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Skills
necessary for Mt. Everest
Many
ask what if they want to attempt to climb Everest one
day. An answer by Eric
Simonson:
Many
people aspire to climb Mt. Everest.I understand this well,because I was one of them.It took me three tries (27,000 feet in 1982,
28,750 feet in 1987, summit in 1991) to finally make
it.Since
then I have been two more times to within one hundred
yards of the top (South Summit, 28,750 feet in 1997
and 1998).I
know that making the top is not a sure thing, and that
you have to be both good and lucky to pull it off.
If
you are going to spend the time and money to go to
Everest, you need to give yourself the best possible
chance of making the summit.This means joining a good group and doing the
necessary preparations and training so that you can be
a functional asset to the party and be able to take
care of yourself up high.
I
suggest that everyone seriously considering Mt.
Everest first set his or her sights on Cho Oyu.This is a great climb, the sixth highest
mountain in the world.Climbing Cho Oyu will familiarize you with the
rigors of climbing into the death zone.You will spend at least one night at 24,500
feet and you will learn to use your oxygen system
under these circumstances.There is no better practice for Mt. Everest than to go to
over 8000 meters on a mountain such as Cho Oyu.
Before
going to Cho Oyu, you need to have proved yourself to
be a strong and competent member of a party on at
least one, and preferably several, intermediate
altitude mountains like Denali or Aconcagua.The experience gained on these mountains is
crucial for a safe and successful experience on Cho
Oyu.
Prior
to going to Mt. McKinley or Aconcagua, you should have
climbed on Mt. Rainier, the Mexico volcanoes, the
Ecuador volcanoes, or other similar training climbs.On these trips you should have developed your
snow, ice, rope handling, glacier travel, and other
skills.
Obviously,
good physical conditioning is essential to be
successful at high altitude.Exceptional conditioning alone, however, will
not take the place of experience in the mountains.You must be capable of climbing confidently on
moderately difficult terrain.In particular, good cramponing skills are
crucial.On
Mt. Everest, you must have the ability and confidence
to ascend and descend unroped on moderately steep (up
to 40 degree) ice, at high altitude and in difficult
conditions (bad visibility, wearing a pack, high wind,
etc), where a slip will result in a fatal fall.
For
persons interested in trying high altitude climbing in
the future, I suggest a trip to a mountain such as
Kilimanjaro (19,340 feet) as a good starting point to
see if they are able to acclimatize normally(some people just don't do well at high
altitude, no matter how well conditioned they are).Another alternative is an Everest or Cho Oyu trek, again
exposing the prospective climber to altitude in excess
of 20,000 feet.It
is better to find out early in your high altitude
career whether this sport really works for you!
