Life on Ice
- 7 Apr 07, 12:58 PM
Everest Base Camp is set on top of a glacier, it is a bizarre landscape of what appear to be gravel hills and valleys. My tent sits on top of a small gravel ridge over looking the Khumbu Ice Fall. Getting from my tent to the mess tent, or the loo, or anywhere for that matter is a dicey obstacle course across loose shale, large boulders and ice – it will be a miracle if I survive the next two months without spraining an ankle.
But it is at night that I am most reminded we’re on a river of ice. Under my tent is a thin layer of gravel and then a thick moving stream of ice. Lying in my sleeping bag (the aforementioned wonderfully warm sleeping bag) I hear the ice creak and crack all night long. Sometimes it is a deep crack in the distance, other times I can feel it right under my back.
But far more disturbing than this is sound of avalanches. It starts with a deep rumble and then the unmistakeable crash of the snow and ice hurtling downwards, the trouble is in the pitch black of my tent there is no way to know if it is miles away or about to engulf the lot of us. The first time I heard it I leapt up, grabbed a torch and rolled into a ball. I felt rather foolish when the rumble stopped and the tent was still intact.
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Hello Rob--Sadie told us about your new and exciting trip! It is wonderful to read about your adventures. Sleeping outdoors in tents or under the stars is always different. I think back fondly now of hearing beetles on a beetle trail through forest leaves in the fall and the cracking of branches and twigs while the nocturnal wildlife are hunting their prey. It was not the most restful sleep, but the experience will always be remembered. At least when you were hearing the rats you were on solid ground. Best wishes for peaceful and much needed sleep!
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