Entries from Expedition Dispatches
Greetings from Basecamp,
The team that is now at Camp One for a night or two, will complete the first rotation of the climb when they return to Basecamp.
Great weather here, but strong winds up at the 22,000 ft level created tough conditions for the team working on putting new ropes up the Lhotse Face. They were still able to place some five hundred meters of fixed line, a great start to a very crucial and difficult phase of the climb, good job men!
Twenty years ago today I was on the North side of Everest with the International Peace Climb. Our goal was to summit on Earth Day, April 22, we pushed hard but the weather shut us down. To avoid trouble you have to be patient. Two weeks later the first group of our expedition stood on top.
Happy Earth Day.
Casey, Rob, Scott and I spent our first night at Camp One. Despite the wind rattling the tent most of the night the team slept well.
The winds calmed as we hiked to Camp Two. En route we met fellow RMI Guide Melissa Arnot and her climbing partner Dave Morton. We shared a cup of tea with them before continuing to Camp Two. We had a nice lunch in the Camp Two kitchen before returning to Camp One. We spent the afternoon reading and resting.
It's week three and all is well here at Everest Basecamp. Some of the team members have climbed through the icefall and camped at Camp One. A few of us have been fighting colds and coughs, but plan on heading up hill in just a few days. Being under the weather here is a big difference from being under the weather back home. First, it takes a lot longer to heal at 17,500'. Second, failing to take it easy when our bodies need it could lead to feeling worse or needing to descend to a lower altitude to recover.
Everyone has been doing a good job of taking it easy though. There has been plenty of hot showers, doing laundry, watching movies, and too many card games to count. The weather seems to be stable with crystal clear skies in the morning to cloudy in the afternoon with light snowfall. Looking forward to walking up hill soon and feeling better.
Casey
PS - Rob Suero would like to wish happy birthday to his daughter. Happy Birthday!
Greetings from Everest Base Camp. This is Seth.
Well our first wave has made the move to Camp One. Dave Hahn and Leif Whittaker are all set up there and are planning on spending three days acclimatizing before returning to Basecamp. Casey Grom, Chad Peele, Scott Jones and Rob Suero enjoyed a rest day today, while Wendy Booker and myself did a up-and-back mission into the icefall early this morning. Everyone is hanging tough and the teams down here are looking forward to joining Dave and Leif at Camp One in the next few days. We'll be working out the final details of the timing this evening.
Some of our Sherpa team is spending the night at Camp Two tonight. They are getting this set up and ready for the rest of the team to start using the camp. The Sherpas that have remained at Basecamp are resting up before going to the Lhotse Face to participate in the 'fixing party'. This is when Sherpas from many different teams install ropes from just above Camp Two to the South Col. Once those ropes are in place the teams can start moving gear up to Camps Three and Four in preparation for the summit bids.
The excitement is starting to build here. The climbing has begun!
Plenty of anticipation in the RMI Everest camp today. Casey and Chad took Scott and Rob up partway through the Icefall early this morning on their practice run. Michael, Leif, Wendy, Seth and myself took things easy with a rest day. Our Sherpa team had the day off as well. Everybody is getting set to move up the hill. Leif, Michael and I will get an early start into the Khumbu tomorrow and intend to be at Camp One for the next three nights. Tendi will head up to Camp Two (ABC) with the Sherpa team, while the rest of the team have plans for C1 in the next few days. Mark Tucker helped the team pack food and gear for this first "rotation" up the hill.
The day followed what seems to be a regular pattern now with clear and calm skies in the morning giving way to cloud and light snow in the afternoon. It pays to get showers and washing done early, which we did today. We are used to seeing a steady trickle of visitors and friends from neighboring expeditions and it is normal to try to coax the more gullible of these into some high stakes card game. We still run out of the tents to check on any great noise and today were rewarded with close-up views of a great avalanche off 25,000 ft Nuptse, just across the glacier.
Greetings from Basecamp,
Another beautiful day here. Some of the team hiked a few hours while others lounged around camp. Dave, myself and Tendi went to yet another meeting of the groups that will be involved with the rope placement above Camp Two.
In the past I have seen this essential element of the climb become a large hurdle in regards to not only the financial but physical impact on the teams, this year the job is set to be done with great cooperation from our diverse community. Happy is me!
Tomorrow will be final preparations for the first wave of climbers who will leave the next day for nights at Camp One. The real deal is just around the corner and this team is ready.
