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Posts for Everest from 04/2011

Mt. Everest Expedition:  Puja Ceremony & Training at Base Camp

Posted by: | April 10, 2011
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Everest
Elevation: 17,575'

The Everest Team checked in from Base Camp inside their dining tent.  It had been snowing lightly but they were warm inside the tent and looking forward to dinner together.
They spent the day training on the ladders around Base Camp as they get ready to ascend through the Khumbu Icefall.
Dave Hahn sent several pictures of the team training as well as of their Puja Ceremony that took place on Saturday, April 9th.  The team is doing well and they will check in tomorrow with a written dispatch.

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Mt. Everest Expedition:  End of Trek…Start of Climb

Posted by: | April 08, 2011
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Everest
Elevation: 17,575'

Hello from Mount Everest Base Camp.  We’ve been up at 17,500 ft for two nights already and it is beginning to feel like home.  We had high hopes for continuous communication possibilities this year, since we were hearing so much about the 3G cell service at Base Camp… but the reality is that we are still mostly on a dirt road version of the information super-highway.  We didn’t have much access to cell or web services when we trekked from Pheriche to Lobuche in new snow under overcast skies.  Things were cold in Lobuche, but not unpleasant as we passed the evening hours playing games in the dining room of the Eco Hotel.  We stretched our legs some with a hike along the lateral moraine of the Khumbu Glacier and Bill and Sara got good at identifying the dozen or so Himalayan giants piercing the horizon around us.  In the afternoon of our Lobuche rest day, we were excited to visit with Linden Mallory and his team of trekkers and climbers.  They’d already spent a few nights at Everest Base Camp and were excitedly bound for Island Peak.  Bill and Sara have climbed several times in the past with Linden and were naturally happy to see him again.  When he completes his Island Peak climb and trek he’ll make his way back up to Everest Base to join our team at about the point when we are getting into the Khumbu Icefall.

Two days ago, myself, Lam Babu,and Bill and Sara marched out of 16,000 ft Lobuche and took just four easy hours to reach Base Camp at 17,500 ft.  It was wonderful then to meet our Sherpa team and to reunite with Jeff Martin, who’d sprinted ahead to help get the camp set up.  Camp is indeed set up and we were amazed at the hard work the Sherpa staff had accomplished in chopping out level tent-sites and rolling boulders around to carve out a camp on this rough section of glacier.  Now we’ve made the transition from tea-houses to tents… but it hasn’t been that tough a transition.  We are eating quite well now since Kumar, our chef of the past several RMI Everest expeditions, is back in the driver’s seat and cranking out excellent meals.  These first few days are purposely light on activity so that our bodies can catch up to the altitude, but we don’t seem to be having a lot of trouble that way.  It is nice now for each of us to be in our own tents and to be able to sort our climbing gear and clothing without moving to someplace new each day.  New tents are popping up all around us as other teams get close to Base Camp.  As expected, we were one of the first climbing teams to make it in for the season.  We’ve already gotten to chat with the doctors of the “Everest ER” the clinic set up by the HRA about two camps away from us.  Later today we’ll walk a little with our ice axes in hand, just for some light exercise, and tomorrow we are looking forward to our Puja ceremony… asking the blessing of the gods before we put ourselves at risk on this giant mountain.

The cell service may not be robust at Base Camp (it seems to be mostly a 9 to 5 kind of thing, due to a reliance on solar power, we suspect) but the glaciers are still functioning pretty efficiently up here.  We are getting used to the sound of big ice avalanches on the steep faces around camp.  Snow conditions seem much the way I’ve come to expect them in the past few years… it looks like it has been quite dry again in these high mountains.  The Khumbu Glacier in the vicinity of Base Camp has just been melting steadily throughout the year, without much surface replenishment… although it is relatively cold now, there is already some water flowing in the streams.  The word is that the Icefall Doctors have already pushed the climbing route close to the Camp I area, which is good news… we can’t tell too much about the Icefall from looking up at it… it looks just as mean and ridiculous as ever, but it is nice to know that a path has been found through it once again.

Best Regards,
Dave Hahn

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Mt. Everest Expedition:  Team Checks in from Base Camp

Posted by: | April 08, 2011
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Everest
Elevation: 17,575'

Hello from Everest Basecamp,

We arrived here at Base Camp on Wednesday (April 6th) at lunchtime to a camp that had been fully constructed on top of a glacial moraine.  The staff of 10 Sherpas and porters had been working weeks to carve flat sites for sleeping tents, a dining tent,  a communication tent,  a storage tent, a cooking tent, two bathroom tents, and a shower tent for our group (we got to shower yesterday!).  It was a ton of work, but the camp is awesome, and it is located in the best spot in all of Everest Base Camp.  We have so many comforts of home, including solar lights on the walkways between tents (very cool), 40+ movies, solar chargers for every kind of gadget, a propane heater for the dining tent, etc.  Each of us has our own sleeping tent, which provides much comfort and quiet (especially for Sara!).

