Everest 2003: Ben Clark
Dispatch 12 & 13

Dispatch 12, April 15, 2003’, 16,400’ Everest Base-camp 

Today was spent acclimatizing, adjusting to the altitude, and planning for our first foray onto the mountain.  Each morning Everest looms in the distance.  This was the first sunset we have seen on the world’s highest peak.

Keep Dreaming, Ben Clark

Dispatch 13, April 16, 2003, 16,400’ Everest Base-camp

The mountain is alive.  I walked up to 18,500’ today against a heavy gale. By the time I got within range of finally seeing the full grandeur off the north face of Everest, the cloud( see picture below) called a lenticular made it clear today wasn’t the day. 

When I returned to base-camp, clouds of dust seized everything in their path.  Climbers covered their mouths or stayed inside a tent covering their hot “Sherpa Tea” lest it should become a cup full of mud!  Just sitting here will surprise you.  Everest is a complex environment.

Everest is a fascinating adventure thus far, even without being on the mountain yet.  The people who expedition here are friendly and forthright and some are strictly commercial and profit driven. They come from Russia, New Zealand, China, Korea, all over America,  and offer cultural gestures and information about destinations they call home.  Some keep to themselves overly concerned about live television broadcasts from the summit to prove that risk and death can be averted. I think that is a shame, it is overlooking the real story behind Everest, it’s heritage. It is not just world’s highest mountain, it isn’t just a pile of rock and ice that produces gold, it is a people’s sacred landscape, it is a peoples story.

It is not my place to lament the ambitious, I too am guilty of coming to Everest and sharing my perspective and reasons. I believe everyone has the right to their style. But, maybe I’m old-fashioned in believing that if I focus on climbing the mountain, I stand a better chance of relaying the experience when I get down safely and after I have thought about it.  I’m also not superhuman so should I make it I’d rather take it in and preserve the experience of having the mental capacity of an 8 year old for the descent and not in troubleshooting broadcast software at below 0 degrees.  Everest is not that forgiving.  Everest, the experience, is more valuable than that.

Keep Dreaming, Ben Clark

Dispatches