On May 21, 2011, Sierra Designs-sponsored athlete Ryan Waters successfully summitted Lhotse, a 8,516 meter peak located high in the Hymalaya on the border between Tibet and Nepal. Next door neighbor to Mount Everest, it is the 4th tallest mountain on Earth. We caught up with Ryan recently to ask him 10 questions about his expedition.
1. What inspired you to undertake such an arduous journey (Lhotse)?
Last year I had a strong feeling that I wanted to go to climb an 8000-meter peak on a personal expedition, which had not happened in a long time. I have had the great opportunity to guide on several, and that is a wonderful experience in many ways. But I wanted to have that time without responsibility for others, time to enjoy the Himalaya by simply being there and moving independently. I had a strong partner and I have very good Sherpa staff that I work with in Nepal so it was quite easy to get a strong small team to take on a climb like Lhotse.
2. Describe your adventure and some of the challenges you faced on Lhotse.
I went over to the Khumbu in early April to lead a trek to Everest base camp and to get started on the route up Lhotse. My climbing partner would be busy on another 8000-meter peak called Cho Oyu, with the plan to join me later on Lhotse for the summit push. So it was up to myself with the help of one of our Sherpas, Lakpa Dorjee, to climb and equip the route with our 4 camps, tents, food, fuel etc. We spent about a month doing this and had a great time. This route is the same as the Everest route up to camp 3. Then they split and have different camp 4 locations to climb the respective mountain. They are connected by the south col. My partner arrived in mid May, just about 5 days from summiting Cho You. We got a good weather window and began the climb up through the camps and reached the summit on the 21st of May.
3. How did you determine your route?
We chose to climb the standard route on Lhotse that climbs the west face of the mountain and up to a super nice 500-meter long steep couloir to the summit.
4. What role does experience play in a climb like this?
Climbing 8000-meter mountains requires lots of experience in the big mountains. Aside from the technical climbing skills, there are a host of logistics, medical, altitude, and local knowledge issues that come up and it is very helpful to have experience in the Himalayas. Of course it is essentially just like climbing lower altitude mountains from a pure "going on expedition" standpoint, just amplified.
5. You were on the mountain for a long time. How did you prepare for this both from a logistics (resupplies, etc) and physical training perspective?
Since we spend over a month easily at the mountain, we have to send up lots of food, fuel, and supplies to live at base camp for several weeks. We have really good food there; our Sherpa cook staff is phenomenal. They do buy fresh veggies and yak meat throughout the trip from the villages down valley. On the mountain we just have to haul up lots of whatever style food we want, the menu gets more and more simple and fast to cook the higher you get in camps.
For training, I like to start ramping up the big mountain specific training about 3 months before leaving. Lots of cardio and strength. I do a lot of cross training specific to climbers at the alpine training center in boulder. Running and mountain biking are great as well.
6. What are the biggest mental challenges?
I think for me know it is the length of time it takes. You have to stay patient and pass a lot of time.
7. What role do you feel gear played on this journey?
It is extremely important. You have to trust that your gear is going to work and perform as designed. It can literally be life or death.
8. What type of food did you bring? Can you describe a typical day’s rations?
On the mountain I eat a lot of easy meals. Noodles that cook fast, lots of bars, I use PowerBar products, as they have been one of my sponsors for like 4 years now. Fast cereal such as oatmeal packets to get you going in the tent.
We use sierra designs tents and they are great. I really love the Mountain Meteor design. The 3-person is huge for the weight. I use a variety of sleeping bags, down, and Sierra Designs has made a special -20 degree sleeping bag for me. They are awesome.
On the mountain I use the Gnar down jacket and the Fiend down jacket and pants. Lower down I use the Mantra Fusion jacket as a shell and a host of softshell tops and bottoms.
Sierra Designs has a strong background in technical equipment design, and I have been helping to start designing new product with them. So it is a rewarding partnership.
10. This trip is pretty amazing on a lot of levels. What is one thing you will never forget about climbing Lhotse?
I will not forget getting to the bottom of the fixed lines at the Lhotse Face after summiting and bringing down all the gear with my team. Just as I clipped into the last horizontal line that traverses a vertical ice section, an oxygen bottle flew down the face and zinged past the exact spot I was just standing 5 seconds before. That was a close call, someone dropping a bottle 1000 feet above you and it flying down the face... there is an example of a real hazard on the Everest route we shared up the Lhotse face!
