stellinas

They were at base camp, the usual mayhem ensued, smoking, toking, drinking and lots of rowdy revelling. This was quite normal before a climb, it was a way of releasing some of the tension of the anticipation of the gruelling physical and mental endeavour which lay before them.

Jack Reilly and Dexter Wilson had been climbing together since college, they knew the drill. Glancing at a girl dancing on a podium gyrating to heavy rock, then catching each other's eye, they laughed out loud as they grabbed another beer. It was always the same, but that was the fun, the fun before their greatest challenge yet. It had been ten months since their last major ascension, Aconcagua in the Andes in Argentina, 22,838 ft, a tough cookie indeed, seemingly easy, but not to be underestimated. She was a feisty mistress, but in a few days, their greatest venture yet; Everest!

Their whole climbing career had been leading up to this ultimate goal; they had already conquered six of the major peaks and gazing up at her summit in the distance, shrouded in a midnight blue cloak covered in diamante stars, they could taste their victory.

The weather was perfect, a crisp, clear night in April.

They had been on the mountain for 40 days and now they were at camp 4.The Death Zone awaited them, the most dangerous place in the world as was its reputation. Dex was sitting looking up at the summit, beckoning them with her seductive glance in the moonlight;

''Well, we'd better make a start Dex, you know night climbing is best up here.... hey, you ok ? '' said Jack glancing over at his friend as he checked his equipment one final time. Jack was particularly anal about that, especially the oxygen cannisters, there was no room for error with those.

''Sure thing'', replied Dex grinning. ''Was just thinking, have you ever seen such a beautiful mistress in your life ?''

Jack laughed sardonically, ''Beautiful she may be, but deadly, a real femme fatale, she's claimed more than 200 climbers in the death zone, don't you forget it! ''

With that grim thought, they started out on the final leg of the ascension.



The death zone. Mt Everest’s peak, over 8000m, extreme weather, avalanches were common, they knew, and they also faced exhaustion from continuous climbing. The oxygen level in the Rainbow valley, made the ascent to the summit nigh on impossible for many since being one-third of that at sea level. Yet, these things, instead of deterring the two guys, rather spurred them on with the adrenalin rush they provided.

They had been climbing with their sherpas Aadesh and Tej, two highly experienced climbers ,for quite some time when Dex signalled to Jack, pointing to something up ahead. Just visible, in the distance, they could make out something green in the snow indicating to them that they had almost reached Green Boots. The Green Boots body had become a macabre landmark for climbers showing them they were near their goal. Jack did a thumbs up to Dex and could imagine Dex' cheeky grin beneath his oxygen mask. They were now in Rainbow Valley, so called because of the colourful jackets the deceased had been wearing on their demise, interspersing the terrain, vivid against the virgin snow crunching beneath each laboured step.



Now they had reached the Hillary step, a 12-metre (40 ft) rock face, naturally named after the first conqueror of the mountain. Dex climbed first since only one climber at a time could attempt it. Dex's tentative steps were slow, but successful and he was soon beckoning his friend to join him. Jack knew this would take time, patience and determination, he was so close now to the top of the world, he was going to touch the highest point on planet Earth! Each step was excruciatingly difficult, digging his crampons deep into the ice and snow and with huge effort, mainly of the human spirit rather than physical strength, he pulled himself up to the ledge where his fellow climber lay getting his breath.

Aadesh and Tej followed, more deftly than their predecessors and then the final slope called to them, another 300 ft to the summit, still not out of the woods by any means, but when they saw their destination so close ,they became fired up with new energy and so they hit the slope. Resting was not much of an option up that high, they knew, after the rock they had just scaled which was a two hour climb, even another twenty minutes seemed unthinkable, but their adrenalin kicked in once more and after about an hour, all four men stood in awe at the sight that greeted their hungry eyes.

It was early morning, sunrise, when they finally hit the summit, what they saw was unlike anything they had ever experienced in their life. Taking out their flag and picking up a few small rocks, they looked around, at the 360 degree view, it was like being suspended in the stratosphere, they could see Cho Oyu, the world’s sixth tallest mountain, Makalu, the world’s fifth-highest peak as well as K2 and Tibet, India, and Nepal.



