West Bengal: Chandernagore teacher Piyali Basak climbs Everest, to attempt Lhotse

KOLKATA: Bengal's climber Piyali Basak, who is out on an expedition to Mount Everest and Mount Lhotse, made it to the Everest (8,849 metres) summit on Sunday morning. Basak, who attempted the summit without supplementary oxygen, had to be given external oxygen support after she crossed 8,450 metres. Basak, a teacher from Chandernagore, will leave for the Lhotse summit after she reaches camp 2.
"They did the summit around 10.30am on Sunday (10.15am IST). Her health was not conducive and she was losing energy and getting slow. At 8,450 metres she had to be given oxygen support and she made it to the summit after that," said Pasang Tenje Sherpa said. Pasang Sherpa is the chairman of Pioneer Adventure, the agency facilitating the expedition. As they were coming back, the weather turned rough and she could reach camp 4 by around 6pm.
"If her health permits, they will come down to camp 2 by Monday. She will take some rest there for a few days and head for Mount Lhotse," Sherpa said. Basak had decided to take the first attempt for the Mount Everest summit on Friday evening but weather conditions started getting bad and she decided to attempt the final push on Saturday evening.
According to Satyarup Siddhanta, a mountaineer who made it to the Everest in 2016, it is very dangerous to climb above 8,000 metres without supplementary oxygen. "A critical point during the climb is at the Everest ridge where climbers have to wait for some time as there is a long queue. The body starts to get cold during that period and climbers tend to use more oxygen there," he said.
Basak, who could not collect enough to fund both the expeditions, trained herself through rotation-acclimatisation without external oxygen support. In a post to her sister Tamali a week back, Basak wrote, "I am climbing at the speed the sherpas have. My oxygen saturation level remains at 95-96% even at 6511 metres. While other climbers have their saturation levels at 50-60%. I am sure of making it to the Lhotse after Mount Everest. If I get tired after coming back to camp 4, I will take rest for a day and set out for Lhotse."
"We are happy that she made it to the summit and returned to camp 4," said Tamali.
Oxygen deficiency or hypoxemia is a common condition for those who use supplementary oxygen, but it is different for a climber who is attempting without oxygen support. "Nobody knows how the body reacts when a climber reaches above 8,000m. Even if one has a good acclimatization, his body may not withstand that without oxygen support. Attempting Everest summit without oxygen is a brave feat in itself," said Debraj Dutta, the climber who summited Mount Everest in 2016.