Entries from Everest BC Trek and Lobuche

Hello again everyone.

Team is hanging tough here in Pheriche as the weather and clouds continue to obscure the amazing views. But spirits are high nonetheless!

Thankfully today was a scheduled rest day and the team enjoyed relaxing here at our lodge most of the day. We did manage to squeeze in a very short hike in the snow to stretch our legs a bit. Reading, naps and some storytelling filled most of the day.

Weather forecast are calling for sunshine tomorrow. So keep your fingers crossed for us!

RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew

Day 16-17

Waking into Namche this round through was much different than the first time.  Despite our sizable group, we were by no means the largest on the trail.  

This place is now in full swing with Everest climbers, international trekking teams and yak trains going up the valley towards Everest Base Camp.  

Even though the traffic resembled more of a US interstate than a single-track trail, we were pleased to land back at camp de base where we were welcomed with hot showers, Nepal Ice “extra strong beer” and the comforts of nice rooms with personal bathrooms. The hike was roughly 8 miles from Pangboche consisting of many ups and downs but nothing the seasoned team couldn’t handle.    

After a normal 7:30 breakfast the following morning, we set our sights on Lukla, home of the infamous dead-end runway and gateway to Everest.   Eleven miles and 6 hours after leaving Namche we strolled in with time to spare before dinner so naps all around became the team activity.   The clouds were thick as pea soup by 7 pm so our flight status was a bit unknown.   With fingers crossed we went to bed. When our alarms ripped us awake at 5 am the disheartening presence of this fog was still lingering out the window.  

We made our way anyhow, walking to the airport to check in and hope for the best. After waiting for ten hours to fly on the way in, we were not hoping for a repeat.   Two hours in we were beginning to get a bit worried and then the first plane landed.   Ten minutes later we were loaded up and, in our way, back to Kathmandu!   

Now we are clean, fed and content, celebrating a fun and successful trip. I can’t thank this team enough for a great few weeks in Nepal.   

This wraps up the Everest Base Camp and Lobuche expedition. Thanks for following!  

RMI Guides Adam Knoff and Hannah Smith and Team

It has been a very satisfying past two days as we have descended from high camp with our sights set on Lukla and the flight ready to take us back to Kathmandu.   

On Monday we left our beautiful camp situated at 17,200 feet on the western flanks of Lobuche peak and began our descent towards Pangboche, where we would spend the night.  We passed many other camps of expeditions who will use this mountain as a warmup for Everest in the coming months; acclimatizing enough to hopefully skip a rotation through the dreaded Khumbu ice fall which looks quite treacherous this season compared to years past.  After getting through the valley and back onto the main trail, we were astonished by how much the river had risen due the warming temperatures compared to crossing it just a week previous.  The weather and temperatures are definitely concerning because of the impacts on the glaciers and the volatility it creates in the mountains.  We are glad to have climbed when we did and be finished before things get too melted.   

Upon our arrival in Pheriche, we ate some lunch, repacked a few things then hit the dusty trail for a few more hours of walking down to Pangboche.  Feeling happy about our climb and healthy from the thick oxygen of 13,000 feet, the team went out for beers before dinner and enjoyed a couple hours of well-deserved free time resulting in fun conversation and reflection of the trip.  By 8:30, we were mostly in bed resting for yet another day of walking to Namche.   

Come morning we put the ball in motion almost automatically by this point and headed off by 8:15 for our 10 miles to Namche.   This team is now very accustomed to these distances, and we arrived in Camp de Base by 2:00 pm leaving us a solid few hours to shower, rest and shop before needing to eat more food, which is the general past time we all need to indulge in because three meals a day is no joke.   

Now, at 9:00pm on Tuesday evening we are back in our rooms ready for 10 more hours of sleep before biting off the last leg to Lukla tomorrow.   This place is almost indescribable in both beauty and hospitality, but nothing beats home after a long visit.   

Stay tuned to see if we can fly when scheduled.   It is often times the most unpredictable part of the trip.  

Adam Knoff

We are happy to announce that the Lobuche climbing team successfully reached the summit this morning at roughly 10 am.  It was a much more demanding climb than originally thought but everyone pushed hard and gave it all they had resulting in 100% of the team making it to the summit. Because the day was so challenging, we got down much later than expected so we are currently still at High Camp.  We will descend in the morning to hot showers, wi fi and beer!   All of the guides are proud of today's efforts.  Stay tuned for a more detailed description later.

