GettingStarted

Isteppedofftheplaneandsawthem!Thehigh,snow‑coveredmountainsoftheHimalaya.WehadflownintothevillageofLuklainNepal.Iwouldn’tseeMountEverestuntilthenextday.WhenIdid,Ihadtolookuptothesky.ThatiswhereI’dseethe summit.


IwaspartofanexpeditiontoMountEverest.Iwasherebecauseourplanetischanging.Rightnow,we’reseeingdramaticclimatechanges.Wedon’tfullyunderstandthem.Especiallyinextremeplaceslikehighmountains.Wedon’thavealotofdataforsuch places.


Here,theglaciersprovidewatertomillionsofpeople.TheyalsofeedriversthatflowtopartsofAsiawherebillionsofpeoplelive.Warmertemperaturesarecausingtheglacierstomelttooquickly.Wewanttoknowmoreaboutthis.So,wecollectedsamplesofice,snow,rocks,andwater.Wealsosetupweatherstationsalongthe way.

TheLuklaairportishighinthe Himalaya.

NORTH
AMERICA

PACIFIC
OCEAN

ATLANTIC
OCEAN

INDIAN
OCEAN

EUROPE

ASIA

AFRICA

SOUTH
AMERICA

ANTARCTICA

AUSTRALIA

China

Nepal

India

Mount
Everest

meltwaterneartheKhumbu Glacier

ExpeditionWork

Beforewecollectedsamplesordata,weneededtotestourequipmentintheextremeweather.WealsoneededtoworkwithourSherpaclimbingteam,thekeytooursuccess.SherpasareTibetanpeoplelivingintheHimalaya.Theyareknownforhelping climbers.

ThebasecampmanagerandIsetupasurveystationfor3-D mapping.

Sherpateammembersattendedaceremonyforthesafetyofourteambeforea climb.

Cramponsonbootsandiceaxeshelpwiththe climbing.

Totravelthroughthesteepsnowandiceslopes,weneededspecialiceclimbingequipment.Crampons,ormetalspikes,stickoutthebottomandfrontofourboots.Theyhelpyourfootingonslipperyiceslopes.Ice axeshelp,too.You swingtheaxeintotheiceandpullyourselfup!OurrouteupEverestputourskillstothe test.

Eachmemberoftheteamlearnedtousetheiceclimbing tools.