I couldn’t wait for lunch to finish and the group to assemble. After waiting 30 months—an earlier trip was stopped short because of sickness—Kala Patthar was about to be conquered. Slowly, slowly was the mantra for the 2 hour walk. Babu and I were in the lead, and it was a constant battle to go slowly—as it was to breath in the ever-thinning air. Ninety minutes after we started I reached the surprising summit. Not a broad peak as I imagined but a one-person-wide point at the very top. That’s me on the right on top of KP with Purmori behind me. Holding on to keep from being blown into the abyss by the very strong winds, I madly made a number of panoramic images—several with over 70 individual shots. Days before my 18-200 zoom lens had died so I was left with a 50mm on a D300s and my trusty LX5 point-and-shoot. I used both and made due fine.

All four of the pans below show Everest behind thin clouds—it is the dark peak. Below Everest and slightly to the left is the most dangerous part of the climb—the Khumbe Icefall. Farther below and to the left you can zoom into Everest Base Camp with the yellow and blue tents. All of the pans on this page were made from the very top of Kala Patthar, shooting with one hand in very high wind.

Please explore these panoramic images. You can double click to zoom way in and use the left mouse to pan around. You can also use the + and – keys to zoom and the arrow keys to scroll. Please wait for the resolution to download.

The peak to the right of the prayer flags in the pan below is Everest West Shoulder. To its right is Everest partly obscured by clouds. To the left of the prayer flags is base camp. Above base camp is the Lho La pass and to the left of the pass is Khumbutse (21,785 ft). Beyond the pass is Changtse (24,770 ft) in Tibet.

Everest is seen a bit more clearly between West Shoulder and Nuptse near the center of the pan below. On the far left is Pumori (23,494 ft). On the far right of this pan you can see the lower part of Kala Patthar.

The pan below features (left to right) the peaks of Khumbutse, Changtse, West Shoulder, Everest, and Nuptse (partly hidden by clouds). Everest Base Camp and the Khumbu Icefall can be clearly seen below and on either side of the Lho La pass near the center of this pan.

At the top right of the pan below is, of course, Everest. You can zoom into base camp to the left of the prayer flags.

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