Everest16: Post 10: Climb journal may 21st and 22nd C4 26,500 ft Summit day.

Very little sleep, stay in tent making water had my biscuit and gravy breakfast and few bites of Mac and cheese but can't eat much. Had a bowl of ramen noodles after I get up. We wake at 6 and start by 7 our turn around window will be 1:30 the next afternoon. The body of the Dutch guy is now in a bag sitting on a rock behind our tents a stark reminder of what could happen.

The 3 guys in second group is Myself, George, and Les we get dressed and everyone is feeling good the wind blows all night not hard but enough to rattle tents. We get dressed in summit gear and get started at 7pm right on time. Once we get out we meet a group of 8 heading for the summit George gets in front of the group and is the last I will see him until 14 hrs later. Les has to go to the bathroom and turns back I continue on my with Sherpa Tendu. George has Sherpa Mingma and Les has Callu our Sherpa are carrying extra bottles of O2 that they will store at the balcony half way up this will support our decent. Not a large group on summit day weather forecast is not great possible reason for the fewer climbers.

Shortly after we start maybe 200 yards from camp we meet a guy descending on his feet but barley able to walk staggering badly in a bright yellow suit. I remember thinking that's what I will look like in 18 hrs. I thought he left a few hours before us and developed issues I also noticed he was alone no Sherpa or leaders little did I know he has been out all night and was part of a larger Indian group all in bad trouble. We were not on the steep uphill part yet and I thought it odd he was in such bad shape so early.

The dangerous part about close to camp was large crevasse they had the trail marked with tent stakes but they also had big holes marked the same way. They call it falling into the grove which could be the last they see of you. I ask Dan how you get out if you fall in a 30 ft deep crevasse we are constantly jumping them, sometimes with safety rope most time with nothing, it funny how much further you jump when your not tied off. If you fall into these crevasse you can cross climb or you can walk down the bottom of the crevasse to where it gets narrow and climb out I don't want to find out, to fall in and climb out will waste so much energy it may end any summit push. Plus our Sherpa are there to keep us out of trouble. It wasn't steep so no ropes and the snow and wind covered up the footprints if you stepped off the packed trail you were in drifts up to your waist. I am close enough to group in front that I stay on trail avoiding holes and deep snow, Tendu is right behind telling when I get off trail, wind is blowing already.

4 hours in wind picks up sky is a inky blue can still see stars but I know I have a long day and I choose to keep my head down to look up and see lights of other climbers above you is heart breaking not many lights like the last few mornings weather forecast maybe the reason. I choose to look only a few feet in front looking at next foot hold or fixed line to attach to. I have two climbers 50 ft above me stopped one is a Sherpa and yells to Tendu there is someone coming down the rope out of control to look out. I am in front of tendu and I see a climber falling toward me feet and crampons first. I am jumared to the fixed line and time my jump over the falling climbers crampons just before her carabiner hits my jumar. The Ice anchor holds and we end up in a tangled pile hanging from our harness. I noticed she had the same bright yellow suit we are face to face I can tell she is in bad shape. She tells me she can't breath I look at her mask and the outflow valve is frozen and he bag is also full of ice. She is still coherent and I clear the ice from her mask so she could breath better I secure her to the rope and slide her to the next anchor. There is a large group below that has extra Sherpa and we passed her down to them for the Sherpa to help down. Very rattled by the close call. I also realized she has been exposed overnight and was near death. I continue my climb after another hour I see another climber hanging by his safety on the fixed line same one I was jumaring up on very steep area I felt the rope slip I noticed another yellow suit as I got up to him I see he is undoing ropes to release him down the mountain as I move to him to get anchored above him to my horror I see he is missing a glove and his one hand is frozen unlike the lady he isn't speaking but grabs me as I climb above him. Tendu ask him where is his Sherpa who is he with and finds out no Sherpa no O2 he said it was stolen at the balcony. He has already lost his hand and he was very week. I tell tendu we need to do something he tells me there is nothing we can do for him we don't have equipment to rescue and to attempt will be risking both of our life's. I have a sat phone we try calling larger groups to see if they could help it is 5 am and we don't reach anyone. We sit for another 30 minutes secure him to rope, cover his hand and hope extra Sherpa below have access to rescue party. I move on and one more hour just below the balcony I run up on my 4th yellow suite this time the guy has both hands frozen and is immobile and can't speak, it is getting lighter and again I ask what we should do. Again my Sherpa and I have a argument about what to do he again tells me we can't do anything and he is too far gone and will not make it. He goes on to tell me that if we stop we too will run out of O2 and freeze we have to keep moving. I have the most helpless feeling, I don't blame Tendu he is right and all I can think of is to make the sign of the cross and say a prayer for him to get of this cold mountain and into Gods arms. We start back moving up the rope leaving him, I noticed he was secured I found out later George first ran across him upside down and tied him to the rope. I am in the most inhospitable place in the world and the Sherpa understood the risk and was getting fed up with me stoping.

