Mt. Everest 2004: Mountain Madness Expedition 2004

Day 35:  April 30

Sarah Henley reporting from Base Camp. Today Willie put the guys through a challenging experience. Yesterday I mentioned Willie and Phendan Sherpa were fixing an imaginary Hillary Step for practice.  Well, they had a chance to practice today.  This is a good idea for a few reasons.  First, the Step is steeper terrain than they will have seen yet on the mountain.  Second, Willie had them warring their big goggles and oxygen masks during the practice because there is nothing quite like it.  Gary said, " it is amazing how much sight you loose warring that stuff.  You can't even see your feet right in front of you".  So you can imagine the importance of getting used to this, or at least as much as one ever could, before summit day.  Lastly, the Hillary Step gets clogged up with people because at that point in the climb folks are slowing down because of the altitude and the terrain is more challenging.  Willie simulated this experience by pulling and tugging on the rope below them.  From what I have been told it can be like a huge traffic jam.  If people had horns they would be honking them.  Gene said, "Willie put us through hell, but I know we need to experience what it will be like as best as possible".

After this activity all four of our team members crawled into their tents for an afternoon nap.  Tomorrow they have one more rest day before they begin their assent to camp 3.  This will be the last bit of the acclimatization process.

 

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