You can see my excitement in this self-timer photo at seeing Everest in the pre-dawn light on Tuesday 10th May 2016 from the Rongbuk Monastery. A dream come true! Tibet 2016
North Face of Everest at sunrise Tibet 2016
It was so exciting to step outside of the Rongbuk Monastery guest-house, in the pale light of the pre-dawn, and look up the north-east ridge and the summit pyramid of Everest plastered in fresh snow. It was a dream come true!
Lynne and David at Everest Base Camp 5200 metres (17,060 feet) Tibet 2016
A steep climb brought us up to glacial pools high up on the moraine of the Rongbuk Glacier
Tibet 2016
David and Climbing Guide (6 successful Everest summits!) Tibet 2016
You can see the 3 Rock Steps at the upper end off the North-East Ridge
on the approach to the summit of Everest Tibet 2016
Another of my heroes, Captain Noel (official expedition photographer), wrote in his book 'Through Tibet to Everest' . . . . . .
"For Mallory and Irvine had gone for ever from our sight. Up and up into the blue they had gone higher and higher - higher than men have ever reached before. Odell got a single fleeting glimpse of them within 600 feet of the summit and still going up. Then he saw nothing more. What happened no one knows. They never came back."
Mallory's ultimate fate was unknown for 75 years, until his body was discovered in 1999 by an expedition that had set out to search for the climbers' remains. Irvine's body has never been found. Whether Mallory and Irvine reached the summit before they died remains a subject of speculation and continuing research. Mallory carried a photograph of his wife Ruth in his jacket pocket which he said he would leave on the summit. The photo was not in his pocket!
I feel different now! I am so happy to have achieved the ambition of a lifetime but Everest and the 1920's expeditions remains a continuing passion. That awesome view of the North Face of Everest is forever etched in my memory. As we flew back to Kathmandu from Tibet it was cloudy most of the way but suddenly the huge cumulus giants parted and there was Everest. I was thrilled with this final view of the highest mountain in the world.
Last view of Everest!
Everest from China Airlines flight Tibet to Kathmandu
You can see the cloud plume blowing off the summit. In front of Everest is the sharp ridge
of Nuptse and to the right is Lhotse both in Nepal
This is my final Tibet blog. I hope you have enjoyed travelling with me on our adventures to the 'Roof of the World'! If you have I would love to hear from you either by a comment on my blog or by secure email via my 'contact' page.
Regards
David
*** You can see a complete gallery of Everest photos in 'Photographs' in 'Beyond the Sacred Mountains'.
I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Bamboo Travel who organised our trip to Tibet. They were excellent!