Reluctant to leave the incredible panorama laid out before them, the guys knew they could not tarry longer, this was only half of their arduous challenge, the descent was even more treacherous with its own perils. Adrenalin was floundering and with it their strength, sheer exhaustion claimed them and just walking a step seemed impossible, resting was not an option here, the idea was to get down as fast as humanly possible, cerebral oedema a symptom of altitude sickness had taken many to their end on descent.
Nevertheless, the four men had almost made it halfway down to camp 4 when a rumbling could be felt beneath their feet and the earth seemed to quake, Jack turned and to his horror he could see a huge white monster in their wake, clouds of white powder engulfing their surroundings. With no strength to run, it was upon them before they could blink.

The avalanche hurtled down the mountainside gaining momentum, Jack felt himself lifted like a twig in a breeze and spewed out suddenly in front of a small crevasse into which he squeezed as to his profound sorrow he watched helplessly as his friends, Aadesh and Tej were tossed like salad in a huge white bowl of ice and snow. The thunderous cacophony in his ears of gathering snow and ice speeding down the mountain was absolutely terrifying, visibility was negligible and his goggles were steamed and coated with crystalized ice.

Then, as suddenly as it had come, there was silence.

Emerging from his sanctuary, he looked around, the avalanche had not been a big one by Everest's standards ,but big enough to take his friends' lives.

''Dex!'' he screamed ,but his voice was muted by the blanket of snow now covering their previous tracks. It was an otherworldly experience , no sound, no movement, just eerie silence. He sank to his knees and head in hands decided this was it, the end, the mistress of the mountains had spurned yet another lover. He could see Dex' cheeky lopsided grin in his mind and the wonder in his eyes as he had stood on the peak earlier that day, it had been the best moment of his life as it had also been for Jack himself.

He looked around, nightfall was imminent, he knew he couldn't walk any more, he was totally spent. The wind was getting stronger and Jack realised he would have to spend a night up there. In his backpack he rummaged around and found a bag of trail mix, two chocolate bars and a small bottle of water, if he could make it through the night, a rescue team from camp 4 may attempt to find them.

Jack had to shelter from the biting wind and so he squeezed back into the small crevasse which had saved his life, rationing out his meagre supplies, he ate a handful of trail mix, one chocolate bar and gulped down half of the bottle of water, his throat was parched. Snow eating could be dangerous due to the debris left behind by previous climbers, infecting the snow with poisonous bacteria.

He drifted in and out of consciousness, sometimes seeing Dex beside him grinning and calling him a lightweight. The cold was the worst, his feet had swollen and the pain was hell, yet Jack knew he should not remove his boots for he would not be able to put them back on and frostbite was another hazard. The night was the longest of his life.



Eventually though, strains of sunlight ebbed through, warming his frozen blood a little, he decided to eat some more trail mix, the remaining cholate bar and drink some more water, then try to inch his way down the mountainside. He had just finished his sparse breakfast when, in his semi consciousness, he imagined he heard voices carried on the wind. Just another trick his mind was playing on him, he closed his eyes to rest a little before his daunting task, but found himself being hauled out of his coveted crevasse, he could hear Nepalese voices chattering excitedly and laughing and he realised he was safe.



As he was being transported down on a sled like contraption, the reality of his loss began to set in, as well as Aadesh and Tej , his great friend, partner in crime, sunny and generous in his ways, Dex, had gone. Overwhelming sadness clutched his heart, wringing it in pain and he quietly sobbed for the brother he had never had. On arriving at the makeshift camp which was worse for wear after the avalanche, he was treated for various things before he was allowed to sleep, warm and safe.



Two days passed and he regained some of his strength, but had lost two toes from frostbite, he was grateful, it was a small price to pay after his ordeal. The worst pain was in his heart though, the loss of his friend was a tremendous blow.

He had just finished his breakfast when he heard a flurry of excitement outside the tent. Hobbling towards the flap and opening it, Jack thought he was hallucinating again, for there before him, hunched over on a crutch, battered, beaten, bruised and minus one of his feet stood Dex!

Even in this state, Jack recognised the lopsided grin. The guys reached for each other and hugged for what seemed like forever.

''We did it dude!'' Dex whispered in Jack's ear. ''We did it!'' to which Jack nodded, then he looked down at Dex' legs.

''Your foot!'' exclaimed Jack in dismay to which Dex replied with a wink,

''Now, you know I don't need two feet, the girls will always fall for Dex !,'' he laughed.

Looking at Dex's twinkling blue eyes and cheeky lopsided grin, Jack had to concede.