Thanks for visiting.
Today we woke up in the dark around 3 a.m. and ate a quick breakfast of hot rice porridge and coffee. Several team members took a rest day while the guides and Leif did a carrry through the ice fall to Camp One. As Casey, Seth and I had not been thru the ice fall this season (and this being my first trip to Everest!) we felt a preview of the route would be helpful. Loaded with a light pack including items to cache which would be needed for higher up on the mountain, we started out in the dark and joined the massive line of Sherpa. The route is kicked in well and and the ladders were minimal with several ten foot crevasse crossings being the largest span. A little over halfway thru the ice fall, the sun broke over the mountain and we were greeted with clear blue bird skies.
We arrived at Camp One (just over 20,000 ft.) at 7:30 in the morning and congratulated each other on a trip well done. Our Sherpa team did a great job with camp site selection and we drank, ate and cached our gear. A little after 8 a.m. we started back down the ice fall hopping crevasses, crossing ladders and doing two short rappels. We arrived back at Basecamp (17,500 ft.) just after 10 a.m. during the heat of the day and sat outside enjoying the warmth while rehydrating and gazing up at the ice fall.
Greetings everyone,
The team has adjusted to our new home and daily routines. Everyone seems to be feeling well and we are all excited about heading higher. There has been plenty of training on the lower glacier and several acclimatization hikes that leave us feeling we are ready for the next step. Our new goal will be to ascend the famous Khumbu Icefall. We have already had a few small forays into the lower glacier and everyone did great. The Icefall starts just a few feet from camp and ascends a little over 2,000 ft to Camp One. Our goal will be to ascend the icefall as quickly, safely, and comfortably as we can. It won't be a race, but more like a slow, steady climb to camp. We are hoping it takes no longer than 6 to 7 hours for our first trip. If all goes well we will spend a few days at Camp One and might even venture up the Western Cwm to Camp Two. George Mallory himself named the Western Cwm (Cwm being a Welsh word meaning valley).
The weather has been interesting these last few days and it's beginning to snow as I type. Hopefully a few days of rest, some good weather and we'll be on our way.
Hope everyone is doing great back home and we miss you all (well, most of you anyway!).
This is Seth Waterfall broadcasting from Everest Basecamp. It's been another beautiful day here. We've had a few inches of snow each of the past few night and it has spruced the mountains up nicely. Everything is coming along in our preparation for our first acclimatization rotation. Today Dave went up to Camp One to check on the conditions in the icefall. He made great time and got some really good info on how we can move through the icefall efficiently. The rest of the group went out on to the Khumbu glacier and practiced our climbing and rappelling skills. It was sunny and warm on the glacier and all of the team members were able to run several laps on the 'obstacle course' that the guides set up. This practice is designed to get us familiar with our equipment and allow us to make adjustments in a safe environment. The next step for us will be to head up to Camp One and Two in order to build up our acclilmatization. But before we do that we still have several days of adjusting to the altitude here at Basecamp. It's a long process but this is necessary in order to give all of us the best shot at the summit.
Basecamp is rapidly filling up with teams from all over the world. The camp is just about full. There are only one or two teams that have not arrived. Yesterday we were delighted to see our friends Melissa Arnot and Dave Morton arrive. They are camped about a quarter mile up the glacier and they stopped by for tea after they unpacked their gear. We've had several visitors from most of the big teams. It's great to break up the day with a few visitors and share stories from the trek in.
We'll check in again tomorrow.
A three a.m. snowstorm blew through just as our Sherpa team was trying to decide whether to go ahead with a carry to Camp One. Tendi and the boys wisely decided to give it a miss. Ultimately, it was only two inches, but it changed the basecamp scenery immensely. Leif Whittaker and I took an easy rest day while Chad, Casey and Seth took Scott, Rob and Wendy on acclimatization hikes. Several of the team went all the way up to Pumori Camp One for a little altitude and a lot of views into the Western Cwm.
The big event of our day was Jeff Martin's planned departure for home. He has worked good and hard for a week now (on top of several months, pre-trip) to get our logistics off on the right foot, but now he is needed back on Mount Rainier. We said goodbye to him with a lively, latenight game of Texas Hold 'Em and a good and hearty breakfast.
Now that most teams have arrived, we were entertained with a steady stream of old friends passing through and telling their stories of travels and treks over tea. We'll continue our training for the icefall tomorrow.
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Posted by: sms on 4/15/2011 at 1:50 pm
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