Tenzing Norgay

Larry does it again, here's another great post!  

Today we trekked to the Sherpa museum and statue of Sherpa Tenzing Norgay (who summited with Hillary in '53).

Pictured is our head guide and Everest legend, Lhakpa Gelu Sherpa, who holds the world record for the fastest ascent of Mt Everest in 2002 with an ascent from EBC to summit in a smoking 10 hours and 56 minutes. To put it into perspective, it takes most teams 4-6 days to accomplish the same feat. You might say our team of 4 is in good hands!! We have a 1:1 ratio of Sherpa to climbers (with a backup Sherpa as well) and each of our Sherpas have been to the summit at least once, most many times.

As to an update, high winds have continued to prevent completion of fixed lines from Camp 4, so no teams have summited to date. Likely, the ropes will be in place by May 10th.

Our Sherpas have been working tirelessly to stock the upper camps with oxygen, tents and other supplies.

We are aiming to leave EBC May 12 which would put us on top on May 16 if all goes according to plan.

Until then, resting up for another day or two in Namche. Weather down here is perfect!

Looking forward to getting back to EBC and starting the climb in earnest.

Climb on!

Side note, I just read some other information that the winds have died down and there possibly might be a sherpa summit within the next 24 hours.  This might move their date up a day or 2, just depending on logistics.  Let's hope it gets some groups to the summit and back down in the next few days to let the crowds die down a bit!

Namche

From Larry:  Fixed lines, oxygen bottles and upper mountain won't be ready for our team for at least a few days. So we decided to seek thicker air at Namche Bazaar to recover before our summit bid. Wild heli ride down here. But rewarded by pizza! We'll likely stay here 2-3 days. Looking to head back up to C2 on May 10 or 11, pending logistical readiness.

Following the creed of Anatoli 'touch grass before summit.'

Climb on!

My friends who have been to Namche describe it as the nicest village along the trail.  It has the nicest teahouses of anywhere, a couple of restaurants, tons of shops, a massage place, bakery, barber, coffeehouse, even a bar, etc--and it has great Wi-Fi.  I think it was a major boost for the guys to be here.  Dave said the air is much thicker and they each have their own room and bathroom.  I asked about acclimitization because this village is a about 11,000 feet and they said they were already acclimated.  Larry described it on his FB post after someone had asked the same question:

Excellent (and somewhat controversial!) question. This is my first experience with this approach, but after weeks above 17k, the 'touch grass before summit' philosophy has become increasingly popular in recent years. As we were flying down, a British group was headed back to EBC after having spent 5 days down low. They're headed for summit in the coming days and were very happy with how they were feeling. Proponents argue that once appropriately acclimated, descending allows the body to heal and adequately rest prior to summit push. This probably comes at a small cost of acclimatization, but I do believe the benefits outweigh the risks. I've seen in sled dogs that short bursts of intense training followed by some planned rest maximizes performance as microinjuries that the musher never sees can heal up before a big race.

Anyway, time will tell if we made the right call, but I think it was the best decision as we would have been waiting 4-5 days at base camp for fixed lines and O2 to be in place. We're feeling really good here, much more active and eating well, etc.

They are with Lhakpa and he thinks it was a good idea, so let's hope this stay gives them the needed rest and recovery to have a successful summit.  I was able to talk to Dave and video chat for longer than 20 seconds so that was pretty great.  Pray for good weather and good health!

Don't Try This at Home

One more pic :)

Back at Basecamp

Here is a great post from Larry's Facebook:

After 3 days on the upper mountain, we're back down to base camp and resting for our summit bid - hopefully next week!!

We spent a night at C1 and 2 nights at C2. The Lhotse face and climb to C3 did not disappoint and was extremely difficult. Our team reached a new lifetime high point of 23,700' - higher than Aconcagua!

I had sent FB updates with my InReach, but technical difficulties apparently.

Thanks everyone for the support! Iditarest is feeling more possible than ever - I'm optimistic after having reached C3. Next time we go up, it's for the summit!

Climb On!!

C3 Then Back To C2

Still haven't talked to Dave, but Chaci and Prairie have communicated in short bursts with Brandon and Larry.  They have a cool device called "In Reach" which basically gives you satellite wifi.  They can only send a few lines but it's nice to stay in touch.  They have a spot tracker where you can also track their progress.  It's really cool and updates about every 10 minutes when they are on the move.  

I also wanted to post a really cool website that a few people have sent me, which lets you see 360 degrees from the many spots including the summit of Everest in a virtual reality type experience.  You can follow along the journey of a group of climbers.  It was awesome to be able to get a small idea of what they are seeing and experiencing.  You can watch it here.

From what I can piece together the camps they have been at are moderately established. Tents, an outhouse that is over a crevasse etc.  There are usually mess tents and the Sherpa's do all the cooking.  Camp 2 seemed like a nicer camp.  One of the challenges up there is not to overheat or freeze- at times there is risk of both.  Also, it is just so dry you have to do whatever you can to keep your throat from drying out.  Making it up to touch camp 3 was a challenge.  It's 23,500 feet.  Next time they get there, they will get on oxygen and remain on oxygen until after the summit.

According to plan, they will be back to basecamp tomorrow and will take anywhere from 3-8 rest days depending on what they need and also the weather.  Pray for a nice long summit window so everyone gets an opportunity and it will reduce crowds.  If there is only a short window, it means everyone tries to summit on the same day.  With any luck we will see our first summits by Sherpas within the next few days.  At that point, the fixed ropes will be all the way up to the summit and the route will be established for the climbers to begin their summit attempts.

Climb on!

Waiting Game

Just wanted to post that I don't have much news at this point.  I was able to message with Lhakpa yesterday and he told me the team was doing great at camp 1 and was moving to camp 2 today.  Dave warned me that there might not be internet up there so we will just wait some more.  Lhakpa said he would keep me updated so that is comforting.  The guys are planning to "touch" camp 3 tomorrow, then camp for one more night up there.  The should be back to base camp on Thursday, can't wait to hear all about it!

Khumbu Icefall

The group had their first crack at the Khumbu Icefall today, just a training run- over half way up.  Dave said it was not what he expected, less horizontal ladders than expected and actually really fun.  I've heard it described as an adventure lovers ultimate obstacle course.  

This is an a FB post from Larry today:

First trip up the icefall - check! Super fun. Everyone is down safe and did great.

Tomorrow (sidenote, they decided to actually take a rest day tomorrow and begin the next rotation on Monday) we commit to the upper mountain for a few days, hoping to spend a night at C1, night at C2 and at least touch the altitude of C3.

Climb On!