The top of the world! After months, if not years of planning and training, weeks of acclimatisation climbs up and down the mountain, days since they last slept or had anything to eat, and up to 10 hours after leaving Camp 4, the climbers take the final few steps up the summit ridge and finally stand on the highest point on earth, the summit of Everest.
At 8,848 metres (29,029 feet), the cruising height of commercial airlines, the curvature of the earth can be seen on the horizon. The views from the top are spectacular. On a clear day the 360 degree panorama takes in the Tibetan Plateau to the north as well as some of the great Himalayan peaks including Kanchenjunga to the east, Makalu to the southeast and Cho Oyu to the west. At this altitude the decreased air pressure means that the atmosphere contains less than a third of the oxygen than it does at sea level. If a person was to be dropped directly from sea level onto the summit of Everest (impossible in reality) they would perish in a matter of minutes. Although most climbers are using supplemental oxygen at this point, it is still not somewhere to hang around for long.
The summit is covered with an assortment of prayer flags, discarded oxygen bottles and other offerings from climbers such as photographs of family members. Covering an area no bigger than a picnic table, the snow covered summit slopes steeply to the north, east and south east. The climbers must take extra care as they take their summit photographs as a step too far onto the massive cornice to the east would result in a 10,000 foot drop down into Nepal below. After taking their ‘money shots’the climbers finally sit down for a much needed rest.
However, this is only the half way point. Climbers, exhausted from the climb and from not having any sleep or anything to eat since Camp 2, over two days ago, must now climb back down the way they came. This is probably the most difficult part of the entire expedition as Hypoxia starts to take hold, daylight begins to fade and the incoming afternoon storms compound the already deadly hazards. 80% of all accidents happen on the decent so the climbers must now use all their remaining strength and concentration to return safely to Camp 4 up to 18 hours after they left.
After getting some rest the successful summiteers descend back down to Camp 2 where for the first time in 3 days they can finally manage to eat some food and get some much needed sleep. From here the climbers then make their way back to Base Camp, safe at last and ready to return home victorious.