Update from Monty

Yeay!! Restrictions are lifted and we can openly send info out. It's been a very long while since we've been able to do a complete update on things, so this is going to be much longer than usual. We also have lots of photos, so apologies if this clogs your inbox (photos have been posted separately - click here to view them). The good news is that the Chinese finally summited yesterday, and yesterday afternoon restrictions were (mostly) removed. Doing stupid things like the idiot at C1 who had a "F*** China" banner are still restricted (his passport was confiscated and he was escorted out of the country). This won't be a FULL update; the politics are mostly being left out – stuff like searches, armed military, spy planes, arrests, checklists... it's been totally surreal and felt like a scene from Kafka. But the military departed this morning and all that's left is our liaison officer Major Leelu (sp?). He's a really nice, fun guy who's integrated well into the team.

Wow – there's just SO much to say! I'll try to break it into what we're doing and what it's like to be here at BC (and above). We've been up to C2 (ABC) on two acclimatization rotations. BC is at the foot of the Khumbu Icefall, C1 is at the top of it (and at the lower end of the Western Cwm), and C2 is at the far end of the Cwm and at the base of the Lhotse Face. C1 is sparse; a few tents and a kitchen tent for the Sherpas for heating water. C2 is full of amenities – dining tents for us and the Sherpas, a kitchen tent, even latrines. So the goal is to get to C2 where a full rest is more comfortable.

Everything starts with the Icefall. I was surprised by how BIG it is. It's about 2000ft high and maybe a mile long. But first – WHAT'S an icefall? A glacier is a river of ice, and an icefall is analogous to a waterfall. Or imagine a half-mile-wide river, with a mile-long waterfall dropping 2000ft. Now picture it with a jumble of ice chunks ranging in size from refrigerators to multi-story buildings. And they're all moving, but thankfully at glacial speed – but they ARE moving. This makes the icefall the most dangerous part of the climb, and moving thru quickly and efficiently means safety.

There are ladders throughout – over crevasses, up walls of ice; short and long. Some crevasses have multiple ladders lashed together, with handlines on either side into which you clip your safety line. Some are solid, some are very shaky, but they're actually easier to cross and less nerve-wracking than reputed. You look down to see your feet and crampons on the rungs, but don't look past that at the drop below you. Then there are the vertical ladders. I hate those. They're especially hard to climb down; you have to hang your arse into space and blindly step down, while mixed up in a tangle of ropes. One misstep wouldn't mean death, but the 20-30ft drop sure would hurt. Fortunately many of the vertical ladders also have rappel ropes; I'd much rather rap down than use the ladders.

Once thru the main part of the icefall then there's still about a half mile of meandering thru a huge crevasse field before reaching C1. It's not particularly difficult or scary, but you're pretty tired by this point, and it's all up, down, over,around, etc. Overall the icefall takes 3-5 hours to cross (depending on your acclimatization).

The Western Cwm
Cwm is a Welsh word that just means valley; the Western Cwm is the huge valley between Lhotse (actually Nuptse) and Everest. It's about two miles long, and ends in the Lhotse Face; the huge climb leading to the South Col. I thought it was a big flat walk, but it too is riddled with crevasses. Most are small; with apparent openings only a foot or two wide, but peering into them reveal huge overhung edges with a deep black maw underneath. More ropes and ladder crossings; maybe two hours from C1-C2.

Acclimatization Trips
So far we've done three trips thru the icefall. First was a practice trip about halfway thru, then back to BC. A bit of rest, then an acclimatization trip to C1, sleeping there two nights and returning to Base. A few more days rest, then mostrecently a longer trip – day one to C1, day 2 to C2, then two full days resting/acclimatizing at C2, then day five return to BC. The next trip will be to C3, most likely skipping C1 altogether – day one straight to C2, a rest day, then up to C3 for one night, day four back to C2, and day five home to BC again. The next (last!) time up would then be the summit bid.

Most of our team left for C2/C3 early this morning. With the Chinese restrictions lifted, Sherpas are now placing the fixed ropes to C3, and then will chop the tent platforms in the ice. Our team is proceeding to C2 (Advance Base Camp), rest at ABC, then up to C3 once it's established. Both Phunuru (Val's Sherpa) and I have been fighting a cold, so we decided to take an extra rest/healing day before heading up.

