Hello All,
This is Mark Tucker from Everest Basecamp! The boys are back in town. The team just returned from their rotation up high and their timing was perfect as usual. No sooner did they arrive here at Basecamp than it began snowing and blowing. The weather is not conducive to it being a shower day but tomorrow may provide suitable conditions. In other positive news the rope fixing team made it to the South Col so the flood gates, and the route to the upper mountain, are open. A bit of the Jet stream is in the neighborhood for the next few days but the push for rope fixing to the summit is in the works. The RMI climbing team is enjoying the thick air, seats with backs, and great food. Let the rest phase begin.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
Dave Hahn here calling in from 21,300' on Mount Everest, Advanced Base Camp. A big day for us. We went as planned up on the Lhotse Face. We went to 23,500', very nearly to where our Camp 3 is gonna be, just short of that. A good day out on the Face. We broke Dan Johnson's altitude record. We didn't quite break Seth's or mine. But really nice to be climbing up on the Lhotse Face and a beautiful day. And from way up there, looking at Everest, the top of Everest and the plume blowing off, it was impossible not think of the day that Jim Whittaker and Nawang Gombu, two of our heroes, summitted the mountain 50 years ago in a big cloud and snow plume, in high winds. But pretty remarkable anniversary and neat to be around the mountain for that anniversary. We are definitely thinking of that incredible accomplishment 50 years ago, but also our own incredible accomplishment today. It felt really good getting up there and getting back down. And as well, a number of Sherpas, from various teams got together and fixed rope all the way to the South Col today. So rope is fixed to 8,000 meters and that is pretty much opening the door for summit bids. May is here and it's all gonna start happening. But we're pretty psyched with what we accomplished on this round. We're headed down in the morning and looking forward to the comforts of Base camp. Bye for now.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
RMI Guide Dave Hahn calls in from Advanced Basecamp.
Way to GO Dan!! We are following your progress and send our prayers via west winds. Our best to all our Sherpa friends who helped us out at Base Camp Everest this year- we had a wonderful time. Mark- Khumbu Masters?
Posted by: Elsie Bemiss on 5/1/2013 at 6:38 pm
Congratulations Dan on your new milestone. More to come!
I’m trying to keep track of Base Camp trips up and back. What will be the roundtrip total? Five?
Today is a rest day for our Sherpa team and the upper mountain fixing group as well. It was breezy most of the day, with some clouds rolling in in the afternoon.
Tomorrow the route fixing team will push towards Camp Four, the South Col, while Dave and our crew will get onto the Lhotse Face. They are working their way up to Camp Three for training and then will return to Camp Two for one final night before returning to Base Camp. This is turning out to be a great rotation for our team.
It is not easy living up at 21,000 ft, but it is so crucial for the body to adjust to these extreme altitudes and thus prepares our team for future pushes to even greater altitudes. Building on these incremental efforts and experiences is so important mentally and physically. It will pay off with a safe and successful climb later.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn checks in via Satellite phone. Listen to his voice mail in the audio clip below.
Team Member Update:
Due to a potential medical issue, James was sent home last week by the doctors at base camp. He is now at home consulting with his family doctor.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn checks in from Advanced Base Camp on Mt. Everest.
Hello, Dave Hahn calling down from Advanced Basecamp in the fog, 21,300'. Today was a beautiful day. Significant to us, in that a combination team of climbers building the route on the Lhotse Face succeeded in getting as far as Camp 3 and perhaps even a little bit beyond that. Fixing rope up the steep and icy Lhotse Face. We didn't want to get in the way of that today. We actually hiked up to about 22,000', towards the west shoulder. Certainly not all the way to the west shoulder, which is about 25,000' in some very steep, hard ice in that direction. But the part we could do today made for a nice hike and gave us a great view off the Western Cwm. Pretty amazing. With the exception of the snow that fell last week, it just doesn't appear to be any snow left over from the monsoon or the winter. Just bare ice up in this upper valley, and these glaciers are continuing to take a beating. On the good side, our Sherpa team, Tshering, Gyaljen, and Kaji, they successfully made a carry up here today, to ABC, carrying oxygen bottles for the summit bid. And then the three of them and Lam Babu, went back down to Basecamp. It's just myself, Dan, Seth and Yubaraj up here at ABC. All is well. Bye now.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
RMI Guide Dave Hahn called in from Everest Advanced Basecamp.
Beautiful pics and such interesting commentaries. I am really enjoying the updates every day - it sure beats watching the evening news on the TV. Wishing you guys continued good weather and safe climbing.
Posted by: Josephine Johnson on 4/30/2013 at 12:38 am
All the best! What a privilege it must be to see such a beautiful range of mountains!
