At the moment some of our Sherpa staff is carrying loads to Lothse camp 4,
mainly ropes for the summit day. Our Sherpa’s will assist in fixing the rope
to the Summit on the 18th.

So things are looking good and the whole team is happy to leave Base Camp
and finish what they came here for.

Stay yuned for the voice dispatches from the higher camps.

Arnold Coster, Expedition Leader

A River Runs Through It

Base Camp is melting. It’s 13C outside and the birds are chirping. The
area bordering the icefall has turned into a stream and the ground
underneath our sprawling metropolis is shifting, causing landslides and tent
slides. Spring is here and we all know that it means summit time is nigh.

We are now at our 3rd day in Base Camp, waiting for a good summit window.
Every day feels like Groundhog Day: We wake up when the sun makes the heat
in our tents unbearable, somewhere around 7:00am. Tea time is at 7:30am.
Breakfast at 8:00am. And then of course, there’s the mandatory morning
bowel evacuation episode somewhere in between. After breakfast, it’s
endless games of Shithead (the card game requiring the least amount of
thought) and/or making obscene jokes. Then, all of sudden it’s lunch time
again. If you put your money on betting we get beans, bread and potatoes
for lunch, you’ll probably win (as an aside, I’m pleased to report I’ve lost
ten pounds so far and counting). After lunch, the cycle of Shithead and
jokes begins again. The highlight of our day is apres dinner. If no one
has played with the solar panel wiring (word on the street is that midget
ninjas play with our system at night), we get to watch a movie on the
projector Arnold – our team leader – has brought with him. Last night it
was I Am Legend. Some members desperately want to watch National Lampoon’s
Christmas Vacation, but we haven’t reached that level of desperation. Just
yet. When the movie ends, we stumble up through the boulders that make up
our campsite and find our way into our sleeping bags, arms wrapped tightly
around our water bottles and pee bottles for the warmth and solace they
offer, and we drift off thinking of summits and three-course meals.

But our wait here is not in vain. It takes a bit of weatherman magic to
craft a solid and successful plan to mount a summit attempt. From Base Camp,
you need five days to reach the summit: One day up the icefall, past Camp 1
and up to Camp 2. One day of rest in Camp 2. One day up to Camp 3. One
day up to Camp 4 and a departure that same day for the summit. So the
decision to leave Base Camp for the summit is based on five-day weather
forecasting. No small feat anywhere in the world, and least of all when it
relates to Everest where for the most part, historical weather data is
non-existent. Urs and Arnold have been reviewing available information
several times a day and so far, the order has been to wait and see. Maybe
we’ll depart at 3am tomorrow. Maybe not. Odds are that we’ll have a few
more days sitting here, but we might get the call at 7pm to pack up and be
ready. So we wait.

The 12th offered a bit of a break in the routine. It was Jon’s birthday.
We sang to him, gave him cake. Then he decided to get decked out in
eyeliner because, here at Base Camp, we know how to have a good time. We
also spent some time getting comfortable with our oxygen masks. Then, with
mounting anticipation, we spent most of dinner talking about summit day.
From Camp 4, it should take us anywhere between 9 to 12 hours to reach the
summit. We’ll need half that time to get down. Arnold doesn’t believe in
fixing a specific turnaround time since people will likely be arriving and
departing from Camp 4 at different times. His take is that you should
monitor how long you need to reach the summit: If you’re nowhere near the
summit after 14 hours, “then something is very wrong”. Right now, we think
the 19th or the 20th may make a good summit day. But we know other teams
are also thinking the same. So we strategize, hypothesize and wait. All
part of the Everest experience.

Luckily I have a very good weather forecast from Fugro Geos, this helps me a
lot in making the right decision. Among with all the other information I
have to carefully balance this an choose the right day.

For now we are not going anywhere and tomorrow we will have another full day
to relax in base camp,

Greetings,

Arnold Coster, exp leader

On the morning of the 1st May the team entered the Khumbu Icefall for the
third time in order to move from Base Camp to Camp 2 at an altitude of 6400
meters, a height gain of 1000 meters in what can only be described as a
really enjoyable 9 – 12 hour slog. This little climb was broken by a 1 hour
rest at Camp 1 where a game of human Tetris was played in order to allow
four people to comfortable squeeze into a 3 man tent for a short rest.

The move from Camp 1 to Camp 2 across the Western Cwm was only problematic
from the point of view that Camp 2 can be seen from quite a distance away
and just doesn’t seem to get any closer. During this time it was decided
that no Canadian shall ever be allowed to judge distance ever. After a short
rest, one member of the former mentioned country said on moving off “We are
now on the last 300 meters”, an hour later it was noted that this distance
appreciation was a gross miscalculation.

On arrival at Camp 2, a 24 hour down period to allow rest and further
acclimatization ensued. After this period, acclimatization walks ranging
from only approaching the bottom of the Lhotse Face to actually touching
Camp 3 were conducted over the following few days.

