We have taken Monday 25 April as another rest day at base camp. I had a great sleep! We leave about 5 am tomorrow to go up the icefall, all the way to camp 2 in one push. The biggest potential problem is that the Western Cwm will get very hot as we slog up the last mile of glacier. We will then rest at Camp 2 for 2 nights and then go for a night at Camp 3 (7300m). That will be a new altitude record for me.
We then come down for a long rest. After our night at Camp 3, we are 'officially' ready to go for the summit when the weather is right, but that might be another three weeks. So I'll be out of touch for a few days, but there might be updates on the expedition web site http://www.ice8000.com. This will be updated for the group while I am up the hill.
Feeling very good today, but one still doesn't walk anywhere fast at 5400m!
Here is a photo of a typical ladder in the icefall. The trick is to look at your feet being placed on the ladder, but not to look much further down! They are fun when you get the hang of them,
It is a second rest day here at sunny base camp. We got down from Camp 2 on Friday and will probably go back up to camp 2 again on Monday (25). I've just spent the past hour sitting in the sun outside my tent in my little camp chair, reading a book. With my shirt off of course! We have had snow every afternoon for the past week, but it melts the next morning. Life isn't too hard with good food, chairs and gas heaters in the mess tent. But I'm still sleeping in a tent on a glacier and going to the toilet at night is not fun! Of course, we have to drink a massive amount, so it is always necessary.
The trip to Camp 1 and Camp 2 went fine. The icefall has about 16 ladders, some very impressive, but all safe so far. Impressive! It was a real slog the last mile up the Western Cwm at 6200m. For once I felt the altitude and it was hard work. A three-day rest at camp 2 however and all felt fine. I just always get out of breath when walking up any small hill. But we are now ahead of pace for acclimatisation. Better to be ready a bit early...
I collected about 25 envelopes of primula samples on the way to base camp. However it might be that none of them contain seeds! I found primula up to 5000m, but seeds are very hard to find. It was fun to try anyway.
There must be 200 people and tents here, but we keep to ourselves to avoid picking up any illness from any other camp. I have seen a few friends from other trips, always nice.
Just back from 2 days up The Hill. We went up the icefall for the first time on Monday. Great fun actually, since it was all frozen. We then had a comfortable night at camp 1. Rather than go down, we went up to camp 2 the next day. The last hour going up to 6300m was hard work! I've now had three pretty comfortable days up there and feel good. Just got back to base camp for a few days rest. Will send a longer update before long.
It was -16C each night in the tent when we went to bed, but I have my big bag rated at -40C, so I have been toasty warm at night. We get up at 8 am when the sun hits the tent and the cook boy brings us milk tea. That warms everything up quickly!
The face of Everest and Lhotse is very impressive. We are higher than Mount McKinley, the highest point in North America and still more than the height of the highest mountain in Australia below the summit (as we keep reminding our two Oz guys).
This morning we had our Puja, the formal blessing before going up the mountain. It isn't a request for a blessing, but a request for forgiveness for us unworthy mortals to tread on the snow of the hill. It seemed to have gone with good omens. Of course, lots of chang meant it wasn't clear how it really went.
Tomorrow (monday 18) we head up through the icefall to Camp 1. Should be interesting! We have breakfast at 5 am so that we get most of the way up before the sun hits it. We will spend one night at Camp 1 (6000m) at the top of the icefall. If the weather is good and we feel good, we will go to Camp 2 (6300m), otherwise come back down. So I might not be back in touch until Wed or Thur. Today got cloudy for the first time in a week, so who knows!
Otherwise I'm feel fine and fit. We went to Pumori Advance Base Camp yesterday at 5700m and felt really good. Great view of both the north col and south col. The mountain is pretty dry now with little snow.
I'll miss having tea at my tent at 7:25 am when the sun hits it. And already having to sleep on the ice and avoid going to the toilet in the night is getting hard!
Tomorrow, into the breach!
best to all,
Rob
ps. When we first arrived, I was not able to send an email so say we were at base camp but I was able to send a message via I-X. Thanks!
We have now been at base camp for 4 days and all members of the team are now here. It is a pretty relaxed life. The weather is sunny all day and temp about 10 C (50F). But there is a cold wind all afternoon, so not much sunbathing. However when we go to bed at night it is generally -10C. With my sleeping bag rated to -40, I haven't been cold at all! We have gas heaters in our cook tent, so we get pretty warm by the time we finish the evening meal! Of course, dinner is followed by many games of hearts until the cook team want us to go to bed. We have electric lights driven by a battery and solar panel, so it is comfortable late at night.
