Our team is all tucked in at Mt. Everest's Camp 1. Myself and Lam Babu attended an all expedition meeting to sort out details for upcoming upper mountain rope placement. In itself there is a mountain of rope to be carried up the hill. Great to see all the cooperation amongst the teams to get this job going.
Dave Hahn called in from Camp 1 after the team was settled in. Listen to his audio report below.
RMI Guides Mark Tucker and Dave Hahn
We were all keyed up and ready to climb last night. Dinner was eaten with a sense of purpose, figuring we'd burn thousands of calories going up the Khumbu Icefall and living at Camp One. Each climber turned in carefully, arranging every piece of gear just so for a cold pre-dawn start. And we were up at 4 AM getting boots tied and helmets on when the word came down of a collapse in the middle of the Icefall. We could then see the parade of Sherpa headlights in the lower half of the Icefall... all going the wrong way. Down. Chherring and Gyalgen from our own team had radioed down to say that the route was impassible and that the midsection of the climb would need special attention -new ladders and fixed rope- from the Icefall Doctors. The coffee was hot and our pre-climb breakfast of boiled eggs and porridge was on, so we sat down together anyway and tried to get used to the idea that we weren't going up. No great physical and mental test to pass after all. Until tomorrow. It was with an odd mix of emotions that we each then went back to bed for a few hours. The next time we rose and had breakfast, around 8 AM, a thin blanket of fresh snow had somehow fallen on the tents. It was calm and sunny and the Icefall was unnaturally free of visible climber traffic. After this breakfast, we took our smartphones out to the medial moraine to connect with the world and to read the sad news coming from Boston. We then took a quiet hike down glacier, pioneering our way back across through the gleaming pinnacles of ice until we could reach the well-traveled lateral moraine that is the main foot/hoof path into Basecamp. We passed teams in mid-Puja and tent after tent after tent and basecamp after basecamp... everybody is here now. We don't actually know the number of climbers assembled, but it must be another record season from the looks of things. Most eyes today were focused upward and hopes were pinned on the Ice Docs finding some new way through the heart of the glacier.
We'll try again tomorrow.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Glad all is well. Thanks for the updates. Hope you guys are keeping warm, staying healthy and working a good strategy to climb among the masses. I have no doubt you are the smartest team up there! Hey, the Ice Doctors seem to be advertising that fact on their helmets, right?
Posted by: Josephine Johnson on 4/17/2013 at 8:44 pm
Wow! wonderful trip, All the best team
Posted by: ELIAZA MMBAGA (ELLY) on 4/17/2013 at 5:45 pm
Mark Tucker here at Everest Basecamp (EBC). Home away from home. I recently completed an Everest Basecamp Trek and Island Peak climb. Always a pleasure to share this amazing place with adventure travelers. I had a great time. Hope the return home for my team went smooth. Thank you all.
Back at EBC, I am settling in. Getting organized is always a bit of work but much appreciated as our team's prepare for the rotations to the upper camps. Now that the organizing is done, I opened up the local grocery store for the team. They went shopping for their food to be consumed at Camp 1 on their upcoming nights. They plan to head full force thru the Icefall in the early AM, looking at three nights on the hill. The team looks great, ready to get into meat of the climb. We did take time out to build the horseshoe pits and get in a couple games. Burrito night tonight. A favorite meal here at EBC.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
We're on a well-deserved rest day today at Basecamp. Yesterday we did our last turn up in the Khumbu Icefall before we push on to Camp 1. The cool and cloudy weather we've been having is supposed to clear with light winds so that should work in our favor.
Dave went up to Camp 1 this morning with our Sherpa crew to get our camp location dialed in. Once we pick a day, we'll head on up for our first rotation.
Here's a photo I snapped in the 'popcorn' section of the Icefall yesterday.
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
Dress Rehearsal Day. We were up at 4 AM, breakfasting by 4:15 and throwing on our packs about an hour later. By the time we were getting our crampons on, it was just lit enough that we no longer needed the headlights. The goal today was a "practice run" up to the midway point of the Khumbu Icefall route. We were lucky in that there was very little traffic on the route this morning. Blame that on the New Year's observances, I suppose, but it all worked well for us. We moved up through the "first ladders" area and then up the steep and airy "popcorn" section. The word last week was that the route had initially been established with only one ladder... but without a doubt we went up and over at least fifteen ladders to the halfway mark. The glacier is on the move, with the route consequently changing a little every day. We had a quick snack in the morning shadows at the "Dum" short for the "gear dump" which used to be a halfway camp and or gear staging area in the mid point of the Icefall. Then it was down... carefully, since every cramponed boot needed to be placed exactly to avoid drop offs and crevasses. We did quick arm rappels down one little ice wall after another until we were able to get down below the first ladders and out of the zone where we were endangered by ice over our heads and voids under our feet. Life got better then. We were back to Basecamp for lunch and afternoon naps.