The 4th May saw the team head from Camp 2 to Camp 3 at an altitude of 7200
meters and a height gain of 800 meters made in one day. The route consists
of a very gradual ascent of the Western Cwm to the Lhotse Face, and then
a fairly steep climb up the face to ascend a further 400 meters to Camp 3.
The night spent at Camp 3 can be described as……total shit! Not due to
altitude but just because the tent situation was far from a haven of comfort
and warmth. Sometimes no amount of instant Cappuccino can make a bad
situation better.

The next day, the team descended to Camp 2, followed by an early morning
start to once again tackle the ladders of the Khumbu Icefall for the forth
time in order to return to Base Camp on the morning of the 6th May, nearly a
week after initially venturing out on our second and last acclimatization
round.

The team is now as acclimatized as it can be and shall now leave Base Camp
to rest for a week at a lower altitude to allow our bodies to repair from
all the various ailments picked up over the previous few weeks. Maybe a good
old fashioned piss up in Dingboche will also be on the cards?

The next time we set foot on the mountain it shall be for the summit bid….

Richie Maybank – UK

The last couple off days our team off Sherpa’s worked extremely hard to cut
ledges in the ice to pitch tents for us in camp 2. They even managed to sett
up a full kitchen and a small dining. This makes camp 2 our Advanced Base
Camp and a comfortable camp to hang out to optimize our acclimatization.

A few off us needed more time in Base Camp and heading up to Camp 2 tomorrow

Our plan is to spend some days up high and finally sleep in Camp 3 at around
7200m, but camp 3 is only partly pitched at the moment and we still have
some work to do there. This 2nd rotation will take about one week. Once
everybody slept in camp 3 our acclimatization is finished and we will head
back to Base camp for our final rest before the summit push.

Once I reached Camp 2 I will call in voice dispatches about our progress

High Altitude Greetings,

Arnold Coster, Expedition Leader

All members of the team arrived safely back at base camp on 27 April, 2012.
Since then, we’ve been hard at work sleeping, making ourselves presentable
to the general trekking public – who, let’s be honest, deserve to see a good
show of rugged, handsome and clean mountain climbers, washing – in some
cases our two pairs of underwear, eating everything like there’s no tomorrow
and watching thriller movies on the big projector Arnold installed in the
mess tent.

More importantly, these last few days of sloth-like behaviour have been
critical in allowing us to recover from various small ailments, like the
Khumbu cough and colds. While at base camp, these ailments may seem
insignificant, but at higher elevations, they can quickly become
debilitating, forcing us to go down earlier than planned.

The team is now also smaller: Grace went down to Pheriche two nights ago to
meet up with a friend. Yesterday, Rob (a.k.a. Pumba), who is on a shorter
schedule to reach Camp 3, was feeling strong enough to head back up to Camp
2. Simon and Jess – who made it to base camp for a visit – left us to go
back to Kathmandu. Evelyn and Eric’s time was also up and they departed as
well. As a result, our meal gatherings are noticeably smaller. We make do
and huddle closely together, coughing in chorus under the soft glow of the
propane heater.

Tomorrow, in the wee hours of the morning, the majority of the team will be
heading back up the Khumbu icefall once more. This time, we’ll bypass Camp
1 and go directly to Camp 2 where we’ll be spending some 4-5 nights. Our
foray will also include a trip up to Camp 3 as the lines on the Lhotse face
are now fixed and ready. We’re all excited to be on the move again and to
continue our epic adventure.

If any mistakes in my English sorry for that.
Till my next opportunity to say something on this blog.
Cheers Joost

Some buzz-words were spoken often by members:
Super-califrag-alistic-expialidocious, Lethal Weapon, Vertical Limit, Ladder
Dancing, and a lot of laughs kept everyone focused enough to update their
skills, but still stay serious enough to respect the task at hand and the
dangers of passing through the icefall multiple times in the coming weeks.

It’s Wind Beneath My Wings, rappelling down an ice cliff, and the wind at
5400m feels good you know. I can’t wait, The “IceFall is Sexy”, exclaimed
once Female member of the team.

Mia Graffe was seen tap dancing across the ladders, and made them look easy.
This could be a sign of things yet to come for the young lady who is trying
to become the first Finnish woman to climb Lhotse, Everests neighbor at over
8500meters.

The Sherpas seemed to be enjoying the progress of the team as well, and even
took time to make some funny faces in a cut-out hole in the vertical ice,
much like a cut-out hole at your local carnival. While crossing a double
ladder, team members were critiqued by Jangboo Sherpa, who is an 11 time
Everest Veteran, and looking to make it a cool Dozen times to the summit.
He would giggle, laugh and give his “thumbs-up” approval for each member
after a successful ladder crossing.

Arnold Coster expressed the importance of backing yourself up at all times
with your safety line, then attaching your Jumar to the rope. “Efficiency
is key, and when we go through the Icefall, we leave very early, 3am.”
Hopefully we will be acclimatized well enough to go fast at a good steady
pace because being fast and going early lowers risk”.

