Images of Katie Sarah climbing Mount everestWERE YOU EFFECTED BY ALTITUDE SICKNESS?
"No, no symptoms of sickness, only the normal feelings of being at the extreme altitudes i.e. fatigue." WOULD YOU RECOMMEND IT TO OTHERS? "A summit attempt, not generally, no, to be honest! I do not know many who are physically or mentally equipped to do it.For someone who is focused, they need to approach it properly. No short cuts. They need to have the climbing CV to justify having a shot, not think they can just go without spending the time, money and effort to get the suitable experience. Otherwise they are just putting themselves, other climbers and more importantly the sherpas who have to rescue them, at risk. It is genuinely a life and death environment, that inexperienced idiots should not be in! (On the other hand a base camp trek is something that anyone of good health and reasonable fitness should be able to get themselves to a suitable physical state to give that a go….)." |
Katie Sarah - MountaineerWHEN DID YOU CLIMB MOUNT EVEREST?
"I climbed Mt Everest in 2010 (note I was the first, and still only SA woman to do so - only one other SA person has summited. I was at that stage the 6th Australian woman to summit)." WHAT WERE YOUR MOTIVES TO CLIMB MOUNT EVEREST? "Personal challenge and the fun and satisfaction of working with local staff - the sherpas are awesome people that are brilliant to work with" HOW FAR DID YOU CLIMB? "Summit 8848m in 2010 - note that I have climbed twice on Everest, both on the north side (Tibet) of the mountain. Note FYI that a trek (not climb! no climbing involved) to base camp normally refers to the walk to the south (Nepal) side of the mountain, and does not in fact actually get onto the mountain!" WOULD YOU DO IT AGAIN? "No. Not just a straight-forward summit. Maybe I would return to Everest if I can give it a different twist (traverse, for example). But I am more likely (as per my recent trip) to go to different 8000m peaks." WAS IT A GOOD EXPERIENCE? "Not sure that ‘good’ is an applicable adjective! Not to a summit trip anyway. It was amazing, unforgettable, tough, cold, uncomfortable, stunning environment. I had an amazing team of clients to share it with, and an awesome team of sherpas to work with." |
Carrie Long - AdventurerWHEN DID YOU CLIMB MOUNT EVEREST?
"I did not climb Mt Everest, but I visited the region in April 1996. While I was there I walked to Everest base camp which has an elevation of 5335m. There is another peak that overlooks Everest Base camp called Kalapattar, it is at 5643m, I climbed that too!" WHAT WERE YOUR MOTIVES TO CLIMB MOUNT EVEREST? "My motives for visiting the region is a funny story. One of my oldest friends worked with a Nepalese man in an Outdoor Equipment shop in Melbourne. He had been a Sherpa and a guide in Nepal and offered to guide us and a group of friends to the region for a bargain cheap price, so we all agreed." HOW FAR DID YOU CLIMB? "I got too the Everest base camp, which is at 5335m." DID YOU GET SYMPTOMS OF ALTITUDE SYMPTOMS? "I was very lucky, I did not get any health symptoms of altitude sickness, but I was unable to sleep for 2 nights. Because the air is so thin it caused us to cough frequently.Many of my friends got headaches and could not eat, they did take medication, and they descended fast after we had made it to base camp. I did not take any medications to prepare or prevent altitude sickness. I was a long distance swimmer and had trained hard to increase my lung capacity for this purpose. For your information, I climbed Mt Kiliminjaro in 2013. It has an elevation of 5895m. I did get altitude sickness then. I retained over 7 litres of fluid in my body, I was very swollen, I got some fluid on my lungs and did not pass urine for over 24 hours. I was also nauseated and vomiting and was not thinking clearly. As a result I took medication and descended quickly after summiting." WOULD YOU DO IT AGAIN? "I would love to go again and take all our kids, I think it would be a great experience for kids from 12 yrs onwards." |
Images of Carrie Long climbing Mount EverestWAS IT A GOOD EXPERIENCE?
"It was a fantastic experience. It was great to achieve the physical feat, it was also mentally challenging. It is difficult to walk at that high altitude. Everest Base camp looks like a moonscape as it is set on a glacier, it is slippery and very bright white/ ice blue colour, you can get “snow blindness” as a result. You can hear large shards of the glacier cracking off the walls which is loud and very scary .It is also as very dirty place, there are no organised rubbish point and toilets so human excrement and rubbish is littered everywhere. These things take a long time to decompose at that altitude and cold. It is one of the last places on earth where you are very dependent on the weather, if you get sick the weather may be bad which means that helicopters cannot fly in and rescue anyone. The only way out is to walk or be carried out in a basket on the back of a Sherpa. This means regardless of how wealthy you are in that instance, everyone is at the same level. The environment is beautiful to walk through. The Nepalese people are super friendly it is a beautiful experience." WOULD YOU RECOMMEND IT TO OTHERS? "I would recommend people go to Everest base camp if you like a physical and mental challenge, appreciate other people’s cultures and visiting other countries. It is a great way to appreciate life and how lucky we are but also how precious it is." |
Images of Duncan Chessel climbing Mount EverestWOULD YOU DO IT AGAIN?
"I have two very good friends who I will climb it again, otherwise no, I have done that!" WOULD YOU RECOMMEND IT TO OTHERS? "If they are passionate, driven and do the years of training skills, fitness and preparation then sure why not." DID YOU FACE ANY CHALLENGES WHILST CLIMBING IT? "Bad weather was the most difficult, very cold -40 C and windy up to 120kmph." |
Duncan Chessell - Geologist, explorer, mountaineer and photographerWHEN DID YOU CLIMB MOUNT EVEREST?
"I summited in 2001, 2007 and 2010. I made it to 8300m in 2005 and turned back." HOW FAR DID YOU CLIMB? "I climbed to the Summit 3 times, have taken perhaps another 12 trips trekking to Base camp on both side of the peak the Nepal (Khumbu) base camp, Tibetan North face (Rongbuk Glacier) and Tibet East Face Base Camp (Kanshung Glacier)." DID YOU GET ANY SYMPTOMS OF ALTITUDE SICKNESS? "Yes have had plenty of headaches and in 2005 got slight pulmonary eodemna at 8300m and turned back" WAS IT A GOOD EXPERIENCE? "Mostly good, difficult at times, my friend died in 2001 and that was very sad." IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME & GIVE YOURSELF ADVICE ABOUT THE CLIMB, WHAT WOULD IT BE? "There is plenty of advice, the main thing is remember the summit if only half way - you still have to get down!" |