In the afternoon, the sky clouded up and it appeared to be snowing on the upper halves of all the big peaks. At three I went to the first meeting of team leaders. It was something of a reunion since everybody there was an Everest repeat offender. We tried to hammer out a few details about radio frequencies and placements for rescue gear, among other things.
It turned into a good afternoon for hiding in tents, but that was fine. We did good outside work in the morning.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Rest day for our entire team today. The Sherpas were certainly entitled to one after their big day going to Camp II and back. And for the rest of us, it has been several days back-to-back of hikes and training. Time to slow it down, catch up on food, hydration and rest. And of course, hygiene. Today was shower day... we've got a little on-demand propane burning water heater rigged up on a shower tent that does the trick nicely. Not every day, of course, because propane isn't exactly naturally occurring in this valley, and because getting water just where you want it to be is rather labor intensive, as well. But every now and then it is oh so nice to get clean again.
Just before lunch, Mark Tucker made it into camp, fresh from Island Peak and another full circuit of the route to Lukla. So with our Basecamp manager on scene, the entire team is now assembled.
The climbers are getting gear ready for a "dress rehearsal" in the Icefall tomorrow, a practice run to the halfway point. The Sherpas are getting ready for a holiday... Nepali New Year tomorrow. To help with the festive atmosphere, Seth and I gave out brand new RMI uniform gear: Eddie Bauer First Ascent climbing clothing for the staff.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
The day started pretty early for Lam Babu and the Sherpa squad. They were putting on crampons at 4 AM and getting busy with the Khumbu Icefall as daylight came on. The five men were passing Camp One by around 6:30 and carrying their loads on up toward Camp 2 (Advanced Basecamp or ABC). The rest of us were just getting up and enjoying a calm morning at EBC, happy that the storm of the past couple of days seems to have fled. Great day for another hike, as it turned out. We went for a slightly farther goal today, if not exactly higher. Kalapathar is around 18,300 ft and we'd beaten that the other day on Pumori Camp One, but for KP we needed to descend farther, pretty much to the village of Gorak Shep. So the overall altitude gain, including having to climb all the way back up to Basecamp afterward, was greater. Exactly what the doctor ordered... more exercise at altitude, more great views. Kalapathar is actually not a mountain summit in its own right. It is more properly about as high as you can reasonably go in trail shoes on the start of one of Pumori's insanely steep ridges. But it is perfectly positioned to gain views of Everest, Lhotse and Nuptse, not to mention Pumori. And it is popular. We were in the mainstream of trekker and climber and porter traffic again, and things are definitely getting busy now. Just walking through Basecamp takes us a good twenty minutes and we are only going through about two thirds of camp (since we live in the upper third). But it turned out to be a wonderful day and we even had the top of Kalapathar to ourselves -for a few minutes, at least.
We were able to keep in communication with the Sherpa team and were pleased to hear that they were all back down to base by about noon. A monumental effort, all safely accomplished. So now, although we don't have tents up yet at either place (no sense putting them up any earlier than necessary, the wind would just take them down) we have Camps One and Two established.
The team is working steadily up toward the goal of safely taking on the Icefall. The route to Camp One is steep, technically difficult, dangerous and at high altitude... So if it seems like we are going out of our way to be ready for that first time through... We are.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Seth here at Everest Basecamp. It seems like the weather has fallen into a pattern of windy one day, calm the next. Yesterday we had high winds and a few inches of snow. Today when we awoke it was calm and sunny. We took to the glacier in the morning to practice crossing ladders in preparation for heading through the Khumbu Icefall. Crossing a ladder is definitely not the hardest thing we'll do on this trip but mentally it can be challenging to stand over a 100+ foot deep crevasse. That's why we practice down low before entering the Icefall.
The practice session went well and now that we're comfortable with the component of tackling the Icefall, it shouldn't be more than a few days before we head up to Camp 1.
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
The storm that seemed to be coming in yesterday afternoon got here. The morning wasn't actually all that bad. Just a bit breezy and overcast, but it was obvious that up high it was hitting a lot harder. For all of that, though, it didn't hold our team back. Lam Babu and the Sherpa team (Cherring, Kaji, Gyaljen, and Uberaj) were out in the dark, walking just after 4 AM bound for Camp One. The first carry went well and the boys established camp at close to 20,000 ft, reporting not much in the way of difficulties with the Khumbu Icefall (in truth though, our guys rarely report much in the way of difficulties).