Preferably we want to leave Basecamp, make it through the Icefall in 4 hours
or less, and be up to Camp 1 above the Icefall before 10am. Getting there
before 9am would be even better. Some members will take 4 hours the first
time, while some will take up to 6 hours, but Arnold says that he wants
everyone to be up there in less than 6 hours, before 10am. The Icefall and
hanging Seracs of the West Shoulder of Everest stay frozen the best before
the day’s warmth hits by 10am. Any later in that area and you are asking
for trouble in the form of falling blocks of ice and snow avalanches.

After resting tomorrow the 23rd of April, we will leave basecamp on Tuesday
the 24th of April at 3am and go up to Camp 1 which is at roughly
6000m/20000 feet. On the 25th, If you feel well enough you can day/morning
hike for 2 to 3 hours up to Camp 2 at the base of the Lhotse Face up through
the Western Cwm. This camp is at about 6400m/21,400 feet. Once touching the
Camp 2 for a brief Lunch, then we will return to Camp 1 for a second night
before descending back through the Icefall very early on Thursday the 26th
and then rest in Basecamp for 3-4 days after that. This upcoming rotation
will help a great deal with acclimatizing and stimulating Red Blood Cells in
the body. We will update again following this upcoming rotation. The
team is doing well, and most members are feeling strong, including myself,
looking forward to getting up on the mountain and into the icefall! Stay
Tuned!

Jon Kedrowski

This is Grace McDonald with a dispatch for the Summitclimb, Everest, Lhotse
and Everest Training Climb Expedition 2012.

We had a leisurely 8:00 am breakfast and then we were all off to our tents
to sort out our packs for our trip up to Pumori Advanced Base Camp at
approximately 5,900 metres. This would be our next step in our
acclimatization plan. We had nice weather and after a few rest days I think
we were all ready to get in a little exercise. The group stayed together as
we moved out of Everest base camp and then we all fell into our individual
paces as we began the steep walk and eventual scramble up to Pumori ABC.
Three of us arrived in about 2 hours with one of our Sherpas, Pasang and we
were feeling pretty good so we took a few minutes to hydrate and helped set
up a bunch of tents. People continued to arrive and more and more tents
went up. Eventually we were all settled in, two to a tent and we relaxed
and continued hydrating. We had amazing views of Lhotse, Everest, Lingtren,
the Khumbu Icefall and down to Everest basecamp. Unfortunately cloud
eventually started closing in so we took dinner in our tents and some of us
visited other tents for cards and music but most were off for an early night
of sleep. Me, Jon and Richie hung out for a while socializing and ended up
serenading our neighbors with a rendition of Bob Marley’s Redemption song -
perhaps not as appreciated as we thought but good fun. We stretched the
night out as long as we could but eventually it was time to call it a night
and the three of us headed off to bed. Most of us found it was actually a
fairly comfortable evening. I think we all managed to get at least a few
hours of good sleep – some had their best night of sleep yet. Being up so
much higher, the sun hit us earlier and many were up and wandering around
before 7 am, taking lots of pictures, snacking on oatmeal and noodle soup,
packing up and helping the Sherpas take down the tents. There was a pretty
cool looking ventricular cloud over Everest that attracted a lot of photo
snaps. Everyone seemed to be in good spirits and some people planned to
head over to Gorak Shep for their Internet fix before heading back to
Everest base camp. Before everyone started heading down we watched Rob tape
a few shots for his ongoing Pumba video and we managed to surprise bomb him
with a bunch of snowballs during his last take. We had a great laugh and
Rob enjoyed it as well. I’m sure it will make his outtake reel. A few of us
walked down a longer path over towards Pumori basecamp to send off one
member to Gorak Shep and then we wandered off back towards Everest basecamp
where we caught the rest of the group heading down. It was actually a nice
day for walking and once everyone got back into camp plans started hatching
for showers. We were also all very happy to meet David, who is also joining
us for the Everest climb. Sadly the snow has started falling so it’s a bit
chilly and people have been removing themselves from the shower line and
instead taking to their tents for an afternoon nap. We’ll have everyone up
a bit later for dinner and a movie – tonight R.E.D. (hopefully we have
enough battery power!)

While we were heading out to Pumori ABC, one of our Everest Camp 3 climbers,
Evelyn, took an early morning trip through the Khumbu Icefall and stayed at
Camp 1. She got back just before we did and is doing quite well. She and
Eric are hoping to head back up to Camp 1 in a couple of days. They are on a
slightly accelerated schedule.

We are planning on having a training day tomorrow to show off our hopefully
amazing cramponing, jumaring and abseiling skills! Should be lots of fun.
After that we’ll make plans for our first trip up the Khumbu Icefall.

Thank you for following our adventure here on the South side of Everest. We
all appreciate your support.