Tomorrow the four of us will climb straight to C2, then a rest day or two, then up the Lhotse Face to C3 for a miserable night, finally descending back to Base to rest up for the summit bid.

Immediately after C3 is installed, Sherpas will place the lines thru the Yellow Band and Geneva Spur up to the South Col,establishing C4. More work will then commence to fix lines to the summit – up the Triangular Face, Balcony, HillaryStep and finally along the summit ridge to the summit!

Many people ask when we think we'll be summiting. Well the weather decides that, but if all goes well, we'll do our C3 rotation May 10-14, then 5-7 days rest, and our summit push will hopefully start around May 20. A TENTATIVE schedule could be: May 21 to C2, 22 rest, 23 to C3, 24 to C4, 25 SUMMIT!! and back to C4, 26 to ABC and 27 descend to BC.

Oxygen
IMG uses a different oxygen system than other teams (Poisk is the standard; IMG uses TopOut). I've played with both and must say I'm impressed with the TopOut. I've worked with the mask/regulator/bottle both in the day and in the dead of night (it's cold and dark and much more indicative of what it's like on summit day). I'm impressed with the fit and relative comfort, and how it integrates with balaclava, glasses/goggles, helmet and headlamp. TopOut's system delivers almost 100% of the oxygen to your lungs, instead of bleeding lost oxygen into the air as most of the other systems do. What this means is that for the same flow rate, you're getting almost double the usable oxygen into your lungs. We all have our own mask and regulator which is now as much a part of our gear as our harness or crampons. Using the O's has given me another bump in confidence in my/our ability to reach the summit.

Base Camp
Outside Magazine had an article last year on Everest BC, breaking the camp into ‘countries'. They called IMG BC “Luxuristan”. For the clients there are two dining tents (complete with carpeting), a cook tent, a communications tent, a medical tent (well, it's used mostly for playing poker), and two storage tents. Each of these range in size from small garage to small house. In addition, there are other cook/dining/storage for the staff, too. We have two shower tents with running hot water, a hot water tap and clothes wringer for laundry, and two latrine tents. Each of us has our own 3-person 4-season tent that is our ‘home' for the duration of the trip.

BC itself is situated on a corner of the Khumbu Glacier within a huge cirque of mountains. Small and large avalanches occur all around us every 1-2 hours, although BC is protected from these. There's no question we're on a glacier. There's ice poking out everywhere, and as summer approaches, the lakes and streams appear in random and unexpected locations. Right now the central area of camp has developed a lake, which we've begun both filling in and draining. Many of our tents will eventually need relocation, as the ground underneath shifts.

The food is bountiful, tasty, and omnipresent. Meals begin with a hot towel, then soup, and the main course. Heavy on potatoes and veggies, with meat ranging from (what they say is) water buffalo, hot dogs, Spam, and the occasional chicken. Dessert is usually canned fruit. 3pm teatime has popcorn or cheese/crackers/salami, and sometimes even fresh sushi. We've had two birthdays this week, each with balloons, birthday cake with candles, and gifts.

The tables are laden with condiments - Worchestershire, salad dressing, ketchup/mustard, hot sauces, soy sauce, salt/pepper grinders, etc. There are at least a dozen hot drink choices – teas, coffees, hot chocolate, fruity mixes, etc. Finally are the snackfoods – cookies, Pringles, crackers, pickles, you name it. All of this is available day/night. This sounds excessive, but calories and massive food intake is MANDATORY. I'm eating as much as I can and by the scale that's here, have only lost ~15lbs so far.

Food is prepared for us at C2 (Advance Base Camp) but at C1, C3 and C4 we're bringing a mix of military MREs, freeze-dried, and anything we want from cases and cases of snack food. Maintaining appetite, energy and weight is critical to high-altitude mountaineering, and IMG is insuring that food is NOT a limiting factor.

Rest days at BC are a mix of reading, cards, hikes, showers/laundry, and just killing time. Last week we had our first movie night, with Val and me cranking up the laptop and a DVD after dinner. This has become a regular event, with most nights much of the team and staff crowding into the largest tent, heater cranked, and snack food flowing. Temps are, or should be, rather cool, but on a cloudless calm day the tents become ovens. Otherwise it's typically 40-50s in the daytime and 20s or colder at night. Overall quite tolerable, really. High camps get just that much colder, approaching 0degF at night. We've been quite fortunate that there have been no storms or really bad weather so far. (I wrote that last week. Two hours later it started snowing, and snowed for four days. This same weather front created the tornado in Burma that killed tens of thousands).

