Entries from Everest BC Trek

The Everest Base Camp team finally has arrived after some very long and tiring flights. Everyone is doing well after a well deserved night of rest here at the peaceful and appropriately named Yak & Yeti Hotel. We started our day with a nice big buffet breakfast, then had a team meeting to discuss all the gear and review the details of the adventure that we are about to head out on. After our meeting we headed out on a brief tour of Kathmandu were we visited the beautiful Monkey Temple, and the famous Boudhanath Stupa. It's quite the culture shock visiting this busy city packed with nearly 4 million people. The streets are packed with people, motorcycles, and cars that honk endlessly. I'm sure everyone is looking forward to peace and quietness of the Khumbu where we head tomorrow. RMI Guide Casey Grom

Back safe and sound in Kathmandu! Flight out of Lukla went smooth. Everyone is enjoying the comforts here at the Yak & Yeti hotel, along with hot showers, good food, and the warm temps. It's been one amazing adventure with a great team and it will be sad to say goodbye, but we are all looking forward to getting back home to our loved ones. Thanks for following. RMI Guide Casey Grom and a happy crew

Hello again We woke to a little new snow today, but thankfully it cleared before our final hike to Lukla. We started early to beat the traffic and made good time, yet taking time to enjoy this peaceful and majestic place. There were still dozens of loads headed for Base Camp as always, because much of the needed supplies arrive via plane or from a few days away by mules. We also ran into several more friends on the trail headed for Everest and it was nice to say hello and wish them luck. With a little luck we hope to be back in Kathmandu tomorrow morning! Keep your fingers crossed for us. RMI Guide Casey Grom

Hello again everyone. All is still well here in the Khumbu as the team members made our way back into Namche. It was a super busy day on the trail with climbers, Trekkers, yaks, and porters all bound uphill to Everest Base Camp. We slowly made our way through the maze of traffic and enjoyed one last good view of Everest. Along the way we ran into several old friends from my past trips and stopped to wish everyone good luck. Tomorrow we'll be moving out early on our final leg of the journey back to Lukla. Please keep you fingers crossed we have good weather and can make our flight back to Kathmandu the following morning. RMI Guide Casey Grom

Hey everybody, this is Casey Grom checking in from the Everest Base Camp Trek. We finally got reception so I'm able to give you guys an update. Just wanted to let you know that all is going well. Yesterday we woke up to quite a little storm happening at Everest Base Camp. The jet stream had arrived and it slammed into the upper mountain so we had some winds gusting around and some snow blowing. Luckily for us by about noon it looked like the jet stream had lifted and the weather cleared. We ended up having a really beautiful afternoon. Most of the team at hot showers at Base Camp, and so everybody's super excited about that. After the team got showers, we got suited up and walked about 200 yards to the start of the climbing route. It's just outside of where our Base Camp is. We wanted to walk over to take a look at it, it's a safe area and it's the start of the Ice Fall, but far from any danger. It's sort of the crampon point, it's a starting point to the route. We went over there and took some great photos and then came back in and and had an amazing night. Our Base Camp Staff made a wonderful dinner and a cake to celebrate our trek and to celebrate one of our team members up and coming birthday. So that was yesterday. Today we woke up to calm beautiful clear day and said good bye to our gracious hosts at Everest Base Camp, all of our staff, and we started making our way down hill. In fact, we hiked for about eight hours today, with breaks and then lunch of course. We left Base Camp located at about 17,500' and a few hours ago we arrived here in Pheriche at about 14,000 feet. The thick air and the warmer temperatures down here have everybody feeling great and in good spirits, so all is well. I'm hoping that will have some wi-fi tomorrow. There wasn't enough connectivity tonight for me to get on to send any pictures. Sorry that I wasn't able to get a dispatch out last night. I just couldn't get a reception from from Camp. So anyway all is well, and hope to get you some pictures here tomorrow. RMI Guide Casey Grom