Everest Base Camp sits on a glacier that is surrounded by the tallest mountains in the world. In a word, the place is incredible.  Within a mile of where we are camped is Tibet (China), whose border is at the peak of a series of mountains to the north of us.  In every direction is a massive peak, glacier packed, that is picturesque in beauty.  I highly recommend a trek to Everest Base Camp to everyone.  It is one of the most beautiful places in the world.  It is also very clean.  The camp has had a large clean up effort in recent years (and it shows), and all expeditions are now required to carry every last piece of garbage out with them.

Dave Hahn (and RMI) put together a schedule that got our group from Kathmandu to Everest Base Camp in 10 days.  This could have been done much faster (as fast as 5 or 6 days), but our goal for this expedition is not Base Camp.  Our strategy (thus far) has been to go slow so that we remain healthy, and without the symptoms of acute mountain sickness (AMS).  Since we arrived a couple of days ago, we have been resting, slowly acclimatizing our bodies to this altitude without headaches, coughs, queasiness, or other symptoms of AMS.  So far, we all feel strong.  What we wanted to avoid was having to descend to a lower altitude to deal with these issues.  Going forward, we will be “climbing high and sleeping low” as well as working on our mountaineering skills. First and foremost will be working on the skills needed to climb the Khumbu Icefall, and we will go slowly so that we are fully acclimatized, and our skills are such that we can move rapidly through the icefall.  I feel that we are in great hands.

Climbing with Dave Hahn is like playing basketball with Michael Jordan.  As we walked up the valley Dave would be recognized by dozens and dozens of people.  He patiently posed for countless photographs, and spent time with almost everyone who walked up to him.  Some folks just shouted out “You Da Man!” to Dave as he walked by.  One Sherpa guiding a climber down from Base Camp was shouting and fist pumping at Dave as he walked by (very funny).  Yet, despite all this, Dave remains so very humble and takes so much time to patiently explain things to Sara and me.  We have lots and lots of questions about gear and our climb, and he always breaks everything down into simple steps that are well thought out.  The guy is incredible, and given that it is his 20th expedition to Everest and all of his many accomplishments and rescues,  he is a legend (we have, however, instituted a $1 fine for Dave for everyone he knows - so far its up to $56).

Before coming over here to Nepal last year I really didn’t give much thought to what a Sherpa does.  I always just assumed that they were people who carried huge loads up the mountain.  Nothing could be farther from the truth.  Sherpa are a group of people that come from the mountainous region of Tibet, and because of this, are incredible high altitude athletes.  But they also take great pride in their training.  Our climbing Sherpa are trained in all sorts of high altitude skills, including medical care.  Porters, on the other hand, don’t go up the mountain, they carry many loads up to base camp and perform other duties in the camp.  All of our climbing Sherpa on this trip have reached the summit of Everest, all multiple times.  Truly amazing athletes and people, and never without smiles on their faces.

While Kathmandu is approximately 75% Hindu and 25% Buddhist, the high mountain region of Nepal is almost entirely Buddhist (a good portion of the porters come from other areas of Nepal, and are not Buddhist, but virtually all the Sherpa are Buddhist).  Religion is extremely important to the people here, and every town and important location has Stupas, prayer flags, or carvings in stones that represent the importance of their religion in everything they do.  No Sherpa will go on to any high mountain (including Everest) until a Puja ceremony is performed.  Our Puja ceremony is slated to take place tomorrow, and our Sherpa have spent many hours building a site for this ceremony out of stones in our camp.  Sara M. will report on this ceremony in our next update.

Historically, communication from Everest Base Camp has been though satellite phones.  This year it was announced that 3G service would be available at Base Camp.  But, this is not really the case, and our communication is not quite up to standards that we are used to.  Because the cellular tower is solar powered, cell phone service works at Base Camp from the hours of about 9 am to 4 pm Nepal time, not the best time to call home to the United States. We have found that checking and sending emails still is problematic, and the most reliable way is still though (the very expensive) satellite phone.

So, that’s it from Everest Base Camp. We spend our rest days trying to nap, playing cards, doing puzzles, and playing Yahtzee and Apples to Apples.  Sara and I have a fighting chance against Dave and Jeff Martin in Yahtzee and Apples to Apples, but Dave is rumored to be a world class Scrabble and Chess player, so we are pretending that we don’t like those games for now (the RMI game box is stocked with about a dozen games, so I think we can avoid Scrabble and Chess for at least a few weeks).  Last night Sara introduced Dave to all sorts of music that he had never heard before, such as Miley Cyrus, the Jonus Brothers, and even Linkin Park and B.O.B.  It was quite a learning experience for Dave and Jeff.