RMI Guide Hannah Smith

Today was not unlike most of our others the last week.  Breakfast, packing then walking.  Except today we would finally reach Everest Base Camp. It is almost agonizing to see the bright yellow tents in the distance and feel like they are not getting any closer.  But three hours of steady walking landed the entire team safely at the Base Camp rock.  We were greeted upon arrival by our gracious Base Camp Staff with cookies and hot tea.  The views of the Khumbu icefall, Mt. Everest and Nupste were incredible the entire morning.   After our entrance greeting,  we hiked the final 30 minutes to our camp site and enjoyed hot showers, a great dinner and interesting sounds of far off avalanches.

Everyone is now tucked into their cozy tents ready for a good nights rest.  We  will report tomorrow after our hike back to Lobuche.

RMI Guide Hannah Smith

This morning came as both a blessing and a curse.  Most of our previous evenings have transitioned nicely from our enjoyable group dinner into bed time which we naturally gravitate towards around 8:30 or 9.  On paper this trip offers yak loads of down time and should, if played right, give each of us a solid 9 hours of shuteye.   

But we all know plans, as perfect as they may seem, play out far differently than the spreadsheet says they should.  Just ask Vladimir Putin about that.   

But thankfully none of us are crazy, demented humans and simply get a bit sidetracked with issues such as stomach funkiness, altitude weirdness and in the case of last night, a pack barking dogs.  There were only four of them, I know because I chased them around the village of Lobuche at 2 am with rocks and a ski pole, but nothing would make them stop.  We were sleeping at an altitude of 16,000 feet so it wasn’t the easiest anyway but never had I heard nonstop dog shouting for 8 hours straight.   So this morning was a blessing because they finally shut up when the sun hit but a curse because I was tired and cold and just wanted to stay in bed.  But we had miles to cover!

After our standard breakfast, complete with dog stories, admissions of no sleep and an eagerness to get on the trail, we slung our packs and followed our Sherpa leader Dawa.  The path started easy but soon steepened and became a lot more rugged when we began to cross a small glacier.   Our objective was the last village of Gorak Shep, before getting to Everest Base Camp tomorrow.   A steady three hour stroll landed us on target with views of Nuptse and Everest dominating the views up ahead.   The day was perfect and we knew our hike up a ridge line to a small summit called Kala Patar was going to be stunning.   

We powered down some lunch and headed out.  The trail head was conveniently located two minutes from our lodge so before we could say yak cheese we were head up.  The summit sits at 18,500 feet which we achieved an hour and a half after leaving.  The vistas were as good as advertised and no matter how man times you see it, one can’t help but to be blown away by the size and power of the Everest cirque.  We could also see Base Camp far below and got excited to go there tomorrow.   

By 3 the clouds began to move up the valley, like they do every day at that time so it motivated us to descend and go get some tea.  

Now we are resting before dinner and our schedule horizontal time.  This isn’t planned, it’s a product of challenging days and a demanding environment.   Plus it keeps us healthy.   

Stay tuned for our journey to EBC tomorrow.   

RMI Guide Adam Knoff

Hello all,

Today we woke to perfect weather to hit the trail. A mellow walk past yak corrals took us to our first uphill. A little more breathing and some sweat brought us to a downhill trend to the river crossing. Before we crossed, the team enjoyed an ice cold foot soak. Shortly after the river it was tea time. The saying out here might go Dal Bhat power 24 hour but I think for us its hot tea power 24 hour. After filling our energy tanks with tea we madr our way up the last hill of the day. The top of the hill brings us to a special place, the climbers memorial. A sadness fills this place but also brings to reality the risks taken to climb mountains. After acknowledging those who have fallen we continued our journey to Lobuche. Not far from the town we pass by the Lobuche peak Basecamp. We gaze at our objective but first we must go to Everest Basecamp. A little training in the evening brought us to dinner. A birthday cake surprise wrapped up our day with smiles and chocolate covered mouths. Another good day in the books and more to follow. 

