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Posts from 03/2012

Everest Base Camp Trek: Tucker and His Team Hike to Kala Patar

Posted by: Mark Tucker | March 31, 2012
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Everest BC Trek
Elevation: 16,950'

Today we climbed to the summit Kala Patar. It’s a small peak across on the valley from Everest on the lower slopes of Pumori. The views of Everest and the surrounding peaks are stunning from this vista. The team is doing well and we will check in again tomorrow. Hi to everyone back home!

RMI Guide Mark Tucker

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Everest Base Camp Trek: Linden and Team Summit Island Peak!

Posted by: Linden Mallory | March 31, 2012
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Everest BC Trek
Elevation: 20,300'

Hey RMI. This is Linden Mallory calling from Island Peak High Camp. We touched the top today. We had a pretty phenomenal climb. Everybody made it, 100% success! The morning started out clear. We had beautiful stars as we were climbing. Nice morning sun. And then right as we started down, we had more snow. Keeps snowing pretty consistently since early this afternoon. The afternoon made the descent a little tricky with all that new snow on top of the rock, but the team did well. We handled it without too many problems and now we are looking forward to heading downhill tomorrow. We will be down lower in the valley tomorrow and will try and send out some photos and a written account. So that’s the news. We’re all really happy about the climb and happy to be down. And looking forward to getting out of here. Take care.

RMI Guide Linden Mallory

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Everest Base Camp Trek: Linden & Team Going for Island Peak Summit in the Morning

Posted by: Linden Mallory | March 30, 2012
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Everest BC Trek
Elevation: 17,600'

Hey RMI, this is Linden Mallory calling from Island Peak High Camp. Just over 17,600’ or so. We moved up here this morning and got settled in. Our weather this morning is a little breezy but not clouds. This afternoon some clouds rolled in. A little bit of new snow but it appears to be letting up. We are just about to have dinner and headed off to bed. Planning on going for the summit tomorrow. It appears that the new snow should not be much of an issue. We are looking forward to it. Everyone’s feeling great. The altitude is treating us well. We’re just keeping our fingers crossed and keeping warm and dry. We’ll check in tomorrow and let you know how the climb goes. Take care.

RMI Guide Linden Mallory

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Everest Base Camp Trek: Into Gorak Shep

Posted by: Mark Tucker | March 30, 2012
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Everest BC Trek
Elevation: 16,950'

The body is following the mind at this point.

Given the option, our bodies would be back at Phag Ding, by the river breathing that thick 9,000’ air. Lounging under a nice tree ,eating fresh fruit.  We are now at that altitude that makes you realize we do not belong here. For years now the draw of this barren space of rock, snow, ice and thin air has attracted many a soul. A heart with a bit of wander lust, a will to put up with moments of uncertainty and discomfort have always been a prerequisite for travelers abroad. This is definitely the case trekking in the Himalaya: but the rewards are worth the effort!  A special place this is indeed and sharing it with such a diverse group of fellow hikers is a blast. I count four different languages spoken here in our tea house in the last five minutes. So nice to see the world getting along, take the geo-politics out of the loop and we aren’t that different. The trail is ultimately a rope that binds us together. We really are a small world. And are team is so thankful and happy to be so lucky to be here.—RMI Guide Mark Tucker   

From Kim:  The word Sherpa actually means “east people.”  These people have worked as porters in the Himalayas since the 1900’s.  Today I would like to introduce you to a member of our team who has not been previously mentioned. We have a Sherpa guide traveling with us and two Sherpa porters carrying our things. Our Sherpa guide is named Pemba.  Pemba usually hangs back behind the last person in the group to assure that we are always safe and supported.  On this trek, Pemba has acted as a guide, concierge, geography expert, translator, waiter,and sometimes even our bus boy in the teahouses. A man of few words, when he speaks he usually has something important to say.  Pemba’s parents died when he was five years old.  He had to quit school to work when he was 15.  He was initially a porter and eventually worked his way up to being a guide.  Pemba is now 33 years old.  He has a wife and a 12-year-old daughter.  He lives near Lukla and is away from his family often during the spring and fall as he guides people into the mountains.  During the monsoon season, Pemba is a farmer.  He and his family grow all kinds of vegetables including cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, corn, and potatoes.  They sell them in Lukla and Namche Bazaar.  We are grateful to Pemba for all that he is doing to help us on this journey. 

