We are back at ABC resting and recovering from our rotation higher up on the mountain.  We ended up spending two nights at the North Col, with some movement up higher in between. 

The move to the North Col and the first night actually felt quite a bit better than I was expecting it to. However, the second day was a bit more of a challenge. I puked my oatmeal shortly after powering it down. Then, on our hike, I was just so weak. Each step was a challenge. Not only due to a lack of oxygen, but also from a lack of energy. 

That night, I had a repeat performance of the morning. Dinner came roaring back up. Turns out, I’m a bulimic on Mt Everest.  Perhaps it’s my body wanting to get ready for swimsuit season??  Too bad that altitude makes you ‘skinny fat’. I’ll likely lose quite a bit of muscle mass with little to no fat lost.  Kind of a crappy fitness and weight loss plan if you ask me. 

After trying to go to sleep and then waking myself up several times talking random jibberish, it was decided to investigate a bit more. In conjunction with having SpO2% at 44 and being totally incoherent, I went back on Oxygen for the night. It was nearly glorious. Within 30 seconds of having the O2 on,8 was asleep. 

I’ll chalk it up to training for use of the systems higher on the mountain!!

Also, I’m fairly certain that I nuked a few brain cells. Hopefully they weren’t doing much to begin with!

Now, we wait.  We are acclimatized and recovering.  It’s now a game of watching the weather and balancing true recovery with energy waste. 

Well, it looks like the decision has been made, we’re headed back to EBC for 2-4 nights. While although I’m not looking forward to the 24 mile round trip excursion, I am looking forward to the big drop in elevation (EBC is 4,000ft lower than ABC). I’m told we’ll feel like a new person!  

The mountains are a true test of patience and adaptability. With so much out of our control (e.g. Weather and rope fixing teams), there’s not much to do than to go with the flow.