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Posts from 03/2013

Everest Base Camp Trek: Tucker & Team Arrive in Base Camp!

Posted by: Mark Tucker | March 31, 2013
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Everest BC Trek
Elevation: 17,575'

Mark Tucker from Everest Base Camp. We hiked most of the day under fabulous conditions and arrived for lunch by our favorite cook, Kumar.  Lots to see here at Base Camp, we did some exploring.  Dinner went well, Kumar cooked us a cake.  He can bake us a cake because he actually has a small oven up here.  Very comfortable, I’m so spoiled.  Pretty white on the ground at this point.  Hopefully it’s just an evening flurry and we’ll wake up to some blue skies.  We have a good hike tomorrow.  We’re going to head back down to Pheriche.  That is our target for our hike.  All is well up here at Base Camp.

RMI Guide Mark Tucker

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Mt. Everest Expedition: The Team Has Lunch in Funkytown on Their Way to Deboche

Posted by: Dave Hahn, Seth Waterfall | March 31, 2013
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Everest
Elevation: 12,325'

Vacation in Namche was great, today it was back to business.  We were out of the comfortable Camp de Base by a little after 8 AM and walking up the steep hills out of town under perfectly clear skies.  A couple of turns of the trail brought the dependably spectacular view of Everest, Lhotse and Ama Dablam.  We seemed to be out ahead of most other trekking/climbing groups and so we enjoyed a relatively quiet walk on the trail.  Much of the day was spent walking in the shade of pine forests.  By midday we’d reached our lunch stop at Phunkytanga (funkytown, as we all call it) and so we sat for an hour or so before beginning the big hill up to Thyangboche Monastery.  We took just an hour to switchback our way up 1,600 ft of vertical.  The work was made a little easier by the cloud cover that had moved in and some gentle breezes which kept us cool.  We enjoyed the view of the great castle-like Monastery on top of the hill, but we didn’t stay up there long with weather obviously moving in.  We hopped five hundred feet down the other side of the hill through thick Rhododendron forests to Deboche and our teahouse for the night.

Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn

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Everest Base Camp Trek: Casey Grom & Team Reach Gorak Shep

Posted by: Casey Grom | March 31, 2013
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Everest BC Trek
Elevation: 16,950'

Hello again everyone.

Just one more day to go before we reach our goal of Basecamp! Today we arrived in Gorak Shep, the original Base camp that early expeditions used. Being that this is the last stop before the normal BC it is rather small, only about 4 tea houses here. Originally we were planning on climbing Kala Patar this evening, but due to reoccurring stomach issues and clouds rolling in we have opted for a morning ascent. The standard weather is clear in the morning and clouds in the afternoons, so hopefully it will continue to be the same.

Just so everyone back home knows, I have spoken to a few doctors about the issues (just mainly upset stomachs) and they have informed us that there have been many trekkers with similar symptoms this season.

Everyone is still smiling, just not all day long. 

We are looking forward to Base Camp!

RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew

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Everest Base Camp Trek: Tucker & Team Summit Kala Patar

Posted by: Mark Tucker | March 30, 2013
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Everest BC Trek
Elevation: 16,950'

What a day!  Easy climb up to Gorak Shep where lunch and rooms were waiting for us. Took a nice break then it was Kala Patar. Perfect conditions up the 1,400 ft climb to the summit. We timed it to be on top at sunset and just a bit of descent in the dark with headlamps, what an adventure. A good physical challenge for the team but perfect technique and perseverance paid off. Can’t tell you how many times I have done this climb, it never gets old, and is always a thrill. The view of Mount Everest does not get any better than from that vantage point, no wind and clear cannot be beat. For me to look up at the summit and think of all the time and effort I have spent over the years on that beast,  brings me so much emotion it is hard to convey. The connection you make after you summit Mount Everest is a bond forever. I take pride in sharing what I have learned through my 15 expeditions over here with every team. I felt the mountain helping me, while also keeping tabs.  Base Camp tomorrow.

RMI Guide Mark Tucker

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Mt. Everest Expedition: The Team Starts Their Day with a Hike Above Namche

Posted by: Dave Hahn, Seth Waterfall | March 30, 2013
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Everest
Elevation: 11,300'

Just ahead of the crack of dawn, we gathered for a pot of coffee and a walk up to the top of the town.  From a hill above Namche we knew we’d have a chance at a million dollar view.  Since the hills that form Namche are pretty much mountains by anybody else’s measure, we were breathing good and hard when we reached our destination.  It was all worth it though as Mount Everest was standing out big and beautiful at the head of the valley.  A giant, violent and ragged plume of cloud was streaming from the summit.  This was our first glimpse of our far off goal.  We stood taking pictures in every direction as the mountains around us lit up with fiery first light.

Finally, hunger and the need for more coffee got the best of us and we retreated to the Camp De Base dining room for breakfast.

