The Conquest of Everest

The journey began for our expedition crew in July 2009. Backed by a wealthy Swiss industrialist, a suitable nationality for those with designs on scaling the peaks, he handed over the reins to a very enthusiastic Italian financier by the name of Toni Rocca, who himself has his own knowledge of tough mountain climbs in the Dolomites.

Having secured the finance, Rocca then recruited the services of Andrea Law, an experienced Himalayan expedition leader who had considerable knowledge of the difficulties that were awaiting. He then set about building a team capable of such a mission that included the arrival of the young and highly promising French mountaineer, Nicolas Hein

To prepare for such a mission, the team started out in Scandinavia which has its own challenging mountains. Whilst nowhere near as high as the Himalayan ones, it proved an invaluable experience for the team gained knowledge in the adverse conditions of intense cold, freezing rain, deep snowdrifts and the strong winds that traverse this barren landscape. Taking part in this expedition were twenty three other groups of climbers. The objective was to see which three would finish in the quickest time over this particular terrain. Due to our much beloved team incurring a time default at the start, and despite a fast finish, the first three teams finished well ahead of ours.

For the 2010-11 climbing season, our expedition team was sent back to cover a very similar course in this desolate terrain. Despite internal difficulties early on in this particular campaign, which resulted in the recruitment of Nat King as expedition leader, our team of climbers covered the course very quickly, finishing a very fast second behind another expedition group who came from further along the south coast.

Having successfully negotiated the Scandinavian heights, the team had to adapt to a much more difficult course in the French, Swiss, Austrian and Italian Alps, deemed a suitable one though, as the peaks are rather similar to the Himalayans if not in height, certainly in terms of shape and the likely difficulties that lay ahead. Already there, were some very strong contenders from the Midlands and North and a particularly powerful unit from East London led by the legendary Fats Daly, who can be a gruff person but at the same time is a no-nonsense man. Despite a reputation for producing teams that bear a similar syle to thousands of wildebeest crossing the River Zambezi,they were the bookmakers to finish first. For the campaign, Nat King kept faith with the members who had finished so strongly the previous season, with the addition of one or two very promising climbers from Himalayan based teams who could afford to let go their more junior members.

And so the season began. Much to the surprise of everyone, apart from the author, our team took an early lead and by the half way stage was well ahead of a particularly strong field. In the second half of the campaign though, the rarified air began to take its toll, and so came under pressure from Daly’s much fancied East London crew and a smaller but surprisingly mobile unit from the Thames Valley. However, the team kept their composure finishing second in a quick time just behind the outfit from the Thames Valley.

And so preparations began for the 2012-13 campaign, and the course and challenge that lay ahead on this ultimate of mountaineering expeditions. Encouraged by the project leader, Nat King recruited two very skilful climbers, one arriving from South America, the other from the North of England. The team’s supporters awaited the start with great excitement but with a certain degree of apprehension, as the back –up crew of the team was lacking in experience as well as in numbers.

Unfortunately, our team was given the hardest path at the beginning of their ascent, so not surprisingly it lagged behind all the others after the first two months of the season. Having surmounted the difficult start an easier route was thus found. Gradually our team began the ascent and by December had overtaken a number of other stragglers, including the Thames Valley unit who eventually found the going far too difficult, seemingly preferring the more familiar surroundings of the previous campaign.

By early January there was a new spring in the step of our team. However a shock was in store, for Rocca jettisoned Nat King, rather like a plane ejects a pilot when it is in danger of crashing and replaced him with Rici Tino, an Argentine that few people knew anything about, never mind heard of. Dissenting voices were at first heard, albeit outside the confines of the camp but these were soon silenced as the move proved very astute and our team proved more than a match for the teams nearer the summit, who had decided to take a break on the lower slopes before returning to their camps near the top. This spell was important, as it proved our team were indeed very comfortable in this very hostile environment as it finished well ahead of those going backwards down the slippery slope.

Having survived such an endurance test, our climbing crew was again invited back to take part in the 2013-14 “Conquest of Everest” campaign. With the arrival of new Continental climbers and some promising ones that the team had invested time and energy in developing on lower peaks, the season started very brightly. A third of the way through the campaign the team lay in 3rd place. Then altitude sickness set in!! This has proved rather problematic for our rather inexperienced team but not it seems for the more seasoned Himalayan campaign teams as overtook the team and continued on towards the summit as if it is was a Sunday afternoon stroll in a city park.

In early January there came a shock with the sudden departure of Rocca. Despite the timing of the event, the mood in the camp has remained positive despite the slow progress being made. Currently the team are marooned on a high plateau, this time caused by the weather closing in and have become rather isolated in recent weeks. The team is not completely alone for it can hear the shouts of Geordie voices just ahead. Alas, for our team the big expedition units have disappeared out of sight. But, what of the other smaller units? Where are they? Surely they have not overtaken the team in such visibility? Radio contact misinformed our team that Fats Daly’s unit was very sickly but our inspection unit went to find out it and aided their continued recovery. Meanwhile other radio bulletins bring news of a plethora of other climbing units all struggling to avoid sliding back down the icy slopes and the less rewarding task of Alpine climbing.

Once the race for Everest has been concluded in May the campaign will be reviewed and questions asked as to how far the team can be strengthened, and who may have to be let go in the process because of interest in the team’s best climbers from the strongest units, all of whom are backed by serious money and huge support that our team cannot match at the moment.
While we may all be disappointed in what has happened in the last few weeks, I think we can look back to the time when this quest started and smile to ourselves on what has been achieved already. All we can do is be patient and trust that the correct decisions are made on the team’s behalf for the next campaign.

Happy climbing folks!! Love from Ides in Mallorca!!

PS: Hope to go hill walking somewhere on the Spanish mainland at Easter.

 

The thing about mountain tops is, there's a slippery slop which ever way you go next.....not meaning to piss on your Spanish beer parade though!