April 23, 2008 - 9:02am — MountEverest2008
The Toss
6400 m
(Camp II) I've received a few questions over the past few weeks regarding how climbers go to the bathroom. I will respond, but fair warning the level of detail may be too much for some.
We can break this world into bits. First, when we are talking base camp or even advanced base camp (aka Camp II), the conditions are pretty good- we have a little tent outhouse, inside which is plastic barrel with a toilet seat mounted on it. Pretty plush, right? Additionally, I have a one liter pee bottle- this is kind of my best friend at night. We need to drink tons up here, and getting bundled up in the middle of night to leave the tent and pee is far inferior to simply using a bottle conveniently located along my sleeping bag.
For other camps, like Camp I, no fancy outhouse is present. Rather, we have a few biodegradable plastic bags. We designate a bathroom area of the campsite, squat and fill the bags up, and then, as I was on point to do this morning, find the nearest crevasse and toss the bag-o-waste in it.
Moving on, we did make it to Camp II today, elevation 21,000ft. The air is really thin here and the last 100 yards were a killer- three deep as I could gasps for air for every step. Headaches are common here, as are other early signs of AMS. As of dinner tonight, the team was doing well though.
Cool thing about this camp, we are directly at the base of the rest of Everest- meaning we can see the summit, Hilary Step, etc. It's great to see but also intimidating. We basically have 8,000ft straight up to go, and I'm struggling to breathe at the current elevation. This is where acclimatization comes to play,also the use of oxygen which I'll address at another time.
Finally, the CNN headline you may have seen today- it's true. We have a few friends on the mountain that have objectives other than reaching the summit. We're playing it cool here- I think our guides in particular have done a super job managing the situation. One impact relates to videos- basically I can not share any until May 10. A bummer, but a restriction I hope all can live with.
My mind is getting fuzzy now, time for me to sleep. Thanks again for all the nice comments- and when you ask me to pass on word to one of my teammates, rest assured this is taking place (ex: RC's mom, Allison, etc).
Goodnight