The South Col is the pass between the two peaks of Lhotse and Everest and is the location of the highest camp on the route, Camp 4. The camp, consisting of between 20 and 30 tents, is surrounded by Everest to the north, Lhotse to the south, the 7,000 foot drop of the Kangshung Face on the east and the 4,000 foot Lhotse Face on the west. However, the real danger here is the altitude as Camp 4 is the only camp located in the ‘Death Zone’. In the ‘Death Zone’ normal body functions such as digestion start to shut down, altitude sickness goes from bad to worse, climbers die in their sleep and those who stay for too long run the risk of staying forever.
Camp 4 is the last stop before the final push for the summit over half a vertical mile above. Apprehension about the task ahead, coupled with the effects of altitude, prevent most climbers from getting any real rest and all find it difficult to eat. The onset of Hypoxia (a lack of oxygen to the brain) makes even the simplest of tasks, such as putting on gloves, tying shoelaces or boiling water on a stove, become extremely time consuming and require intense concentration.
It is at Camp 4 that most climbers begin to use supplemental oxygen. The oxygen flow is set to low as the climbers rest before being cranked up as they prepare to make their summit bids. Climbers will remain on ‘the O’s’ for the remainder of the climb until they descend back below the ‘Death Zone’.
The South Col is an extraordinary place, however in the minds of many climbers it is also a haunted one. This is the place that, in the famous 1996 disaster, climbers were stranded for many hours in 100mph winds and temperatures below -40°C when a storm came in whilst descending from the summit. The climbers were caught in a white out and could not find their way back to the tents. In total ten people lost their lives in the storm making it the greatest loss of life in a single day in the history of Everest.