John here: It looks like today is another team effort on the blog. It’s not a bad approach either as we all seem to take different things away from our day.

Today I had my first craving for some of the creature comforts of home. The first being pizza from Fondi. The food here is pretty good but does lack diversity. It’s super high in carbs, which is what we need here to keep our energy high and bodies warm - but boy, a nice Margherita pizza would be yummy. The craving was the ability to sleep sprawled out. Our sleeping bags are warm and comfortable; but they are called mummy bags for a reason…

We heard that April 11th was the day of the Everest Ultra-Marathon. I think it’s a 65km course between Base Camp and Lukla. The notion of running on these trails for any distance seems a bit mad - but 65km. The drop in elevation from 17,250’ to 9,330’ may be the first prize. Sadly, we leave Lukla that day, so we probably won’t be able to experience any of it.

Finally, we spent the majority of today hiking along the Khumbu Glacier. The size of the the lateral moraine was impressive to say the least. It’s amazing what nature can achieve given a few hundred years. As we rolled into Gorak Shep we got our first glimpse of the tail-end of the ice fall. Even only seeing a small part of it at a distance it looked imposing.

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Everest Base Camp Trek: Great Hike to Lobuche

Posted by: Mark Tucker | March 29, 2012
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Everest BC Trek
Elevation: 16,165'

We had a great hike up here to Lobuche. Everyone’s doing well and we’re all excited to be here. Moving up to up to Gorak Shep tomorrow. Hope we will be able to send a dispatch out via iPad. So, sign off for now and wishing everybody the best.

RMI Guide Mark Tucker

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Everest Base Camp Trek: Arrive at Island Peak Base Camp

Posted by: Linden Mallory | March 29, 2012
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Everest BC Trek
Elevation: 16,685'

Hey RMI, this is Linden Mallory calling from Island Peak Base Camp. We left Chukung and walked up to the head of Imja Khola Valley right at the base of Island Peak here.  Surrounded by Ama Dablam, Lhotse, Nuptse, it’s a pretty incredible place. Got in midday. We had a little bit of wind and a very, very trace amounts of new snow that came in late afternoon but they are clearing up right now as I call. And we are doing well. Bit chilly up here but otherwise everything is stellar. We move up to high camp tomorrow in midday in preparations of our summit bid tomorrow night. So we will check in from high camp. Hope everyone is doing well and we’ll talk to you soon. Thanks.

RMI Guide Linden Mallory

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Everest Base Camp Trek: Tucker and Team Enjoying a Rest Day

Posted by: Mark Tucker | March 28, 2012
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Everest BC Trek
Elevation: 13,950'

Hello!
I finally get another chance to get a word or two in. Today was a rest day and we tried to do just that. . . rest as much as we could.  We did a short hike in the morning that took us to the ridge line above us.  There we could see three of the 8,000 meter peaks: Makalu, Cho Oyo, and Lotse.  We also saw our first glimpse of Island Peak.  It looks very steep, high, and cold. 

Our hike took us to 14,500ft, which is higher than any peak in the continental United States.  So, it was an exciting moment for us.

Later in the day we attended an information session presented by the Himalayan rescue association on the effects of altitude on the body.  Besides learning about AMS (Acute Mountain Sickness), HACE (High Altitude Cerebral Edema) and HAPE (High Altitude Pulmonary Edema), we learned about HAFE (High Altitude Flatulence Expulsion).  The latter one is very real to us as John has been suffering from it for days.  Actually, I have been doing the suffering since I have been walking behind him on the trail.

