Expedition Synopsis

The 2006 EVERESTMAX expedition was a journey from the shores of the Dead Sea, the lowest point on earth, by bicycle to the base of Mt Everest, followed a climb to its summit, the roof of the world. Eight members of the team completed the whole project with their numbers supported by six additional climbers and support members for the second phase. The Cycle: The overland route covered a distance of 8000km with the team passing through 8 countries over a period of 15 weeks. The Climb: The ascent on Mt Everest was attempted from the North side following the North-East ridge with a total of 12 climbers. With an ascent of 3700m on Mt Everest the total ascent from the shores of the dead see came to 9300m, making the journey the longest climb on earth.

Tarka’s Journey

The expedition was the brainchild of Dom Faulkner, an ex-army officer working as a teacher at Cheltenham College. The expedition was meticulously planned and prepared by Dom and the team, with a number of training trips to help the team gel together. Following the lengthy preparations that go into any expedition, and only 6 days before departure, Tarka was diagnosed with an illness reminiscent of his travels in South America that required immediate medical attention. Reluctantly he was forced to forfeit his place on the start line in the hope that his condition would be cured by the time the team reached Mt. Everest and he could go on to be a part of the climbing team. After 12 weeks of treatment Tarka was given the all clear and he jumped on a plane to Kathmandu to spend a week in the Annapurna before meeting the team as they arrived in the capital of Nepal after their cycle from Jordan.

Followed by 2 trucks, packed with 2 months worth of supplies for 18 people; climbing equipment, oxygen, camping equipment, tents etc. the climbing party made their way across Nepal and Tibet to Everest where they set up the expedition Base Camp (BC) at 5500m. The research was headed up by the expedition doctor. Dr. Andrew Sutherland, recorded the dilation of the optic nerve in relation to altitude. The study was aimed at trying to better understand Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS), whether certain people are more susceptible to the condition than others, and whether people could determine their susceptibility to the condition.

After the climbers had spent a week at BC the cycling party finally finished their 8000km journey by bicycle from the lowest point on earth on the shores of the Dead Sea, for a well deserved rest. A few days later the yaks left base camp for the exhausting task of carrying all the team’s forward supplies, 20km along the Rhombok Glacier to Advanced Base Camp (ABC). Tarka and a number of the other climbers who had been at BC for a week now decided to use the Nepalese Sherpas and yaks to help guide them up to ABC for the first time. Having been to similar altitudes previously Tarka was a little complacent and was blissfully unaware that a week later he would find himself back in Kathmandu in a medical facility. Several days later having pushied on to the base of the North Col a combination of increased altitude and a considerable depression in the weather over the mountain accentuated the pressure drop and Tarka awoke with a serious case of AMS. There has been some speculation that the condition could even have been an extreme form of AMS called High Altitude Cerebral Edema (H.A.C.E.) however none of the doctors (both the expedition’s and in Kathmandu) could confirm this. Although he did not suffer from any of the common symptoms of HACE including a headache, weakness, decreasing levels of consciousness, disorientation, loss of memory, hallucinations and irrational behaviour he did suffer from ataxia (a loss of co-ordination).

Diary Entry 17/04/2006 “… When I said yesterday that things were hard but that I was grateful that they weren’t worse that wasn’t suppose to be an invitation for things to get worse! I have awoken this morning with ataxia, strangely it is only affecting my walking and I have no other symptoms, including no headache. I suspect that it is a case of serious AMS but I can’t rule out that it might be HACE. I have a small supply of emergency Dexamethasone and seeing as the weather has closed in and there is no way I can get back to BC I may have to use it…“

After 3 days, with the help of his team and Sherpas, Tarka returned to BC. To be cautious the expedition doctor placed him in a hyperbaric chamber (also known as a gamov bag) until his evacuation back to Kathmandu was organised. Tarka was not alone in his evacuation and on arriving at the Nepalese boarder he found several other expedition members in critical states. The snow from the storm that had kept Tarka on the mountain had blanketed Tibet and following an avalanche all the evacuations ground to a halt as the roads were swept away.

The teams worked 24 hours a day to open a way through and after 48 hours they finally managed to clear the roads sufficiently to allow a few vehicles through. Not being allowed to fly into Tibetan airspace the rescue helicopters waited patiently on the Nepalese side of the boarder to take the evacuees back to Kathmandu. Unfortunately not all were fortunate enough to make it and a motionless body lay in one of the helicopters covered in a blanket.

Since the EverestMax team had crossed the border 2 weeks previously Nepal had fallen into civil war and a daylight curfew was in place preventing anybody from being out on the streets during daylight hours. Unable to find a taxi in the deserted streets Tarka chose to walk to the medial facility. On route he was met by an armed patrol unit and after an initial confused encounter where a number of rifles were pointed in his direction they helped escort him the rest of the way.

The crossing of Friendship Bridge (the border point between Tibet and Nepal) is a confusing place and somewhere during the change over one of Tarka’s bags with his wallet in went astray meaning he had no money or cards to pay anything.

Diary Entry 24/04/2006 “…I looked a horrific sight this morning and as I stood in line waiting for my check-in desk to open I began speaking to two Israelis as they questioned why I looked in such a way. After explaining my story to them they both looked at me wide eyed and instantly offered to pay my departure tax! My departure tax… It hadn’t even crossed my mind that I was going to have to pay departure tax. It was an unbelievably kind gesture and along with an American couple who had overheard my story they paid the tax and bought me breakfast. What could I possibly ever say to thank them enough for their kindness? Which is a lot more than I can say for the air hostess who threatened not to let me on the plane…“