MY EVEREST JOURNEY
Climbing Mt Everest has been a dream for me since 2008 when I climbed Mera Peak. From the summit of Mera Peak, Mt Everest stands out to me, a black pyramid rock alongside many other peaks. I thought to myself then, "I would like to climb Everest one day." The opportunity came about in 2010 when i was asked to form a team to climb Mt Everest in 2015 to celebrate Singapore's 50th National Day. We worked hard for 5 years and eventually set foot on Everest Base Camp for the first time on 7 April 2015, ready to take on one of the greatest challenge in our lives. But my dream to stand on the summit of Mt Everest remains elusive as the expedition was cancelled after a devastating earthquake and avalanche tore through base camp. The team had to abandon the expedition and return home, happy to be alive. The team went on with our normal lives afterwards. However, my dream of climbing Mt Everest still lives on. I thought of climbing it as a solo climber but found out that Jeremy Tong, a fellow mountaineer, also has plans to scale the mountain. A lecturer, Dr Saravana, then expressed his keen interest and dreams of climbing Mt Everest and thus the Everest Expedition 2017 team came about. It has been less than a year since we have been working together to get to Mt Everest. With your support, I may well set foot on Mt Everest once again next year with my new team.
THE COST OF EVEREST
Climbing Everest not only requires lots of guts but lots of money too. Without compromising on safety and opting for basic necessities (no extravagant luxurious living standard in camps), the cost of the Everest expedition for the team will cost about US$40,000. This link may give you a better picture of what this amount may cover. Do note that the link describes the cost for top USA companies. For the Everest Expedition 2017, the team has settled on a S$50,000 expedition package. There will also be flight cost, insurance cost, gears and equipment, visa and one of the most important item on the list, food.
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In 2015, the Aluminaid Team Singapura Everest 2015 spent about $500 worth of instant food and snacks to help us feel motivated and energised to get through three months on the mountain. Some of the dishes we managed to cook at Everest Base Camp was Chicken Rice, Mee Soto, Black Pepper Chicken. These once a week special meals were something to look forward to to help boost our spirits.
HOW MOUNT EVEREST IS CLIMBED
Mount Everest can be climbed via two routes. One on the Nepal side of the mountain and the other from Tibet side of the mountain. In 2015, I was climbing from the Nepal side. The Nepal side has the interesting Khumbu icefall which often portrayed with pictures and videos of climbers crossing ladder fixed across deep crevasses.
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Everest is climbed in stages.
Stage 1: Acclimatisation to Camp 1
Climbers climb from base camp through the Khumbu icefall to camp 1 and back to base camp followed by a couple of rest days.
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Stage 2: Acclimatisation to Camp 3
Climbers climb from base camp through the Khumbu icefall to camp 1 and stay a night at Camp 1. The next day, climb to Camp 2 and if strong enough, climb towards Camp 3 and head back down to Camp 2 or Camp 1 for another night. Climbers will head back down to base camp.
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Stage 3: Summit Push
Climbers will wait out for the summit window and starts ascending when the weather is ideal. Climbers climb from base camp to camp 1 and stay a night. The next day climbers advance to camp 2. From camp 2 to camp 3 is a difficult climb to camp 3 on the very steep Lhotse face and camp 3 is on the steep face itself. Camp 3 to camp 4 is when climbers crossed into the death zone above 8000m when oxygen percentage is about 7%. Extended period in this environment without supplemental oxygen will result in deterioration of bodily functions. It is from camp 4 that climbers will climb in the night to hopefully reach the summit by sunrise and back down to camp 3 skipping camp 4 in order to recover. If a climber is strong, one can even reach back to camp 2 from the summit. Climbers will head back down to base camp from camp 2.​