September 7, 2016
This morning we woke up in Lhasa, the spiritual and political capital of Tibet. This city sits over 12,000 feet so it is fair to say there were a couple restless nights and throbbing heads as we adjusted to our new altitude and instant coffee downgrade. After breakfast we took an incredible tour of the Potala Palace. This is without question the most famous landmark in all of Tibet. Built in 1645 as a winter home for the Dali Lama, the sheer size, engineering and magnificence of this palace inspires anyone lucky enough just to lay eyes on it. So we felt privileged to have a three hour tour arranged for us beginning right after breakfast.
Once on the streets of Lhasa, this preconceived idea of a beautiful, traditional Buddhist city got zapped straight out of our brains with blaring horns, massive buildings and what one person called the Times Square of Tibet directly in front of the palace's gate. Neon lights, swanky fashion shops, fancy cars, Lhasa has it all.
After our brief culture shock we found ourselves deep in the heart of the Potala Palace, sanctuary to over a dozen Dali Lamas in the past 375 years. It is difficult to describe how spectacular this place is. From Dali Lama tombs to prayer rooms to sculptures cast in gold. This place is truly remarkable.
After the Palace tour our next excursion began. The 180 mile drive from Lhasa to Shigatse. With both cities holding populations greater than a half million, we simply could not believe the infrastructure projects connecting these two metropolises. Paved highways, massive tunnels through giant mountains, apartment buildings ready to house thousands more Chinese coming to this high mountain desert.
Beyond all of the cultural collisions, we made it to Shigatse in just over 7 hours. If you do the math that is an average speed of 26 miles per hour. We drove so slow at times the team thought we would get rear ended by a cow pulling a cart. Ounce finally settled we had a fantastic dinner and can hardly contain our excitement for tomorrow's repeat of snail crawling our way closer to Shishapangma. We are all in great spirits and will touch base tomorrow.
RMI Guide Adam Knoff
Hello, this is RMI Guide Jenny Konway calling in from the low camp on Mount Shuksan here with the Shuksan Seminar. We had a great morning of training today out in the fog. It cleared up a little bit, and we saw some blue sky. This afternoon we attempted to go out and have some additional training, but got some heavy rain so we all retreated to our tents and had a good dinner. We are tucked in for the evening, hoping that the clouds we'll part in the morning and have a shot at the summit. So we're keeping our fingers crossed for nice weather. That's it for now. Thanks for following along. Have a good night.
RMI Guide Jenny Konway
RMI Guide Jenny Konway called in from the Mount Shuksan Seminar.
We enjoyed a wonderful breakfast of fresh fruit, bananas, oranges, passion fruit, pineapple, cheese and meat plate, French press dark roast Tanzanian coffee to go with toast, scrambled eggs and bacon, it's a pretty great start to fuel us for the day. We left camp and started right into a steep uphill section with some loose rocks along the trail. We took our time and with a great staff and determined group of climbers we reached the Shira Camp at well over 12,000'. When we arrived our camp was set up and were quickly greeted by some steamy food, fresh salad, filet of beef, hot pasta, you get the picture, and that was lunch, not too bad. We are well taken care of. Now we are enjoying the spectacular scenery in all directions. The weather is great and tomorrow's goal is in sight. All is well.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
Tasi Delek!
Greetings from Tibet. We were delayed on our flight to Lhasa, but managed to land a couple hours before dark. It was a surreal change to leave the chaotic yet controlled scene of Kathmandu, and in less than one hour, experience on the other side of the Himalaya the somewhat quiet and broad Tibet.
Tired from the hurry up and wait, we checked into our hotel, had an amazing dinner, and then settled in to our rooms for the night.
Everyone is really excited to finally start covering the ground towards Shishapangma. Before we start the drive tomorrow, we'll have time for a quick visit to the Potala. Soon after, we'll set off for Shigatse. More tomorrow!!!
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos
We left the Dik Dik Lodge after breakfast and made our way to the start of our climb from the Machame Gate (6000 ft). After obtaining our permits we set off, starting in overcast conditions that were very comfortable. Four thousand vertical feet in just under six hours brought us to Camp 1, also known as Machame Camp. Our fantastic local guides and staff had all tents ready to be invaded. After dinner and a most beautiful sunset, we were settling in for the night, knowing tomorrow will bring a full set of challenges. The sun may have gone down but the team's excitement grew well into the night.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
We just received word that the one missing bag is getting picked up at the nearby airport and heading our way. The team is now complete! I encouraged the team to sleep in as best they could this morning, It sure helps with the jet lag we are all experiencing. Everyone followed orders and a leisurely morning it was. The afternoon was for preparation. The team assembled with a combination of enthusiasm and nerves. We spent a couple hours of meeting to channel both in the right direction, and to gain a solid understanding of what is to come. It's also a chance to get to know everyone. We have a great collection of people for this journey to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro. We spent the remainder of of our day sorting all of our gear getting ourselves ready to start our trek. We share the same staging area as our local support team, needless to say, it was a very busy place to be. It is an interesting process to see the making of a grand expedition from the start.
Breakfast call will be around 6:30 tomorrow followed by a few last minute details before we start our climb!
RMI Guide Mark Tucker & Team.
Hey, This is RMI Guide Eric Frank calling from the south side of Mt. Shuksan on a week long skills seminar. Just wanted to let everyone know that we are in our camp for the night had a great first day. We made it up just to the edge of tree line and it started to rain, so we made camp here. Everyone's doing well. Tomorrow Weather permitting we're hoping to go up to the glacier and do a little training for the day. Wish us luck and thanks for following along!
Eric Frank & Team Checking in from Shuksan Seminar.
What is the best way to maximize your training before an 8,000m peak climb? Well, probably not rock climbing, but it sure is a good one to maximize your time in Kathmandu while waiting to fly to Lhasa. Today we spent the day having some fun, as the pictures show, but also starting to get excited with planning, strategizing and dreaming of the climb of the "Crest above the grassy plains". Tomorrow we're flying to Lhasa early in the morning, and the Tibetan adventure will begin... Stay tuned!
RMI Guides Elias, Adam, Robby & Team
The Four Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guides JJ Justman and Christina Dale reached the summit of Mt. Rainier early this morning. The team reported clear skies, light winds of about 10 mph, and great climbing conditions due to a fantastic route. The team has started their descent an are en route to Camp Muir.
Congratulations to today's team!
Namaste:
And we have started our Shishapangma Expedition!!! The team is all well in Kathmandu... pretty much uneventful arrivals yesterday, that culminated with the expected jet lag on most of us. A nice welcome dinner put us to bed early. Today, we spent the day visiting the Monkey Temple and acquiring some last minute items we determined appropriate after our gear check. Kathmandu has greeted us with the last rains of the monsoon, which is to depart the Sub-Indian continent soon. We sure hope for the dry weather of the northern Himalayas when we are on our climb! However, that's a ways away yet, and we have to wait another day in Kathmandu before we fly to Lhasa, Tibet's capital, on the 6th.
In the meantime, we're going to continue to relax in hectic Kathmandu (is that an oxymoron?) before setting out for Chinese territory.
That's it for now; tune in for our blogs as we start our adventure into the Himalayas!!!
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos
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Wonderfully written commentary. Keep them coming along with photos.
Posted by: Betty (Art's sister) on 9/8/2016 at 2:23 pm
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