So, I’ve done the marathon in Mumbai twice before. No big deal there. It does get hot as hell the longer it takes you but if you can be done quickly you get finished before the worst of the heat and sun. It’s in January which is Mumbai’s most pleasent month in terms of temperature.
Kili should give me a decent idea of whether or not I can handle acclimation well. I’ve never been up quite so high before. It’s a full 1000 meters higher than I have been. It is 2000 meters below where I plan on going on everest. Obviously, if I have any trouble climbing Kili then I have no business at Everest.
In terms of coldness, the Himilaya’s just aren’t that cold. In fact I wish they were as then the ski season there would be longer. Sure at night when it is windy and on top of everest it can get to be really cold. But for the most part it would never get much below -20 celcius, a temperature that I used to wear thin GS suits at comfortably as a kid alpine racing. Base Camp, from what I understand, is generally much warmer than that.
The big xfactor in this whole thing is my ability to deal with altitude. From past experience I know that I am not the quickest to acclimate and that I usually suffer a great deal the first two days. However, I do get better the longer I am up high which is important. I go skiing each year at 4.4 kilometers in Kashmir and I am usually sucking wind on the first few days relative to most other people in my group. By day four though I am fine and can trek up and down the mountain far easier than most. I’m hoping this will be the case at twice that altitude.
I am completely unsure if I can, or want to commit to an everest of 8000 meter summit. This is why I am looking at a other options that will give me the compulsory mountaineering training and put me at relatively safe altitudes below the death zone to see how I manage with the elevation. I will see if it is for me.
In terms of cost. Yep, it seems like the high cost providers charge around 60k. But there are much cheaper ones out there. Right now I’m looking at spending around 8k to join a lesser expedition to smaller mountains in the everest vicinity. You guys worried about deadlines have obviously never seen what a sack full of cash can accomplish in a South Asian country.
My hope is that doing these 6-7k mountains will give me an indicator of whether I belong on an 8k summit. If that goes well then I’ll probably look to do something like Cho Oyu, next fall which, at 8k, is nearly as tall as Everest but much easier. I can also ski down it which is cool.
If that is successful I’ll definitely want to give an Everest Summit a go the following spring.
The money question. Yeah, its a lot of money to spend on something like this. I can afford it though. It’s not gonna bankrupt me, just means I’ll be driving a less fancy car which is fine with me because I never understood spending a lot of money on a car. I’d much rather have a “This ass climbed Mt. Everest” bumper sticker on my ass.
It’s been a lifelong ambition of mine, which I’ve never utterered to anyone I know, since I was a kid. I do not think I will tell anyone about this plan which is why I am sharing it with you guys anonymously.
