Chapter 8 To Everest

Everest Base Camp trek March - April 1982

In March 1982, I flew from Heathrow to Kathmandu via Delhi. I was with three friends from Bewdley mountaineering club, Ray Dimmock, Malcolm Gee, Rick Hamblen and Mike, whose surname I don't remember. Mike had joined us a the last minute when his marriage failed and he sold his business. In the event he didn't stay with us for long. Leaving us with the words 'I don't know what I want out of life, but I'm certain it isn't this!'

The object of our journey was to trek to Everest base camp at 18.000 feet in the Himalayas

Malcolm, Mike, John, Ray, Rick at Heathrow 1 March 1982
Click to enlarge any pictures and then top right X to return

In those days there were no direct flights to Nepal. We flew to Delhi by Gulf Air transatlantic jet via Dubai. At this point the plane filled with Indian travellers loaded with luxury goods such as bulky transistor radios which were far cheaper than in India. A Royal Nepal Airlines flight completed the journey, with a reputation for unreliability, but we made the connection without any problems

We spent three days in Kathmandu organising trekking permits, currency etc. None of this was easy and involved delays whilst bureaucratic checks took place, but it allowed plenty of time to explore Kathmandu.

My first impression was shock at the squalor. The smell of sewage was apparent even as we stepped from the plane from Delhi onto the tarmac. It was common to see people defecating at the side of streets in the city - you had to watch your step !

Malcolm, Rick, Mike and Ray at Kathmandu Airport 2 March 1982

John, Malcolm and Ray

Ray studies the route

Ray and Malcolm entering a bank to change dollars to rupees

The general advice was to carry American dollars as a universal currency

Heavy goods transport

We opted to walk as much of the trail to base camp as was feasible and carried our own equipment, rather than using porters. It was hard going at times. The heat and increasing altitude took their toll.

But, there were enormous rewards too, the scenery was amazing and the camaraderie amongst our party and those we met was infectious. The food and conditions were often primitive and I and several others fell victim to stomach upsets and increasingly fatigue and headaches. Gradually we acclimatised and by the time we reached Lukla we were noticeably fitter than those who flew in to one of the highest and most notorious airstrips on the planet. This was and is a danger point for trekkers to fall victim to altitude sickness. Acclimatisation by climbing in and out of the many valleys and the way to Namche Bazaar is the best way of avoiding this.

Armed with our packs, visas, dollars and precious trekking permits we stepped out into the chill dawn air of Kathmandu to find the bus to Lamosangu, the nearest point to Namche Bazaar reachable by road at this time.

Ray outside the Hotel Asia, where we stayed in relative luxury

We reached Lamosangu after several bumpy hours on the bus and were immediately surrounded by a hoard of cheerful and inquisitive children.

Many were offering to take us to accommodation and after a discussion about whether to take this option, we followed a young boy of about 12 called Garnesh to his family home.

Garnesh on the left with his family

After a meal of chicken and vegetables, which was not to Mike's liking, we slept on mattresses that had him worrying about bed bugs.

Next morning we hauled on our back packs and set off on our first days trek.

6 March 1982 John and Rick setting up camp for the first time, watched by a curious audience.
Notice the minimalist tent.

6 March 1982

Rick Mike and Ray on a tea house break 7 March1982

Camp at Kiratichhap 8 March 1982

Hitching a ride to Jiri on the back of a stone truck with Malcolm taking the next photo

We went up that sitting on a truckload of road construction stones !

Ray at Jiri 9 March 1982

We arrived at Jiri on 8 March 1982 and headed for an Swiss financed farm project we had heard about. The very friendly young American showed us relatively comfortable bedrooms and later we joined him for a delicious meal of goat stew. Life was good.

The following day he took us to a small cheese factory, where we were able to buy a welcome tasty addition to our diet.

We were approaching much higher peaks now and the ascents and descents became tougher day by day.

John, Malcolm, Rick and Mike. 13 March 1982
Photo by Ray Dimmock

A mountain pass. 13 May 1982
Photo by Ray Dimmock

Click to enlarge

John, Rick and friend 17 March 1982

When we reached Lukla on 17 March 1982, Mike confirmed that he did not want to go any further and the next day he boarded a plane back to Kathmandu. I haven't seen him since !

