| Next: The
People
First Day
Wet Days
Wetter Days
Wet And Grumpy
The Pretty
Cwm
The
Best And Worst of Days
Tagnak And
Khare
Practice At Base
Camp
High Camp
Summit Day
Wet Descent
Approaching
The Zatraya La
Zatraya
La to Lukla
The Wrong
Apple Pie
|
Summary
- This is the story of an attempt on
Mera Peak in 1999, the year the monsoon carried on throughout October.
- Unfortunately our trek started at
the beginning of October. We were soaked in Kathmandu, then dogged
by rain every day at low level ( which fell as snow higher up).
- All of our kit became wet and soggy.
Nothing could be dried.
- I picked up a chest infection. It
drained my energy away, meaning that I was struggling at the end of
most days' trekking.
- As we got Base Camp I was beginning
to improve. But we had been delayed so much there was only time for
one summit attempt on one particular day.
- After our summit attempt, we were
trapped by heavy snow on the wrong side of the Zatraya La (the pass
leading to Lukla's mountain airport).
- It was the most gruelling of adventures.
- I couldn't talk about it for weeks,
I couldn't write about it for months and suffered from a stream of
colds and flus for the best part of a year afterwards.
- It has taken me years to come to terms
with it.
- Now I can feel pride in the successes
as well as forgiving the failures.
- I wouldn't have missed it for the
world - and I was back in Nepal within eighteen months to do the Makalu
Base Camp trek
|