John claims the food is to blame for his HAFE. So, I will share a bit about our eating experiences thus far.  The tea-houses offer a similar menu for the most part.  For lunch or dinner, the typical choices are some sort of rice (fried, steamed, or curry), some sort of noodles ( fried or with a tomato sauce), some sort of potatoes (boiled or fried), soup, or dal baht.  Dal baht is a Nepalese meal of rice and a sort of lentil soup that is poured over the rice.  It appears that the Sherpas traveling with us eat dal baht at every meal.  Occasionally, the tea-house will have chicken.  When that is the case, we order a special treat called chicken chile.  It is a spicy chicken dish that is delicious.  All of the food is very good, but the menu lacks diversity.  The dessert is especially interesting and I have come to like it very much.  They offer Snickers or Mars pie, which is just a deep fried Snickers or Mars (Milky Way) candy bar. Sometimes they also have a deep-fried Bounty (Mounds), which is my favorite.  Mmmm, delicious.—Kim

P.S. A big shout-out to Mrs. Hartman’s 3-5 classroom.

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Everest Base Camp Trek: Up To Island Peak or Down to Namche…

Posted by: Linden Mallory | March 28, 2012
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Everest BC Trek
Elevation: 15,514'

Hey RMI, this is Linden Mallory calling from Chukung in the Imja Khola Valley, it’s a side valley off of the main Khumbu Valley.  In the last days before Island Peak, part of the group headed off back down to Namche today and four of us are headed up towards Island Peak.  We’ll be heading into Base Camp tomorrow to begin the climb.  Everybody is doing well; the weather has been nice so far and we’re keeping our fingers crossed that it stays that way.  We’ll check in with you again at Base Camp.  Take care.

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RMI Guides: Pete Van Deventer & Lindsay Mann Enjoy Day of Rock Climbing

Posted by: Lindsay Mann, Pete Van Deventer | March 28, 2012
Categories: *Guide News

Spring came very early in Aspen, CO this year, with the last two weeks bringing 75 degree temps almost daily.  Monday, Aspen based guides Lindsay Mann and Pete Van Deventer decided to take a break from spring skiing conditions to start getting into rock climbing shape for the summer.  Independence Pass, just outside of Aspen, was warm, dry, and provides an ideal training ground, with a plethora of trad and sport cragging routes.  Despite a relatively small snow year in Aspen, both Lindsay and Pete have had a lot of days of skiing and ski touring that have prepped them well for upcoming May Denali climbs.  Monday was a great day to take a break from skiing, catch some sun, and get comfortable on rocks again!

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Everest Base Camp Trek: Team Departs Everest Base Camp

Posted by: Linden Mallory | March 27, 2012
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Everest BC Trek
Elevation: 13,950'

The weather moved into Everest Base Camp yesterday afternoon, the clouds settling in around the peaks and snow beginning to fall. It continued to snow on and off again all evening and into the night. The weather did have a welcome side effect thought: the clouds above and snow on the tents made temperatures a bit warmer and it never got too cold last night. When we woke up this morning everything was blanketed in a couple of inches of fresh snow. We packed all of our gear up, said goodbye to the Sherpa team at Base Camp, and headed back down the valley.

The new snow on the trail actually made the walking on the glacier easier, filling in between all of the loose rocks and smoothing out the trail. After a cold morning in the shadows packing up, we quickly warmed up not long after Base Camp when the sun finally found us and we made good progress. We followed the trail back to Gorak Shep and onwards to Lobuche, where we stopped for lunch. Finally, we descended from the glaciers, rocks, and new snow above back down into the valley of Pheriche, reaching our tea-house here by late afternoon. It was a long day on the trail, with many miles to cover across difficult terrain at high altitudes, and the tea-house was a welcome sight when we finally reached it. The team was amazing today, toughing out the difficult sections of the trail and enduring the long final hours of walking to get here. We are all tired from the walk, and the many days up high, but happy to be here and heading downwards. We had a blast reading all of the comments on the Blog and want to thank everyone for their thoughts.

Tomorrow, part of the group continues descending to Namche as they make their way home while the Island Peak team heads up the neighboring Imja Khola Valley to Chukung, near the base of Island Peak, to begin our climb. We will check in tomorrow from Chukung. The connection up there is sporadic so we will likely be checking in via satellite phone for the next few days.

RMI Guide Linden Mallory

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