The rope-fixing team started from Camp II, pushed through the South Col and starting fixing the route to the summit last night.  The winds died down as forecasted and progress has been good.  They will likely return to the South Col soon and finish fixing the route to the summit on Friday, 5/18.  There are many teams nipping at their heels as it is anticipated that there are over 200 climbers waiting at Camps II & III that will try to summit on 5/18 and 5/19.  It should be fairly chaotic, but we wish them all well as none of us would ever wish a fellow climber any ill will, and also because the more success that is had this weekend the fewer climbers that will be left on the mountain when we make our attempt.  This will make our summit attempt safer and more enjoyable (at least theoretically — only time will tell).  Alan Arnette has a good blog entry on this today:  http://www.alanarnette.com/blog/2012/05/16/everest-2012-timing-is-everything/

So, here at base camp we continue to wait.  The next really good weather window appears to be 5/25-28, so the earliest we’re likely to leave base camp for the upper mountain is 5/21 unless the forecast changes greatly in the next couple of days.  My best guess is that we’ll depart on 5/21 and try to summit on 5/25.

The schedule would look like:  move to Camp II (21,300′) on 5/21 from Base Camp (17,400′), rest at Camp II on 5/22, move to Camp III (24,000′) on 5/23, move to Camp IV/South Col (26,300′) on 5/24 and arrive there by ~11am, depart for the summit (29,035′) around 9pm on 5/24 arriving at the summit early in the AM (preferably after sunrise — around 5am) on 5/25 and descend all the way to Camp II, and then descend to Base Camp early on 5/26 arriving by 7 or 8am.  After that, we all head for home as quickly as possible…

Yesterday, we passed the time by hiking to Pumori upper Camp I (21,000’+) to stretch the legs and maintain our acclimatization.  It was a nice morning and the views are spectacular (pictures posted in the blog entry below from my first trip up there).  There are terrific views of the Khumbu icefall, Western Cwm, Lhotse Face, South Col, the Southeast Ridge and upper portion of Everest.  It is awe-inspiring and provides the opportunity to ponder what lies ahead for us.  There’s a lot of work left to do!

Today, we are preparing all of our gear for the final push which includes packing meals for Camps III & IV, reviewing oxygen systems, documenting high-altitude meds (who has what and where) in case they’re needed at any point, etc.  We’re on a hurry-up-and-wait protocol now and will be ready to head-up in a moment’s notice for our summit bids.  Let’s hope it’s sooner than later, as we’re all eager to get moving, but likely it will be in another 3-4 days.  I’ll let you know when I know…

After a nice 5-day respite in Pangboche (13,000′), where all cuts, blisters and ailments healed exceptionally quickly after not healing at all at higher elevations, we headed back toward base camp yesterday and arrived there today after an overnight stop in Thukla (15,000′).  While in Pangboche, we ate copious amounts of food, rested, stayed at one of our climbing Sherpa’s lodge where his wife cooked tons of food for us, witnessed/participated in their big annual harvest celebration, and received additional blessings from Lama Geshi for our upcoming summit attempt.  It was a great reprieve and nice to regain some strength for the summit push.

I stopped at Gorak Shep today on the way back to base camp and was finally able to upload some photos.  Click on the picture above for some photos over the past month.  I also gave a quick call to Mom from the trail, but she wasn’t home.  Regardless, Happy Mother’s Day!  Love you.  Thanks for all your love and support.

The fixed lines from the South Col to the summit may be set on the 17th or 18th.  Many teams are lining up for a summit attempt on the 19th, including IMG’s guided/Hybrid team.  My team will wait this one out as it’s usually chaos up there for the first summit window with everyone going for it at once.  We’ll let some of that craziness clear in front of us and hope for another window soon thereafter.  With Himex and the eager beavers out of the way, we’ll hopefully have a less crazy/crowded summit day.  Time will tell.  At this point, the earliest we’ll leave for the summit appears to be the 17th, which would put us on the summit on the 21st in a perfect world.  No guarantees yet, so stay tuned…

I headed down valley for 5+ hours yesterday through some late-day rain with Remza, Mike Moniz (www.climb7.com is his blog), Jef, and Bruce.  We could feel the strength returning to our depleted bodies as we descended from the heights of Camp III (23,300’) to the relatively thick and abundant air of Pangboche (13,500’).  It’s amazing how the body adapts, as Pangboche now feels like sea level and I practically can run straight up hills with 40+ lbs on my back without losing my breath.  If only it felt this way at 23,000+ feet…

