Firat Eren

Today found us preparing for our push up the hill, which possibly will come May 17, day after tomorrow. This will give the crowds a chance to settle out and the temperatures to continue to increase and the winds to continue to abate. Patience is everything now. Today we sharpened our crampons, put foam on our ice axe heads, caught up on email and other technological advances and went for walks to keep ourselves focused and fit.

Warner received a Fed Ex package the other day with two kites inside. The winds this morning were perfect for breaking these out and it was fun to watch Warner fly his kites like a kid in front of the crystal blue sky. Firat made the long journey over to IMG’s camp to play Dave Hahn in Chess. Dave is reputed to be the Chess superstar of all of Basecamp.

With the warming temperatures small rocks are falling off their ice pedestals and it has been one of our favorite activities to anticipate when they will be ready to go and give them a little assistance. Also there is a river forming between the icefall and our camp and we can hear the soothing sound of running water from our tents. I can’t help but think how nice it could be someday to exit basecamp on rafts!

Tonight our friends at Mountain Madness will be attempting to summit Mount Everest! This will be the first bid of the season. We are very excited for them and will be monitoring their radio frequency to hear how their progress is being made. It looks like a stellar night for a summit bid!

We’ll keep you posted and until then will be eating more bacon and playing more poker!

Good Night!
Amy