doesn't necessarily make them good at their job. Yes they may well be immensely strong on the hill but the Climbing Sherpas we use are not only strong but they are also attentive to their job and have a greater understanding about client's expectations.

Ample oxygen supplies stocked at The South Col

We are also in the right camp with our supply of oxygen. We don’t just have a limited supply of oxygen and once you have used your quota it's gone - we have an ample supply with enough extra to cater for contingencies. With other teams when it’s gone it’s gone (or you have to buy more) whereas with our team there is a generous allocation to allow for unforeseen eventualities and emergencies. If, say, we got delayed at The South Col because the weather changed then this would not jeopardise our summit attempt. Equally if you were forced back on summit day because of a broken crampon, or helping out some other team, this too would not jeopardise your summit bid. With other teams once you have used your allocation (for whatever reason) then you either have no more gas or you have to spend more money. Again, we hope that there won’t be any emergencies happening … but if there are, then we are with the best. 

Camping on the Kongma La (5,350m) before ascending Pokalde. Excellent preparation
and acclimatisation for our arrival at Everest Base Camp.

I know that most of the cheaper trips (and indeed some of the really expensive one) don’t include things like meals in Kathmandu, or teahouse accommodation costs when trekking in, or extra snacks and goodies at Base Camp. To that end I am providing you with more for your money. I know that you might think that these don't amount to much in the great scheme of things but there is also my 3 week trekking itinerary to take in to account. This is a great part of the trip that allows for us to have a massive amount of flexibility and incorporate a few high camps before a few days resting at Dingboche (all paid for of course) and then another high camp (which is higher than Base Camp) as well as a 5,800m peak. This means that when we arrived at Base Camp last Spring everyone was fully acclimatised (not a headache in sight), very fit and healthy (we had avoided all the ill trekkers) and everyone was bonded as a group which not only made for a more pleasant experience but also a safer more dynamic team on the hill.

Once we arrived at Everest Base Camp we went in to the Khumbu Icefall for a half day foray on the ropes and ladders. The next time we went through was to sleep at C1 and then go on to C2! This is quite unusual as most teams make about 3 journeys before being ready to sleep at C1 – which meant that we spent less time and energy getting ready for the big event. The next time up high we went straight to C2 and had a few days there, incorporating a visit to C3, and then after a rest at BC (and some high altitude specific medical training and oxygen protocol preparation) we were ready for the summit push.

One other thing I’d mention is the level of support that we provide.

The view from C3 - our Climbing Sherpas will come and collect
you and take you to The South Col the next day.

We have excellent logistics on the mountain and there is a lot of help from the Climbing Sherpas. Because of the extra altitude involved on Everest I adopt a slightly different approach than when on Ama Dablam and have a lot more assistance from the Sherpas – this makes a big difference not only because of the extreme altitude but also because of the longevity of the trip. For instance we get sleeping bags carried to C1 when we go and camp there and then they are also carried for us to C2 when we move base to 6,400m. We then leave the bags at C2 when we drop down to BC, as we don't anticipate using C1 again the next time. Having said that, if people get to C1 the second time on the way to C2 and decide that they need to stay there again we'd then get sleeping bags sent back down from C2. On the summit phase, bags are carried when we go and sleep at C3 and the Climbing Sherpas then drop back down to C2 for the night. The next morning they then reappear to carry bags on up to The South Col. On top of that suits and boots are also carried directly to C2.

So as you can see you are 'merely' concerned with being self sufficient on a daily basis (layers of clothing, suncream, hydration, gloves, glasses, camera etc) rather than overdoing it physically and jeopardising yourself for the main event. But don't read this and feel that it detracts from the experience and effort required. Everest is a tremendous challenge and it would be totally false economy for people to feel that they should be paying less and carrying more - all that happens for most people is that it severely reduces their chances of success and dramatically increases their chance of becoming a liability to themselves and everyone around them. And therefore a liability to the rest of the team and perhaps jeopardise the summit bid for their fellow team members. Then there are the Climbing Sherpas to consider - they are the guys who will get involved in mounting any kind of rescue bid and we owe it to them, and their families, to go to the mountain with a responsible and pragmatic approach.

Summit day - above The Balcony.

