Friday, April 25, 2008

Update from Monty

Passing on a brief message from Monty... He and Val are about to make their second 5-day rotation up to Camp 2. They are in good health and climbing strong. Monty described the Khumbu Icefall as being "tough". He also said IMG has put together a great team of clients, guides and Sherpas and everything else is going good.

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Monty and Val at EBT

Just to let everyone know both Monty and Val have made it to Everest Base Camp. The following dispatch was posted yesterday (April 9th) to the IMG website:

IMG Leader Mark Tucker reports that all is well at Base Camp, and that the entire team is now there. The members had their puja today and after that, the EBC Trekkers started back down the valley, planning on taking four days to hike to Lukla. The Icefall sherpas have been making good progress and we expect the Icefall route to be finished in the next few days. The team members are spending the next couple days making preparations to begin climbing. This is a great chance for everyone to do some further acclimatization, before starting to climb the Icefall on the first C1/C2 acclimatization rotations. We'll keep you posted!

Not much else is known besides that. Communication with the outside world is heavily restricted and requires approval from the authorities. It appears that the final South Side restriction is no climbing above Camp 2 before May 10th or whenever the Chinese make it to the top with the Olympic torch. For more information on South Side restrictions checkout the following article:

http://www.alpinist.com/doc/web08s/newswire-everest-follow-up

Saturday, April 5, 2008

Update from Lobuche

Greetings -
[Val and I didn't coordinate notes so I'm sure there'ssome overlap if you're reading them from both of us.]
Again, this may be the last dispatch. Here's thelatest - Camp3 is again restricted before May 10 and now possibly ALLelectronics must be locked up. There are huge elections here on May 10and there could be changes in the government, at which point all NEWrestrictions could come into force. But the team leaders' best guess nowis that outgoing communications may be restricted to the point ofnon-existent. It's all up in the air and we're all just being asked toflow with it, although everyone - the leaders, the guides, the staff andof course the climbers are all frustrated but hoping for the best.
Not much else to report. We're up at Lobuche, at
about 16,000ft. We're trekking very slow, with a rest day after each day
of moving, so today some of us took a hike up toward Island Peak, in the valley between the back of Ama Dablam and Lhotse.
Hopefully the picture came thru – it's a snap of me in from of Lhotse.
There's a stomach bug going around the group, but onlylasts ~2days. I had it and stayed close to camp, but feel much betternow, although three other people are now ailing. It feels like foodpoisoning, but is getting passed around like a virus.
Also attached is a photo of Val and me with Phunuruand Pasang Rinji, our two personal Sherpas.
Monty


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Thursday, April 3, 2008

[From Val] Almost half way there, in one dimension

We are almost half way there, in one dimension at least, that being altitude. There are, of course, many many dimensions to it all. Some are absolute, as in ~14,000 ft at Dingboche, 7am breakfast time, 1 liter of boiled water. Some are transitory, as in good health, strong legs, flexible hamstrings. You can measure a trip, a trek, a climb in many ways--in days, in camps, in villages, in altitudes. The best ways are in the 'wows' at the views of Ama Dablam or Lhotse as you move into twisted triangle or the favorite--pidgeon. The smile at the mother carrying her child down the 'street', the child's hair in a waterfall ponytail on top of her head. The heart conversations with your climbing partner in the tent after dinner. The sound and smell of freshly-planed wood beams, ready to build the new tea house. The heat from the yak-dung fire to dry your washed hair. The reflections on your hike to the next villiage that you are really here to climb to the highest point in the world, that is is just around the corner, in many dimensions.
 
The dimension of health took a little dip back in Debuche two days ago for me. Where after afternoon tea with popcorn and mint tea, I then decided I wasn't so interested in lunch. And a few hours later decided I also wasn't so interested in breakfast. But after a full 24 hours of rest, sleep, and rehydration, I was back to normal, with regularly scheduled yoga classes to boot. I am waving my flag to the wind right now, telling it that I am now well adjusted to the food and atmosphere (I hope it listens).
 
The mornings are cyrstal clear, but by now (~1pm) the winds have picked up and the clouds are rolling in, all as expected. This afternoon we'll take a day hike to Pheriche, and tomorrow move on to Lobuche (villiage).
 
Namaste until next time,
Val
 
 
 


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