For Joshi, the time when he contracted Covid-19 and coped with the super typhoon at the foot of Mount Everest was more difficult than the journey to reach the ‘roof of the world’.
On May 8, Harshvardhan Joshi (26 years old, India) was busy at the campsite at the foot of Everest to prepare for the journey to conquer the highest mountain in the world. VICE .
For almost a month, he had been waiting there while a group of Sherpa guides scouted the route and fixed the climbing rope from the assembly point to the summit. 
This year’s climbing season has about 1,500 people joining the support staff. Along with more than 400 other people present at the foot of Mount Everest, the young man hopes to make his lifelong dream come true. At that time, a climbing friend carefully brought some rapid test kits for SARS-CoV-2 virus antigen due to the pandemic raging in Nepal and India. Joshi also participated in the testing. However, a bad news interrupted Joshi’s excitement: he tested positive for Covid-19. Not believing his ears, the guy tested himself again but it still showed the same results. “The scene was actually quite noisy. The team still had to continue the journey without me no matter how much the trip meant to me,” he said. Covid-19 climbing season This year’s climbing season took place under the most extraordinary circumstances. Despite concerns about a second wave of the epidemic, Nepal decided to reopen Mount Everest and other mountains after a year of closure. At the end of March 2021, Joshi arrived in Kathmandu (Nepal) and set out to the meeting point at the foot of the mountain. Around mid-April, the first whispers of Covid-19 in the campground began to appear. Meanwhile, Nepalese officials continue to deny that the SARS-CoV-2 virus was present at the highest mountain in the world. 
Harshvardhan Joshi started his passion for climbing 10 years ago. “Isolation rules are in place but no one is monitoring. Some people flew to the assembly point after only a few days of isolation,” Joshi said. Due to the lack of testing facilities, no one can tell the difference between Covid-19 disease and the persistent “khumbu dry cough” – a symptom most climbers experience at this altitude. . Only major climbs are equipped with doctors and testing equipment. “We also only got tested after a teammate asked his wife to bring a rapid test kit from India.” In the village of Dibuche near the campsite, one of Joshi’s teammates tested positive for Covid-19 and decided to fly home. Not long after, 5 other people also contracted the virus and Joshi was the 6th. Joshi’s priority is to isolate himself in a tent alone for 10 days. Due to his lack of symptoms, he decided to stay instead of evacuating by helicopter with the other patients. The young man still hopes that he can continue his journey after the isolation period ends. “I consulted the doctors in my hometown. They sent me the treatment plan. Then I asked the person who organized this trip in Kathmandu to buy and send the medicine by helicopter.” During the quarantine, Joshi spent many hours practicing breathing and chanting. “I spend most of my time in the tent. Meals will be delivered from the kitchen to my tent. It was really lonely having to dine alone in the cold weather,” he recalls. 
Joshi’s medication was delivered from the capital of Nepal via helicopter. In mid-May, Joshi’s dream was further threatened by Cyclone Tauktae, which killed more than 100 Indians and blew away at least 30 tents at the campsite. Faced with this situation, Nepalese authorities have extended the time so that tourists can wait for better weather, conquering the “roof of the world” again, although the climbing season usually ends in May. ‘Steering’ of the unexpected trip By dinner on May 19, things finally got better for Joshi. The weather forecast in the coming days will be better and his latest test came back negative. Joshi’s original plan was to climb Everest first and then to Lhotse, Everest’s “neighbor” and the fourth highest mountain in the world. 
Anup Rai (left) and Furte Sherpa accompany Joshi to climb Everest. However, he decided to try Lhotse first because it would be deserted in the coming clear days. Moreover, he was also worried about his lung condition after the illness. At midnight, Joshi set out with two climbing guides, Furte Sherpa and Anup Rai – who he assessed as “inexperienced but healthy”. Other more experienced guides have left the mountain because of Covid-19. “Therefore, I asked two people to go with me to maximize safety, in case something happened,” he said. Mount Everest and Lhotse share a major climb. Thus, on the way, Joshi’s group met an Everest climbing team. With the weather forecast to get worse due to the effects of another storm, Joshi realized the short time ahead was the best opportunity to visit Everest once. So he changed his mind again and went back to the original plan. “Winds will get stronger and the chances of climbing in good weather will become increasingly limited. However, I still decided to go,” he said. After 2 days, despite all the harsh weather conditions, Joshi reached the summit of Everest. 
Joshi doesn’t feel too excited about climbing the “roof of the world”. Standing from the “roof of the world”, he can see the glacier in northern Tibet glowing in the morning sun, Mount Lhotse and the majestic Himalayas. “There were at least 20 people on the top of the mountain before our group. I just sat there and basked in the beautiful surroundings. After that, I bowed my head to thank my two guides – who brought me up here safely. On the other hand, Joshi wasn’t as excited as he had thought. With the next storm coming, he didn’t have much time to linger on Mount Everest. “It feels like the problems I faced before reaching Everest were much more difficult than climbing to the top,” he said.
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