Firat Eren

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

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

Hello from Base Camp.
I notice that we seem to be missing a report about the team moving up from Base Camp to Camp 1. So until I can entice one from the folks who actually did the hard work, here in the base camp perspective. The first move up above Base Camp is always a special day – in many ways it is the day when the climb actually begins, so it is pretty exciting for everyone. The adventure actually begins the day before with packing food, warm clothes, sleeping bags, and other gear to go up the mountain. The climbers always carry their own survival gear: warm clothes, lunch for the day, water, and climbing gear (including harnesses rigged for traveling on fixed lines, crampons, and ice axes). Our excellent team of sherpas help them out by carrying sleeping bags and other food, and by having the tents already set up at Camp 1 before the climbers arrive. Only the western climbers sleep at Camp 1, so it is more of a temporary camp that is taken down as soon as they leave. The sherpas only sleep at Base Camp, Camp 2, and Camp 4 at the South Col.

The big day actually begins in the dark, with everyone rolling out of bed at about 3:00 am. This time we started in two teams of 8 climbers and guides each, so the folks in the second team got to sleep in a little later. We do this so everyone can get a little more spread out on the fixed lines. At this time of the morning the stars are shining and a glow-worm of headlamps can be seen of other teams starting up the icefall. Our team enjoyed a power breakfast of pancakes, eggs, and bacon before putting on their climbing harnesses and backpacks and heading out. The first steps always include a stop at the puja altar to offer a prayer and ask for safety by throwing blessed rice three times. The second stop is a hundred yards or so out of camp to put on crampons for safe walking on the fins of ice.

Here at Base Camp I am awake with the climbers. I start monitoring the radio as soon as they leave Base Camp and stay with them all the way to Camp 1. When the first daylight comes at around 5:00 am I can see our team in many places as they progress through the icefall. They check in periodically to let me know everything is ok. Normal is for the climbers to reach Camp 1 in 8 to 10 hours, and that was the case with this team as well. Everyone is tired by the time they get there, and are glad to lay out their sleeping bags, get hot drinks, a little dinner, and fall asleep.

Ellie Henke
Base Camp Manager

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

Namaste from Everest BC. It’s the night before we head up for our first acclimitization trip. There’s a bit of snow falling and everyone is heading off to bed. The past couple of days we’ve been playing in the ice pinnacles getting our gear dialled and our skills sharpened.

Yesterday a couple of us headed up to the top of the icefall to check out the route and see how the icefall is faring so far. It is a bit more broken up this season than in the past few making a bit more ciruitous route. The rest of the team headed up the icefall a couple of hundred feet to the second ladder.

The team is psyched about the chance to get up higher tomorrow. We’ll spend 2 nights at CI and 2 nights at CII if things go as planned. We are all looking forward to seeing how the Sherpa have done setting up our camps. But most importantly everyone is excited to see the Western Cwm and the first views of the SW face of Everest as well as Lhotse and Nuptse.

We’ll be in touch from the Western Cwm!

All the best,
Dave

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

Hello friends, family and loved ones,

Our acclimatizing is going well as our bodies adapt to the rarified atmosphere of 5,300 meters. So today we put our skills to the test on the glacier very near to our camp. Team members work on ladder crossing while Amy, Dave and I set up a rope course amongst the towering seracs (towers of ice). Amy climbed up the highest serac and set up a rappel station and Dave fixed line over a varity of rough terrain. I anchored ladders over a water hazard which led to an ice climb that took climbers back up to where Amy was. It was a challenging circuit designed to test member’s abilities with several important skill sets. Our ultimate goal is to be able to move safely and efficiently when we actually begin to climb Everest. It was evident that climbers learned as they did multiple laps on the course. Fun was had by all even the ones that fell through thin ice into the icy water below. Even with wet boots their spirits were not dampened. Find out what happens tomorrow when we venture into the lower Khumbu icefall.

Namaste,
Vern

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

Today was a pretty restful Sunday at Basecamp. We are continuing to settle in and get all the tents up and working out radios and other gadgets that go along with a two month long expedition. This morning many of the team leaders got together and exchanged radio frequencies and discussed coordinating rope and snow and ice protection up higher on the mountain, basically who has what to share. And most importantly we learned that there is a bakery at basecamp this year taking orders of bread and birthday cakes and also a certified massage therapist offering $20 massages who happens to be one camp over from us. Our team members had more showers and emailing time this morning followed by lunch and ladder practice. We have a nice progression to learning the techniques for climbing Everest, starting with walking on ladders over close to and over flat ground in tennis shoes. Then we up the anty with mountain boots and finally crampons. Within a few hours everyone was dancing up and down the ladders and finding them quite easy to travel on. Things will change when we are walking over a 200 foot deep crevasse but we will take it with ease and confidence. We will continue practicing what we need to know for the icefall for the next several days.

We are so happy that everyone on our team is well and healthy. Some of the other teams have colds so we have been keeping a safe distance from them. Firat is quite fired up about playing poker and has taught several of the team members. Our evenings have been filled with eating, scrabble, and last night we watched a movie. We’ve been wanting to ask you, the audience, if you think we should except Jame’s scrabble word “squids”?

Ellie had to go escort the trekkers down valley until they meet up with Pete in Pheriche and we are expecting her back tomorrow. We really miss her and can’t wait until she rejoins us. Ellie is a top notch basecamp manager, unrivaled by any other basecamp manager in the world. She manages basecamps for us in South America and here for 5 or so months a year and this is her 7th season at EBC! We can’t imagine life without her here.

It’s getting to the cold part of the day and these fingers aren’t working too well on the keyboard. So that’s life here at Basecamp for now. Hope you are all enjoying your winter into spring at home as it is starting to snow lightly here.

Tashi Delek!
Amy