Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Khumalo attempts Everest for the third time
IT MIGHT prove to be third time lucky for Saray Khumalo in her quest to summit Everest.
On Wednesday, Khumalo left Everest base camp and began working her way higher and higher up the mountain, stopping over at camps on the way.
This will help her acclimatise to the altitude and give her an idea when she could attempt a shot at the summit.
To summit Everest requires a window of good weather.
With base camp goes internet connectivity and with it, her regular chats with her teenage boys, who are waiting for her at home in Joburg.
She says she misses them a lot.
It was through WhatsApp that Khumalo spoke to Independent Media just before heading off on Wednesday.
“I’ve grown a lot as a climber since my first attempt in 2014,” said Khumalo. “I trained differently this time, and even included the use of a Hypoxico tent.”
A Hypoxico, or altitude, tent is a sealed tent used to simulate higher altitude.
Khumalo’s 2014 first expedition ended when an avalanche killed 16 guides on the mountain. A year later she was back on Everest, but this time an earthquake closed part of the route.
As with her 2015 expedition, Khumalo has organised everything herself. The first expedition, she climbed with the first black South African to scale Everest, Sibusiso Vilane.
“I have been saving for this expedition since 2015. Unfortunately the ministry of sports did not believe in funding a black female in 2017, even though funding was available according to the former minister’s budget speech.”
Over the last five years, besides her two failed Everest attempts, Khumalo has tackled some pretty high peaks, including Africa’s own Kilimanjaro, Mera Peak and Lobuche East in Nepal, and Elbrus in Russia. The highest peak she has climbed is Aconcagua, in Argentina, which sits at 6 980m.
To conquer Everest, Khumalo will have to climb 1 868m higher – so high that the mountain is often hit by the jet stream, high-speed winds that usually only buffet airliners.
It also means using ladders to cross crevasses that cut hundreds of metres into the snow.
But Khumalo said she is taking everything in her stride.
“Crossing crevasses doesn’t scare me, because I have trained for it. I am cautiously optimistic,” she said.
And what is the first thing she will do if she summits?
“The first thing I will do on the summit is say a prayer of thanks for God, as He has been my guide in more ways than I could have ever imagined,” Khumalo says with feeling.
“Hitting the summit will be amazing and emotional. But descending after the summit will be epic, because the summit is only half the expedition.”
Through this climb, Khumalo is hoping to encourage the next generation of African leaders, who she hopes will be inspired to work towards their dreams.
And as Khumalo makes her way to the summit, she is carrying with her a very “local is lekker” South African mascot to call to them: her vuvuzela.