This is Dave Hahn calling down from Advanced Base Camp, 21,300'. A good day for Seth, Dan, and myself and Lam Babu and Yubaraj up here at ABC. Seemed like it was going be a little stormy this morning. There were clouds around, but we ended up with a pretty good sunshine, pretty calm conditions down here in the valley. We went for a late acclimatization walk up to about 21,800', close to the base of the Lhotse Face. That was a right move for us anyway today, a little light activity on our first day at Advanced Base Camp. And then resting until noon. We can’t do too much differently right now, the route up the Lhotse Face is not fully established yet. There has been a few unforeseen delays in getting that route fixed. We’re okay taking it easy. We have hiking plans for tomorrow as well. And working this acclimatization round the best we can. That is all for tonight. Talk to you tomorrow.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
The RMI Everest Expedition is on track! Three super Sherpa went from Base Camp to Camp 2. En route they stopped at Camp 1 to offer some help to the team and carried the radio and electrical equipment up to Camp 2. After arriving at Camp 2, they put the puzzle together and bingo, loud and clear communication between Basecamp and Camp 2. A few days ago they carried a couple of community loads of climbing gear, and a strong team of upper mountain route workers placed anchors and rope up the Lhotse Face. With the team now nesting at Camp 2 and feeling good, it makes for another great day here on Mount Everest. It did snow a couple of inches last night, but a beautiful day with just enough wind to whip the loose snow around making for wild views. A little maintenance on the floors of the dining and communication tents today is routine when living on a moving glacier.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
Hey RMI, this is Dave Hahn, Seth Waterfall and Dan Johnson. We're up at Camp 1, and we came up this morning through the Ice Fall in about five hours time. Good moving and great conditions today, just a beautiful morning. And coming into Camp 1, it seemed like we were on a different planet than when we were last here and it was snowing so hard and so cloudy and cold. So today we just had a nice calm, sunny day at Camp 1. Rested and relaxed, drank a bunch of water. And we're a little bit excited because we're moving up to Camp 2 tomorrow. Our Sherpa team established Camp 2 yesterday and built it up. Yubaraj and Lam Babu spent the night up there. It's about dinner time now. The clouds were starting to creep in. Late afternoon clouds, not bad weather. Later this evening we expect them to roll right back out again. So everything is going well on our second rotation. We're hoping to be up here for about a week this time. A little bit longer. But we've been in touch with Mark Tucker down at Basecamp and everything seems to be going well. All for now, bye.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
What a night to take in last evening! We had perfect conditions: clear, calm, and almost a full moon. It was a bit chilly, but that is what our puffy coats and pants are for. After so much unsettled weather, it was so peaceful you could almost think we were in the most tranquil environment on earth! Of course, the hanging glaciers and thousands of feet of vertical rock overhead remind us that "tranquil" is all relative in this neck of the ice.
The team was up early in the AM and sent up gear for the community effort to fix ropes to Camp 3. Our group plans on some training en route up to Camp 3 as well. We have two Sherpa at Camp 2 right now who are working hard and preparing to welcome the climbers to Advanced Base Camp in a couple of days.
The team continues to take care and plans for the long haul ahead.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
NIce swing Tuck. Bummed that I wasn’t able to play a few rounds with you at Base Camp this year but I saw the clubs outside the com tent and took a few practice swings. My duct tape balls couldn’t compete with whiffle balls. Safe travels to Camp 3.
Posted by: Elsie Bemiss on 4/26/2013 at 6:38 am
Your reports are uniquely super! Who is your writer? I’m in the movie business and always expect a highly paid ghost writer behind every writer as good as you and your partners.
Warm regards,
Wolf
Well it's another beautiful day in Basecamp. We're enjoying another rest day before heading back up the mountain.
The teams have all joined forces to equip the Lhotse Face with fixed rope for the next series of acclimatization rounds. As a small team we will do our part by bringing gear up to Camp 2. If the weather holds then the 'fixing' will start on the 26th. That will clear the path to the South Col and then teams will begin establishing camps there.
The Col is a long way off for us though as we have quite a bit more acclimatization to go before we'll be ready for heading to 8000 meters (26,000 feet). It's all part of the long process of climbing Mount Everest.
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
The day started out sparkling and blue... A welcome change from the weather of the past week, but by early afternoon it was back to overcast and snow flurries. Word was that those trying to travel between Camp One and Two were encountering waist deep snow and that as much as another meter had fallen on C1 since we left it two days ago. It hasn't been normal in recent years to get so much snow in April, but we choose to look at things optimistically, and we hope that some of the snow sticks up high to make travel a bit safer on the Lhotse Face and on summit day above the South Col.
That is all a bit far off today though. We are still taking it easy and resting up for the next -all important- push up the mountain. (Any push up this mountain is all important to those of us doing the pushing)
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Thank you for super reports! Stay safe!!!
Wolf
Posted by: Wolf Schmidt on 5/2/2013 at 10:05 pm
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