Note from Jonah: This is the continuation of a photo series from the Great Himalayan Mountain Range. The photos document a journey by car, foot, boat, plane and elephant from Tibet to Nepal.
Standing at the foot of Mount Everest is an amazing site. But what’s just as amazing is the weather at earth’s highest point.
From Rongbuk Monastery, 200 meters lower than Everest Base Camp (Tibet side) I felt like I could see a relatively easy path from the base of the mountain to the summit. The climb itself didn’t look that intimidating. However, what is intimidating is the weather and the lack of oxygen. I’d been in some higher elevations around the world before, but have never experienced elevation sickness until I entered Tibet. It really only lasted one night but its not a pleasant feeling — something similar to a migraine.
These photos are taken at an elevation of 5,100 meters (16,700 ft). Everest Summit is measured at 8,848 meters (29,029 ft). The slideshow below shows cloud movement over 29 minutes and 15 seconds.
This is an amazing thing to see. While the area doesn’t necessarily look that big in these photos, the clouds are moving over an enormous area. The summit is 3,757 meters (12,329 ft.) higher than the area these photos are taken — so the clouds you are seeing are not only moving very fast but they are thousands of feet wide and long.
Years back while climbing Mount Ruapehu in New Zealand, a group of climbers and I got socked in a cloud. It only lasted about 20 minutes — but essentially you become completely blind on ice-covered steep slopes. Its very scary and very disorienting. My friends who “really” climb frequently tell me — the most important thing, is knowing when to turn back.
On Everest:
By the end of the 2008 climbing season, there had been 4,102 ascents to the summit by about 2,700 individuals. Climbers are a significant source of tourist revenue for Nepal, whose government also requires all prospective climbers to obtain an expensive permit, costing up to US $ 25,000 per person. By the end of 2009 Everest had claimed 216 lives.
The last frame (the top photo) is my favorite of the series, but the combination gives you an idea of the danger weather plays to climbers on this mountain.
Sitting at the foot of Mount Everest is Rongbuk Monastery, the highest religious building in the world. About 20 nuns and 10 monks live there but at some point in the past it is reported to have housed over 500 monks, making it also one of the highest human settlements in the world.
If you look to the far right hand side of this photo you also can get a glimpse of Rongbuk Glacier. This glacier has been melting rapidly due to the effects of global climate change. There is a fantastic video about this by filmmaker David Breashears called “On Thinner Ice” on the Asia Society’s Web site. See that video here.
This Chorten or Stupa is a commonly seen site in photos from this area. The Stupa is filled with Buddhist relics — the remains of a Buddha or saint. These are seen throughout Tibet, Nepal, India and other Buddhist and Hindu religious sites.
Road Trip on the Himalayan Shelf: If you’re just joining now, here’s what you’ve missed:
- Road trip on the Himalayan Shelf
- Lhasa: City of Sunlight, City in the Sky
- In Tibet, People’s Liberation Army (mostly) out of site, but not out of mind
- Attn: Crayola — a new color for you — Tibetan Blue
- Tibetan Cloudscapes
- Tibetan Prayer Flags Littering Roof of the World
- Should you pay for photos? The ethics of travel photography
- 29 Minutes and 15 Seconds on Mount Everest
- Desertification stretching from Inner Mongolia to Tibet
- ‘The journey not the arrival matters’
- Namaste and welcome to Nepal
- Kathmandu: The greatest place on earth to get lost
- Kathmandu: Full of mystery, culture, history — and trash
- ‘A journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles’
- Who has the strongest necks in the world?
- Hey hey, they’re some monkeys
- After the Himalayan: The Terai
- Watch where you step: Chitwan National Park
- At the end of the road: Pokhara
- Final Destination 8 (in 3D): The luckiest travelers in the world
- Tibet to Nepal: ‘The Journey Not the Arrival Matters’
One Response to “29 Minutes and 15 Seconds on Mount Everest”
tim says:
very cool jonah. i always feel the same thing when looking at photos of everest…the route itself doesn’t look that hard. it’s just the effects of weather and altitude that you have to remember.
recently i was reading all about the 14 8km peaks in Tibet, and some of the other daunting climbing challenges like the Eiger.
what was really interesting was reading about french snowboarder Marco Siffredi, who completed the first continuous snowboard descent of Everest. He disappeared after returning to Everest and trying to ride the Hornbeim couloir, which is basically that shaded area to the left of the peak in your top photo. they have some amazing video of him dropping in from the top of everest. Totally gnarly.
http://snowboarding.transworld.net/1000027305/uncategorized/the-disappearance-of-marco-siffredi/