On top of all this I provide a truly 1:1 experience. There are some teams who quote 1:1 - and whilst that means that they have a Climbing Sherpa for every member ... it doesn't necessarily mean that they are together on the mountain just that they are on the hill in different locations!

It's a BIG hill - so make sure you and your Climbing Sherpa
are in the same place at the same time for summit day.

With our team you have a Climbing Sherpa assisting to get to C3. You then have a Sherpa with you up to The South Col (we may have set off ahead of them but they'll soon catch up!). But on summit day your Climbing Sherpa is then glued to your side. He carries your spare oxygen and stays with you throughout the night and the day and constantly monitors your flow rate, your O2 reserves, your pace, the time and will keep reminding you to eat and drink. On top of that we also have spare oxygen on summit day as well as a spare mask and regulator. Your Climbing Sherpa will then stay with you all the way back down to The South Col and on down to C2 (if you stay at the South Col so will he). After a night at C2 your Climbing Sherpa will also stay with you back to Base Camp and only then will he be relieved of his guiding duties.

I believe that this is what 1:1 should mean.

In addition to this we all have radios to maintain contact on a daily basis, which allows for a great degree of flexibility as well as extra safety, and we all carry high altitude medical kits (and not only that you and the rest of the team will know what's in there, what it's for and how to use it) as well as having a great understanding about AMS, HACE, HAPE, frostbite, hypothermia, oxygen protocols etc. By the time I've finished with you all you'll be with a very, very well trained team!

Safety in  numbers. Not only one of the only teams to carry individual high altitude 1st aid kits on the hill ...
but also one of the only teams who knew what was in the kit, what it was for and how to use it.

One final thing to remember is that with some trips you don’t get a Western leader or even a point of focus. I truly believe that the Climbing Sherpas are awesome … but without direction and focus things can be overlooked or go slightly awry. Without a central focus the logistics can start to fall apart ever so slightly – and this can become a huge, HUGE problem higher on the hill when contingencies are not accounted for and suddenly there is no safety net. On the north side in 2005 a guy on a cheap trip arrived at his team’s top camp to find that there was no stove, no gas, no pans and no food. He came over and asked for all of this from us and if we hadn’t been there I don’t know what would have happened. He also didn’t have a lighter and even asked us for extra oxygen. Clearly not only had he not thought it through himself but his team (11 people from all sorts of different countries but without a leader) had also not thought about anything other than themselves as individuals.

It could be you!

One final thought ... It’s only a rich man that buys a cheap suit.

Everest - it's pretty big

Everest on the South (Nepal) side

Not even in my wildest dreams did I ever think that this is where it was all potentially leading.

I started out my outdoor career at a centre in Wensleydale and after 7 years I’d worked up to being Deputy to head of Centre and Senior Instructor. It was a great job at a small centre - I was out on session a lot but also responsible for staff training, the off duty, the group programmes, the fleet of vehicles, risk assessment etc. The boss wasn’t going to be moving on and eventually it was time to spread my wings.

When I first arrived in Keswick I had 8 part time jobs – anything to pay the bills. At about the same time I was offered some work in Nepal and I jumped at the chance. It had never previously occurred to me that it was a possibility but I knew that it was an offer I couldn’t refuse. This then led on to me working for KE Adventure Travel who are based in Keswick, where I’d settled after the Yorkshire Dales. I’d sent in my cv and resume and followed it up with a phone call a week later. In the midst of being told that they were ‘very busy’, ‘lots of leaders already’ and ‘Keswick is a long way to come for a chat’ I mentioned that we had the same postcode. ‘Oh I’ll get the kettle on then, see you in 5 minutes.’ I was there in 3.

It was great employment and I loved the culture and environment as much as the landscape and work. I’d lived in Cambodia for 6 months in a previous life and whilst I was there I’d had a quick whistle stop tour of Asia and been hooked. To be back in Asia and working in the mountains was just awesome.

I’d often been asked ‘as a mountaineering instructor you must want to do Everest,’ which I’d never quite understood. Now that I was working a lot in The Khumbu I was now getting ‘as an expedition leader you must want to do Everest.’ The answer was always an emphatic, and honestly from the heart, ‘no thanks.’ I’d then go on to explain that it’s very cold up there, potentially pretty dangerous, very expensive, loss of income whilst away, potential loss of digits and life etc etc. And anyway, without the experience I’d never get employed and I definitely didn’t want to go along as a client – not that I wanted to go anyway. Not for me thanks. No siree.