The ravages of altitude are insidious though.  As I took a shower at our teahouse last night and got a glimpse in the mirror of what is left of my body… it’s shocking.  I’ve lost at least 15-20 lbs already, I would guess, and have nearly no fat and dramatically less muscle mass compared to 4-6 weeks ago.  I’ve had this happen on many climbing trips/expeditions before, but never to this level.   The summit push, which will burn ~30,000 calories cumulatively (over 5-7 days), will make this atrophy even more pronounced.  I had read, and therefore somewhat expected, that I could lose 20%+ of my body weight on Everest and that is playing out to be true. I could be back to my early high school playing weight (down to 135 lbs from 168 lbs) when I broke my knee at age 15, before it’s all said and done, which is a terrifying thought.  Although, the thought of putting all of that weight back on over the summer is pretty appealing, I must admit.

So, we’re eating a ton and trying to put some muscle back on over these next few days to get ready for the summit push.  I must have eaten 5,000 calories (if not more) at dinner last night alone and look forward to doing more of the same over the next few days before heading back up to base camp.

The good news is that as I write this post our incredibly strong team of Sherpa are heading up to the South Col to establish Camp IV and start fixing the route to the summit.  We certainly could not do this trip without their exceptional persistence and assistance.  The time to go for the summit is nearly here… we’ll arrive back in base camp on Sunday, 5/15, and possibly leave for the summit rotation as early as Tuesday, 5/17, if conditions/weather permit.  If that schedule were to hold, we could summit on 5/21, but there are many factors that will dictate that timing as we get closer to departing base camp for the upper mountain and the summit… stay tuned.

I realize that many of you are following the many blogs out there that cover the Everest climbing season.  As such, you are privy to the many rumors and posturing and debates taking place about this unique season.  A great source for some unbiased reporting of all of this “information” is Alan Arnette’s blog (www.alanarnette.com).

The reality is that Russell Brice, of Discovery Channel fame for his “Everest: Beyond the Limits” TV series a few years ago, has pulled his large and influential Himex (Himalayan Experience) expedition off the mountain for the season due to it being some sort of “death trap.”  However, the realities for many of us on the ground here are considerably different.

Yes, the mountain is posing some unique challenges this year.  Yes, the mountain is making this season more of a “climber’s season” than a “peak-bagger’s” or “trophy-chaser’s” season.  Mountaineering, which I’ve been doing seriously for 15+ years, always poses objective hazards and risks.  The challenge is to mitigate these risks as much as possible unless they prove too much to overcome.  In my own personal assessment, we have not approached that threshold as of yet.

In fact, over the past week or so, conditions have improved markedly with the increased snowfall, which makes the Lhotse Face safer (less rock fall) and improves the climbing through the Yellow Band, over the Geneva Spur, and up the Southeast Ridge to the summit.  In fact, during my climb to Camp III, I ran into climbing phenom, Damian Benegas (who I was supposed to climb Cerro Fitzroy in Patagonia with along with his twin brother Willie back in January before work issues got in the way) who was on his way to fix the lines through the Yellow Band and on up to the South Col, so there are still a large number of very experienced climbers that view this Everest season as very much within reach (including Conrad Anker, who graciously provided a viewing of his excellent “Everest: Wildest Dream” movie for us in the IMG communications tent the other day, Simone Moro, the Nat Geo/North Face team, Dave Hahn and the First Ascent team, the Alpine Ascents team, etc.).  In fact, IMG’s stellar Sherpa team is heading up now to establish Camp IV and fix the route to the summit.  If conditions continue to hold/improve and the weather cooperates, we could find ourselves summiting sometime around the 20^th of May or so (fingers crossed).

Climbing, and the assessment of the risks associated with doing so, are and should be a very individual thing.  I would never criticize Brice’s decision to end his team’s expedition, especially since I know nothing about the strength or collective experience of his climbers, but I also wouldn’t put out pre-emptive positioning papers on the reasoning for doing so that imply that those of us that choose not to follow his lead are reckless or have some sort of a death wish.  To each his own, but part of the joy of climbing for me is assessing things for myself and making the best decisions possible based on the information available in that instant.  In fact, we’ve had several IMG team members depart our expedition for very individual reasons this season already (some health related, others found the risks too great, etc.), and I not only respect their decisions but I also commend them for having the courage to do so knowing that those decisions must have been extraordinarily difficult to reach.

