NOVA Online | Everest Quest | The Summit Day (5)

The Summit Day
part 5 | back to part 4

Morale is high as the weather appears to be clearing for a possible summit bid. The team continues up the Lhotse Face to Camp 4, the highest and last camp on the route to the summit. Jet stream weather reports are looking good, with a low pressure gradient pushing the jet north. So the team decides to get themselves into position for a bid for the summit. The day they leave for Camp 4, snow falls lightly, but the winds are calm and they get in a few hours of shooting on the way up. camp

Sitting on the South Col, Camp 4 is a frozen wasteland at 26,000 feet with shredded tents from previous expeditions and discarded oxygen cannisters strewn about. Here, there is 1/3 the oxygen there is at sea level.

The decision to continue weighs heavily on the team as they struggle with the thin air and the inevitability of unpredictable weather. If all goes well, says David: "We'll leave the high camp at 10 p.m. We should be on top by 9 or 10 a.m., which means the air should be clear, we should get spectacular panoramic views of the mountain and surrounding areas and we should be back to the high camp by 2 or 3, which gives us a safety margin of 2 or 3 hours before dark."

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Photos: (1-2) courtesy David Breashears.

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