April 20, 2007

"Life is brought down to the basics: if you are warm, regular, healthy, not thirsty or hungry, then you are not on a mountain... Climbing at altitude is like hitting your head against a brick wall — it's great when you stop." - Chris Darwin

My HANS has subsided, perhaps it only occurs at mid altitudes, must research further.
We are now at Mera high camp, quite a desolate place perched at the bottom of a rock face (from time to time you'll hear stones hitting the tents) and on the edge of a 300-400 ft drop to the glacier below, quite literally between a rock and a hard place. As space is at a premium people go to the bathroom where they can and leave their trash just about everywhere else. In some ways the most unattractive spot in Nepal that I've been to and yet if you don't look at the ground your standing on the view is breath takingly beautiful. Mera seems to be quite similar in technicall difficulty to the Disappointment Cleaver route on Rainier except you go a lot slower and don't feel very well doing it. I caught my first sight of 3 other 8000m peaks today: Everest, Lhotse and Makalu. I felt like a school girl who has just seen her favorite boyband for most of the climb along Mera glacier. I was just overcome with an indescribable elation everytime I glance over my shoulder. On several occasions Cho Oyu also put in an appearance. When I first saw Everest I mistook it for Lhotse (as did Kaji) as the peak appeared to be part of the Lhotse-Nuptse ridge, I couldn't actually see another big peak and thus assumed Everest was hidden behind the ridge, and the peak lacked the black rock which typically gives Everest away. I should ahve known however as the peak was the right shape and was between swept by the jet stream. Makalu is a stunning peak, especially in colour, a yellowish tint to the rock.
We will be setting off for Mera Central at 4am, hopefully sunrise will not be interefered with by clouds. We will not try for Mera North as Kaji says its too far, so I am not sure how I feel about saying I climbed Mera, perhaps I should put an asterix next to it like the did with Roger Marris. In any case I should know by this time tomorrow whether I have climbed my first 6000m peak, asterix or not.