Firat Eren

From a series of dispatches from the Alpine Ascents 2007 Everest Expedition team.

A big hello and namaste from Camp 2. We’ve been making the most of our rest day here at Camp 2 today with people wandering around through camps, saying hello to people, with that beautiful sun interspersed with some snow showers, making the Lhotse Face look as beautiful as it possibly could. Tomorrow we’re going to take another rest day, making sure everyone is feeling up to par before we head up to Camp 3 the following day. We’re in good spirits, people are healthy here. The Sherpa also had a rest day today, so we spent some time today getting to know them better. We had lots of laughs, lots of card playing, and lots of pictures. Everybody here is doing well, and they send all their best wishes to everyone back home. We plan to be here again another night here at Camp 2, a night at Camp 3, then another night at Camp 2 before returning to Base Camp where everyone is looking forward to showers and thick air. So that’s it for today; we’ll be in touch soon.

Dave from Camp 2

From a series of dispatches from the Alpine Ascents 2007 Everest Expedition team.

We woke up at 6:30 yesterday morning at Camp 1. We had a great breakfast with lots of bacon. We headed out of camp at 8:30 going up the Western Cwm to Camp 2. We were able to make it into camp about 1:00, which was pretty quick time. We were able to shave at least an hour off our previous time. The weather was overcast, a little bit cloudy, so it wasn’t too hot. So it was a perfect day to be hiking up the Cwm, probably better than any other trip. We got to Camp 2, had some snacks, wandered around, made camp, stretched, read, did puzzles, and then we had a nice dinner in the evening and told animal stories. Then everyone slept really well last night.

That’s all from Amy at Camp 2 (21,300 ft/6,500 meters)

From a series of dispatches from the Alpine Ascents 2007 Everest Expedition team.

Hello Friends, Family, and Loved Ones,
It was an early morning as we got up, ate our breakfast, and got our gear ready to move up to Camp 1. The icefall has been moving quite a bit recently due to warm weather conditions. However, it stayed in place for us, which we very much appreciated. The morning started off windy but mellowed out through the day. The north wind coming in from Tibet kept the Indian clouds at bay and we ended up with a very bright, sunny, beautiful day to come up through the icefall. Everyone was feeling their oats. We moved slowly but with good efficiency, and we were able to get up to Camp 1 in roughly seven hours for the slowest part of the team. So we did really well and everyone is feeling much more acclimatized. Our acclimatization schedule is paying off.

We came into camp with Nima fixing hot soup for us, and then everyone lay down and took a siesta. It was a wonderful dry afternoon that helped us dry out socks and clothes. Everyone had a very enjoyable evening.

Ciao for now from Vern Tejas
Camp 1

From a series of dispatches from the Alpine Ascents 2007 Everest Expedition team.

The name of the game today is WIND. Gusts rattled the tents from about midnight through the wee hours of the morning, making sleep a little difficult. It was still blowing around 4:30 am when our intrepid team members roused themselves out of their warm sleeping bags, wolfed down some breakfast, put on their climbing harnesses, and headed up into the icefall for their second acclimatization trip up the mountain. From base camp we watched a line of dots as climbers from several different teams left base camp and headed for Camps 1 and 2. We also watched huge plumes of spindrift snow blowing off all the surrounding peaks. Ang Tshering at Camp 2 called in around 8:00 and told us it was cold and windy up there as well, so our Camp 2 staff was hunkered down in the tents trying to stay warm.

Today our climbing members are heading for Camp 1, where they will spend the night before continuing on to Camp 2 tomorrow. Their ultimate goal for this trip is to spend a night at Camp 3 at about 7,000 meters. When they head for the summit they will sleep on oxygen at Camp 3 and be on oxygen from there on up. But for this trip they will try to spend the night without supplemental oxygen to force their bodies to acclimatize to the altitude as much as possible. All in all it will be a miserable night but will help them later on.

Meanwhile, some of our sherpas will begin sleeping at Camp 2 to be in position to begin carrying loads up to the South Col. They will be taking tents, food, and bottles of oxygen up to Camp 4 in preparation for our future summit attempt.

Ellie Henke
Base Camp Manager

From a series of dispatches from the Alpine Ascents 2007 Everest Expedition team.

Another lazy day of sleeping in, eating and indulging in massages with the certified massage therapist next door… We are eating tons down here and we’ve discovered the fattening properties of Nutella and are devouring it by huge jars. After breakfast, 6 members tried ice climbing with me today on the gigantic ice fins near camp. Everyone showed natural talent with the new age leashless, wildly bent ice climbing tools and made it look easy but after two hours we were starving and promised to bring more snacks next time.

Gopal, our cook is back from Kathmandu where he had to deal with some family business. We were so happy to see him with his friendly smiling face and round belly greeting us with lunch today! Deepak, our interim cook will go to Kathmandu for some needed rest now. He was cooking for Pete Athans in Mustang on an expedition before this.

Dave went to a meeting with the SPCC (Sagamartha Pollution Control Committee) this morning to discuss the continued maintenance of the ice fall and it was demanded by the expedition leaders that they hire two more “Ice Fall Doctors”. More is better when it comes to those guys. They work hard maintaining ropes, ladders and anchors and take turns going up every other day.

