The story of Sukhi

"If the head is safe one can buy many turbans"

So wrote a sponsor of Sukhi to me.

Sukhi desperately wanted to reach the top of Everest however she had no interest in the details of how, the reason in my opinion she didn't succeed.

Da'Oangchu and Sukhi

The beginning

I was intrigued. Two adventurers from India who had climbed Kamet (7750m), biked and motor-biked on separate trips the Kardung La, the 5600m road pass in remote north India and one of the highest in the world. Try as we did we couldn't phone her in Muktsar but her calls to us came thru. On the other end was a busy woman doing the phone rounds raising money. There is time to sort out the details in Kathmandu, I thought.

Understanding dreams and that raising money in India poses special challenges, I had given her a competitive quote based on a sherpa-led expedition with one sherpa and with minimal oxygen, three bottles between her and her sherpa. Initially Sukhi had wanted to climb without but I had refused to accept. I would be there assisting 'my' climbing team so would give all the advice she wanted, and ensure as a whole the expedition ran smoothly and safely.

For real?

You are only sure when somebody is on an expedition when the money is paid. In addition to not being up to telephone, the banks were not able to communicate so Sukhi arrived in Kathmandu with some rupee checks with lots of zeros. The next day Kathmandu office processed these, sorted the paperwork getting everything ready in a single day, quite a feat. Sukhi, myself and Dawa spent most of the day shopping for her gear. I provided what I had spare but she still needed a down suit, good boots and few other things. I had hoped she would buy a pair of Millet Everest boots but she settled on some good, light ski-touring boots with warmer custom liners and full overgaiters.

Sukhi and the crew left early the next morning to beat a Maoist strike on the road. The rest of the expedition members arrived after the strike started, so paid extra to fly to Lhasa to avoid the strike.

Summit time!

Lets fast forward to 7700m, myself and Sukhi about to set off to the 8300m camp. Sukhi had persuaded me to let her make a second try for the 8300m camp 3. After I checked her oxygen she set off late around 10am carrying her sleeping bag in a pack. She was moving slowly, but everyone moves slowly here. I cleaned up and secured the tent and discussed conditions with Indian Air Force sherpa friends in the tents above.

I was looking at a big day. I had to catch Paul and Namgyal up and pick up a large stash of oxygen plus tent part way up. I left a good hour later and caught Sukhi up in 10 minutes, about 50 vertical metres above, less than 200m away from the tent. At that pace it would take her more than 10 hours to Camp 3. She was obviously moving too slowly to safely get there before dark, similar to her previous attempt.

I discussed this with her. She wasn’t happy about the oxygen but I explained that she couldn't use the maximum 4 litres a minute because then she would only have approx 4-5 hours of oxygen, at 3 litres a minute 6-7 hours and at two litres a minute the tank she was carrying would last 8-10 hours. I had set hers on 1.5 litres a minute, which would give her enough time to get to camp, even with dramas, and also leave a little to sleep on, and allow for regulator inaccuracies. This is a normal flow rate for this altitude, and double flow doesn’t mean double speed, only a more modest improvement. I turned it up to 2 litres a minute for on her way down. She had one bottle with her and there were two bottles waiting for her at Camp 3 for the summit attempt.

Climbing on oxygen is curious. You feel claustrophobic and damp in the mask and think that it is making no difference yet you recover much better when you stop, even if you can go only slightly longer without rests. Virtually the only way I can tell oxygen is working, apart from looking at the convenient flow meter on the tube, is you get warm over time. I sweated on the way up, despite the cold and wind.

Normally we try to move together in groups on the mountain but my priority was to get the camp properly fixed, I needed to set up the second tent, and with somebody moving at a vastly different pace we give them a radio and they can stay in touch like that. We had often done this with Moe in particular, and we (myself and the sherpas) can always go down (which is many times faster than going up) to help. Sukhi was not comfortable using a radio.

Her pace saddened but did not surprise me as she had eaten very little for four days. The expedition members were supposed to bring their own high altitude meals and snacks. I had seen that Sukhi bought very little in Kathmandu so I had bought extra chocolate and many tasty ready-to-eat Indian meals but she didn't like any of it. (I ate most of them; even in ABC she only ate food specially cooked for her most of the time). She had taken almost no food on the mountain, and was staying far longer than planned. The sherpas had plied her with what they had but even the old standby, instant noodles, did not appeal. Eating and drinking on the mountain should not be looked on as a pleasure, only a necessity.

Sukhi's best, really her only chance to summit, had been her first attempt when she was still relatively fresh. She had turned back feeling claustrophobic and frustrated with the Poisk oxygen mask, although it was all working properly. Probably she had been lulled into a false sense of security too. Da'Oangchu ('her' sherpa) had mostly climbed with her, even changing her safety line on the rope until I put a stop to that, but this time he had to go ahead with Dawa to pick up part of the stash and to put up the tent at camp 3 ready for her arrival. The route is easy to follow, there is blue rope literally from the bottom to the top of the mountain, and with timed radio calls it is easy enough to stay in touch, and there are plenty of other climbers and sherpas on the trail.

The next day Julian, Dawa and Da'Oangchu summitted on an almost perfect day. Duncan had turned back with a lung infection, and passing thru had offered to come down with Sukhi.

When I reached Sukhi the first time she had already stayed 2 nights at 7700m, an altitude where your body deteriorates quickly. It was time for her to go down but she stayed and when I arrived again after our failed summit attempt that made 4 nights. When she asked me for a lighter I realized with horror she had barely drunk and eaten when by herself. Her lighter sparked but didn’t light and she didn’t have spare matches, and had not asked the Indians and sherpas in the tent above her. I gave her my second lighter but she refused to come down. She had made a plan with two sherpas from another expedition for a summit attempt with 4 bottles of oxygen included.

Sukhi to safety

We were all worried for her, particularly Duncan, who came up with many different angles on why she was so motivated to climb Everest at literally all costs. Her outside sherpas and oxygen came to nothing and thankfully when Dawa and Temba came to clear Camp 2 another day later she decided to come down. Her feet had probably swelled at altitude, very common, and her big toes were banging on the end of her boot. When she arrived at ABC they were swollen. Julian checked them, washing them in warm water, and they were painfully bruised but probably not frostbitten as they didn’t swell further or blister on the long, hard trek to base camp.

I feel that with some training and planning, and using lessons learned Sukhi could summit Everest, but not with a large safety margin. Karma, Bhutan's first Everest summitter had nearly died, so very nearly died, arriving back at Camp 3 sometime after 7pm after 19 hours climbing. Karma and Sukhi climbed at a similar pace, taking similar times to climb from ABC to North Col, for example.

I wish Sukhi the best of luck for her future expedition.
Jamie McGuinness