The face climbing may be considered the most significant obstacle. Climbers with poor health or physical condition may have to spend up to two weeks acclimatizing. The days prior to the summit attempt are spent acclimatizing, and the higher up the summit from the base camp, the less time the climber will spend on the mountain. For this reason, once on the Lhotse Face, the only way to gain altitude is up the face, which usually takes one or two days. The acclimatization problem is compounded by the fact that the usual rest day is prior to the summit day, meaning climbers must gain around 1,500m (5,250ft) of altitude gain in the 24 to 48 hours prior to summiting. A responsible climb demands a great deal of physical, mental and social conditioning to be successful. The base camp is in the region of 3,600m. Reaching the summit is no easy feat, since the elevation gain per vertical mile is around 7,000m, and the summit is about 4.5km from the base camp, plus over 1km of elevation to the Lhotse Face. It is the world’s highest mountain in terms of average elevation – Asia’s highest peak by any measure.
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