I finally get to the balcony the sun is rising on this already crazy morning I am getting hypoxia and trying to process what's going on around me what I saw it is already haunting me. I notice tendu unloaded his O2 and puts both tanks on his regulator and didn't change mine. He is starting to show signs of alt sickness. As the sun rises I am walking a ridge to the south summit both sides falling off thousands of feet to the storm clouds below, snow up to my knees on my right is the inky blue sky's with the moon above clouds that are at around 7000 meters they are dark gray and ominous looking and on my left side of the ridge the sun was up lighting to clouds below a bright white. I thought it looked like heaven and hell. With everything I had seen this day I couldn't believe I could see something of beauty in such a harsh situation.

I am 9 hours in and only a few hours form the summit having problems focusing my thought, go back to the dying climbers with their frozen arms flailing around or the lady asking for me to help her. I keep moving, my last ridge before the Hillary steps 1 hour from the summit, I catch up with George at the Hillary steps. He by far has been the strongest climber, I see Mingma above him on the last pitch. We tie off and George tells me he is turning around that he is not sure he can make it to the top and all the way back. The weather is gotten worse and when we descend, we will be going into a snow storm below us. We talk about the dying people we passed on the way up and it is obvious we are both shaken by what we have seen and the summit is not as important but getting down alive is. We have 4 hours before the turn around time but the conditions have beaten the strength out of us and we are questioning weather we have the strength to get back. Our Sherpa are also split one wanting to go on and other is sick and wanting to go back. We try the radio to get a update on the weather and get nothing so we assume the weather is just going home to get worse. We look around no one is in sight everyone has turned around. I take out my summit flags get photos and we head down into the heavy snow.

We make it to the balcony and I reload another bottle of O2. Weather is bad I tell George it isn't time to panic it is 11am plenty of time to make it back, we are not too cold, O2 good, but my legs are gone and the only muscle still working is my brain. George is also trashed I point out Sherpa sitting looking down the mountain. I begged tendu to drop his heavy pack and go down with us and he is unresponsive. I leave the group on the balcony and rig my harness with a strap and slide down in the heavy snow. The Sherpa finally leave George which was unaware but his hose was broken and he was climbing without O2 he found the broken hose fixed it and continues down alone walking the steep slope with his harness and figure 8 backwards as I would be if my legs were strong enough. I get to where the yellow suits were and only one was still tied to the ropes dead. I have to crawl over him to tie back to the lines and keep moving down.

I get to the flats and know I have a few hundred meters to my tent but it is snowing so hard I can't see. This is the same place 4 died on the 96 expeditions made famous by the movie and book. I remember the big holes and the snow is covered the trail all that marked it is the tent stakes I walk and crawl from stake to stake. I take my time feeling confident I am going to make it back for the first time. I stop and eat my last snickers bar my water is frozen and I have a little tea in my thermos to wash it down. I get my sat phone it has been almost 24 hours since I called home and it is aftermidnight at home but I want to tell them I am ok. Lisa is still up she had already heard about multible deaths and was very worried. She has been unbelievable strong and supportive for the last 2 months but the last 24 hours were bad for my entire family. I had not told here about the 3 deaths and had no idea the news would make it home so quickly. I tell her about the terrible things I saw the night before and that I am going to be home as fast as I can. I hang up and keep moving tendu and Mingma catch me while I was taking a break and keep walking Geroge isn't in sight and I worry about leaving him. I meet Les looking for us and he tells me he found the Indain climber and he couldn't get the large group to help he ends up getting her to his tent loosing most of his gear in the process. The second climber was also rescued but didn't make it. I wait for breaks in the blowing snow to see glimpse of our tents and after 22 hours back in camp. George arrives a hour later and we collapse in our bags in our suits covered in ice.