The Final trek to Base Camp

25th April 1924

Map reproduced from Fearless on Everest, p. 203.

From Shekar Dzong they had a five-day trek to the site of their Base Camp at the foot of Everest. This final leg of the march was a struggle for Sandy. The wind was vicious and carried tiny stones and sand from the plain which cut his badly sunburned face and caused him considerable pain. In addition, he had been feeling unwell since leaving Shekar Dzong. He complained of feeling ‘seedy' which is the description he often used when he was not 100 per cent fit. On this occasion he attributed it mostly to the fact that he’d been up until midnight or 2 a.m. most nights working on the oxygen apparatus and then rising each morning at 6.30 a.m. and trekking twelve to fifteen miles each day, mostly on foot. When he was not feeling well his temper was short and his diary entries betrayed his frustrations: ‘my blasted pony trod on my walking stick and broke it’ he wrote two days after learning Shekar. Despite this, he still kept up his usual cheerful outward manner and no one appeared to be aware of anything untoward.