Only time will tell what this season ultimately has in store for us/me, and at this point I am willing to wait to have that revealed to me in due time…

My Camp III rotation was a bit of a mixed bag.  Another set of obstacles to overcome, but thus far I’ve been up to the task… thus far, at least.  Hopefully, that’s a trend that holds until I reach the summit and return safely to base camp by month’s end.  Time will tell…

I cruised up the Khumbu icefall and then up the Western Cwm to Camp II (nearly 4,000’ of vertical gain from base camp) in one push and in good time (about 5 hours and 45 minutes).  This gave me a lot of confidence in my strength and acclimatization.  Well, at least until I was struck down by yet another GI infection (4^th since I left home on March 16^th), which wiped me out for 2 days.  Recovering at Camp II (21,300’) is a unique challenge as well since the thin air doesn’t allow for much healing to occur.  As I regained my strength and, more importantly, control of my bowels, I headed for a “touch-n-go” of Camp III (23,300’) where we climb there and stay for an hour or so before returning to Camp II, which aids our acclimatization for the summit push.

I left with the majority of our team for this touch-n-go climb and made it about ½ way up in the early AM on May 6^th before a teammate (Mike) noticed that the front-right half of my nose had frozen to a marble white due to the sub-zero temps and the breeze coming right at us off of Nuptse.  Fortunately, we caught it early, before it completely froze and frostbite set in.  I turned and headed down and thawed it out as quickly as possible and prevented any permanent damage from setting in thanks to Mike’s quick recognition of the problem.  Since it was already frozen, I couldn’t feel it, so I likely would have continued climbing oblivious to the problem until it was a real catastrophe and a potentially trip-ending injury for me.  All is fine now and you’d never know it happened by looking at me now (ugly as ever).  Thanks again, Mike!

So, I stayed over yet another night at Camp II and ventured back out the following morning again for Camp III.  Good buddy, Bob, had also stayed over an extra night due to a GI issue of his own and we headed to Camp III together with our Sherpa.  We made it in really good time (only 3 hours) and spent some time up there resting, eating, rehydrating as the sun emerged from behind Everest and Lhotse to warm us in the early AM.  Despite making it to Camp III in good time, it was an incredibly hard climb as well as a new altitude record for me.  I felt as though I had absolutely no power in my legs and spent the climb gasping for air.  Surely, the combination of recovering from the GI issue, sleeping at Camp II (21,300’) for five straight nights (where we sleep in our down suits with a 0 degree sleeping bag draped over us as a blanket to protect us from the very cold nights there) and the high altitude (23,300’) of Lower Camp III were complicit, but it was a bit confidence-rattling nonetheless.  Absolutely exhausting!  Overall, it was a good day though and nice to complete the touch-n-go, which is an essential component to our acclimatization as well as a litmus test for the summit push.  With that under our collective belts, we’re all looking good and strong for the summit attempt to follow.

The descent was uneventful and Pasang and I made it down to base camp in only 2 hours and 10 minutes, which seems to be blistering fast, so we’re making a strong climbing team.  The faster we descend the Khumbu icefall the better, as long as we’re still being safe, which is definitely the case.  The icefall is not a place to linger. In fact, we had a “heightened sense of awareness” moment in the icefall, on the way up to Camp II for this rotation, when a small avalanche occurred near us and certainly startled us all.  It fortunately diverted safely to our left down Everest’s west shoulder and we only incurred a bit of spindrift, but the sounds of it being so near and the feeling of absolute vulnerability were palpable for a few minutes.  Being in the Khumbu icefall made it that much more dramatic, but the reality is that it wasn’t any more significant than an avalanche we might witness while climbing in Alaska or while backcountry skiing/climbing in Colorado.  Sometimes geography and proximity add to the weight of things, but the reality is that everyone was fine and made it safely to Camp II without incident.

Also, I should state that the new route up the Lhotse Face to Camp III, which was used previously in 1990 and 1953, is tough but a lot safer than the more typical, direct route to Camp III.  There has been a lot written about this new route in the blogs, but I can tell you that it isn’t nearly as difficult as it’s being made to seem.  We’ve mitigated the rock fall issues of the Lhotse Face this season with this new route and although there are some near-vertical ice sections, they are easily negotiated (with great effort due to the lack of oxygen, I should add) and total roughly 20 meters of vertical climbing as opposed to the 100s of meters being reported elsewhere.  As humans, we are prone to exaggeration, I suppose.  However, Everest is such an undertaking that exaggeration only disrespects the difficulties that we actually face on this climb, so I hope to provide you my truest impressions and experiences on the mountain and cut through some of the hyperbole where possible.  So, yes, the route is tough and different than in years past, and the mountain is posing unique challenges this season, but in my assessment it is definitely below my personal threshold of acceptable risk.  More on this in the next blog post.