Tashi Delek!
Amy

From a series of dispatches from the Alpine Ascents 2007 Everest Expedition team.

Dear friends, family and loved ones,

It was a brutal rest day. Our challenges were many and our pleasures were few. It all started with seeing who could stay in bed the longest however once the sun hit the tents the heat was unbearable and we were forced out. A demanding four course breakfast was followed by either yoga or an acclimatization trek to the base camp bakery. Then there was the quandary of deciding whether to shower, answer emails or suffer though a session of massage therapy. Deepak (our cook) insisted that we eat sushi for lunch. That was almost enough to sustain us through the ordeals of the afternoon which included cards, walking the slack line, washing clothes and reading. In the evening had to partake of John’s powerpoint presentation of several expeditions. All said and done, it was so exhausting, we barely made it back to our sleeping bags before nine….what a day!

Weather has fallen into a familiar pattern with clear warm mornings and snowy afternoons. Team members are now sleeping well after the challenges of camp one and two. Though we have had some sore throats we have missed (so far) the major cold outbreak that has run though base camp. Stay tuned.

All the best,
Vern

From a series of dispatches from the Alpine Ascents 2007 Everest Expedition team.

Ahh… back in the land of amenities. The whole team is back in BC after a successful trip up into the Western Cwm. We spent a couple of nights in CI and a couple of nights in CII with varying degrees of sleep quality and quantity. Despite some sleeplessness (is that a word?) and a couple of headaches everyone was excited by the enormity of the environment.

Yesterday we took a walk half way from CII to the base of the Lhotse face. Everybody’s legs felt like lead as we made our way above 21,000’ for the first time on the climb… the next time our legs will still feel like lead but perhaps half the weight. It is a bit sobering.

Our Sherpa staff have been nearly running up and down from BC to CII over the past couple days and are on their last 2 days of carrying oxygen bottles. Later they’ll have a few days of moving those bottles from CII to the South Col. It’s a remarkable feat and as per usual the climbers are shocked at their strength. The trip down to BC from CII was pleasantly uneventful as the whole team climbed safely despite being a bit fatigued from the first acclimatization journey. The shower was quite popular despite the dusting of snow throughout the afternoon.

The next few days will be spent doing laundry, catching up on reading and will include plenty of poker games with Firat our Texas hold ‘em ringleader. If they haven’t already I’m sure the climbers will be sending emails to all their friends and family.

We’ll be in touch over the next few relaxing days!

All the best,
Dave

From a series of dispatches from the Alpine Ascents 2007 Everest Expedition team.

Today we moved from Camp 1 to Camp 2. It took us about 5 hours. It was very hot. The second half of the day was VERY hot. We covered every speck of skin we had to keep out of the sun, and we practiced the rest step. The route from Camp 1 to Camp 2 was very straight forward. It was one of the easier days on the mountain. There are very few ladders this year, so very little objective danger. Everybody is doing well clipping in and out of protection, walking across ladders, and dealing with the sun. Everyone is here at Camp 2 now, at our lovely Advanced Base Camp on the top of the hill. We’re having soup and snacks. James is very sad to find out that his scrabble word “squids” is not allowable. But he’s doing ok with that. So it’s off to dinner we go.

This is Amy Bullard signing off until tomorrow.

From a series of dispatches from the Alpine Ascents 2007 Everest Expedition team.

Greetings Family, Friends, and Loved Ones,

We spent our first night at Camp 1 last night. This morning we woke up to clear skies and a French Toast breakfast that was served up by our one and only Lakpa Rita and Nima. They did a wonderful job fixing breakfast, which we leisurely enjoyed. After breakfast we took a stroll up the Western Cwm, at about 5,975 meters (19,600 ft.). We were treated with fine views of Nuptse, Lhotse, and the Big E – Mt. Everest – with interesting cloud formations.

People had an interesting night. We just moved up so everyone was trying to deal with the altitude. Most people got through the night well and those who didn’t got their breath back on our acclimatization hike today. We are currently camped at 5,975 meters above sea level at Camp 1 in the Western Cwm. It’s a beautiful campsite – we’re hemmed in by the West Ridge of Everest and the Nuptse Wall.

Stay tuned for our further adventures. Namaste.

P.S. Today’s question is “What is a Winklehawk”?

From a series of dispatches from the Alpine Ascents 2007 Everest Expedition team.

Today is our first foray though the icefall to Camp 1. We divided into two groups today. On group left base camp at 4:30 am and the other group left at 5:50 am. The first group took 9 hours to reach Camp 1 and the second group took 10 ½ hours. The route through the icefall was pretty normal this year, maybe a little bit longer but no more dangerous. We were treated to Nima and Lakpa cooking for us at Camp 1 at 19,600 ft. We had macaroni and cheese with sun-dried tomatoes when we got there. Everybody was in bed by 7:00 pm, well hydrated, well fed, and happy to be at Camp 1 watching the sun glow on the Lhotse Face and looking up at Everest for the first time.

That’s all for now, Amy Bullard from Camp 1