Morning 6:30am, tents broken down and gear being loaded on Yaks. We circled up so I could brief everyone. The first thing I said in that brief was "Lets stick together, things can spin out of control real quick above 17,000 feet". As I looked face to face I could see there were a few of us that were going to have a difficult day but I knew that everyone gathered in front of me could do it. I could see one pilgrim especially, a close friend of mine, had the beginning of facial edema. The body not functioning correctly with the handling of fluids. As I spoke I glanced at her and was making a decision in my head if I should turn her around. There are parts of a guides job that are sometimes solitary, things that cannot be shared with client. In our solitary life on a trip at altitude we are watching everything, shoe laces, speaking patterns, gait, clothing choice, respiration, eye dilation, balance, wind changes, water intake, temperature fluxuations, cloud patterns, appetite, possibilities of rock fall, who's passing in our group and where, others outside of our group passing, trail conditions, where to take brakes, cognition, the list goes on and on and is unbeknown to the client. I did not want to tell my friend about her facial edema, it would just add to her stress. After asking how everyone was feeling I could see that the pilgrim with the beginning of facial edema responded well and in that moment I decided she could do it. At the same time also planning an escape plan which would entail getting her down if she could not make the pass and letting those who could make it go over the pass. Some how we would have to meet on the other side of the mountain. I hoped deep down that she would make it.
We were on our way to one of the holiest sites in the world the "Dolma La" pass at 18678 ft. The trail from camp started off with a gentle rise and within 10 minutes people who were hurting started falling behind. The day went on like this with part of our group 20 to 30 minutes in front of a second slower group. Everyone was excited. For a guide there is a fine line between being excited for everyone and getting everyone over and out of altitude before someone grinds to a halt. On this day, as time passed and the air grew thinner with every step, I was a little worried that we were losing our team and becoming a broken group of individuals, a behavior that is common at altitude. I have seen it before where the higher one goes the focus becomes self centered.
As we went higher I could see my friend was having a harder time controlling her feet. Her coordination slipping. I decided to hang back to keep an eye on the group from the rear to watch for anomalies. As my friend started to slow so did her cognition. I would ask her questions and sometimes it would take her 30 to 40 seconds to answer. As her situation became worse a beautiful thing happened. Three other pilgrims began to help. It took some of the stress of my job off my back and felt a bit better about the situation. I could now watch the groups progress and still keep a tight focus on a deteriorating pilgrim.
About 2 hours from the pass I asked to carry my friends pack. I waited as long as possible because I knew it would be a big psychological support to have that pack off her back. "There is the pass, you can see it, you can make it". Shouldering her pack I could see she was happy and gained a burst of energy. The pass did not look far but according to my watch we still had 1800 feet to gain. Here balance waning and breaks every 10 steps, part of me grappled with the turn around point. The point where it is to late to turn back or to early to stop. It is the hardest part of a guides job because you want the client to be successful but not at the cost of life.
Stay tuned.
We were on our way to one of the holiest sites in the world the "Dolma La" pass at 18678 ft. The trail from camp started off with a gentle rise and within 10 minutes people who were hurting started falling behind. The day went on like this with part of our group 20 to 30 minutes in front of a second slower group. Everyone was excited. For a guide there is a fine line between being excited for everyone and getting everyone over and out of altitude before someone grinds to a halt. On this day, as time passed and the air grew thinner with every step, I was a little worried that we were losing our team and becoming a broken group of individuals, a behavior that is common at altitude. I have seen it before where the higher one goes the focus becomes self centered.
As we went higher I could see my friend was having a harder time controlling her feet. Her coordination slipping. I decided to hang back to keep an eye on the group from the rear to watch for anomalies. As my friend started to slow so did her cognition. I would ask her questions and sometimes it would take her 30 to 40 seconds to answer. As her situation became worse a beautiful thing happened. Three other pilgrims began to help. It took some of the stress of my job off my back and felt a bit better about the situation. I could now watch the groups progress and still keep a tight focus on a deteriorating pilgrim.
About 2 hours from the pass I asked to carry my friends pack. I waited as long as possible because I knew it would be a big psychological support to have that pack off her back. "There is the pass, you can see it, you can make it". Shouldering her pack I could see she was happy and gained a burst of energy. The pass did not look far but according to my watch we still had 1800 feet to gain. Here balance waning and breaks every 10 steps, part of me grappled with the turn around point. The point where it is to late to turn back or to early to stop. It is the hardest part of a guides job because you want the client to be successful but not at the cost of life.
Stay tuned.
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