We get weather from a service in the States that aggregates a number of different reports. Currently the outlook is positive; the jet stream is staying north of the summit, and it appears we have almost three weeks until the monsoon hits. The recent snow may improve the route above C2. The mountain has been quite free of snow, making the travel more difficult; while wearing crampons traveling over snow is easier and safer than traveling over bare rock. Over the next couple days we'll be getting reports of the route conditions up high.

Health
You're gonna get sick on a trip like this. You just hope it's early enough that you can recover and keep climbing. An intestinal bug and a respiratory bug have both worked their way thru camp. I've had them both and returned quite healthy. I've always had a slight case of exercise-induced asthma and it's really making itself known here. The cold dry air really irritates my lungs and I've got the typical ‘Khumbu cough', although an asthma inhaler I got from the medical group here at BC really helps. Other team members are battling ailments large and small, with the expectation that they self-quarantine while ailing. Three members have already left the expedition due to health or other reasons; we hear that ‘only' three dropping so far is a very low number. As mentioned above, I'm currently healing from a cold and have pushed back our climb to C3 to allow another day's rest. (Dave and Marleen – thanks for the herbs, they're really helping!)

Here's where I'll say some things about IMG's planning and oversight. They have an overall ‘recipe' that's gotten many people to the top, of which you're free to modify as desired. But if your performance is significantly below what they know is required, they'll tell you, and eventually even 'strongly discourage' you from proceeding. This may seem harsh, but I don't think so. By stopping someone they're reducing the risk of a likely rescue (or body recovery!). Other outfits are known for their tolerance, but I feel that IMG's oversight and planned allocation of rescue resources increases everyone's chances of returning home safely.

Personal Sherpas - Pasang Rinji and Phunuru
My and Val's personal Sherpas have very different levels of experience. My Sherpa, Pasang, is on his second year as a personal Sherpa, after previous years as a climbing Sherpa (they help put in the route). Phunuru however is an old hand at this, with years of experience with clients and also as a climbing instructor. With my fifteen years of experience leading and instructing with the Mazamas and elsewhere, I feel more like Phunuru. I have strong opinions on climbing methodologies and safety, and I can see at times I may intimidate Pasang (What? Me intimidate??? Never!) But we're getting on well and I'm hoping to show him some of the Northwest this summer – he's coming to Bend, OR for two months immediately after the climb.

Our Sherpas climb with us, and help out if necessary. So far I don't think Val nor I particularly have needed assistance, but it's nice to know they're there. They also help at high camp(s), bringing us tea and hot water, as well as setting up the camps. There's a clear difference in the level of personal service provided by the Sherpas vs the Western guides; something noted particularly by the guided clients.

Team and staff
I mentioned in an earlier posting about climbers vs adventurers. There are clearly people here for both, but thus far this hasn't been nearly the issue I'd heard it would be. Everyone on the team has plenty of experience, and the overall team is integrating well. There's very little drama or issues that could divide and cause problems.

The glue holding everything together is Mark Tucker, or mothertucker, or usually, just ‘Tuck'. He's been doing this for years and really knows how to run a base camp and a climb. Part team leader, part cat-herder, but always the authority. Equal to him is Ang Jangbu, who is universally respected around all of BC as one of the leading voices on what goes on. He's slightly more behind the scenes; to generalize, Tuck deals with us and Jangbu deals with BC.

There are SO many other staff – cooks, porters, climbing Sherpas, etc. For the two dozen climbers we have about four dozen staff. I suppose this COULD be done solo/alpine style, without the staff, but they make it comfortable and pleasant, in addition to handling most of the hard work like building camp(s) and hauling the heavy loads.

Pictures
Val and I sorted thru almost 1000 shots so far and will be trying to send along about two dozen, starting from our climb of Lobuche all the way thru the Lhotse Face. These will hopefully be on the web, so you might have to see them there.

Well that's all for today. VERY long, but it'll catch you up on five weeks of government-imposed silence. Tomorrow we head to C3, then hopefully one more shorter dispatch before the SUMMIT BID!

Many thanks for all your prayers and well-wishes, and all of you are constantly in our thoughts. We miss you and hope to be seeing you soon.

Monty