In the next few days Mark Tucker and Linden Mallory will be arriving at Base Camp, and we will be losing Jeff who will head home.  We are excited to see Linden and Mark, but we will be sad to see Jeff leave.

Thank you again for following our blog.

Bill M.

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Mt. Everest Expedition: Team moves to Lobuche

Posted by: | April 04, 2011
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Everest
Elevation: 16,175'

The Everest Climbing team left the village of Pheriche at 13,950’ where they have spent the last few nights acclimatizing and are now settling in for the night in their new tea house in Lobuche at 16,175’.
The team is doing well, everyone is feeling good and hiking strong.

On The Map

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Mt. Everest Expedition: Rest Day in Pheriche

Posted by: | April 03, 2011
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Everest
Elevation: 13,950'

Bill and Sara sure don’t seem much affected by the altitude.  They both came in to breakfast cheerful, well-rested and ready to get on with a fun “rest-day” schedule.  It was a spotless bluesky morning and so we took advantage by going for a hike out the back door.  Back door hikes in Pheriche can get one to incredible vistas in not very much time at all.  We gained about two and a half thousand feet and marvled at the scenery.  Cho Oyu (sixth highest mountain in the world), Makalu (fifth highest), and Lhotse (fourth highest) were expectedly grand, but so were Ama Dablam, Baruntse, Island Peak, Taowoche, Kang Tega, and Thamserku.  We bumped into a number of friendly trekkers and we spied at least a half dozen hawk/eagle/vultures riding the thermals above us.

All in all, it was a fine acclimatization hike and we were back down at the Himalayan Hotel for lunch.  Our afternoon should be a relaxing one and an educational one as well.  We will be attending the Himalayan Rescue Association’s altitude lecture this afternoon… giving Sara good material for her high school science project and giving each of us a little more understanding of the challenges we’ll face in the coming months.  The HRA clinic here in Pheriche has always welcomed and enlightened our teams.

Best,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn

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Mt. Everest Expedition: Visit with Lama Geishi

Posted by: | April 02, 2011
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Everest
Elevation: 13,950'

Howdy from Pheriche.

Today we walked in bright sunshine out of shady Deboche, crossed the river and cruised into Pangboche.  There we met with Lama Geishi, the
trusted and friendly high lama that so many of the Sherpa climbers revere.  Lama Geishi was very kind to bless our Everest team… he wished us each luck, gave us prayers to bring to the summit of the world, and tied ceremonial red strings around our necks that we’ll each keep on for the duration of the trip.  I’ve had a number of meetings with him through the years, and he has always welcomed my teams… but we were definitely worried that he might not be able to see us this time.  The word was out that he’d just been released from the hospital in Kathmandu.  Sure enough, he smiled as he acknowledged the serious nature of his illness.  He laughed in telling us (with Lam Babu acting as interpreter) that just a week before, he hadn’t thought he’d survive. 

We left Pangboche and quickly left behind the world of trees… entering instead the land of rock and ice as we turned the corner toward the North and Pheriche.  It is significantly colder now and the animals are mostly rugged four-wheel-drive yaks these days whereas down lower they were mostly cows.  We are all feeling great and are ready for our first night at 14,000 ft.  Nearly the height of Mount Rainier.

Best,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn

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Mt. Everest Expedition: Greetings from Deboche

Posted by: | March 31, 2011
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Everest
Elevation: 12,325'

The much celebrated 3G phone service is not so robust down here in the Rhododendron forest at 12,400 ft above sea level, so please pardon the slight lapse in trip coverage as we pass through these benighted zones.  All is well with Bill, Sara, Dave and Lam Babu Sherpa.  We moved easily up from Namche yesterday, enjoying very light traffic on the trails.  We seem to be a few days ahead of most of the big Everest teams and we conveniently flew into Lukla during a brief weather-window that few trekking groups were able to take advantage of, so the end result is that we have this part of the gorgeous Khumbu Valley to ourselves.  Conditions have mostly been cool and cloudy, although we’ve been granted grand views of Everest and Lhotse and Ama Dablam.  The temps have been perfect for walking and we took advantage yesterday by cruising up the 1,700 ft Thyangboche Hill in one continuous push.  A couple of cool and fizzy drinks out in front of the palatial Thyangboche Monastery and then we completed the day by descending a few hundred feet to Deboche.  Last night was an easy one as we enjoyed a fine dinner in a comfy wood-stove heated dining room.

The McGahan clan showed each other how to beat the stuffing out of their climbing guide at Yahtzee and then we each turned in for the night… beginning to delight in the loft of our expedition sleeping bags.  We’ll spend tonight here as well, letting our bodies catch up to the altitude and enjoying a last day (for the next eight weeks) among trees.

Best,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn

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