And I genuinely meant it too.

My previous life had been as a commissioned officer in The Royal Corps of Transport and so I had a bit of an understanding of different types of leadership, motivation, delegation, logistics etc. I’d also been on the Arctic Warfare Instructors course which was a pretty challenging 8 weeks in Norway (one of only a few military courses where you are officially on double rations). Out of 35 on the course only 5 of us passed. I saw grown men in tears during the 8 weeks because of the cold, because of the knarly desperate conditions we were in (with pretty flimsy gear at times) or from trying to ski wearing planks of wood carrying 80Kg and because, at the end of the course, we then had to ski in to a hole in the frozen fjord and get ourselves out. It was all fairly brutal stuff really. I hadn’t realised at the time, but it was another pivotal experience for me.

All this experience and training came in to play whenever I was on an expedition and I found it to be a remarkably fortuitous background – totally alien in many ways to being ‘a civvy,’ but leadership skills and an understanding of logistics are all so transferrable. As are the skills required to look after yourself, and still lead others, in the worst of conditions, even when you are at your lowest ebb.

Ama Dablam in the heart of The Khumbu

I’d been lucky enough to have a friend in Keswick ask me if I could put together an Ama Dablam trip and I jumped at the chance. It was a great trip – just a bunch of mates having a go at a very impressive mountain. No Climbing Sherpas or High Altitude Porters - just a cook crew, some porters to Base Camp and a Sirdar. We had a great laugh and it was then that I found out that I was also pretty good at altitude.

Having put in all the effort to run that trip, I decided to advertise and I’ve been going back every year ever since.

It’s amazing that people ask ‘don’t you get bored of climbing Ama Dablam every year?’ It’s the most amazing mountain in the heart of some pretty spectacular mountainous terrain where I get to see and work with Climbing Sherpas who have summited Cho Oyu, Shishapangma, Manaslu, and Everest (one chap 18 times) who are now family friends. I’ve been working with Kame, my Sirdar, for 9 years now and it’s a privilege to be with them every time. When I compare that with climbing Snowdon, The Ben or Mont Blanc a few times every season then I realise I have managed to manoeuvre myself in to a very privileged position. Sometimes you have to make your own luck I guess.

The North side of Everest - a very serious place to be

In 2001 I heard about a bunch of mates who were off to have a go at Everest in a few years’ time. The approach was the old style of expeditioning – just a bunch of mates on the hill. I was sort of tempted because, although I knew I’d never have a go at Everest, I also knew that if I did have a go it would be in that style. However I already had another commitment – my own group on Island Peak and the 2 overlapped by at least fortnight.

I was back from Ama Dablam (again) at the beginning of December 2004 and I was chatting to Matt Sharman about the forthcoming Everest expedition and he said he was arriving in Kathmandu on the 19^th April. My 3-years-in-the-planning-private-Island-Peak-group were departing KTM on the 18^th April! I realised that, whilst the two trips overlapped by a few weeks, that in actual fact it was a possibility after all and this was one of those once in a lifetime opportunities. I made some hasty phone calls – one in particular to a chap called Baz Roberts.

I’d just been on his Wilderness Medical Training course (very highly recommended by the way) and he’d shown us all some Everest video and photos from his trip with Russell Bryce on the North side that Spring (2004). He had wanted to go on the hill from the age of 9 or so, and everything had been leading up to that experience. He’s a very methodical guy and even though I didn’t really know him at the time I rang and asked him a bunch of questions. He advised that I ask my friends about our relationship with Russell Bryce (Tom Richardson and Ian Wade both knew him), how much oxygen we had (enough), our Base Camp support (Mick had a friend who was a doctor (another +ve) who had researched the 1996 disaster and written a paper on high altitude meteorology (perfect)), what comms did we have (Ross was ex forces and had some friends who were lending us a VHF set) etc etc.

