'The base camp is more like a glorified mela'

I could no longer stand upright. The tuft of cloud looked harmless from a distance till it swooped in at a roaring 128 kmph. I pushed myself to climb the final stretch of granite. Head down, breathing hard in the rarified air, I reached the top of Kala Patthar (5,545m) — one of the features en route Everest base camp — after a gruelling six-hour struggle.Eighty four steps later, there it was, beautiful beyond words, the mighty Chomolungma. After 18 years of fantasising about this trek, undergoing three professional courses in high-altitude climbing and 11 days of a back-breaking trek, I was in front of Mount Everest.
Looking back, when I touched down at the Lukla airport — carved out on a mountain face — after a 25-minute nerve-jangling flight from Kathmandu , I had little idea how rigorous, but rewarding, the journey ahead will be. Fifty years ago, Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, along with 13 climbers and 350 porters, took 16 days to reach this gateway to Mount Everest. The airport was hardly quaint, unlike anything I had imagined. It was noisy and congested, brimming with people of all shapes, size and colour. Hundreds of climbers from across the world were taking stock of their gear. “This season is especially busy. Most of them are here to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first ascent,” said Pasang Tshering, my guide.
Located on the southern fringe of the Khumbu region, Lukla was a riot of green. Paddy fields formed a perfect pattern by the turbulent Dudh Koshi river as prayer flags, tied to rhododendron trees, fluttered wildly in the wind.
After a night at Phakding, I began the trek towards the base camp, across Sagarmatha National Park. Reaching Namche Bazar was an anti-climax of sorts. Most residents of this legendary Sherpa village could run up 8,000m peaks in torn shoes, but even at an altitude of 3,440 metres, the town was anything but primitive. Shops served pizzas and apple pies, internet cafes with pool tables charged Rs 200 for 30 minutes and North Face shops peddled hi-tech mountaineering gear to western tourists.
Next morning, I got my first glimpse of Everest — the tip of the summit peeking over the clouds — flanked by the equally mighty Ama Dablam and Lhotse. A further two-hour trek brought us to Khumzung (3,508 m). The monastery here is rumoured to possess a portion of the scalp of the Yeti.
The route to base camp was congested. Dozens of trekkers crisscrossed each other. Even getting a clear panoramic shot was difficult with groups of climbers cramming the view. Small shanties, run by Sherpa women, serving garlic soup and hot tea were overcrowded. The demand-supply lag was evident in the prices — a bottle of water cost Rs 250, a soft drink was for Rs 300, you could treat yourself to a hot shower for Rs 400 and recharge your mobile phone or camera for Rs 280.
Our next stop was the buzzing village of Lobuche. The hut I stayed in was packed to the brim with climbers and scientists mingling over mugs of hot chocolate. Passing through Gorakshep (5,288 m) the following day truly felt like being on the top of the world. Snow-covered peaks all around formed an arena of moving boulders and ice debris. Eight hours later, I was at the Everest base camp. It was a glorified mela with tents all over — 350 climbers had set base here. A net café — the world’s highest — had also come up.
Since 1953, over 2,000 people have stood on Everest’s summit and looked down at the rest of the world. The mighty Everest has allowed too many people to ‘conquer’ it at a whim. We must now bide our time till the ominous Sherpa prediction — “One day, the mountain will get back at us” — comes true. “I have not conquered Everest, it has merely tolerated me,” legendary Austrian mountaineer Peter Habeler once said. And judging by the race to the top of the world, it won’t be long before Mother Nature decides to reclaim her crown.
kounteya.sinha@timesgroup .com