Five teams of climbers are camped here, resting in the mountain's shadow while their bodies learn to survive oxygen starvation. It is their last chance for comfort and privacy before the real suffering begins. Anne Parmenter, a climber from Old Lyme, slips behind a boulder for her last sponge bath. She borrows a compact mirror from Heidi Blum, the woman she will help guide up the mountain, and takes a rare look at herself. Her bushy red hair freezes before she can finish combing it.
Cleanliness is next to godliness for women,'' Parmenter says cheerfully.
No one will bother to wash higher up the mountain, where every drop of water must be melted from snow. Men and women who have known each other for only days will share cramped tents. Parmenter's instruction in the fine art of mountain peeing is, in fact, her first step in helping Blum up the mountain. It sounds funny, but for women, it's serious business. Squatting with a bare bottom is uncomfortable and dangerous on the mountain's icy slopes.