The guys had been planning this for 3 or 4 years and absolutely everything was in place. Not only were we the smallest, cheapest trip on the mountain but also the most experienced. Ian Wade, perhaps the most prolific of the lot, had summited over 65 6,000m peaks as well as Cho Oyu and Gasherbrum II – both without oxygen. Tom Richardson had done more than most people will ever do in their lifetime. Ross, Dan, Mick and Matt were all full time, or certainly far more than part time, expedition leaders and Stuart Holmes … well very bright light under very large bushel springs to mind.

I was to be in the company of some of the nicest (and most experienced) guys I could ever hope to be with and my wife knew most of them too. So whilst Ali (and I) found out on Boxing Day 2004 that ‘it’s turned blue!’ and I was going to be a daddy, she still gave me her blessing to go on the trip. I signed up at the end of December and was going away in March. I started eating pies and doughnuts and, despite working every day in Scotland that winter, managed to put on 2½ stone. It’s the hardest training I have ever done.

These guys had invited along (only) 4 Climbing Sherpas who were their friends – 2 of whom I already knew having worked with them previously. So it wasn’t climber and guide or employer / employee – it was a bunch of guys (and their Sherpa friends) on a BIG mountain. It was a low key, low budget, but highly professional effort and, considering not a crossed word was said for the whole trip, was a roaring success. I went along just thinking that I’d see how it went. I had no aspirations for the summit (having only been to 6,856m previously) and just approached each day as a new day and a new challenge.

After a while it was obvious that we were all having a great, fun time and that we were all so much at home in the harsh environment that is the North side of Everest and I honestly thought that we would have 6 or 7 (if not all 8) out of the 8 westerners on the summit. As it happens things conspired against a few of the guys towards the end of the trip and before you know it there were only 3 of us on the top. But all 4 Climbing Sherpas also summited which was superb. Phendan had been on the top before but the others Sherpas hadn’t. They had all worked so hard and Zambu, for example, had carried loads to the top camp 11 times. 

Everest summit 30th May 2005

On the North side the top camp is at 8,300m (so 99m higher than the summit of Cho Oyu) so this is an amazing feat and we couldn’t have done it without them. Thankfully it has opened a door for all of them and they are regularly employed on Everest (or Cho Oyu / Manaslu) and have managed to break away from the trekking peak trips that they so often did.

I knew that if I had the chance that I’d love to go back. But I also knew that I wouldn’t go back on the North side. It’s a particularly serious summit day and if a client got in to difficulty then you may as well get out your rosary beads. Also it’s the Climbing Sherpas who generally get involved with rescues and I didn’t want to have the onus of endangering their lives, let alone those of any clients, even more so now that I knew them all so well.

A few Ama Dablam trips and a Cho Oyu trip later and an opportunity arose. I was asked to lead a group to Everest Base Camp for a chap who would then stay on Everest. I mentioned that I may know of a few people who would also like to have a go at Everest. ‘You’ve got the job.’ I cherry picked from my database and e mailed 23 people who I thought had not only the aspiration and experience but also the right approach and temperament as well as the ability to afford it and get time off work. 12 were interested. That soon dropped to 7 or 8 and then the credit crunch happened. We were down to 3 so we delayed a year and eventually, in April 2011, myself, a friend of mine who was to be our Base Camp doctor and 5 hopefuls started trekking.

Rather than racing up to EBC, sitting there for a fortnight with headaches wondering how we would ever climb Everest feeling like this down here, we trekked for 3 weeks elsewhere. It was a great acclimatisation schedule but it also allowed everyone to forget about work etc and to relax and enjoy the experience without having the overbearing nature of ‘Everest’ dauntingly in view. Whilst we would never get away from the fact that this was definitely an organised trip I wanted to try and recreate the style of expedition I’d been on in 2005. To that end I was very conscious of the fun factor and for everyone enjoy each other’s company.

There was not a headache in sight for the whole trip and we arrived at Base Camp as a team, a unified dynamic group, rather than a bunch of clients. We were enjoying ourselves, and the environment, and the rapport was noticeable. I’ve seen other trips where the clients are so tense (and intense) that it is just no fun at all. Indeed you can see people calculating and trying to out manoeuvre each other in a dog eat dog slow race for the prized summit. They certainly don’t lift a finger for each other as they definitely don’t want to risk their own chances.

