company logo
  • Home
  • Sam's Story
  • Google Reviews
  • Search MLS
  • Commissions
  • Blog
  • Links
  • Contact
  • Properties
    • Active Listings
    • Sales
banner image

< back to article list

Above the Crowds - Literally: So You Want to Climb Mt. Everest

Sam Wyatt Personal Real Estate Corporation | February 28th, 2016

So you want to climb Mount Everest?
The first question you should ask yourself is:  why?

In my experience there’re two kinds of mountaineers: those who are aware of the fact that climbing is a spiritual endeavour and those who are not.  If you want to climb Everest simply to pad your resume it’s not likely a good idea. If on the other hand you want to climb Everest to challenge yourself, to do something you are not sure you’re able to do or because you just feel compelled then it may be just the right goal for you.  Once you’ve decided to do it you will need experience, good advice and patience.
thumb
Looking towards Everest from the summit of Cho-Oyu in 1999.

I started climbing about 25 years ago when I moved to Banff. A rock climbing buddy took me out to Cougar Canyon and introduced me to the sport. I immediately liked the challenge and the adventure that rock climbing presented.  A few years later I became involved with a meditation centre that advocated physical activity and particularly endurance sport as an important facet of one’s spiritual life.   Several members of the meditation centre where mountaineers and had just returned from climbing Denali in Alaska and Mount Logan in the Yukon Territory. This seemed amazing to me and I quickly began joining them on local trips to Mount Baker, Wedge Mountain and Garibaldi.   We started ice climbing and the following summer began rock climbing at The Chief in Squamish.   We struck out on larger expeditions to places like Paldor in Nepal and Huascuran in Peru.  Concurrently I was doing alpine rock climbing trips to local peaks like Mount Slessie via the 27 pitch Northeast buttress and the Tuning fork on Mount Bardeen.   All this diversity of climbing added up to a lot of experience. Getting lost in the mountains looking for routes, trapped in bad weather and personally experiencing severe altitude sickness.  Looking back, I can say that there is no substitute for experience.  If you’ve never been caught in a white-out at sea level how do you think it’s going to go at 8000m?   I sometimes joke that fat old ladies can climb Mount Everest if the weather is good and they are well acclimatized. The problems always arise when things don’t go according to plan and that is when experience will be crucial.  Eventually we set our sights set on Cho-Oyu; at 8201m, it is the sixth tallest mountain in the world.  Three friends and I went and climbed the standard route on Cho-Oyu in 1999 with neither Sherpa support nor bottled oxygen.  That trip helped me truly understand what altitude was all about. In order to save weight we did not bring sleeping bags with us to our high camp at about 7600m.   All the way back from the summit of Cho-Oyu I was “falling asleep at the wheel” tired.  Several years later we tried the steep and difficult Southwest face of Shisha-Pangma, the 14th highest mountain in the world (8012 m).   We were unsuccessful there and it was a real lesson in group dynamics and proper planning.   Want to climb Mount Everest safely and successfully?  Get some experience.
 

thumb
Climbing on Mt Athelstan

It wasn’t until 2009 that I finally booked a trip to climb Mount Everest via the North Ridge in Tibet.  I was there with a good friend that I had climbed Denali with the previous year. He had tried to climb Mount Everest years earlier but had rolled his ankle making it impossible. The good luck for me was that he made very good friends with the logistics outfitter who was supporting the guiding operation that he had been climbing with.  My climbing buddy’s personal relationship with the owner of the Nepalese expedition outfitter, Himalayan Guides, meant that not only did we get a great deal on our expedition (only 3 people on our permit) but also that we were treated like royalty by other expeditions’ support staff as a result of being “friend’s of Iswari’s”.  We chose to hire three Sherpas to support us and to use bottled oxygen but were otherwise self-guided.   The people you choose to hire to support you can make or break your expedition and I highly encourage you to seek out advice from people who have climbed on Everest about which logistics company to hire and who to avoid.  Get a good referral to good people.  I met one climber who died on Everest who I believe if he had better advice from his Sherpa support person he might still be alive.  Get good advice.
thumb
End of the road in 2009 on Everest. (Glove protecting Camera on left side of frame)

In 2009 I missed the weather window, the only one of that season, and I missed it by only a day.   From advance base camp to the summit and return is about four days journey.   A storm was forecast to arrive in three days.  When I arrived at advance base camp for my final push.  I sat in camp listening to my buddy summit in perfect weather.  When I finally did head up to the high camps a meter of snow fell on us at the North Col (7000 m).   The next day we pushed to get up higher on the mountain but high winds and deep snow made it folly. Two months and $25,000 later I had to turn home – this is where patience comes into play.  After 20 years getting ready I was wise enough to not get myself killed and lose the chance to try again - not to mention the chance to see my family again.  Be patient - the mountain is not going anywhere.

thumb
Greeted by my daughter Madeleine at the airport after successful climb in 2012

In 2012 I returned to the North Ridge and successfully climbed to the Summit at 6am on May 19.  It was one of the most satisfying days of my life.   All the way to the summit from our high camp at 8300m I was unsure of whether or not I would make it and if I had the capacity to do it.   Getting to the top was great but the best part was actually coming down the Summit Ridge back to camp. It was there in the bright morning light, descending alone, that I had the deeply satisfying experience of mastery – of knowing I had been properly prepared and equal to the challenge.  The hardest part of climbing Everest for me was the preparation and the journey past fear and self-doubt.  
thumb
Top of the world in 2012

 

THIS ENTRY WAS POSTED ON February 28th, 2016 BY Sam Wyatt Personal Real Estate Corporation | POSTED IN Mountaineering Trip Reports
  • Email
  • Tweet
  • facebook share

Categories

  • Assignments
  • General
  • Listings
  • Mountaineering Trip Reports
  • Tax
  • Vancouver Real Estate Statistics

Archives

  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009
  • June 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • January 2009
  • December 2008
  • November 2008
  • October 2008
  • September 2008
  • July 2008
  • May 2008
  • April 2008
  • March 2008
  • February 2008
  • January 2008
  • December 2007
  • October 2007
  • September 2007
  • May 2007
  • April 2007
  • March 2007
  • January 2007
  • December 2006
  • November 2006
  • September 2006
  • August 2006
  • July 2006
  • June 2006
  • August 2005

ATOM RSS RSS 2
Stilhavn Real estate footer logo



Inquiries

  • Sam Wyatt
  • 36 East 5th Avenue,
  • Vancouver,
  • BC,
  • V5T 1G8,
  • CA
  • 604-722-3734
  • 604-988-1239
  • sam@samwyatt.com

FortBlanc by Ubertor © 2018 All Rights Reserved.

  • Sitemap
  • Privacy Policy
  • Real Estate websites for Agents