Everest Encounter

Steve Harrison (Class of 1976) left School to pursue a career in veterinary medicine. A keen hiker, he set himself a number of challenges to complete on his retirement and last November saw him trekking to Everest Base Camp.

“I remember fondly many members of staff – some great teachers and some wonderful characters: Colin Chambers, Jim Slater, Eric Dawber, John ‘JCB’ Blakey, David ‘DES’ (as opposed to DMS) Shaw, PJ Harrison, Bill ‘Pop’ Harrison and Clifford ‘Butch’ Ingham immediately spring to mind.

“I graduated from Edinburgh University in 1981 and worked in the surgery department there for a year as House Surgeon followed by six years in Small Animal practices. In 1988 I set up my own practice with my wife where we worked until our retirement in 2014. I have two grown-up children: one with a First Class Honours in Physics, now working in the financial sector, and the other a doctor working in emergency medicine in Australia and due to achieve Consultant status later this year.

“Since retiring I have been able to rekindle my passion for climbing mountains. When I look back it all probably started at School. I climbed my first mountain (The Calf) around 1973 with the School's Fell Walking society, then run by Terry Butterworth, aided and abetted by his brother. My abiding memory of the trip was a huge reel-to-reel tape player that blasted out ELP all weekend – wonderful memories! In November 2021 I completed the 214 Wainwrights in the Lake District, last year I did the Dales 30 (tops in the Cumbrian and Yorkshire Dales above 2000ft) and so far have 28 Munros under my belt. But my proudest achievement came last November when I trekked to Everest Base Camp.

“I remember reading High Adventure by Edmund Hillary while I was still at primary school, his account of the first ascent of Everest, and I have had a fascination with Everest and Nepal ever since. I was never going to be able to climb it, but I've had the ambition to go to Nepal and see it. So I booked a trek with KE Adventure in Keswick to go in November 2020 – but, of course, Covid put paid to that. I rebooked and set off last November – and what a trip it was!

“The journey starts with the hair-raising flight from Kathmandu to the Tenzing-Hillary Airport at Lukla (2846m). Regarded as the most dangerous airport in the world, the runway is only 527m long and is perched on the side of a mountain. What then follows is a nine-day trek to Base Camp through some of the most stunning scenery you could imagine, and I will never forget the moment when I suddenly saw the snow-capped peaks of Everest, Lhotse and Ama Dablam set against a cloudless deep blue sky.

“The main issue is the altitude and every care is taken to minimise the risk of getting altitude sickness. This means restricting the daily ascent to fewer than 500 metres wherever possible, but where this does happen the following day is an ‘acclimatisation day’ where you walk higher in the day and then come back down to sleep at the previous night's stop. Thankfully I was spared all of the symptoms of mountain sickness, but the other seven members of the group succumbed to something: extreme lethargy, nausea, coughing, poor appetite, inability to sleep or nose bleeds. The walking was pretty tough. The distances and altitude gains were akin to what you might do in the Lake District, but the altitude made it very hard work. Even walking on the flat caused you to breathe heavily.

“The accommodation was very basic and became more so the higher we got. We stayed in lodges which typically have a heated communal eating area and unheated bedrooms with just two mattresses. The toilets (or holes in the ground in most places!) are also unheated and there is no running hot water. There are showers in the lower lodges, but none higher – you just have a bowl of hot water, for which you get charged! For me, being permanently cold (apart from when you're walking) became as much of a challenge as the altitude.

“The highlight of the trip for me was climbing Kala Patthar, the day before reaching Base Camp. At 5,550m, it is the highest point of the trip (Base Camp is 5,364m) and the view of Everest is truly astonishing. We reached Base Camp the following morning and getting there very early meant that we were the only group there (there are no climbers at that time of the year). It is a pretty desolate place, marked only by a large rock with ‘Everest Base Camp’ painted on it. Perhaps the place itself is a bit of an anticlimax, but it marked the culmination of a fantastic climb. I think we were all elated and relieved in equal measure.

“We then had a three-day walk back to Lukla. At one point I looked back and saw Everest for the last time –rather sad and with a tear in my eye, but immensely proud that I had finally achieved my ambition. All in all, it was a fantastic trip – tough, but incredibly satisfying, and the Nepalese are a lovely people. The trip is within the capability of any active hill walker, so if you're contemplating it, do it. You won't be disappointed.”