Most Popular Entries

Lam Babu and our all-star Sherpa team were walking out of Basecamp by 4 this morning, bound for Advanced Basecamp (ABC). Their plan is to use the days ahead to establish Camp III on the Lhotse Face and to begin carries to the South Col. It is a good plan and works well with the climbing team intention to head up for a last "practice" rotation on the hill, sleeping as high as Camp III. We were going for that last difficult push starting tomorrow, but have now reconsidered. A cough has taken precedence, as coughs sometimes do in the month of May on Mount Everest. We've worked with this particular cough for weeks already and have no fondness for it. The judgement call has come down to: sleep at 24,000 ft, gaining valuable experience in a tough environment while coming down in time for a last rest before the summit bid... Or get healthy and banish the cough before trying for the top. Get Healthy won out. We'll stay down while the Sherpa team is up this time (they'll be back to BC in a few days). We'll put a priority on getting the climbing team strong and we'll contend with a longer-than-expected rest while carefully examining weather reports... On the lookout for a suitable "window" between the Jetstream and the Monsoon. Best Regards, RMI Guide Dave Hahn

Today was a well-timed rest day. Following our recent daily pattern, it was sunny and calm in the morning and snowing and socked in by noon. The team took the chance to wash up and get clean during the sunny hours, and then hunkered down within the tents for the afternoon. The much talked about Everest Basecamp WiFi hotspots and 3G cell coverage have both been dysfunctional in the extreme of late, bringing the teams back virtually to the 1990's in terms of connectivity... roughing it. Yesterday was a very popular day for Puja ceremonies and so the drab moraine rubble we call home was transformed by a vast spiderweb of interconnected colorful prayer flags streaming from the numerous chortens. Tomorrow, our Sherpa team is geared up for a carry to Camp II while the climbers have a conditioning hike to Kalapathar in mind. Best Regards, RMI Guide Dave Hahn

This is Dave Hahn calling form Mt. Everest, and again tonight we are at Advance Base Camp. Our Plan had been to move up to the Lhotse Face and we tired we went out this morning with that as the goal, but unfortunately with Dan’s cough has not gone away and it has turned out to be debilitating as far as preventing us from going higher. It is not a danger to him, but going higher with it would be a problem. So, quick change of plans Dan is going to head down to Base Camp in the morning with Lama Babu, and Seth and I are going to try and keep up Tshering, Gyaljen and Kaji and our plan is to go all the way to high camp tomorrow and attempt the summit on the 23rd. The complication is that the weather forecast is kind of breaking down for those days and might be kind of dicey weather – We will have to see. We figure that will be our one chance and so it is up or down for all. Things should be moving around a fair amount for these next couple of days…we will see what happens. We are going to miss Dan as he heads back down to Base Camp, Lama Babu is happy to guide him down and we are expecting they will have a smooth descent and will be in Base Camp about the middle of tomorrow morning. That’s what’s going on here at Everest. We watched a lot of people tired people coming down from the Summit and from the Lhotse Face again today but it has starting to get though crowd a little bit, we have noticed traffic slacking a bit and that works in our favor. That’s all for now, Bye! RMI Guide Dave Hahn

We are in Nyalam, our last stop before the Chinese Base Camp. The drive through Nepal to the border with Tibet went pretty well and the border crossing itself was smooth. We bypassed the town of Zangmu straight to Nyalam. This afternoon we will head for a hike to stretch the legs after the trip and start the acclimatization process. We have a scheduled departure for Chinese Base Camp for tomorrow around noon. The team is in really good spirits and looking forward to putting a foot on the mountain. Regards from Tibet, RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos

Today is a beautiful and sunny day in Pheriche, at 14,200 feet. So many of the tea houses look and feel the same along the trek, it is easy to forget exactly where we are, but as I walked down the narrow dirt path after breakfast, I could feel exactly where I was. My lungs started moving a little faster and I could feel my heart rate increase, even with my slow steps on the relatively flat trail. As my nostrils expanded to take in the available oxygen I remembered that I am now at high altitude. I know, some of you that live just above sea-level are thinking that we have been at high altitude all along, but it is here that my physiology now agrees with that. Between 8,000 and 14,000 feet our bodies are undergoing some major changes to compensate for the increasingly more obvious loss of atmospheric pressure. Today, my lungs have to work a little harder, and my heart is pumping a little faster to get all of the new red blood cells around my body. I am thankful for all of the things that my body is doing to adjust to living in a world with less atmospheric pressure to keep all of the oxygen molecules within my breaths grasp, but mostly I am thankful to the red blood cells. They are the porters of my blood, carrying around all of the oxygen my lungs will grab onto. If all things go well, my blood pH will alter, and that will increase my respiratory rate telling my lungs that they need to expand and contract more times to achieve the same effect that they had at my house in Idaho. My blood will produce more of those invaluable little porters (the red blood cells) so that every time my ventilation is effective (the simple mechanical act of air rushing into my lungs) respiration will be effective (the actual exchange of gases deep inside my lungs) and then perfusion can happen (the red blood cells delivering the oxygen to all of my tissues). It makes me feel a little tired just to write that, I can only imagine how my body is feeling repeating this cycle over multiple thousands of times per day. When put this way, it is easy to see why we need so many rest days. Our bodies need to get used to this exhaustive act at this elevation before being challenged by the next increase in elevation. Today, the team feels good. As I look around at Dave doing crosswords, Seth reading Rolling Stone and Erica sipping tea I can tell that they are all acclimatizing well. There are a variety of reasons that one might not acclimatize so well, and surprisingly, the reasons are not so easy to predict. Some people have a physiological make up that slows the adjustments inside of their body as they get higher in elevation. It is hard to find a correlation between this response and much of anything- especially fitness. There are of course some more obvious factors that will prevent your body from getting all that work done. If someone is sick already, maybe even just a head cold, the body is already working overtime and it decreases the resources that can be used for altitude acclimatization. The same is true if someone is dehydrated or under extreme physical exertion. That is certainly part of the reason that we take a nice even pace on our move days, we don't want our hearts and lungs fighting to keep up, because eventually they will not be able to catch up with us, and will let us know. Likely in the form of acute mountain sickness. Acute mountain sickness is usually the first sign from your body that you need to slow down and stay at the elevation you are currently acclimatized to. Basically, your physiology is saying 'hey, wait for me!'. Consider this a warning, because your body will be persistent if you do not listen, and give you a louder reminder, one that you cannot ignore. Acute mountain sickness (AMS) can start with a variety of symptoms, the most common being a headache. It can be hard to know if it is from dehydration or sun or actually the altitude. If I am at a new elevation and I do experience a headache, I will start by drinking 1/2 a liter of water and consciously taking a few extra deep breaths as I rest. That first altitude headache often sets in after a day of moving and then coming to rest. While moving, we are naturally breathing a bit harder than when at rest. Once that movement stops and our respirations drop the whole process slows, making your brain a little hungry for some more oxygen. I don't mind taking little Ibuprofen or Excedrin for this headache, but I am very aware that the medication is what is making the headache go away, not the fact that the problem is gone...I will keep alert for other signs of AMS. My dinner might look horrible (lack of appetite), I might feel a little more tired than normal (lassitude), the room may spin as I toss my cookies (nausea and vomiting). If I stand to walk and feel uncoordinated or dizzy (ataxia) I know that it is time to act. Actually, I might not know that it is time to act if my mental status is decreasing, that really is one of the great dangers of AMS. Fortunately, I am traveling with an amazing team and we are all looking out for the signs that someone isn't acclimatizing well. So, what to do if these symptoms appear? Well, the best thing would be to descend 2000-3000 feet. As you go down in elevation, the positive effects are almost instant. At just a few thousand feet lower, I can start to feel better. The key now is to rest at this elevation and let my body catch up before going higher again. It also helps to hike a few thousand feet during the day, but sleep at the same altitude for a few nights. That gives my body a chance to taste a higher altitude while still recovering at a lower one (you will notice this once we embark on our climbing schedule at 'extreme altitude'). High altitude illness will not likely go away without some action from you (DESCENT)! Conversely it often progresses and gets worse. You can get swelling and fluid accumulation in your brain that will cause further changes in your level of consciousness, possibly even causing you to go unconscious or stop breathing. That is called cerebral edema, a brain injury caused by increased intracranial pressure secondary to swelling in the brain. It can even look a lot like a stroke or traumatic brain injury, just with a different cause. This is a serious and life threatening emergency, and this person needs descent (which can be complicated if they aren't conscious), oxygen and steroids to decrease the swelling in the brain. Bad news bears. The other life threatening altitude emergency is pulmonary edema, which is fluid build up in the lungs. As the pressure outside decreases, the pressure inside of our pulmonary vessels increases and sometimes the leak into the spaces in our lungs that are vital for gas exchange. This is basically a pneumonia and will cause difficulty breathing, and difficulty absorbing the oxygen (which could precipitate cerebral edema). This is another one where we need immediate descent and oxygen as well as some medications that can reduce the causes of the fluid build up. Here in Pheriche there is a medical clinic staffed and run by the Himalayan Rescue Association. There are western trained doctors working there (often volunteering time away from their own medical practices). This clinic is open to climbers, trekkers and porters. They do an altitude talk each afternoon and they do an amazing job educating people on the above mentioned dangers and the importance of listening to your body and being conservative. As a medical professional, I am thankful that the clinic is here. So many people feel sick and assume they just needed to do more training when realistically, their bodies aren't adjusting to the altitude. The clinic helps to educate people and reduce the trepidation about descending if you aren't feeling well. Our group is experienced, yet that doesn't guarantee that we are safe from altitude illness. What it does do is ensure that we are paying attention, and we have created a schedule that will allow our bodies to physiologically adjust to the rigors we are presenting. So today, as I watch Dave complete crosswords with impressive speed, Seth is reading Rolling Stone and Erica excitedly orders and eats her second helping of food for the day, I can say we are looking pretty good physiologically, and it is a beautiful day at 14,200 feet in Pheriche.

