Everest Base Camp & Kala Patthar Summit - 2024 

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The Road to Everest

My personal road to Everest runs through Langtang Valley in 2023 and San Antonio, Texas in March 2024. The 2023 trek to Kyanjin Gompa in Langtang Valley was both a triumph and disappointment. From my second day in Nepal through my being airlifted by helicopter from Kyanjin Gompa, I suffered from a stomach virus that I couldn't shake. Ten months earlier, I was diagnosed with cancer and much of the year was consumed by thoughts of cancer treatment and now, my guide, Rakesh, observed me struggling just to stay hydrated while climbing long days.  

Reaching Kyanjin Gompa was very  rewarding accomplishments given my situation, but being unable to attempt the Tsergo Ri climb was very disappointing, leaving me with an empty feeling. In that respect, heading back to Nepal in 2024 seems like unfinished business. Settling a score.

My cancer diagnosis in 2022 created lots of challenges and uncertainty about my health and my future. I delayed my cancer treatment until after my Langtang trek, as my prognosis was good, the tumor was slow-growing, and the risk of metastasis was low. My cancer was being actively surveilled with numerous imaging, blood tests, and frequent visits to the oncologist and other members of my medical team. It is difficult to describe the feeling of walking around with untreated cancer for over a year, but my medical experts assured me that active surveillance was safe. Nonetheless, doubts about post-treatment side effects and life after cancer treatment is never far from your mind.

During this period, I was making plans to recruit people to join me on a second trek - this time to Everest Base Camp in the fall of 2024--while not even knowing whether or not I'd be making the journey to Nepal again, much less physically capable of managing 10 consecutive days of grueling ascents in the Himalayas. In January 2024, I opted to schedule surgery for March of 2024 towards the end of the ski season. My surgery took place in San Antonio on March 28, 2024, and in May 2024, there was no detectable cancer remaining. I had no post-operative complications or discomfort. After six weeks of recovery, I was able to resume an unrestricted training regimen that began with long walks of over 10 miles at fast pace in the foothills of El Paso's Franklin Mts. 

Berry Picker Trail, Vail (above)

We moved back to Colorado for the summer in June 2024. I remained in Colorado all summer until leaving for Delhi on September 5th. In Colorado, I began training at high altitude with a weighted pack pack 6 days a week. The trek to EBC takes 9 to 10 days, starting in Lukla. Although the the trek to EBC shares much in common with the previous year's trek to Kyanjin Gompa, the days are longer, the altitude is higher, and the distance is greater. About half the trekkers succeed in making it all the way up. 

Being nearly 65 years old and only six months post-op, I had my doubts about my chances of achieving success this year. Most trekkers to EBC are 30 years younger than me and didn't go through cancer treatment six months earlier, so I felt like training hard at high elevation would be necessary to give me even the slightest chance of success. The rest would require some mental toughness and avoiding disease best I could.

My pre-trek workouts consisted mostly of 3 times/week hikes up and descending back down Berry Picker, a notoriously challenging route on Vail Mtn that begins in Lionshead Village, rises 2,000 vertical feet over a span of 3 miles, and terminates at 10,200 ft. above sea level.  My guide, Ian Taylor, who has summited Everest and led over 30 expeditions to EBC and beyond, believes climbing Berry Picker with a weighted pack is a good proxy for the gradient on the EBC trek.

​On the days I wasn't doing Berry Picker, I went on other hikes or rode my bike up to 30 miles a day. I summited four of Colorado's 14K+' peaks in the summer of 2024: Grays Peak, Torreys Peak, Mt. Blue Sky, and Mt. Yale, bringing the total to six summits of 14'ers since the age of 60. In all, I logged over 350 miles on foot in July and August of 2024. By the time I headed to Delhi, I felt up to the challenge of reaching Kala Patthar, but fear and doubts about my chances for success lingered.

View of EBC and Mt Everest from top of Kala Patthar

Routes in the Himalaya are not measured in terms of miles or kilometers. They are measured in hours and days. Distance is deceptive and meaningless in the Himalaya were conditions dictate the speed of travel. Just as an extreme example, it may require 12 hours to ascend just one mile from Camp 4 to the summit of Mt. Everest whereas it may requires only 30 minutes to cover a mile of sections of trail that are less challenging.

A very demanding segment on the EBC trek of only a few miles at high altitude over glacial moraine may require the better part of a day, while a less challenging stretch of 5 miles may require only a couple hours. Trekking to EBC covers hiking over just about every type of terrain imaginable. Dirt trail, miles of ancient rock-hewn stairs, glacial moraine, talus fields, snowy slopes, and stone pathways are all on the menu. 

The typical roundtrip EBC trek covers about 80 miles from beginning and ending in Lukla, not including acclimatization hikes or climbs such as Kala Patthar and other summits. There is no "official" itinerary, but most itineraries follow a general pattern that follows the  beginning in Lukla and culminating at EBC on or around the 9th. day and a climb of Kala Phattar early on day 10. 

Although numerous variations on the theme exist, most itineraries involve overnighting on the way up in these villages:

Phakding or Monjo on Day 1
Namche Bazaar on Day 2
Namche Bazzar on Day 3 (acclimatization)
Namche Bazzar on Day 4 (acclimatization)
Tengbouche on Day 5
Dingboche on Day 6
Dingboche on Day 7 (acclimatization)
Lobuche on Day 8
Gorakshep on Day 9 (EBC)

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