GettingStarted

Isteppedofftheplaneandsawthehigh,snow‑encrustedmountainsoftheHimalaya.WehadflownintothevillageofLuklaintheKhumburegionofNepal.Iwouldn’tseeMountEverestuntilthefollowingday,andwhenIdid,Ihadtocranemynecktotheskytoseethesummit. Itwassomuchtallerthananything else.


YoumightbewonderingwhatIwasdoinghere.IwaspartofanexpeditiontoMountEverest.Icamebecauseourplanetischanging.Rightnow,we’reseeingdramaticclimatechangethathashugeimplicationsforpeoplearoundtheworld.Thisisespeciallytrueinextremeenvironments,likehighmountains,wherewedon’thavealotof data.


Here,weknowtheglaciersoftheHimalayaaroundMountEverestprovidewaterresourcestothemillionsofpeoplewholiveinthesemountains.TheglaciersalsofeedtheriversthatflowtoareasofAsiathatarehometomorethanonebillionpeople.Risingglobaltemperaturesarecausingtheglacierandsnowyareastoshrinkandarethreateningthisvitalresource.Wewantedtoknowmoreaboutthis.So,myjobwastohelpcollectdataabouttheenvironmentsowecanbegintobetterunderstandhowthehighmountainsare changing.

TheLuklaairportishighinthe Himalaya.

NORTH
AMERICA

PACIFIC
OCEAN

ATLANTIC
OCEAN

INDIAN
OCEAN

EUROPE

ASIA

AFRICA

SOUTH
AMERICA

ANTARCTICA

AUSTRALIA

China

Nepal

India

Mount
Everest

meltwaterneartheKhumbu Glacier

ThebasecampmanagerandIsetupasurveystationfor3-D mapping.

CollectingSamples

Overthecourseofourmonths‑longexpedition,wecollectedsamplesofice,snow,rocks,water,andlake sediments.


Wealsoobservedandrecordedtheplantandanimalspeciesthatcansurviveattheseveryhighelevations.Wemappedtheareaandsetupweatherstationsalongtherouteuptothe summit.

ExpeditionWork

Beforeanyonecollectedanydata,though,weneededtoprepare.Thisplaceisunlikeanyotherplace.Weneededtolearnandpracticemountaineeringskillstogohighonthemountain.Weneededtotestourequipmentintheextremeweather.AndweneededtoworkwithourSherpaclimbingteamthatwouldbeoneofthekeystooursuccess.SherpasareTibetanpeoplelivingonthehighsouthernslopesoftheHimalaya.Theyareknownforprovidingsupportfor climbers.

Sherpateammembersattendedaceremonyforthesafetyofourteambeforea climb.

Cramponsonbootsandiceaxeshelpwiththe climbing.

IceTraining

Therearesteepslopesoficeandsnowontheroutetothesummit.Weneedediceclimbingequipmenttoscalethem.Cramponsattachedtoourstiffboots.Thesearemetalspikesthatstickoutthebottomandthefrontofourboots.Theyhelpyourfootingonslipperyiceslopes!Iceaxeshelped,too.Youcanswinganaxintotheiceandpullyourself up.


Itwashardanddangerouswork.TheSherpateamfixedropesonicyslopessothat,ifyouslippedandfell,theropewouldcatchyou.OurrouteupEveresthadtogothroughtheKhumbuIcefall,whichputourskillstothe test.

Eachmemberoftheteammustbecomeproficientwiththetoolsandtechniquesofice climbing.