Sublime

27/9/2019

I then took on one of the hardest treks in Nepal on foot with my Sherpa team, at speed, running all the way to Kathmandu, only stopping to drink beer and whisky, until we’d completed a six-day journey in eighteen hours.

In the aftermath of Seema’s solo rescue, I’d learned a serious lesson: by using oxygen during my expedition, it had been possible to save her. Without it, the chances of me summoning up enough energy to conduct a rescue would have been slim to none. For that reason, from now on, I was climbing above the higher camps on an 8,000-er with bottled air,

At least £750,000 was required to climb the full portfolio of Death Zone mountains, maybe more, so I’d have to approach a series of sponsors, all the while exploring alternative funding options.

learned how to jumar and belay effectively, while building confidence in their crampon work and climbing skills.

As Ang Dorje’s reputation for being a strong and resourceful climber spread among Western climbers, he was promoted to the role of sirdar, and in 1992 he went to work for Rob Hall on Everest; by the launch of Hall’s 1996 expedition, Ang Dorje had climbed the peak three times.