Not willing to be totally sedentary while the Sherpas were setting such a fine example, the rest of us set off on a hike to Pumori Camp One. We figure that camp sits at about 18,600 ft, so it is perfect for getting in a workout and getting a little time up high without exposing ourselves to hazard. We even got some great views of the black pyramid-top of Mount Everest fighting it out with monster storm clouds. The West Ridge was taking on its ten millionth storm, splitting wind and clouds with its jagged rock prow. As we got a bit higher, scrambling our way up a rocky trail, we were treated to views of both the North Col (23,000 ft in Tibet) and the South Col (26,000 ft in Nepal). We were able to see all the mountains we'd trekked through to get to Everest, and closer to home it was humbling to look at the giant hanging glaciers of Pumori and Nuptse, up close and personal. We didn't spend too long at Camp One, before dropping back down and joining the trekker traffic again on the main trail to Basecamp. We were well motivated by Chef Kumar's lunch scheduled for 1:30 PM. As we got in the tent for lunch, it began snowing outside and so we mostly just huddled up and slept, read and played games for the afternoon. Such is expedition life at the moment. We are getting stronger each day now... We hope.
Several days ago a tragedy occurred as one of the "Icefall Doctors" suffered a crevasse fall and died close to Camp One on Everest. We were very much aware of this sad circumstance at the time, but chose not to break such news on the blog. Obviously it wasn't our news to break and we didn't want to get ahead of word reaching family and loved ones through proper channels. But it is time to acknowledge the loss of one devoted climber and of the selflessness of our own Sherpa team, who played a key role in the rescue effort. Chherring Dorje flew by helicopter to the scene and managed the retrieval while Lam Babu conducted things from the heli-pad at Everest Basecamp. Although there was a sad outcome, I was extremely proud that our partners were able to offer help to the Icefall Docs, whom we admire very much. This small team of about a half dozen men are hired by the National Park to establish and maintain the route through the Khumbu Icefall. It is physically demanding and dangerous work. The docs do an incredible job each year, and the same men come out year after year. They never boast or seek recognition... They aren't rewarded by being able to tag the summit and run up their "count" on the mountain, and they are paid modestly. Mingma was from the village of Dingboche and leaves a wife and several daughters. Of course many of us will try to help out with donations... Mingma was working on our behalf... but there is no getting around the reality: this dangerous work has once again taken the ultimate toll.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Thank you for sharing your updates. Sorry about your loss. You do such a great job at giving credit where credit is due. Such a humbling experience for all involved. It is great to hear about your progress and sad to hear about the loss. Prayers and well wishes to your team and all who are climbing. Be safe.
Rachael. ABQ Uptown #985 NM/CO/AZ
Posted by: Rachael C. Lujan on 4/11/2013 at 9:19 am
Here’s an inspirational quote for Dan Johnson and his team
- your friend Jake
“To those who have struggled with them, the mountains reveal beauties that they will not disclose to those who make no effort. That is the reward the mountains give to effort. And it is because they have so much to give and give it so lavishly to those who will wrestle with them that men love the mountains and go back to them again and again. The mountains reserve their choice gifts for those who stand upon their summits”
This morning, feeling rested, refreshed and blessed by our Puja... We set out for a "hike" in the lower reaches of the Khumbu Icefall. Each of us felt excited to finally be geared up and clawing our way over minor ice obstacles, not to mention stepping over crevasses once again. Seems like we've been on a lot of pretty trails lately, but today it was good to be climbing, even if for just a warm up. We went up about an hour, the consensus was that we'd reached close to 18,000 ft, but we stopped just before the "popcorn" section of the Icefall where the risk ramps up a bit. Back down to camp we came, stopping off for a cyber break, of course, in a safe place where we were finding the all-important 3G signal out of Gorak Shep for our smartphones.
Lunch was perfect as usual, but the afternoon weather had us mostly hiding in tents, reading and napping. We can hear big wind above and the sky is now fully clouded and turbulent.
Best regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Hi Dan & the team. We continue to follow your journey. Have a safe climb. Cheers to all of you!
Posted by: Jerry & Ann & Michelle on 4/23/2013 at 9:16 am
Great guiding. So many fine details, yet you all seem to have it under control. Blessings for a safe summit and return.
ABQ Uptown #985 NM/AZ/CO
Posted by: Rachael C. Lujan on 4/19/2013 at 10:16 am
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