Hello everybody - This is Casey calling in from the Everest Base Camp Trek. I just wanted to update everyone and let you know that we had a nice hike today and beautiful weather with fantastic views of Nuptse and Everest and the whole Khumbu Glacier as we headed out of Gorak Shep. We got in about a three hour hike, slightly up hill. We gained about 400 to 500 feet of elevation from Gorak Shep. We slowly made our way along the lateral moraine, so we're on the trail which basically rides right next to the glacier for about two hours before we drop down on to the Khumbu Glacier itself. We made our way along with all the yaks and other trekkers and climbers into base camp. The team is doing incredibly well. We were thankful to have such nice weather to hike in today. We got into camp and had a nice big break. We sat down had a big lunch, and then we just spent the remainder of the afternoon just relaxing here in camp. We had a little minor snowstorm come in it just dusted up a little bit, but nothing nothing major. We just wrapped up a big dinner and the team is doing incredibly well and looking forward exploring to a little bit, taking a walk around Base Camp. Anyway, that's all for today, and I look forward to seeing some pictures to you guys once we getting back to where will have some wi-fi service and alright. That's it. RMI Guide Casey Grom

Namaste Everyone Today we bumped up to Gorak Shep, which is our last camp before Everest Base Camp. It was a pretty short day of hiking, only 2.5 hours. Gorak Shep is sort of like the last outpost in a bad western film. It’s a little run down and the locals look a little rough. And they should as it sits at nearly 17,000', so life is not easy to say the least. Pretty sure the music stopped when we strolled into town. Just kidding. It’s not so bad here. Our team is doing well and everyone is looking forward to reaching Base Camp. RMI Guide Casey Grom

All is well here on the trek! Today we left Pheriche and hiked further up valley to Lobuche. We slowly made our way along the winding path that we share with other trekkers, porters heavily laden with loads bound for Base Camp, and yaks who aren't as keen to share the trail. We made good time and enjoyed the astounding views before reaching camp for the night. In the afternoon we took a short walk to a overlook of the Khumbu Glacier where we could just make out Base Camp far in the distance. Everyone is currently relaxing in our tea house enjoying the warmth of fire. There's been lots of cribbage and plenty of good conversation with our team and other trekkers on the same journey as us. RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew

On The Map

Hello everyone, All is well here in the beautiful Khumbu Valley. Today was a scheduled rest/acclimatization day, so we did just that. After breakfast we made a long slow climb up the big hill that’s just behind our tea house. We climbed just up over 16,000ft to help our bodies adjust to the upcoming altitude of BC (base camp). The team did great and thoroughly enjoyed the amazing views in nearly all directions. We could see Makalu in the far off distance which is the world's seventh highest mountain, as well as countless other huge mountains. It’s very surreal to be higher than anyplace in the continental US and be surrounded by so many big mountains. We spent the remainder of the afternoon relaxing at the tea house chatting with other trekkers and recovering from our day’s outing. Most of us took showers again and rewarmed ourselves by the big wood stove that burns dried Yak dung, just as the Sherpa people have done for centuries. We are a little ways above tree line and firewood is scarce, but Yak dung is plentiful. RMI Guide Casey Grom and a warm crew

On The Map

Namaste The team woke to beautifully clear skies and views of Mt. Everest right out our dining room window. We’ve settled into our daily routine of getting up and packing our duffel bags before meeting in the dining room for breakfast and Starbucks coffee thanks to RMI sending it with us. After breakfast we step outside to get a better sense of the temperature before adjusting our layers for the hike. Once on the trail we do our best to maintain a steady pace, with stops every hour or so to stay hydrated and take in the views. There’s plenty of other hikers and yak trains headed in both directions to negotiate as well. Today we hiked for about 5-6 hrs including breaks and a light lunch to get to our next tea house in Pheriche, which sits at about 14’000ft. Everyone did great and enjoyed the stunning views of Ama Dablam, one of the iconic peaks along the route to Everest Base Camp. RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew

On The Map