A few lines about the trek to Everest

The adventure called "trek to Everest" is over. After the finish, we already had several days of rest, walks in Kathmandu, elephant riding and canoeing in Chitwan Park, there was time to think and analyze everything. And since upon arrival in Kyiv in a whirlwind of turmoil, I most likely will not be able to or will forget to write a couple of lines, I will do it now on the road from Kathmandu to Dubai. I hope they will be useful to someone.

I’ll say right away that I have hiking experience and I have something to compare with. Before this trek, I passed the Carpathians and Crimea, the Caucasus and Türkiye.

How can you describe the trek to Everest Base Camp???

I'll write it like this:

• Difficult psychologically.
• Cold physically.
• Hard and interesting mentally.

Will I go to Nepal again? More likely yes than no, but I’ll work on my mistakes and take a break for a year or two.

If you decide to take this trek, then that’s great and I can only wish you good luck.

But I’ll add my opinion as to who exactly this track is not suitable for.

• People who have health problems, according to the list of diseases, available to everyone. And in general, I strongly recommend going to a therapist for a consultation before departure.
• For people who have no experience of camping romance and who react sharply to leaving their usual comfort zone. This is about the psychological complexity of the track))
• People who have difficulty communicating with others and who are prone to conflicts. After all, a prolonged exit from the comfort zone leads to a breakdown on other team members, which has negative consequences for everyone. An alternative is to go on an individual tour with a personal porter.
• People who decide to go to the track spontaneously a month before departure, without good, very good, physical and psychological readiness. You need to thoroughly prepare for trekking to Everest Base Camp.
• People without a sense of humor... Without a humorous perception of failures, friendly banter of partners, the hardships of trekking life, conflicts are inevitable.
• Tourists who fell ill with ARVI or a respiratory cold on the eve of departure and did not recover. Don’t repeat my biggest mistake - an innocent runny nose two days before departure turned into an acute lung infection at altitude, bronchitis, a pre-pneumonic condition, a terrible cough, fever, headache and only a miracle, friendly support and a large internal reserve of psychological strength, allowed us to avoid evacuation and leaving the track, despite excellent physical preparation.

Now in more detail about the features of the track.

Physically, the track is not difficult, I had a large margin of strength and there was enough “dope”, of course, this is taking into account 6 - 8 months of preparation.

The main difficulties we had to face were the altitude and the associated lack of oxygen (that same terrible “miner”) and .... Terrible cold, for which we were poorly prepared and from which it is impossible to hide at an altitude of over 4000 m.

It was the cold, multiplied by the altitude, that caused 7 out of 10 participants to develop diseases of the lungs and nasopharynx.

Another participant was poisoned one step before the final point.

In principle, our entire group, as for me, was excellently prepared in physics and even mountain sickness practically did not affect anyone in an acute form (with the exception of one participant), if I’m not mistaken, oxygen in 9 participants did not fall below 75-80 even above 5000 (of course there were headaches, insomnia, malaise, heart rate above 120 in a calm state, but this is normal).

Much credit goes to this and special thanks to our leader, Kirill, for a very well-planned acclimatization.

The food on the trek is monotonous - this is not a gastrotour, but you won’t have to go hungry (if you have money).

An important point - do not think that your goal is to reach Base Camp and that’s it. The road back is also very intense and sometimes physically even more difficult. We've dubbed it "going up." Plan your motivation and physical resources correctly.

Porters ... It's definitely worth hiring one or two, not so much for carrying things, but for help on the track, in everyday life and in communicating with the local population. You walk along the track at an altitude of 4500 m, there is no strength, no mood, and around the turn you see Pasang’s wide, invigorating smile, with a cigarette in his teeth, and your soul becomes more cheerful and you walk easier.

Insurance. Definitely needed. You shouldn’t save, but I don’t recommend buying thoughtlessly, choose the one that has already carried out evacuations and tell the manager the truth - you’re going to a sports track, in the Himalayas, altitude above 5000 m. The price guide for the proven option is 125 -150 dollars.

About Nepal. Mentally, a lot of things on the track go against our European perception. The Nepalese are no worse or better, they are just different. You get used to some things, to others you don’t... In any case, getting to know their people and region is interesting.

Nepal can be divided into two - the one in the mountains and the one in Kathmandu and below. It depends on you, but I like the higher Nepal.

And in Nepal, you get the impression that time has changed its course and instead of 2.5 weeks, your journey has been going on for several months, I personally liked it, a complete break from everyday life in the metropolis, a real reboot.

To summarize, here are a few tips to help you avoid trouble on the track.

• Good physical training. My example - 8 months before the track, three cardio workouts per week, running 5-7 km, cycling 2-3 km, jumping rope 15 minutes. + 1-2 times a week swimming 1 - 2 km. Be sure to run to the Carpathians 3-4 times on 30 km tracks.
• Psychologically prepare yourself that it will be hard, cold and mountain sickness will to some extent pass on the track and to you.
• Consultation with a doctor, ultrasound of the abdominal organs, check your blood pressure, listen to your lungs and etc.
• The right combination of pharmacological drugs to help the body and fight mountain sickness. My recipe: diacarb + panangin (1 tablet/day), mildronate 500-1000 mg in the morning, hypoxen 5-8 capsules before getting up. General first aid kit: sleeping pills, vitamin C, pancreatin, ibuprofen, nasal drops, ACC, paracetamol.

• Warm sleeping bag at -9 comfort and warm clothes, good thermal two sets, down jacket.
• Wash your hands and treat with disinfectant spray everywhere and always. It’s a shame when, due to a banal disorder, you leave the route one step from the goal.
• For meat eaters - take dry meat with you, there won’t be anything good meat at the top.
• Good insurance, which you need to think about in advance and arrange correctly.
• Go to track only with the class teacher and with a company that has proven itself (only OutdoorUkraine and only Kirill).

In general, the key to the success of any adventure depends half on your mood, and half on the team with which you go on a trip.

I was lucky, I had enough spirit, and the team is the best to praise, bright, interesting and cheerful people, thank you to everyone and I hope together we will go somewhere we have never been before!!!

Good luck to everyone who is going, there is a lot of work ahead, it will not be easy, but it will be worth it.

I wish you to fly home with the same sense of accomplishment as I have now!!!

Yuri Shelmuk, Kyiv, December 2017