We broke out of base camp bright and early enjoying bluebird perfection walking up the Kahiltna today. Wasn't too hot nor too cold and virtually windless. Six hours of walking brought us to base camp at 7,800' at the base of Ski Hill. The team is strong, moving well, and having a great time thus far. After chowing down on a great beef stew dinner, we shut down camp and crawled into our tents just as the sun went behind the mountains and the chill set in. Time for some well-earned rest after hauling up big loads. We'll check in again tomorrow from our next stop along the way.
RMI Guides Billy Nugent, Solveig Garhart and the rest of the crew
Today is another gorgeous day here at Everest Base Camp. There isn't a cloud in the sky, and with a little breeze the usual heat of the day is masked. This morning, Dave, Linden, and I took a walk down the medial moraine - the strip of rock that runs down the middle of the Khumbu glacier, and arrived back to camp just in time for lunch.
I hadn't been on the lower part of the Khumbu glacier since we started our rotations up the mountain, and although Dave pointed out to me at that time how the glacier would be different in about a month or so, I couldn't have imagined a more drastic change. The once frozen ice ponds are becoming lakes of glacier water, and rivers of melted ice are rushing down valley. Rocks are perched on ice pinnacles that haven't melted due to the shade the rock provides, and water runs down 10-15ft icicles that hang off the still frozen part of the glacier.
Although I've climbed and hiked on multiple glaciers before, I've never lived on one for this long. Over the years I've heard so much about how quickly glaciers move and change, and have definitely seen slight changes while being on them, but have never seen with my own eyes how quickly they move and to what an extent they can change in just a months time.
On a different note, down here in Base Camp teams are now hustling with preparations for summit bids. With the route now fixed up high people have been summiting everyday. Yesterday, Tshering and Uberaj both carried to the South Col to help prepare us for our summit bid. Tshering is now safely down at Base Camp and Uberaj stayed up higher on the mountain and is holding down the fort at Camp Two.
Over the last few days I've been trying to rest as much as possible. I've made significant progress on my English and Science projects, but besides that and a few walks here and there, I've been sleeping, eating and drinking as much as I can. As Dave always tells me, "rest with a purpose," and I've been trying to get myself in as good shape as I can be to prepare myself forour own summit bid.
Time is running short here at Base Camp. Virtually everyone will be gone from here in the next 3 weeks as we all try to fit our summit bids in before the monsoons hit in June. So, while we rest, it's weird to think that everyone here (about 350 people) will all move out shortly.
Thanks for following along on our adventure!
Sara
SAYYY!! sry this is a late response to this but im soo glad i read this cause its nice to read and hear about the journey from your perspective!!! Your almost there keep up the good work! Couldnt be more proud we miss you back here CRAZYYYY AMOUNTS!!!! love & hugs, <3 kmy
Posted by: katherine on 5/16/2011 at 6:55 pm
Sara, great update especially describing how the glaciers move and change. What an adventure! Love it that you’re eating, sleeping and drinking as much as you can! I spent the last few days with Billy, Katie, and Morgan and we are all so rooting for you. Be safe - sending much love. P. S. We did go to YogurtLand.
The weather was splitter today at Camp 4; cloudless skies, warm temps, and no wind. We took a rest day today and prepared for our carry of food and fuel for high camp, which will hopefully happen tomorrow. The weather forecast looks promising.
In addition to resting, we took a fifteen minute walk over to The Edge of the World, a spectacular veiwpoint that is situated at the far south side of Genet Basin. From here we could see nearly straight down 6,000' to our first camp of the trip, some nine days ago. The team is acclimating well to the altitude, and everyone's spirits are high.
Thanks for checking in on our trip; we'll keep you up to date with our progress.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
This is the RMI seminar, the Alaska seminar checking in. We awoke to another cloudless morning in Talkeetna. After eating breakfast at the Road House, we flew into base camp and were quickly boot packing a trail to our camp. After two hours of setting up camp, several helicopters passed through the southeast fork in the valley of the Kahiltna Glacier. As we continue to set up our camp and move in, the weather could not have been better. We spent a lot of time outside of our tents taking in the beautiful scenery. Everyone's doing great and excited to be here up on the Kahiltna Glacier up in Alaska. We'll check in tomorrow and hopefully have some good weather, more training. Take care.