I safely returned to base camp earlier today after spending 5 nights at Camp II and completing a touch-n-go of Lower Camp III (23,300′), which set a new personal altitude record for me.  The touch-n-go of Camp III was an important and necessary litmus test for the summit push, which is the next step.  I will rest for several days in ba(a week+ likely) while Camp III and Camp IV get established and the route from the South Col to the summit gets fixed.  So, I’m likely to head down valley to Pangboche (13,000′ or so) as early as tomorrow to recover in the even thicker air down there and rebuild some strength for the summit push to come… More details of the Camp III rotation to follow in the next several days.  Hope all is well with all of you.  It’s great to be back in base camp on this end and feeling strong.  Can’t wait for the summit rotation at some point over the next few weeks…

The Lhotse Face is proving to be a major challenge this season.  The initial route has proven to be too dangerous due to extensive rock and ice fall down the climbing line.  Therefore, a team led primarily by IMG’s resources is looking for a new way up the steep face.  We hope to shift to the climber’s right (or to the South) of the current line to one that was used in 1990 and also by the 1953 team.  If successful, we will be able to continue up the mountain to Camps III and IV as planned.  Again, please keep your fingers crossed for us.  Hopefully, the new route can be identified and set over the next couple of days.  No guarantees but we’re hopeful.

The plan for my climbing team is to head back up for rotation II on Thursday, May 3rd.  I’ll push straight to Camp II (21,200′) in one big push from base camp (17,500′), rest on May 4th, climb up the Lhotse Face to Camp III (24,500′) on the 5th, descend to Camp II on the 6th and then to base camp on the 7th.  Hopefully, the fixed lines to Camp III will be in place and we’ll proceed as planned.  This rotation is really the trial run for us for the summit push in a couple of weeks.  If all goes well and conditions/weather allow, we could be on our way for our summit bid around May 15th.  Time will tell.  Thanks for all your well wishes!  Rest assured we’re doing all we can on this end to give the summit a good run soon…

I found out today that all of the donated goods (200+ lbs of children’s clothes, school supplies, etc.) finally reached their destination in Phortse (which is the village from which most of our Sherpas come from, including my climbing partner Pasang) and were distributed to the villages’ families over the past week. All materials were very enthusiastically received and I was asked to forward on their thanks to all who participated and made it possible. My thank you, as well as Carla’s, who was the catalyst for making this happen, to all of you as well. Those items will go a long way here and will be put to great use for some time to come. Thank you! Phanuru, one of our climbing Sherpa/climbing partners who is also from Phortse, had his wife take some pictures of the enthusiastic distribution of the goods which he’ll forward to me and I’ll post later when bandwidth isn’t such a major issue.

Otherwise, the strange/unique 2012 season on Everest continues…

The upper mountain continues to get hammered by high winds hampering our efforts to move higher/establish Camp III/fix the lines to Camp IV and the summit, while we’re experiencing “warmer” conditions in base camp than usual this early in the season. Overnight lows are only -10 to -15, where we’d prefer overnight lows of -20 or colder. As a result, the Khumbu icefall is seeing dramatic changes on a daily basis as it melts out and avalanches, which requires constant changes to the climbing route and can be hard to keep up with if the changes are too much/too fast. Therefore, the waiting game continues and we keep an eagle eye on all of the changes and hope for improved conditions. Keep your fingers crossed for us. Hoping to head-up for rotation II to Camp III in the next several days (depart maybe May 3rd or 4th) and we’ll be up there for 5-6 days in total between all the camps and then back to Everest base camp. More to share when I return from that rotation and start prepping for the summit push (mid-late May). So, ironically, please send us colder temps, more snow (the Lhotse face is wind-scrubbed and currently bullet-proof ice) and reduced winds if possible. Much appreciated.

Finally, I understand that Cory Richards’ (of the Nat Geo/North Face team) diagnosis was confirmed as a Pulmonary Embolysm in Kathmandu, which is absolutely life-threatening if left untreated, and confirmed the diagnosis that my climbing teammates Jef and Ramin came to at Camp II a few days ago and led to Cory’s immediate evacuation. Nice going guys! Glad to have you on my team and to share a rope with you. Glad to have you here but I hope I never need your exceptional diagnostic skills…

I made my safe return to base camp early this morning Everest time. My first rotation on the mountain went well and I’m safely back in the warmer climes and thicker air of base camp at 17,500′. The GI issue was just a minor setback and I had my power back in my legs for the moves up to Camps I and II. I was able to move quickly through the icefall, always a good idea, and made it to Camp I (19,600′) last Wednesday in 3 1/2 hours, which is a fast time for an ascent up that jumbled mass. The hanging seracs, fallen ice blocks, and ominous groans and creaks provide all the incentive necessary to keep moving.

