Answering the Call

The shadow of the mountains loom as my hike to Everest Base Camp continues from Dingboche (4,410m) to Lobuche (4,940m).

When asked why he wanted to climb Mount Everest, British climber George Mallory famously said, “Because it’s there”. My call to the mountains was much less ambitious, but no less important to me.

I was doing it for the lady pictured here, my then-girlfriend who would go on to to become my wife. She was much more adventurous and fitter than me, hence the majority of my photos were of her backview.

She was framed perfectly by the gap in the rock fence, and the fog obscured the other climbers ahead of her just enough to make her appear as the only person there, while her unmistakable red bucket hat popped out against the snowy and foggy background. Unfortunately the mountains were also obscured by the fog, but no high-altitude trip to the mountains is complete without life-threatening low visibility fog.

Captured on a Canon 5DMk3 with my 16-35mm f2.8 lens.