The trail was much busier from Lukla to Namche Bazaar as we had expected, but we moved quickly and easily having gained fitness from the previous two weeks of trekking

At one point we stopped on a pass and I climbed a high rock overlooking the trail. A party of Americans were reaching the high point on the path below me when one of them looked up and seeing my lean, long haired, bearded figure exclaimed :

'Jesus Christ'

Without thinking , I replied

'Bless you, my child'

Yaks with supplies heading for Namche Bazaar

Entering Mount Everest National park on 18 March 1982
Ray and Rick on the right

Arriving at Namche Bazaar 19 March 1982

Rick visits the loo

The toilet facilities in our 'hotel' were interesting. An outdoor shed had a toilet with a seat that dropped contents directly on to a muddy patch of ground below. Cattle housed in the field would distribute the manure aided by a man with a wooden rake who worked the land now and then. Namche Bazaar had a distinctive odour !

Ray and I climbed out of Namche Bazaar to a viewpoint from where Everest was visible. The large village's sheltered bowl like situation is obvious from above.

Ray 20 March 1982

Ray, Rick Malcolm and I left Namche Bazaar on 21 March 1982.

We passed the then deserted Everest view Hotel which had been built by Japanese investors a few years earlier, flying tourists in to a specially built airstrip near Tengboche. Unfortunately, but predictably, the unacclimatised guests suffered badly from the sudden arrival at high altitude and several died. The hotel closed, but later reopened in a more modest form as luxury trekking accommodation

Tengboche monastery

Ray's tent in prime position

Rick and John on the high trail 21 March 1982

Yak transport heads towards Everest 21 March 1982

Ama Dablam

Mani stone

Ray, John, Malcolm 22 March 1982

Ray, Rick, John 22 March 1982

Malcolm outside the 'Amadablam Hotel' 23 March 1982

Interesting toilet

Approaching Lobuche 23 March 1982

Near Lobuche we climbed an outlying ridge to around 15,000ft for acclimatisation. I really felt the effects of altitude - tiredness and headache.

Ray, Malcolm and Rick. Acclimatising 23 March 1982

Above Lobuche we continued to climb to our highest camp at Gorak Shep. We camped here with an overnight temperature of -20 C . It was not a comfortable place to be for two nights. The ramshackle hut was hosted by a Sherpa girl called Diane, who had lost a leg in a landside a few years before. Edmund Hilary heard about the accident and arranged for Diane to be flown to New Zealand for medical treatment and recuperation. She produce nutritious food in really primitive conditions.

Diane is preparing food watched by John plus an American 'geographer' and his hired Sherpa. There was a Russian expedition operating from Everest Base camp and we concluded that this was a American spy, tasked with seeing what they were doing. However they had picked the wrong man, because he developed serious symptoms of altitude sickness and had to be helped back down the trail.

Malcolm, Rick, John, Ray. Gorak Shep 25 March 1982

John's luxury accommodation at Gorak Shep 25 March 1982

Ray in similar nightwear to all of us at -20C

Rick looks across towards base camp and the Khumbu downfall 29 March 1982.

The maze of ice seracs leading to base camp 28 March 1982

Sunrise 28 March 1982.

The names of just a few of the people who have died attempting Everest

We spent three days at Gorak Shep including a climb up a stony peak called Kalar Patar for a clearer view of Everest. My memory of much of this is hazy, probably because of attitude problems and I wasn't sorry to leave to start our descent towards Namche.

On the way down we met a Sherpa lad who was seriously disorientated by the altitude, so we helped him down to Lobuche - ironic !

Trekking down from Gorak Shep to Lobuche 28 March 1982

Back to Namche Bazaar 29 March 1982

This trekking map, which I used at the time, shows the main points on the way from Lamosangu to Base camp (Red) and the approximate points to Gokyo Lakes (Blue) . Not shown is the trek south of the map to the Arun Valley.

We didn't stop off at Namche Bazaar on the way down, but carried on to Peruche where we stayed on a farm overnight on the way to Gokyo Lakes

Farm we stayed in at Peruche 29 March 1982

It was a long hike up to a place called Na (I think!) where a boy of about ten ran a trekkers barn and herded yaks - all on his own !