It has taken some time for all the batteries and solar panels to arrive by yak. Hence the lack of emails being sent. We have only managed a small charge on the notebook. But today we are setting up all solar panels, batteries and cables so contact should be better now.
yesterday we went up the first part of the ice fall and crossed our first ladder over a big crevasse. A bit wobbly at first, but I got the hang of it and now it is fun. The icefall is like a giant ice park, but I am sure the dangerous parts are higher up.
Sunday we have our Puja, the Nepalese ceremony for blessing and Monday we head up to Camp 1 for a day or two.
Most of us walked into base camp at 14:30 local time yesterday (12 April) to be greeted by endless cups of tea and noodles. The weather has been terrific so far, with only one day of cloud. The walk in has been pretty effortless. Mostly I get a sore neck and stubbed toes from looking at all the amazing mountains around. More incredible than I ever imagined!
The evening has been passed with not only endless cups of tea, but now also endless games of Hearts. Everyone learned how and we sometimes have 10 people playing in two groups. All of us are feeling well. In fact I have been feeling well enough that I have arrived at base camp one day early. At 4000m, my blood oxygen percentage was 95% of sea level. Let’s hope that keeps up!
The walk to base camp is something that everyone should do. Nice easy days walking, staying in lodges with great food, meeting lots of nice local people and seeing wonderful scenery.
Today we are resting at base camp, unpacking our duffle bags, washing and putting on the first real clean clothes for 10 days. Tomorrow we plan to go see the ladders in the ice fall (it looks pretty scary!).
all the best,
Rob
ps. this was delayed in sending as we worked out the solar charging system for the laptop. 10 days of porters, yaks and cold temperatures left the batteries low!
Hi from Namche Bazar at 11,000 ft in the Himalayas. We have done the first two days of our walk in and are having a rest day. The flight over was fine and I didn't have to pay any excess baggage (cheer). We only spent an afternoon in Kathmandu, long enough to repack our bags, organise the bags to go direct to base camp and have dinner. We were up at 5 am the next morning (read midnight UK time!) for the flight to Lukla. The mountains are very spectacular and rise right up from the plains. A solid landing on the steep uphill runway and we were in the mountains!
We spent 6 hours the first day walking to Jorsalle, just inside the national park. We went up and down a lot, but didn't gain any height! A good night sleeping at 2800m, helped by having had endless stops for cups of tea on the walk in. On 6 April we had a short walk up the valley to an impressive suspension bridge and then a steep slog up the 600m hill to Namche. We got a great view of Everest from part way up. It looks a long way away, and it is hard to believe we will walk all that way! But we have another week just to get to it. It is also odd to think that we have to go higher than all the mountains we see here. But one step at a time.
So far I’m feeling very good and eating well. Endless cups of tea of course. This morning we walked up top see Ama Dablam, very impressive! - and another great view of Everest. I also met the rest of the team last night - a very good natured lot.
Tomorrow we start moving up towards base camp, but it is still a week away. I might not be able to send an update until I get there, which should be about 13 April. What a great place to be!
…with a small step through the mountain of gear on my dining room floor. In the photo you might be able to see: 2 sleeping bags, 2 back packs, down suit, 8000m boots, thermos, 2 water bottles, pee bottle, 2 gore-text jackets, a one piece gore-tex suit, 4 pair of mittens, Golower bars, medical experiment equipment, 4 sets of fleece, 6 sets of socks, a couple of huge books, an ice axe, crampons, descender and jumars (ascenders).
It took some effort, but I got it all into my two duffles and large backpack. Should be fun checking in tomorrow morning (Sunday 3 April). The good news is that I get double baggage allowance since I am a BMI gold card holder (to 40kg). The bad news is that I have 52kg!
Sunday will be spent flying all day to Bangkok and then to Kathmandu, arriving Monday lunch time. If all goes well, I'll be at base camp by 14 April and be able to send a couple of updates between now and then. I'm not sure what communications restrictions are still in place in Nepal, but will send a note when I can.
Its April 1st and my last working day for 2 months (no joke!). A bit frantic finishing all the last minute preparations, but I'm ready to go. The dining room is covered in equipment, and my fitness is about as high as it has ever been. I've been carrying the snow chains from my car in my back pack to increase the weight. It seems to have worked since I did three remote peaks last weekend with no problems. It was nice to be free of the chains!
My flight leaves Edinburgh Sunday morning, so at least I have all day tomorrow to pack. Thanks for all the messages of support, let the fun begin!
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