Nepal 2019 - Day 12 - Island Peak

 Island Peak Experience

I had barely slept and got up late as well. I caught up with Elena & Jens in the dining room sipping on their morning tea along with Dorji. They had a weird wry smile on their faces and admittedly, I was almost hoping for the excursion to be called off for some dubious reasons. I informed Dorji about my ankle situation and he reassured me that the boots and cramp-ons would provide adequate support and he had adequate medical equipment to deal with any issues. We started off around 10.00 as the base camp wasn't far off. We got there pretty quickly and met the rest of Dorji's team who had our tents set up. The rest of the required gear was on it's way. The plan was to launch from BC at midnight, summit at sunrise and return by late morning. Dorji's team-mate arrived soon with our gear and quickly segregated them along with passing on the penalty information if we lose anything. We got a demo of how to use some of the equipment and a practice session of sorts. The most important aspect was to concentrate on the ropes, knots and the jumar technique. They really emphasized on following instructions strictly and to keep a steady pace.

We had our dinner at 17.00 and were instructed to get some sleep to be awake by midnight. Woke up in sheer cold in the night and it wasn't easy, however, we were provided with coffee, eggs and toast by the team. The climb began by trekking in the dark up winding, rocky paths. This part of the climb was slow, gruelling and all about conserving your energy. Did I mention it was miserably cold? For the first 500m of the climb, there were hardly any obstacles apart from a few traverse sections with some exposure. All we had to do is follow our lead Sherpa and maintain pace. The first major checkpoint and achievement to tick-off were reaching cramp-on point. The break seemed to last forever and really started to feel my ankle. I popped a painkiller after informing Dorji and put my cramp-ons which felt double the weight from the previous day.

Jens, who was leading us was excellent with his pace. I struggled behind him and Elena followed me pushed by the Sherpas to maintain speed with the group. It took us a few hours to reach the checkpoint where the snow and glaciers began. The truth was that we were still quite a long way off but it was time to put on our harnesses and get ready for ropes to cross the glacier. Dorji told us that there are times where the glaciers and crevasses are difficult to cross depending on their shape and movement over winters, however, this season, they were very predictable. The route was pre-set by the team and there was no need to navigate but to follow the path that was laid out and marked as the safest route that year. Needless to say, we just stuck closely to our lead Sherpa as we made our way to the crevasse section while roped up together in case of an unexpected fall.

The route at this time had few steep sections. We were now well above 5500m so any small upfill felt like a daunting task. Frequent resting became common place for regular trekkers and beginner climbers like me. After emerging unscathed from the crevasse section, we made it onto the plateau that leads up to the wall of the summit ridge. The early morning glow of the sunrise began to reveal the surrounding peaks and we also caught a spectacular view of Ama Dablam with a pastel sky as it's backdrop. Our focus was on the huge wall between us and the summit.

I was pretty nervous, tired and the ankle pain wasn't subsiding with those heavy boots and cramp-ons. I noticed that Elena was way behind the three of us but Dorji was attending to her and gave us the go ahead to push further. Kurpa Sherpa, our lead, asked us to take out the jumar and be ready to ascent. It was time to change to a climber from a trekker. I was literally sweating from the anxiety and fear of the task ahead. Jens was already set to go while I struggled with fixing the jumar. Kurpa sensed the nervousness in me, fixed my jumar and asked to just follow Jens. The wall was about 120m in height and we were at an elevation of 6000m and I was spent. Kurpa reiterated that just jumar along the line as it wasn't a technical climb. I struggled with the jumar as it did require a level of co-ordination to make it work smoothly. Up ahead, I saw Jens climb up quite steadily but was struggling as the wind picked up. He was moving from left to right as the wind messed up his steady route. Kurpa was instructing him but the wind made it hard to be audible at that point. Jens was probably waiting for the wind to calm a bit before moving further. The sun also went behind a host of clouds and it got real cold as we were just hanging on to the rope. My hands froze even with two layers of gloves.

Dorji ran up towards us, yes, Ran! Sherpas are built different. Period. He had a word with Kurpa and Jens. Both of them seemed to have a very animated conversation which wasn't audible. Kurpa descended to where I was and instructed to move down due to inclement weather. Dorji did not want to risk moving further due to the inexperience of our group. I started to follow Kurpa while Jens and Dorji carried on quarrelling. Eventually, both of them started to descend. It got very windy and cold and we barely took a break before we reached our base camp. Elena was already resting at BC and wasn't unhappy at her situation when she realized what had happened with the weather. I wasn't that disappointed as well due to my physical condition and my inability to master the jumar technique. Jens stormed into the base camp and retreated into his tent without uttering a word. Both of us kind of guessed what transpired between him and Dorji. The team made tea for us and one could see some snow at the top of the peak.

Dorji started to explain the situation and we agreed to his final assessment. Jens overheard the conversation and came out of his tent started shouting at Dorji about the decision he had made. Things got pretty heated amongst them and we had to interfere. We finally managed to diffuse the situation, however, by that time Jens had already packed his bag and left for Chukung. We all packed our gear and left the base camp in an hour. While on the way back, Dorji kept on explaining his decision was the correct one. I told him that we didn't require his explanation as he was the expert in that situation. Elena reiterated the same message and also offered a tip which he refused vehemently. He also abstained from going back to Chukung as he didn't want to create another scene there with Jens so headed to another village. We all hugged each other and went in different directions. The evening at the lodge was quite fascinating. I was going through a ton of emotions. Disappointment, relief, safety, anger, exhilaration took turns in my head. On one hand, I had climbed the highest I have ever and on the other hand, short by about 80-100m from summiting. I was also relieved that I wasn't broke physically. Elena also joined me for dinner after taking the entire day to recover. She had very similar emotions and thoughts about the day. One thing I did learn was that the mountains will always be there, one can always come back.

I had to get back to my itinerary, Kongma La awaits and I couldn't have been more excited after the past 24 hours. A good night's sleep and then back to hiking at the good old time of 06.00!