Mt. Everest base camp

Has anyone been? A coworker and I are thinking about making the trip to the base camp (I'm no where near skilled enough to attempt a climb, but I'm going to climb Mt. Fuji next year). Is it worth the trip?

 

I have not (closest thing was hiking across the continential divide in Colorado - which was tough)...

However there was a very cool (no pun intended) special on Mt. Everest on the Discovery Channel about a week ago (don't ask - don't remember the title) - but it actually showed many people going to the base camp - only a few go higher (to the peak)... There is really only one tricky part from the start to the base - from what the show featured - getting to the base camp - which is crossing the Glacier fields (I think they called it) - they string ladders and rope, etc. across about a 300 yard area - which has misc gaps from a few inches to many feet (30 + in some spots...) - they mentioned that this one part is one of the most dangerous in the full climb... Most of the base climb portion - looked more like just up hill hiking (at altitiude)

One thing the guides mentioned on the show - was the lack of experience with some of the climbers - and how the basic stuff is easy - when you get to the difficult parts (like the Glacier Fields) - that is when people get hurt/die...

My advice - get some lessons/instructions - before you do this or Mt. Fiji... Even my hike over the divide had a few spots - which If I did not have many experience climbers around me and leading me - I could have been injured - and that is a very very easy hike...

just like scuba diving - not something you just do - without some basics covered..

Ok - I sound like my mother... I am getting old

Be safe...

 

It is on my 'to-do' list before i am 40, i am aiming for 35 to base camp, climb at 40, so 4 years from now i plan on the basecamp trip myself.

even base camp is above the recommended operating altitude on the human body's owner's manual lol make sure you plot for an autumn trip there when the weather is warm enough, even in the evenings, and yet there is moisture in the air and not too dry. hydration is a key issue, even more so than altitude because you are headed to base camp, not the climb

 

Erik,
I am 41, but I always wanted to try that, too! It will take training as I am totally out of shape. Have you seen the movie "Vertical Limit" w/ Scott Glen? I heard the movie is very close to reality.

Are you going to climb to the top of Mt. Fuji? or level 8th, which is considered as the top for general climbers. I went to the top twice so far, and it was the experience! My first trip, the guide was not friendly, but he was like Scott Glen in the movie. It was cold, tiresome, but not really dangerous as long as you follow the guide. View from the top is SOMETHING you probably won't forget. Hope the weather will be good w/out much clouds. One of my friend still does this every year.

Are you living in Japan?? I thought you live in Shaghai.

 

Khumbu Glacier - that's the most trecherous part of the Everest apart from the climb down back to the South Summit from the Steps below the manin summit.

Have any of you read a book called "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauar - it is an awesome page turner.

From what climbers say K2 is technically more difficult than Everest but Everest has more treceherous storms and more of an altitude problem...

 

I thought Eiger in Swiss was the toughest glacier to climb. Then again, I don't know how to rate glaciers...

 

You should see the Everest Imax, they have to do the Glacier and there is a part where the camera is pointing down from the ladder and the hole seems to go on forever. Eerie

 

I live in Shanghai, but I'm in Japan often enough. It's on my "rotation" which includes Beijing and Seoul.

I started getting in shape at the begining of the summer to prepare for it next year. I still need to drop about 20 pounds, but I was making progress before I got a nasty cold. I'll be physically ready by the end of the year for Fuji-san. The current schedule is to climb it end of July, early August (read: no snow). We'll spend the night on the mountain and start at 3:00 AM to get to the peak around daybreak. Watch the sun come up, let my Japanese host pray, then begin the climb back down as the clouds come in. That's the safest time to do it so it should be a low risk climb.

I'm only an average climber and don't try to do anything that needs too specialized equipment (I've been trained with ropes, but I don't like anything much past an intense hike). I know my limits and I try not to push them, I've got no dilusions of strength or stamina.