We arrived in Lukla, as planned, early on 3/31 after the exciting landing at the small Lukla airport.  From there it was an easy stroll mostly downhill to Phakding (8,700′) where we spent the night in a tea house.  The tea houses have improved dramatically over the past 5-10 years and are humble but nice, including flushing toilets (sometimes) and small cots with “mattresses”.  Certainly a lot more comfortable than sleeping in a tent.  On 4/1 we headed up the trail to Namche (11,200′).  It was an easy, steady climb and it felt great to finally stretch the legs and head uphill despite the forest fires on the way.  The air is extremely dry and the trail dusty, so the smoke from the fires added yet another irritant to deal with along the way.  Most of us have been wearing our Buffs over our faces to filter the air we breath, which has been relatively effective.  There is still a lot of smoke here in Namche, but once we head up the trail a bit more we should leave this obstacle behind.

The team is strong and is comprised of a combination of trekkers and climbers.  Everyone has been great thus far and no one has been “that guy/gal”, which is rare in any group, let alone one this size.  We’re moving well and enjoying our time on the trail as we work our way up the Khumbu to Everest base camp.

Today was a rest day in Namche so we did a short hike to Khumjung and enjoyed some amazing views on the way.  We had terrific views of Kusum Kanguru (seen above at 20,889′) and, one of my all-time favorites and one that has been on the climbing list for a long time, Ama Dablam (22,349′).  We also had good views of Lhotse and, of course, our objective, Everest (29,035′), which can be viewed by clicking the picture above.  We saw the Hillary School that Sir Edmund Hillary founded there to support the local Sherpa people where they now have a computer lab among a few other modern amenities.

Tomorrow is another rest day here in Namche before we head to Deboche.  More to follow from further up the trail.

Everyone in my direct group arrived in Kathmandu on schedule and with all of their gear intact.  Everyone is doing well and excited to get going.  At left is Eric, me, Clay, David, Bob, Craig and Ben.  It’s a terrific team and we’ll all likely find success with such a great support group watching each other’s backs.  I feel extremely fortunate to have so many good friends and competent climbers joining me on this adventure to share this experience with.  It could be the key difference maker over the next two months.

Today is a day of final preparations.  One duffel bag will go straight to base camp and await our arrival (all of technical climbing gear, down suits, high altitude boots, extra sleeping bag, etc.), while the other duffel will accompany us along the 40-mile trek into base camp.  We fly early tomorrow, 3/31, and arrive in Lukla.  From there, it is a short hike to Phakding where we will spend the night before moving on to Namche the following day to acclimatize for a few days.  From there, we head to Deboche, Pheriche and Lobuche base camp before finally arriving in Everest base camp on April 11th.  Soon thereafter, we’ll head back to Lobuche base camp and climb Lobuche (20,161′) as part of our acclimatization program before heading up Everest for our acclimatization rotations in preparation for the summit push in mid-late May.  I’ll update here and there along the trail, but also keep an eye on IMG’s blog for general updates, which can be found at:

www.mountainguides.com/everest-south12.shtml

More to follow in the days, weeks and months ahead… and, we’re off.

So, this is apparently all it takes to climb to the highest point on earth (29,035′).  A few sleeping bags (including a walking one — that down suit weighs more than my -20 degree down sleeping bag), some bars/blocks/Gu, a few warm layers, lots of suntan lotion (I have a bottle rated to 110 spf, which should even protect this pale climber), big boots, crampons, ice axe, some technical gear, backpack, etc.  All gear has been checked, double-checked and triple-checked. I’ve done all the training I can do.  I’m in the best shape of my adult life.  I feel I’ve put myself in the best position possible to succeed.  I have many good friends, either joining for the trek into base camp and the acclimatization climb of 20,161′ Lobuche (Ben and Clay) or the full climb to the 29,035′ summit of Everest (Bob, Craig, Dave, and Remza), who will be watching my back and I theirs.  I guess it’s finally time to just go climb this thing!

Again, thank you to all who have reached out with well wishes and the like.  I appreciate all of the heart-felt sentiments and I know that your support will help me make it to the summit (and back) safely.  As Ed Viesturs says, ” it has to be a round trip,” and I intend to make sure that’s the case.  The full itinerary for my 11-week journey is at left.  Days will inevitably shift around depending upon weather, conditions, health, etc., but this is a rough outline of what we’ll be doing over there and why it takes 6-9 weeks to climb to the highest point on earth.  Just click the itinerary at left and you’ll be able to read it/print it out if you so desire.  I’ll try to publish updates to this blog here and there along the trail, but you can also check out the blog for International Mountain Guides (IMG), which is the outfitter I’m using for this expedition, and they will update our movements, etc., especially when we’re up high going for the summit.  That blog can be found at:

www.mountainguides.com/everest-south12.shtml

That’s about it.  Thanks all.  I hope to be looking down on all of you (physically not metaphorically) in about 9 weeks!  All my best, and, as always, I hope our paths soon cross and until then yours is the good life.  Take care of yourselves and each other, live each day to the fullest, share a laugh with friends and strangers alike, and most importantly… Keep Smilin’!

Courtesy of http://www.alanarnette.com © reproduction prohibited without authorization

At left is a great photo of the South Side (a.k.a. Southeast Ridge or South Col) route that we’ll be taking up the Khumbu Glacier, the Khumbu Icefall, the Western Cwm, the Lhotse Face to the South Col and on to iconic features like the Balcony, South Summit, Hillary Step, Summit Ridge and the Summit itself (29,035′), some of which are captured in the picture below of the route on the very upper mountain above The Balcony.  You can see a much larger view of each by clicking the pictures.  This is the same route that Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay first ascended in 1953.  This comes from Alan Arnette’s excellent website, which has a ton of great information on it about the route including detailed pictures, etc. and can be found at:

http://www.alanarnette.com/everest/everestsouthroutes.php

As I complete my preparations for the trip, I updated my LinkedIn profile since I am no longer at IXI/Equifax and stumbled across this interesting fact as I updated my “current job” to reflect my attempt of Mt. Everest and completion of the eight “Seven Summits“:

According to Wikipedia (if you can believe everything you read online): “As of January 2010, approximately 275 climbers climbed all seven of the peaks from either the Bass or the Messner list; about 30% of those have climbed all of the eight peaks required to complete both lists.” So, if successful on this expedition, I would fall into the latter category of ~100 people that have successfully climbed all 8 peaks.  Pretty crazy.  The eight “Seven Summits” include:

– Mount Everest (Asia) – TBD
– Carstensz Pyramid (Oceania/Papua) – 3/6/2011 (Reinhold Messner list)
– Mount Kosciuszko (Australia) – 2/21/2011 (Dick Bass list)
– Kilimanjaro (Africa) – 7/19/2010
– Mount Vinson (Antarctica) – 1/21/2008
– Mount Elbrus (Europe) – 7/20/2006
– Denali (North America) – 6/12/2004
– Aconcagua (South America) – 12/31/2000