when you’re climbing on a Himalayan
Giants
you have no margin for error
altitude is this invisible debilitating
challenge that you face
leaning over to even tighten your boots
can put you out of breath
decision making becomes much slower
because your brain has less oxygen going
to it
we’re not meant to survive on that
paucity of oxygen
and you’re on borrowed time
you are dying it’s that simple
so you have to have a strong
cardiovascular system that can pump
because you’re in a oxygen deprived
environment
and certainly your energy this is
precious
[Music]
we were ferreting out a new route with a
lot of unknowns
[Music]
this is a mountain that’s never been
climbed before
so it’s not out of the ordinary that you
might face unanticipated challenges
even if you’re the best climbers in the
world
we got a little over ambitious on our
first day
we climb that initial section pretty
quick and then bypassed a really good
campsite
[Music]
that was a mistake
because we spend precious energy carving
a tent platform off out of the ice and
the snow
how’s it going Conrad
or
[Music]
the next morning we thought we’d make it
to the summit today
but we had underestimated the
difficulties of the climbing
[Music]
and after in the afternoon
we still had easily oh 2 000 feet
might be able to make it up to the
summit tomorrow
but it’s going to be a lot colder
more wind
and
the worst part is that I have my doubts
that we’re gonna make it back
from the summit back to the tent
they tried to keep going they would have
to spend the night out without any
shelter
unplanned nights out or not things that
you want to do given the cold
temperatures you could die there
I don’t want to say it but I feel like
we should go down
what’s your what’s your feeling I’m in
the same boat
[Music]
we made The Prudent decision to come
back down
[Music]
