Mayor Bailey’s Everest expedition — Days 11, 12, 13

Continued tracking of Coronado Mayor Richard Bailey’s ascent of Mount Everest. This was posted to his Facebook page today, May 3…

Everest Day 11, 12, and 13 (I think) Recap

Mountaineering is a slow sport.

A lot and, at the same time, not very much at all has happened in the past two or three days.

There is a saying in mountaineering that “slow is smooth and smooth is fast.” The sport is very slow-paced. Even the fastest mountaineers in the world move at a relatively glacial-like speed.

The summit attempt will take about 50 hours of climbing to cover the 24 miles to the summit and back but the entire trip will last around 30 days.

Some of that time is accounted for by the eight-day trek it takes just to get to base camp. Then add in four to five rest days and another four to five days of rotations up the mountain for acclimatizing.

More rest days are needed after the rotation. Build in a week of weather delays and then four days for the actual summit push and you end up at 30 days pretty quickly.

Not accounted for in the above schedule are sick days. Unfortunately, my fever from a couple nights ago came back with body aches, chills, and a wicked sore throat. I’ve spent the last two days trying to get better and push on, but I was only getting worse.

According to the schedule, I was supposed to be hiking up to camp 2 a few hours from now, but instead, after the Coronado City Council meeting finished this morning, I caught a helicopter flight down to Kathmandu for a few days to hopefully recover before heading back.

It was difficult to watch fellow climbers continue on their journey while mine is currently on pause, especially knowing that this schedule change likely means I’ll be attempting to summit on a later date than them.

Slow is fast. Slow is fast. Slow is fast.

The Council meeting started today at about 4 am my time. It was especially cold outside. There was no internet service due to weather conditions, so I used a satellite phone to dial-in.

As impressive as the technology is that allows a call from the middle of nowhere on one side of the world to an office building on the other side of the world, the connection would get lost whenever I put the phone under the hood of my suit. So, for the ninety minute meeting, the phone and subsequently at least one ear, was left out in the cold haha.

It was nice to hear some familiar voices on the Council call and I really appreciate the accommodation the other council members and staff are granting me by participating remotely. The bulk of the meeting was on legislative updates with the state and e-bike policy. I’m confident the community will benefit from the actions today.

As I was waiting for my helicopter to pick me up, another helicopter flew overhead to camp 2.

Jonathan Sugarman, a 69 year old American climber died last evening at camp 2. The exact cause is not yet known but it was not due to the mountain conditions or route.

Jonathan is the fourth death this season. The helicopter was flying to recover his body.

It’s a fine line between rationalizing away why outcomes that happen to someone else couldn’t happen to you and allowing potential outcomes to deter you from pursuing your goals.

I tell myself Jonathan was nearly twice my age which immediately puts him at a significantly elevated risk relative to mine. But on a fundamental level, we’re both just people climbing a tall mountain. I feel very sorry for his passing and the loss his family is experiencing.

The flight back to Kathmandu took about 40 minutes. Once I had service I gave my mom a call. Since I had been without wi-fi for 24 hours, I hadn’t had a chance to check-in. She, of course, had already heard the news about the death and the initial reports only referred to an “American climber” without additional information so she was understandably very worried and asked me to consider coming home.

I hate that my choice to be here causes her so much stress and anxiety. How do you weigh the trade off between potentially letting others down versus definitely letting yourself down?

Mountaineering is a slow sport. It’s also a selfish one.

As of this moment, I’m in a Kathmandu hotel, pumped-up on antibiotics with some cold and flu medicine, scarfing down room service and enjoying a robe after my first hot shower in nearly two weeks.

Pictured below, in addition to my frozen noggin (above), are two images of the icefall – one during the day and one at night. You mostly move at night because the mountain is most stable when it’s coldest.

Each little light you see is a climber making their way up the mountain, slowly.

See all of Bailey’s Everest summit posts here.