Firat Eren

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

Back in the thick air of 17,300’! The return to BC today was a bit of a homecoming. It was a return to better tasting food due to more oxygen here. It was a return to warm showers… a return to modern communications like email… a return to clean clothes… and a return to our homes away from home- our BC tents. It really does feel like we’ve come back to a luxurious setting compared with the thin air of C3.

The experience up high on the Lhotse face was dramatic for everyone. Many of our climbers had not slept at that altitude ever before, let alone climbed at that altitude. It was an accomplishment in it’s own right despite our expectations for the next couple of weeks. The three nights we spent at C2 readying ourselves for the trip up to C3 were well worth the patience. A couple of the climbers were able to recuperate from a bit of the generalized altitude ‘yuks’ by spending a third night instead of the expected two. Everyone who was already feeling on top of it were able to do a bit more reading, napping, and music listening. By the time we set out on May 2 towards C3 on the Lhotse face everyone was ready for the journey.

Camp 3 is set on chopped ledges in the Lhotse face at the head of the Western Cwm. It’s a commanding spot with views down the Western Cwm towards Pumori, Cho Oyu, Gyachung Kang, Lingtren and Khumbutse. There really is nothing to compare the views to… unless it’s Camp 4 but we’ll get there later. The late afternoon and evening we spent at C3 was spectacular because of the combination of snow flurries and late clearing up high. The entire Cwm and lower valley where BC sits was covered by thick clouds and as the sun set it also was obscured. It made for a wonderfully surreal sunset.

The following a.m. the gang descended the fixed lines which string together the route from C3 back to the flats of the Western Cwm. This year much of the route is bare ice rather than snow coated blue ice. It makes for a bit more excitement really. The team handled it well. Lakpa and I added a few hundred meters of needed fixed line in spots where only one line was fixed. Having an up and down line in those spots is essential to keep teams moving.

This morning as we sputtered out of C2 after a brilliantly restful sleep we heard that the Korean team next to us had two members within a couple hours of the summit of Lhotse. A couple of us were able to use their spotting scope to check out their tracks leading into the couloir which leads to the summit. We assume that they did summit later in the morning and we send our congrats. It was the first summit of the season on this side of the mountain though there were north side Everest summits earlier in the week.

Tomorrow we head down valley for some needed rest and relaxation. We’ll be bringing the computer so we can send dispatches and the team can email family and friends.

We’ll be in touch soon.

All the best,
Dave