This was our full-on rest day… Meant to prepare us for a couple of days of travel to greater heights, and so the gang got to choose their own individual programs for how to spend the time.  Most combined forays into town for shopping with naps and reading and a few games between meals.  Tomorrow we’ll move up to Deboche.

Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn

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Everest Base Camp Trek: Casey Grom & Team Trek into Lobuche

Posted by: Casey Grom | March 30, 2013
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Everest BC Trek
Elevation: 16,175'

Hello everybody, this is Casey Grom checking in from the second RMI Everest Base Camp Trek and Island Peak climb.  Just wanna let you know that everyone’s doing well today, getting better and feeling better seems like every step, with whatever little tummy issues we were having.  Today we left Pheriche in perfect weather and hiked beneath Taboche and Cholatse, two famous and iconic climbs here in the Khumbu.  We hiked about four hours today at get up to Lobuche, so we made a big turn and we are paralleling the Khumbu Glacier, which is only about 300 yards from where we are camped.  We are currently relaxing at the Eco Lodge, which is probably the nicest tea house, it seems like, up valley here. Everyone’s doing well and we are just now sitting down for dinner and looking forward to moving up closer to Base Camp tomorrow.  Alright. That’s it for today.  We’ll look forward to checking in tomorrow with everybody. Take care, bye bye.

RMI Guide Casey Grom

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Everest Base Camp Trek: Tucker & Team Arrive in Lobuche

Posted by: Mark Tucker | March 29, 2013
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Everest BC Trek
Elevation: 16,175'

Mark Tucker calling from Lobuche.  I’m leaning up against the window to try and get some reception. Can you believe it? We have no wifi, I so apologize.  The team is doing well, we’re bunking down.  We’re going to push up to Gorak Shep tomorrow.  Had a great hike from Pheriche today.  Boy we have really starting to feel like we are up, up, up.  So, thin, thin air and getting thinner.  Tomorrow marks the 65K endurance race coming from Gorak Shep.  And so we are going to root some of these folks on that we’ve been parallel over the course of our trip.  We’ll be glad to see them, but I am not too jealous of them running from Gorak Shep to Lukla in a matter of hours. I kinda like what we are doing, so we’ll check in again later.

RMI Guide Mark Tucker

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Mt. Everest Expedition: Team Hikes to Villages Near Namche Bazaar

Posted by: Dave Hahn, Seth Waterfall | March 29, 2013
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Everest
Elevation: 11,300'

Tashi Delek!  All is well here in Namche Bazaar.  We’re having a great time so far on the trek into base camp.  This morning we slept in a little bit and had a nice long breakfast.  After that we hit the trail for an acclimatization hike to the villages of Khumjung and Kunde.

Khumjung is the home of one of the Hillary schools and kids from all over the area walk there every day to attend class.  The villages all looked nice and tidy as the fields have all been freshly tilled and the yaks are all gone up the valley carrying gear for the expeditions.

We were able to catch a couple of glimpses of Lhotse and Nuptse but Everest was in the clouds all day.  That was OK though as Ama Dablam and Thomserku were out and looking very proud.

The team members are all doing well and are getting progressively more psyched as we head up the valley.  Tomorrow we will spend another day in Namche acclimatizing before we move on.

RMI Guide Seth Waterfall

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Everest Base Camp Trek: Grom & Team Enjoy Some R&R in Pheriche

Posted by: Casey Grom | March 29, 2013
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Everest BC Trek
Elevation: 13,950'

Day of R&R, with a short hike to 14,600’ - higher than Mount Whitney, but nothing by Nepalese standards. Most are feeling much better, with the hope that a new day will bring much-needed strength to those still recovering from the Khumbu stomach bug. Of particular interest, see attached photo: Nepalese use of biofuels. Cribbage is the bomb, hope to master it soon! Hi to Yuki, Karis, and Rianna, don’t wish you were here :) yet, missing all of you. The yak cheese was really good!

RMI Climber Keith L.

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Mt. Everest Expedition: Team Meanders Along the River and Bridges to Namche Bazaar

Posted by: Dave Hahn, Seth Waterfall | March 28, 2013
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Everest
Elevation: 11,300'

The night in Phakding, with the river dependably charging past to form perfect “white noise”, was conducive to deep sleep.  This morning we ate a relaxed breakfast and hit the trail at 8:30 under a light overcast.  Travel along the river, through more small farms and villages, was peaceful and easy.  Crossing a few long suspension bridges we soon came to the entrance to Sagarmatha National Park, where Lam Babu submitted our permits.  A short walk into the park took us to Jorsalle where we ate lunch at the final tea house in town.  Then it was across the river again and onward to the Namche Hill where we rapidly gained altitude and shed a little sweat in the process.  An hour’s hard hiking brought us to the lower end of Namche Bazaar at just over 11,000 ft.  We strolled the narrow “streets” -there are no cars- and made our way to Camp De Base, our home for the next three nights.  The afternoon was spent shopping and exploring.  We put on a bit more clothing against the cool evening air and met for a great dinner in the communal dining room.

Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn

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