Goodnight all,

RMI Guides Adam, Hannah, and team

Today was officially a rest day. Our team had different definitions of what that means but all in all we are going to bed content.

If you haven’t already guessed we had breakfast at 7:30 am, drank tea and coffee until 9 then prepared to go on a short walk.  Being a lazy day, three out of the five departed by 10:15 while two others stayed back to enjoy some down time in the lodge. The weather started cloudy but improved by late morning offering new views of Makalu, the world’s fifth highest mountain and the north side of Ama Dablam which we have been viewing from its more popular side on the west.  

Two members of the team hiked to a small summit at 16,600' for some extra acclimatizing while the others went back to the lodge for lunch.  

Overall it was a pleasant day here in Pheriche which should set us up for our next stretch to Lobuche tomorrow.   

We hope all is well back home.  

--RMI Guide Adam Knoff 

Namaste from the small village of Pheriche.  

I know this might come as a surprise to many of you, but we woke up at the same time as the last 5, ate the same food and packed our bags for another meditative day of trekking.  The departure was a bit more emotional than the previous mornings because I had to say farewell to the host family I so thoroughly enjoyed seeing after so many years but as we all know, time continues to roll, and we will one day see each other again.   

Easing the sadness of leaving Phortse was the crystal blue skies and breathtaking views of the mountains we have been waiting to see. Within 30 minutes of leaving the Phortse Guest House, we were greeted with stunning vistas of three major peaks, one being Ama Dablam, arguably the most iconic peak in all of Nepal. Later in the day Mt. Everest even made a quick showing. Energized from such a powerful landscape we cruised the three hours to Pangboche which is the oldest Sherpa village in the entire region. It is also the location of a very old Monastery where we were lucky enough to arrange a Puja ceremony with the head Lama of the village. This ceremony is a special blessing granting us passage into the mountains with luck and safety.  Shortly after the Puja we had a good lunch giving us strength to polish off the remaining distance to camp.  

Making better time on the second half of the trail, we could focus on the walk and not take a thousand pictures because the clouds moved in and shut down the views. We rolled into our tea house just in time to have the fire warming the great room and hot tea ready. We were also very happy to see the other RMI group and share stories of the adventures already had and the ones to come. Casey Grom is one of my closest friends, so I feel lucky to have gone from one emotional encounter to the next. Although the visits are brief, they are meaningful, nonetheless. 

Now the team is all tucked in and I myself am off to bed, happy to have a rest day tomorrow.  Everyone is in good spirits and doing well.  

We will reconvene tomorrow at the same time.  

RMI Guide Adam Knoff and Team

Today was a special day. If you listen to enough Tony Robbins you will learn that every day is a special day but for us, me in particular, this day was one I have looked forward to for fourteen years. 

Before we get to why that is, I will say the team is doing great going from point A to point B and enjoying every bit this place has to offer along the way.  

Today we did our standard packing, breakfast and launch with the starting point being Namche Bazaar and the ending point being Phortse village. The trail was a bit more difficult today with many ups and downs but in the end, we only gained 1000 feet. Our weather was cloudy so no mind-blowing views but the temps were good for walking, and we could see a long way up the valley so everyone was still in awe of the complete magic of this place.  After a solid seven-mile jaunt, we landed at the Phortse Guest House which is owned by an old friend of mine and the reason this day is meant a lot.  

18 years ago, Conrad Anker asked me to be an instructor for a school in Nepal he had planned in the Khumbu region of Nepal during the month of January.  Back then I knew very little about this place but couldn’t pass up an opportunity to join Conrad Anker, John Krakuer and three other world class climbers to help create a vocational school at the base of Mt. Everest teaching local Sherpa and Nepali climbers more formal skills helping them peruse a career in expedition work.  

Three years later I became the program director of that school but unfortunately passed the torch on when my son was born in 2009.  It has been 14 years since my last visit which seems like an eternity.  But reconnecting with old friends, seeming the new KCC building and sitting around a table eating bahl bot and drinking tea with all the Sherpas makes for an emotional reunion. I could not have asked for a better day.  

Tomorrow we unfortunately leave Phortse and walk a solid 5 hours to Pheriche, our next village.   

Thanks for following.   

RMI Guide Adam Knoff & Team