 Even
as I talked, I remembered how it felt in
my dream. We were supposed to rest but
no-one was able to sleep. Even with ski
jackets, hats and mittens, we were
freezing cold and kept shivering.
'Why
did we - I mean they - have to go on in
the middle of the night? Why didn't they
wait till the morning?'
asked
Lizzie.
'They
wanted to see the sun rise from the rim
of Kibo crater. You have to start at
midnight. And it's bad to stay so high
for very long. They say you should climb
high, sleep low to avoid mountain
sickness.'
 'This
next part of the climb is real hard work
with over two hundred switchbacks on
scree at night.'
'What's
a switchback?'
asked
Amir 'and
what's scree? You're giving me another
headache here!'
'Switchbacks
are the zig zags you make when you climb
sideways back and forth on a steep
slope. It's easier than trying to go
straight up.'
 'Scree
is made up of tons of little
rocks. They're loose and easy to
slide down.'
I
knew that because I did slide down - a
long way down. It felt just like
slipping down a ski slope and I was
enjoying myself till I remembered that I
had to climb all the way back up. It was
still dark when I started again and it
felt like forever before I caught up
with the rest of the group. Then the sun
came up and made it all worthwhile.
Lizzie
cleared her throat and I realized I'd
been daydreaming again. I went on
talking -
'The
guides watched the sun rise from
Gillman's Point on the crater rim.
They're all bundled up but they still
look cold don't they? They're at 5,685
meters here.' |
