Firat Eren

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

Friends, family and loved ones,

Thanks for bearing with us throughout our technical issues. Hopefully we are now out of the woods and will continue to have improved communications for the duration of our expedition.

We have made it back to Everest base camp stronger than when we left. Team members noticed their endurance and acclimatization were vastly improved over our first trek up to base. Our spirits and physical beings are now ready for the next phase, the actual climb itself. Us, guides are now concentrating on our weather reports to divine the correct moment to start our summit push. In preparation for our upcoming ascent we put on a half day oxygen school. The main thrust was to familiarize all team members with the proper care and use of our O2 delivery system. Now the team feels comfortable enough to change O2 bottles and regulate oxygen flows should anyone need to in an emergency situation on summit day.

On a somber note, we are sad to have lost Victor from the team. He had to make a difficult decision to go home to resolve some important issues. We will miss him and his sense of humor in the days to come. Hopefully there will be a more opportune time when he will be able to return again to attempt Everest. Best of luck in all Victor.

Namaste,
Vern