Yaks and trekkers - with a very tiny John on the horizon 30 March 1982

Rick, Malcolm and Ray with boy shepherd at the window 1 April 1982

A seat in the Himalayas 1 April 1982

Gokyo Lakes 1 April 1982

We began to drop down from the high country of the Dudh Kosi across many valleys and mountain passes to the hot lands of the Arun River - a tributary of the mighty Brahmaputra River in India. This was the route to Everest used by Shipton and Tilman in the 1930s which ultimately led to the successful British led ascent of Everest by Hilary and Tensing in June 1953.

In the words of Jim Perrin, 'The journeys of discovery undertaken through two decades by this pair of venturesome ragamuffins are unparallelled in the annals of mountain exploration.'

By now our party of 'venturesome ragamuffins' had expanded. We met Drew and Christine from Canada, Greg from Melbourne, Stephen, also from Australia and a Kiwi.

On our first night heading south, we stayed at this comfortable lodge where the bearded American in the white sweater asked us 'Do you know your country is at war' This was on 2 March 1982 and we thought at first that he was joking. It was in fact true, the start of the Falklands war between Britain and Argentina.

Ray, Rick, Drew, Greg plus Stephen and ?Kiwi in warmer surroundings

Rick in a rhododendron forest as we headed south with a rapid change of climate

Much warmer !

John and Rick foot washing

Drew above one of the high passes

The Rai village of Bung.

The Rai tribe are renowned as being far less welcoming to outsiders than the Sherpas. We had trouble buying food and accommodation in Bung. Eventually we managed to get what looked like dried cow pats to eat and I suspect only because the family we bought them from were particularly hard up !

Bung sits on the side of a huge valley, which has to be crossed to reach Gudel on the other side . Tilman in 1935 remarked that there was only one thing more daunting that the sight of Bung from Gudel and that was the sight of Gudel from Bung. We agreed !

Gudel

Rai Villager

John descending into a welcome green, fertile valley 8 April 1982

A total change of scenery 9 April 1982

Wild camping 10 April 1982

But the bridges were even more challenging !

Greg sacrifices his guitar 10 April 1082

Greg had really struggled with sickness and fatigue. He had carried his acoustic guitar everywhere he had trekked and then damaged it in a fall. His day was made even worse by having to dash into the bush with stomach cramps every few minutes. On one occasion he grabbed a fist full of soft vegetation to wipe himself, but inadvertently included stinging nettles in the haul. It was a bad day for Greg. When he returned to Melbourne he was diagnosed with hepatitis and hospitalised .

Pork sellers in the valley 10 April 1982

Drew shares out the spoils.

On 11 April 1982 we reached the Arun River at a place called Kattiheghat. - a ferry point. This part of Nepal produced large quantities of paper and there were porters all around carrying huge bundles, waiting to cross the river. I believe there is now a footbridge crossing where the ferry used to run.

Rick, Ray and Greg in a group waiting for the ferry 11 April 1982

The effects of exercise and limited food - but clean bodies !

Definitely the flattest part of the trek !

Plane from Tumlingtar to Kathmandu 15 April 1982

Flights with Royal Nepal Airlines were dependant upon the travel requirements of the Nepalese royal family, still very much in charge at this time. Flights could be cancelled without notice and we had to wait for a couple of days before we were able to fly to Kathmandu, where we landed on 15 April 1982.

I didn't know until two weeks later that my Grandma, Marie Winchurch died on 17 April 1982. She had been bedridden in a nursing home at Malvern for a few months. I went to see her a few days before I flew to India and realised, sadly, that I would probably never see her again. She was almost a hundred years old.

Marion Winchurch née Brown 9 August 1882 - 17 April 1982

Ray and I stayed at a more luxurious guest house in Kathmandu for a couple of days and had the opportunity to see more of the city in springtime

Ray and I explored Kathmandu and then Delhi from where we went by train to Agra.

On New Delhi railway station we met some of the cast and crew of 'Jewel in the Crown' including Judy Parfitt. They were having a day of sightseeing, like us, to Agra and the Taj Mahal.