Maltese coming down to earth
Sherpa loses toe parts to frostbite
Climber Marco Cremona's comments were punctuated by violent coughs, prompted by the low humidity and the sub-zero temperatures.
"(Guide) Victor Saunders and I have the Khumbu Cough, a dry cough. Apart from that every member of the group is suffering from some diarrhoea.
"But all this is to be expected after losing a lot of energy climbing the mountain and not replenishing the body," a feeble Mr Cremona told The Sunday Times via satellite phone from Everest Base Camp.
The illnesses and weaknesses are a small price to pay after Mr Cremona, Gregory Attard and Robert Gatt became the first Maltese to scale the world's highest mountain.
Their feat to conquer the 8,848-metre peak was accomplished last Monday after an arduous year-long training regime.
The group is now resting in a lodge off the mountain "in the middle of nowhere" after a 20-kilometre trek, but the lower they descend, the better they are bound to feel as the air becomes easier to breathe and better food would be available.
Mr Gatt became the first Maltese man to summit Everest, followed by Mr Cremona - who was held up for 90 minutes by seven other climbers - and Mr Attard.
The team is now recovering from the arduous task of climbing the mountain, which they have come out of relatively unscathed.
However, Mr Cremona's Sherpa (local mountain guide) lost parts of his toes to frostbite while stuck behind seven slow climbers at a fixed rope for over 90 minutes at 30°C below zero.
"If you find a slow coach in front of you in a steep section, you have no choice but to wait. I got caught behind a queue; it was painfully slow.
"I had battery-operated foot warmers and hand warmers, so I was protected from frostbite. Because the Sherpa had no foot warmers, he is now going to lose part of his toes...
"If there's no reason to stall, then one shouldn't slow down at all. When climbing this mountain, you reach the summit and descend as soon as you can.
"Between Camp 4 and the summit there are 900 metres, and in parts it's pretty steep. There are fixed ropes to which you can clip so if you fall you don't plummet to the bottom," Mr Cremona said.
Since all the expeditions normally closely follow the weather forecasts, most will not only leave on the same day but also reach the summit around the same time. The day the Maltese team reached the summit some 70 people made it to the top.
The contingent is expected back in Malta at the beginning of June.
dschembri@timesofmalta.com