At the top of the world

19.6.19/ 3.7.19

On May the 22nd Gillian Lee, an Australian Mountaineer almost reached the summit of Everest without using an air tank. Gil climbed on the North side of the Tibet Route because the easier way up Mount Everest was a human traffic jam of two to three hundred climbers.

Because Gillian Lee was 7600m high he was in the death zone. His lips began to turn blue and he was constantly coughing really badly. His body shut down and he passed out for three hours. Luckily he had two Sherpa guides to help him. The guides carried Gil down and placed him in his tent, rubbing both hands and grabbing as many hot water bottles as they could.

The two guides made a sled out of a mat and dragged him down. At 6000m they met a Chinese rope fixing team. The team offered to help and continued to slide him down the snow-covered the mountain. When the snow ran out they strapped Gil onto a yak to   the way to base camp which took six hours. Once they got to base camp Gil was put onto a helicopter to Kathmandu Hospital in Nepal.

Gils mum visited Gillian at the hospital. She was absolutely furious at him for putting the two Sherpas and himself in danger.

Will Gillian Lee try to climb Mount Everest again without an oxygen tank?

Serenade