RMI Guide Jason Thompson
Everyone did well on our first night sleeping above 14,000'. We spent the bulk of the day working around camp, building snow walls for protection from the wind, and digging out our kitchen. We also hiked back down to retrieve our cache at 13,600'.
Tomorrow we will rest and prepare for taking a cache of food and fuel to high camp. The weather forecast is calling for warmer temperatures, and we're all looking forward to that.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
Greetings from beautiful Kahiltna Base Camp! Despite breezy conditions this morning the guys at K2 Aviation were able to get us on the glacier later this morning. We spent the rest of the afternoon setting up a simple camp and getting everything ready to head out on the route early tomorrow morning. The views on the flight in were spectacular as always but this time especially so because there wasn't a cloud in the sky. The team has been hanging out and soaking in the immensity of our new environs. We'll check in tomorrow from our next camp around 7,800' or so.
Ciao for now,
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
The weather at Everest Base Camp is cloudy but the temperatures are nice. We have heard that more climbers have successfully reached the top of Mt. Everest.
Kaji and Dawa after going to the South Col yesterday have comeback to Base camp. Lam Babu has also returned to Base Camp from Camp 2.
Tsering and Yubarj plan on carrying loads to the South Col tomorrow early morning early if the weather allows.
Speaking of weather, the forecast for lighter winds has been adjusted to more moderate speeds, we have heard of a number of teams adjusting their summit schedule to a later date. Everyone is looking for that perfect weather window. Some teams are in position for summit attempts tonight and tomorrow night.
Our team at Base Camp continues with the resting and eating routine. We are working hard to fatten up Dave, Linden, Sara and Bill. We had a few friends over today to throw some horseshoes. The focus now is keeping track of the forecasts and monitoring resting patterns. How much simpler could life get.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
Guys…. my two favorite things resting and eating… but I do know you both can not wait for some your mom’s/wife’s home cooked meals ... Stay strong and we are all thinking and praying for you! love. Stacey
Posted by: Stacey on 5/13/2011 at 5:38 pm
Sara and Bill,
WOW, I absolutely love seeing these pictures. Funny how it does make me think “Anything” I am doing here is so trivial compared to what you all are doing. Stay Strong like you are… fatten up, (ha)and we will pray for low winds and good weather. lots of love and prayers. Kathy
Hello everyone!
Billy here checking in for the rest of the crew after the first official day of our Denali expedition. Today's theme: attention to detail. Lots of packing- group gear, food, hardware, clothing systems, etc. etc. After a great orientation with the park service this afternoon the team tied up all the loose ends and we are officially ready to rock and roll. Tomorrow morning we are hoping to fly in to Kahiltna Base earlier rather later but that is contingent upon the winds. The weather should be clear but possibly a bit breezy. Regardless, the pilots at K2 seem optimistic about getting onto the mountain tomorrow.
Wish us luck!
Mike would also like to make a shout out to his grandfather. He's thinking of you.
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
This is Ed and Seth checking in from 14,200 feet on Denali. Today we dropped 750 vertical feet back down the route to pick up our cache of food and fuel. It took us an hour and a half round trip. The weather has been great all day. We are now well positioned to begin climbing on the upper mountain.
RMI Guides Ed Viesturs and Seth Waterfall
We woke this morning to very cold temperatures and gusty winds, but clear skies at Camp 3. After breakfast we packed up the tents and headed out; the wind had quit and the weather was beautiful as we headed up Motorcycle Hill and then Squirrel Hill. It even got hot as we climbed toward Windy Corner.
We are now in our new home, Camp 4 (14,200'). We will go back to Windy Corner tomorrow to retrieve the cache of gear we left there 2 days ago. Everyone climbed well and we're cozy in our sleeping bags trying to get used to this new altitude.
My fingers are cold as I type this, so that's it for now. I'll be in touch again tomorrow.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
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Solveig and Team,
Have a great Climb!!! and enjoy the spectacular views of the region. Love Mom and Dad
Posted by: Garhart on 5/16/2011 at 6:47 am
Enjoy the beauty. We are looking forward to hearing all about it and seeing the pictures. Stay safe.
Posted by: Shirl on 5/16/2011 at 4:53 am
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