mt. everest expedition

8/4/2019 Mt. Everest Expedition

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The true summit is a small point that can only fit a few people and is covered in prayer flags. As

I took my final steps to the top, tears of joy streamed down my face as the entire journey flashed

through my mind. At that very moment I was physically higher than any person on earth. I sat

down and made the following radio call: "Calling all Mountain Guru camps, this is Brian

checking in from the summit of Mount Everest!" A roar of excitement and congratulations came

across from all camps.

This was Pre-Sales Engineer Brian Dickinson's description of his successful May 15 summit of Mount Everest — the fourth leg of his "Seven Summits" goal to climb the highest mountain on

each of the seven continents. Fewer than 300 people in the world have done so.

Dickinson had pushed through 70 mph winds, climbed steep icefalls where he risked plunging

1,000 feet, and traversed more than 30 ladder bridges across lethal crevasses. Everest was 10,000

feet taller than any peak he had climbed before, and as he, his climbing partner, and even the

Sherpas climbed to the higher part of the mountain, they moved in slow motion, gasping witheach breath, even with the supplemental oxygen everyone uses (see "Acclimatizing on Everest").

Finishing Alone, then Descending Without Sight

Both his climbing partner and Sherpa were too overcome with altitude sickness to continue thefinal 3,000 feet, and Dickinson climbed alone through the night to the 29,035-foot summit.

Certain he'd never return, he lingered in its magical and deadly beauty for an hour. After baskingin the dramatic sunrise, something went very wrong.

He realized he was rapidly losing his sight.

Within a few minutes, Brian Dickinson went almost completely snow-blind, probably the result

of his goggles cracking the day before.

A rescue on the summit was impossible. If Dickinson remained, he would join the 220 others

who had died on the mountain. To survive, he would have to descend 3,000 feet, blind and alone,

to the closest camp.

He began to feel his way along the fixed ropes that mark the route, ropes that he blogged aboutweeks earlier as "the kind you'd buy at ACE Hardware to tie a tarp down — not something you'd

trust your life with." He rappelled rocky cliffs, suffered falls (his safety rope worked), and rode

out a small avalanche. He forced his exhausted body to keep moving. His oxygen tank gave out

and the one his Sherpa left him did not work immediately, which brought on overwhelming

panic that he shook off.

Little Time to Rest

Hallucinating, he staggered into Camp IV, the highest camp in the world at 26,000 feet, seven

hours after he summited and 30 hours after he began his final ascent. His Sherpa and climbingpartner let him rest for 15 hours, but at 26,000 feet the body begins to wither away and die. All

three had to descend to base camp to recover.



Still blind and with others who were still debilitated, Dickinson stumbled across some of the

most dangerous terrain on earth, rappelling back down icefalls and traversing the 30-some ladderbridges, relying only on touch.

"Most people don't understand what goes into a major climbing expedition," he says. "They only

care about the end result —

did you summit? Summit or no summit, it doesn't matter. Just like anygoal in life, you get more out of the knowledge and experience along the way. If someone asks

me if I summited Mount Everest, my response will be, 'I survived.'"

And so he did.

Acclimatizing on Everest

Everest was the culmination of years of planning and 40 "acclimatization expeditions" during a

two-month stay on the mountain, where Dickinson climbed to progressively higher altitudes,

then back down to sleep at a lower one. Summiting the mountain would be impossible without

this preparation. The "climb high —

sleep low" activity increases the number of red blood cells inthe body, which compensates for Everest's atmosphere, with only 30 percent of the oxygen found

at sea level. If during the plane ride home the cabin were to lose pressure, and oxygen masks fall

from the ceiling, acclimatized Everest climbers would not need to put them on.

Most climbers at the topmost camps on Everest must use "supplemental" oxygen, which is

different than compressed air used for scuba diving as it simply adds a bit extra to the air they arebreathing. People can adjust their regulators to provide oxygen between a half liter and four liters

per minute. Dickinson always tried to keep his on the lowest setting since otherwise he could run

out. He carried two 15-pound oxygen tanks on his summit push — not including the rest of hisgear (a down suit, multiple layers of clothing, a harness with climbing gear, high altitude boots,

crampons, food, and water).

At an earlier stage of training on the mountain, Dickinson fought off High Altitude Cerebral

Edema (HACE), a potentially lethal swelling of the brain that forced him to descend and rest at a

lower altitude for a few days.

A Life of Service and Giving Back

Brian, on the fourth leg of his "Seven Summits" goal to climb the highest mountain on each of

the seven continents.

Many people are lucky that Dickinson both triumphed and survived —

his family, Ciscocolleagues, and also all those he has given back to along the way. Dickinson sees helping people

in need as a natural extension of his former career as a U.S. Navy air rescue swimmer, whoseintensive training prepared him to also face Everest. He flew close to 800 hours of missions —

rescuing pilots who'd ejected out of fighter jets and once plucking five Iraqi civilians from shark-

infested water five days after their boat sank.



He was in charge of the antisubmarine and tracking gear in the helicopter he flew in and

eventually earned a bachelors in Information Technology at National University; an MBA inTechnology Management at University of Phoenix and Microsoft, Novell, and Cisco Certified

Internetwork Expert (CCIE) certifications. He currently helps customer Amazon align its

business objectives with Cisco technologies and solutions. The analytical thinking and planning

skills he uses at Cisco, he says, helped him on Everest as well.

Wherever his Seven Summits attempts take him, (so far he's climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, MountElbrus in Russia, Mount Denali in Alaska, and Mount Everest), Dickinson brings toys to

orphanages — going to the worst ghetto areas, where, he says, "children don't know how to

smile." Aiming to draw attention to AIDS as a world epidemic, he represented AIDS AllianceResearch during his climb. He operates Extreme Adventures Group, which offers free climbing

and mountain biking events to people of all ages.

He will continue his quest to conquer the Seven Summits. Antarctica's Mount Vinson, thecoldest point on earth, might be next.

Right now, Dickinson, whose eyes have healed, is happily reunited with his family in

Snoqualmie, Washington — and celebrating that he lives to tell this story.

mt. everest expedition

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