Monday, June 27, 2022 - 10:52 pm PT

This was a fine day of climbing.  We were up at 5 AM and eating, packing and getting ready for almost three hours.  We pulled out of 11,000 at 7:50 AM.  There were steady breezes but it wasn’t particularly cold as we went up Motorcycle and Squirrel Hills in the shadows.  It was blue sky overhead today, so it was definitely one of the nicer days we’ve had (though none have been bad).   Sitting in the sunshine at Windy Corner, we could clearly see the Tordrillo Mountains anchoring the Alaska Range to the Southwest.  Most eyes were on Mount Foraker though as it seems to get bigger every time we see it.  We were around the corner without any difficulties and then out of the wind as we made our way up into Genet Basin.  We pulled into the camp at 14,200 ft to join Andy Bond’s RMI team (who are several days ahead of us) and practically all the other teams on the mountain.  We’d made it up in five and a half not too hard hours.  Despite the fact that we were working at altitude to build a camp, conditions were quite calm and easy, so the work wasn’t too bad.  We climbed into tents to hide from the sun and took our customary afternoon naps.  The team finished dinner (mac and cheese) which is always a good sign.  Tomorrow is an easier day -by design- just a short walk down to pick up our food and fuel above Windy Corner. 

Best Regards,

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

We're squarely in the middle of the waiting game here at Everest Basecamp. The big teams have assembled a few strong guys who are working on fixing the ropes to the summit today and tomorrow. Once those are in then it's all a matter of time until we get a good weather window for the summit bid. As for us we're healing up and feeling rested for the push for the top. We're giving the weather forecast more and more scrutiny every day and the tick marks on the calendar are starting to add up. It shouldn't be too much longer now. RMI Guide Seth Waterfall

On The Map

Friday May 20 - 11:42pm

We made full value out of our rest day today. We woke late, had a brunch of blueberry pancakes and maple syrup, lounged for the better part of the day, and capped it with burritos for dinner. We have had no problem eating well.

Our main entertainment has been a very large team made up of members of the British military. We are all on a similar schedule, and subsets of their team have been filtering into camp the last couple days. As of today, our camp is encircled on three sides. The main constant in the wide variety of British accents constantly around us is the abundance of the F bomb. That word cuts through all accents and after our informal survey today shows up on average as every third word. There has been general hilarity listening to their banter through our tent walls and it was a main topic of discussion over dinner tonight.

We plan to move up to 14 tomorrow. Rested and refreshed after today, it should be done enjoyable climbing.

Pete, Erika, Leif, and team

Monday, June 28, 2021 - 10:37 pm PT

Good evening,

We went to bed with the excitment of going for the summit the following day. The sky was clear and all looked calm enough in the morning. The light was green for take off. As we packed for the day clouds began to build to the south. We hoped they would stay at bay but before long they were swollowing the upper mountain. Our nice looking day took a turn and the light turned to red. Instead of taking a walk, we took a nap. Today was not our day. Snow and clouds came and went throughout the day. Camp remained quiet as no one left for the summit. What is one more day of waiting if we can summit tomorrow? Weather is looking ok for tomorrow and we are hoping with everything we half left in us that tomorrow will in fact be the day we go for the top. Patience, food, and time are running low so here's for some good weather.

Good weather, good weather, good weather,

RMI Guide Hannah Smith and team

What a day!  At 13,070' it was still rather chilly in the shade as we began our climb of the Barranco Wall. Looking ahead the route was already busy with climbers and porters negotiating the steep terrain. Behind us camp was finally lit up with the early morning sun, looking warm and inviting. But our attention was focused on the steady footwork that would take us safely up this cool wall. 

Much of the climb we snaked through weaknesses in the rock that allowed us to walk upright on the well-trodden path. The fun came dealing with those places that demanded more precise footwork and the use of handholds on the rock. At a couple of places, we'd 'spot' these moves to maximize safety, but the team moved like the savvy climbers they are, or have become. After one and a half hours we were rewarded with a huge flat area at the top of the Wall where we refueled. The scenery here opened up dramatically to the steep cliffs and glaciers leading to the summit. Our route, thankfully, skirts these precipitous faces, traversing east to Karanga Camp, and eventually the route to the summit. 

Getting to Karanga demanded we climb up and down through a couple of valleys, but the views and scenery were so nice that nobody complained of the need to reascend precious altitude gained earlier...

It was nice getting into camp by 1:00 to enjoy the warm, beautiful weather up here. Tosha had an incredible paella whipped up for lunch after we had the chance to settle into our tents and wash up after the dusty trail.

How spoiled we are!

Tomorrow: High Camp - Barafu.