I spent 2 uneventful nights at Camp I acclimatizing, although we did experience 100+ degree swings in our tents at that camp, as the sun reflects off the glaciers on Nuptse, Lhotse and Everest to form a veritable convection oven. I noted 113 degrees in my tent one blazing afternoon and then a low in the single digits that night. Tough place to hang out.

The move to Camp II (21,200′) up the Western Cwm only took 2 hours from Camp I. We left early in the AM for both moves to climb when things were good and frozen/solid. We left at 3:30am for the move up the icefall and at 6am for the move to Camp II. Apparently, as soon as we arrived Camp II at 8am there was an enormous avalanche that ripped off the face of Nuptse that swept a Sherpa into a huge crevasse just behind us above Camp I and decimated our path. Miraculously, he was pulled out and stabilized at IMG’s Camp I and evacuated to Kathmandu for further evaluation. That was to be followed the next day, while we were in Camp II, where Cory Richards of the North Face/National Geographic team was having some health issues. 2 of my teammates, who are both doctors, provided the initial assessment and the IMG Sherpas played a big role in evacuating him to Camp I via a sled and then helping him down to base camp on oxygen where he was then flown to Kathmandu for further assessment. A crazy couple of days up in the Western Cwm and good reminders of just how serious an endeavor this is. Wishing good health to those that have been evacuated recently and for my team moving forward. Check out the National Geographic and/or North Face blogs for more details on Cory’s condition.

Otherwise, I’m doing well and feeling strong after a good first rotation on the mountain. The fixed lines up the Lhotse Face are in up to the yellow band with additional fixing to the South Col/Camp IV to occur soon. Camp III is being dug into the Lhotse Face today, so I’m looking forward to a little R&R here in base camp the next few days and then heading up for rotation number two where we sleep at Camp III (24,500′) without supplemental oxygen. Ought to be rough and essential to our success on the third and final summit rotation.

The rest of the team seems to be doing well. It was great to catch-up with Bob, Craig, David and the rest of the crew back in base camp this AM after my quick descent from 21,200′ to 17,500′ in less than 3 hours. Also, I returned to a generous care package sent to Bob and me from his lovely wife Di and my incredible girlfriend Carla. Thanks ladies! Very much appreciated. The group already destroyed the Oreos, but I’m hoarding the Via Coffee. Shhh!

I met up with Jim and Dave Markwell in Pheriche after a successful summit day on Lobuche (20,161′) It was a bittersweet reunion, it was great to see both Jim and Dave recovering quickly; however I was disappointed I was not able to climb and summit with either of them.

Our summit day was picture perfect, our group gathered for a quick headlamp lit breakfast around 3:15 AM and was on the trail before 4. It was a very cold morning, light wind, clear skies – perferct day for a climb. The route ascended quickly in a mix of snow and rock, our progress was steady up to the glaicer. With crampons on and the sun rising, temps were increasing quickly and our group spread out as we hit the fixed lines. A cloudless bluebird day opened up for the IMG group, providing excellent climing conditions. It was a very successful climning day, everyone in our group made the summit and returned safely to Lobuche base camp.

I was able to speak with Jim this week from EBC. He and Dave made it back to base camp without any issues and were able to sneak in a climb to a high camp on Pumori to continue their acclimitization. Back at camp and rested, they joined the rest of the climbing team and prepared to start the rotations up through the Khumbu. He and his sherpa made their first climb through the icefall and back to base camp without any issues. It sounds like Jim and his sherpa are a great climbing team. Jim mentioned they were back in camp by 7am, taking full advantage of the safest time to climb in the Khumbu.

Unfortunately the return to camp was met with another small set back. A second round of Gi issues attacked and set Jim back a few days. After a quick round of Cipro and some tent time, Jim was planning his first rotation to Camps I and II with guide Eric Remza and climbers Jon (Colorado) and Jeff (California) and their sherpas. Jim will spend 2 nights at Camp I, push higher to Camp II for an additional 2 nights, then decend back to basecamp to rest and recover.

I anticipate hearing from Jim again early next week and will provide updates from his first rotation. More to follow.
– Ben