My team went the extra mile for each other. When we were on the hill, whoever arrived first at a camp got a brew on and then, after admiring the view and getting their breath back, started sorting the tent, roll mats, sleeping bags etc for themselves and their tent partner. The sort of thing that comes naturally to experienced mountaineers who realise that synergy is so important. You don’t count the cost or take turns – it just happens.

In the mighty Khumbu Icefall

When we first entered The Khumbu Icefall it was quite an emotional experience. Suddenly we were in the steps of the great pioneers. We’d all read the books and it was all so historical and evocative. Everyone upped the ante and changed from fun trekking mode to fun expedition mode and it was noticeable that everyone just sharpened their senses.

Looking up The Western Cwm with The Lhotse Face in the centre and The Geneva Spur the obvious rocky outcrop just left of centre leading diagonally off to the left and on up to The South Col.

A few forays up and down the hill through the icefall and up The Western Cwm and we were ready for our summit bid. In the old days folk used to camp higher and higher on the assumption that they were acclimatising. Nowadays we realise that round about 6,500m is the threshold and beyond there a) you don’t acclimatise and b) you just deteriorate.

The weather was all over the place for a few days and indeed we arrived and slept at Camp 3 (7,100m) on the way to the summit only to have to come back down to C2. It wasn’t bad enough for long enough to warrant going to Base Camp so we stayed at C2 for 5 nights. Then back to C3 and on up to The South Col. Again the wind spiked and we stayed at The South Col for 24 hours and then set off in to the night. Exciting stuff. The downside, however, was that not only had some other teams sat it out as well but others had then arrived the following day for their summit bid - so there were twice as many people as we’d have hoped.

It turned out to be a fantastic moonlit night, but at times a painfully slow journey. There was a queue pretty much most of the way up to The Balcony. My feet got pretty cold and were getting colder due to inactivity. I pondered this for the interminable minutes standing still and couldn’t work out why. I had the same boots as 2005 when it had been colder and windier. I had smartwool liners and mountain socks, the same as last time. I had some foot warm up sachets and I’d checked thast they were working. Yes, we were going slowly, but why were my feet this cold? Ponder, ponder.

The only reason I could come up with was that the liner socks were my wife’s and were too tight for me and were constricting circulation, albeit ever so slightly. So on arriving at The Balcony, when everyone else was changing cylinders or taking on fluids and food, I whipped my boots off, took off my mountain socks and removed my liners. They froze the instant I’d removed the inner boot and it was paramount that I get my big socks back on and my feet in to my boots before they froze as well.

I’d been rehydrating along the way whilst waiting for folk to move so there was no other reason for me to stop. Within a couple of minutes I’d managed to sort my feet out and was on the move. I over took about 30 to 40 people who were still loitering and being tended to by their Climbing Sherpas. The rest of my group had sensibly moved straight through, as we had agreed previously in the event of any queues, as they could change cylinders later.

Looking back down to The Balcony and some of the people we'd managed to zip past.

I soon caught up with Jen and Susan who were going fine. We fragmented slightly around the South Summit, as I’d encouraged everyone to go at their own pace. Yes we were a strong, dynamic, closely bonded group – but not on summit day. You go for it with your Sherpa and don’t wait for the others – don’t jeopardise yourself. Maybe we’ll meet on the summit, maybe not. Giles had managed to get ahead of the crowds and summited at just after 5 in the morning and Partha summited at around 7.30. I’d seen them both as they were descending and they seemed to be suitably chuffed. Smiles and handshakes, a brief chat and then onwards. Ever so slowly. Onwards and upwards.

I summited around 9.15. Jen and Susan and their Climbing Sherpas arrived whilst I was still on the summit – which is hardly surprising as I spent an hour and a half up there. It was a great day to be on the top again. Not too cold and no wind. The view was as spectacular as I remembered albeit spoilt slightly by the cloud that meant only the very highest peaks were visible. In 2005 my camera only had the facility to do 30 seconds of video but I managed to fit in a 360 panorama and we only stayed for maybe 15 minutes. This time I had unlimited video capacity and managed to get a slower more comprehensive video. I get a lot of comments from folk on YouTube about how good it is which is a great compliment.

It was a fantastic culmination to a great expedition. Without a doubt it the best and most exciting work I have done. I enjoyed it so much that I’m going back again next year! Watch this space.

On the summit of Everest.