High Adventure Expeditions has gathered our remaining team in Everest basecamp trying to decide how to move forward without any clients. On the climb up the steep and icy Lhotse face, Amit began to develop lots of pain in his upper back. The Lhotse face is the gateway to the upper slopes of Mt Everest— a glimpse of the difficulties to come. As climbers move above camp 3, they will face the same steep and icy slopes with less oxygen, more wind, more cold, and a bulky oxygen rig on top of it.
In light of the difficulties in store, and the pain that Amit was already experiencing, we came to the conclusion that his Everest climb had come to an end. After a solid push up the steep and icy Lhotse face, it became apparent that his pain would be a limiting factor further up the route. We applaud Amit’s success on the route, navigating the icefall, pushing past camp 2 and onto the Lhotse face. We were able to arrange for a helicopter to bring Amit to Lukla, where he caught the flight back to Kathmandu. We wish him safe travels on his journey home.