My travel diaries
Tuesday 8 May, 2007 - Advanced Base Camp, Everest North Side
I've had a splitting headache since arriving at ABC yesterday lunchtime, and even aspirins don't seem to be doing it much good. To couple this I also appear to have lost my appetite. At dinner yesterday I chewed and chewed on a potato for some time as it steadfastly refused to go down, until I washed it down with some tea. Even staples such as soup, corn flakes and tea are struggling to go down. We have as many as 7 or 8 nights at ABC, so I'm certainly hoping that I gradually start to acclimatise, or I may be as thin as a rake by the time I return to civilisation.
Today I've decided to have a complete day of rest. This morning, when the others walk up the sprawling line of tents that constitutes ABC to have a look at the north wall up to the North Col, I stay behind at camp. I sit in the mess tent reading my book as it snows heavily outside. Then I return to my tent for an hour's kip. In addition to the aforementioned altitude problems I seem to be suffering from a condition WE Bowman, author of The Ascent of Rum Doodle , describes as "tent lassitude". This means that when I go for a lie down in my tent for a minute or two, no matter how energetic I may have been feeling before I got inside, it's very difficult to get up again. Usually a minimum of ten minutes of rest is required.
This afternoon I intend to take advantage of this condition again. I'll read for a bit in the mess tent, taking in plenty of fluids to keep myself hydrated, then I'll crash out in my tent for a while. Mic is taking the others out onto the glacier this afternoon for some rope work and jumar training, but he has offered to repeat the lesson tomorrow. I think it will be better for me to rest today, and hopefully I'll be better acclimatised tomorrow.
As evidence the Everest silly season has started, when they walked up the hill this morning the others bumped into someone who is aiming to become the first person to climb the mountain in shorts, a Dutchman known as "The Iceman". His name is Wim Hof, and apparently he ran a half marathon barefoot, barechested and clad in just his shorts above the Arctic Circle in Finland earlier this year. He had to be Dutch, of course. Personally I don't see why he doesn't just go the whole hog and climb it naked. There is also allegedly someone who plans to do a full traverse north to south using a jet pack. And there is an intriguing tent pitched further up describing itself as the "Korean Fly Jump Expedition". I'm not sure what this is, but it raises some interesting possibilities.
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