737 Leg 7 Everest - Day 145

Steve, Passang (our Sherpa) and I climbed through the icefall to camp 1. We left at 4.20am from base camp and arrived at camp 1 at 9am. Compared to previous years the icefall is in good condition, never the less we had to cross several ladders. Some more solid than others. One was anchored in the ice one end and the other end was just flapping in the air secured with rope to an ice anchor. The acclimatisation day at camp 1 was tough. Once the sun rises over Nuptse the temperatures become unbearably hot due to the solar glare from the glacier and snow covered walls of the western cwm. I sat in my tent in my pants all day trying to hydrate! My tent was +38c, yet in the evening the temperature drops to around -18c. We had snow in the evening, which played havoc with my phone!

FACT: Nuptse is a mountain which lies two kilometres WSW of Mount Everest. Nuptse is Tibetan for “west peak”, as it is the western segment of the Lhotse-Nuptse massif.

FACT: Often called the Valley of Silence, the Western Cwm (cwm, pronounced coom, is Welsh for a bowl shaped valley/cirque!) is
is a broad, flat, gently undulating glacial valley basin terminating at the foot of the Lhotse face of Mount Everest.

It is traversed by climbers using the southeast route to the summit of Everest. The central section is cut by massive lateral crevasses which bar entrance into the upper Western Cwm. In this section, climbers must cross to the far right, over to the base of Nuptse to a narrow passageway known as the Nuptse corner. From here, climbers have a stupendous view of the upper 8,000 feet of Everest - the first glimpse of Everest's upper slopes since arriving at Base Camp. The last 5,000 feet on Everest, including its distinct black pyramid summit, are not visible from Base Camp. The snow covered, bowl shaped slopes surrounding the Western Cwm, reflect and amplify the solar radiation, warming the valley basin despite its high elevation of 6000 to 6800 meters (19,600-22,300 feet). Some of the most difficult days on Everest are in the Western Cwm, when on a sunny windless day it is desperately hot, up to 35c (80-95 degrees Fahrenheit).