Getting Started
Our team flew into a small village in Nepal. When I stepped off the plane, I looked up. The mountains of the Himalaya loomed over me. The highest point on Earth—Mount Everest—was waiting.
Why was I here? I was here to study climate change. The glaciers in these mountains are important to people. They feed rivers and give water to millions of people. Yet, warmer temperatures are causing the glaciers to melt too quickly. We want to know more about this. So, we took samples of ice, snow, rocks, and water. We also set up weather stations.
The Lukla airport is high in the Himalaya.
meltwater near the Khumbu Glacier
Crampons on boots and ice axes helped with climbing.
Expedition Work
But first, we practiced our ice climbing! We used crampons, or metal spikes, on the bottoms of our boots. They grip ice. We used ice axes and other tools to help us climb. Everest put our skills to the test!
Each member of the team practiced ice climbing.
