We had two nights in Namche Bazaar for rest and acclimatisation. Everyone else went acclimatising to Kunde and Kumjung - I rested. I did start out on the walk but it was too much for my lungs and I turned back, spending the afternoon reading in the lodge diningroom and chatting to some English blokes who were on their way down after trying to climb Pumori and Island Peak.
The nights are getting quite cool now and there's quite a competition to get close enough to the yak dung fuelled stove to feel its warmth. We all enjoy watching the scrimmage between Cathy and all the Sherpas who circle the stove thereby blocking the heat from everyone else in the room. It's only 3 days into the trip, but Cathy's getting desperate about her inability to get warm. She's already wearing 5 layers and her down jacket and is fretting about how she'll fare higher up. Have I mentioned Cathy is Canadian? Yep, the one person from the land of winter is cold! The rest of us, of course, are keeping warm falling about laughing at, er with, her.
Oh and where do the rest of us come from? There's two New Zealanders (although one is originally from England) and nine Australians (although one is originally from England).
So, rested and a bit more acclimatized, we head off to Mon La - stopping first at Kyanjungma for lunch and a lesson in crevasse self-rescue. There's an awesome array of equipment laid out at the foot of a twenty-foot high boulder and we all look on blankly as Pasang talks us through the process of climbing out of a crevasse. I'm not sure how it happens, but I get to have the first go at climbing up the boulder - our pretend crevasse. I strap on the harness and it immediately becomes apparent to all four women that peeing on summit day is going to be right out of the question! I'm given one jumar that is clipped into my harness, then onto the rope dangling from the top of the boulder - sorry, crevasse. This is my hand jumar. Another jumar with two short ropes ending in loops - think stirrups - is clipped onto the climbing rope below the hand jumar. This is my leg jumar.
Pasang then tells us the first rule of crossing a glacier: Try not to fall.
However, if we must fall into a crevasse we are to call out "Falling!" Sorry, Pasang. I'm sure my first instinct as I feel the earth opening beneath my feet will be to yell "F******!" or "Arrrrrrrrrgh!" not a calm, stiff upper lip "Falling!"
Anyway, my rope mates will then drive their ice axes into the ground and wrap the climbing rope around it to halt my fall. After ascertaining that I'm conscious and capable of rescuing myself, a leg jumar is then lowered down to me.
Now, bear in mind that in a real situation I'll be wearing about 100 layers of clothing, waterproof coat and trousers, big warm gloves, climbing boots and crampons and I'll have to clip the leg jumar onto the rope and get each foot into one of the rope loops whilst spinning at the end of a rope and with fear and adrenalin running through my veins. A cinch!
This is how I get myself out of a crevasse:
1. Slide the hand jumar up to take up all the slack on the rope connecting it to my harness.
2. Sit all my weight on my harness.
3. Bend the knees and slide the leg jumar up as far as it will go.
4. Haul myself to a standing position in the stirrups.
5. Repeat steps 1-4 until I reach the top of the crevasse
To much applause, I regained the ground and watched as everyone in the group had a go. Of course, we're all convinced that if ever one of us did fall into a crevasse, Pasang and all the Sherpas would simply haul us out! But, it was fun learning a mountaineering skill.
By the time we were all done, we were freezing and galloped into the lodge for a welcome bowl of hot soup and fried pasta for lunch. We then shouldered our packs and set off for Mon La. We got to see Himalayan tahr along the way and the weather tried really really hard to snow on us, thrilling Nick who has never seen snow fall.
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