Reading all the expedition dispatches put out by the various climbing companies over the years before going to Everest myself led me to believe that if you weren’t with one of the large Western companies, then you aren’t going to have the ‘pull’ on the ground in Nepal.  This is particularly important for getting gear into BC, good Sherpas, and support if needed.  With the owner of Asian Trekking being the Chairman of the Nepal Mountaineering Association, not to mention the head of the one of the largest trekking agencies in Nepal, I felt we were very well connected, should we need it.  There was an excellent base camp re-supply processes in place, with a full time person stationed at Namche/Shyangboche throughout the expedition to assist with shopping and the forwarding of any equipment up to us at BC.  AT also owns several lodges, including the Eco lodge at Lobuje, which is preferred lodge for all people staying here.  They also own lodges in Phakding and Khumjung.

Asian Trekking leadership
Our expedition leader was Pertemba Sherpa.  Pertemba has extensive experience climbing in Nepal, beginning his career in the 70’s and climbing with Chris Bonnington reaching the summit of Everest via the South Face.  Pertemba had an excellent leadership style – he is somewhat understated, but had the respect of all the Sherpas and appeared to work very well with all of them, especially the Sirdar.  He was great with all us members too, and was an excellent story teller, often keeping us entertained long into the night.  He has personally climbed with, or knows first-hand most  of the famous climbers – for example when he goes to New Zealand he stays at Sir Edmund Hillary’s house.  Pertemba was and still is a board member of many trusts and charities, including the Himalayan Trust.  The opportunity to climb with someone who has this much connection with Himalayan mountaineering was a highlight of the trip for me.  Pertemba was very organized and everything was where it needed to be when needed throughout the duration of the climb.  I thought he was also very accommodating.  At one point the weather forecasts were looking like only one attempt would be possible and I was in the second group.  I spoke with Pertemba and he said that if our whole team wanted to go together for the summit he would arrange for more tents to be put up in C3 and C4.  We didn’t end up needing this, but I was very impressed that they would do this for us.

Img Leadership
The leadership from IMG was different.  Mark Tucker is also very experienced and does run a tight ship, but I would liken it to a military operation.  It didn’t create a team feeling, it was more like a bunch of individuals.  In my opinion Mark was less approachable than Pertemba, and this was particularly evident as the expedition wore on.  Possibly the difference is because Pertemba is a day’s walk away from his home, whereas Mark is a long way away.  The eagerness to get home was more evident from IMG than AT.  When we returned to base camp from our summit attempt in 2006 on May 25, base camp was nearly completely packed away.  In contrast this year we were the last people from our team off the mountain, yet on May 24 everything was still fully setup and functioning in the AT Base Camp.

I really didn’t like the way that some climbers were treated in 2006.  Earlier in the expedition we were told that it was important that we move quickly between each camp and if we couldn’t move up fast enough, then we wouldn’t be allowed to continue up higher.  I 100% agree with this concept, however I think that it could be handled much better.  In the middle of the 2006 expedition a large sheet of paper was produced and on it was written the times we were to take between camps.  From memory these were broken down into Good, Acceptable and Poor.  On this sheet of paper was everyone’s names and next to them were blank spaces where the time taken to move between camps would be recorded.  We were told that if we couldn’t stay within the acceptable range then we would be asked to leave the expedition.  This approach was not very popular amongst the members.  Despite our preparation, Fiona and I found it difficult to achieve the acceptable standard, and although we always made sure we met it, we had to keep eye on the time and make sure that we moved quickly and didn’t stop for many rests at all when climbing.  This didn’t make for enjoyable climbing and I think that the same objective could be achieved in a much better and more subtle manner. 

Mark Tucker did an excellent job with radio communications, something that I think could be done better by AT.

One thing that I appreciated about Pertemba was that he always made sure he was up whenever we left BC for the icefall, and would run a last minute check over gear and the plans for the day.

This year we did have a team member who was a little inexperienced for Everest (Kalar Patar was his previous high point) and in my opinion would have benefited from a more authoritarian leader.  This member made a good attempt and got as high as C3, when Pertemba told him he was to go no higher.  This possibly should have been done a little earlier in the expedition to avoid unnecessary additional danger to Sherpas who were climbing with the member.

There was a fair bit of disgruntled talk from IMG’s Western staff about pay rates in 2006, and this was something that I just didn’t want to have to listen to.  If you don’t like the job, find something else to do, but don’t sit there and complain to members or discuss it in front of them.