Everest News of our recent expedition: Everest Nepal Summit,  Mount Lhotse, Everest Training Climb

Photo Caption : Everest News: Summit - 4:30am -WE ARE NOW ON THE SUMMIT !!! It is very windy here. Photo Jacob and Don.

Photo Eric.

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Photo Jacob G.- . Two photographs from the South Summit of Mt Everest directed at the Famous Hillary step (Towards the Summit) 1st Climbing towards the Summit 02:50am - 2nd Climbing back down from the summit 05:20am.

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Our Team Just Summited Everest on 24 May

Photo Eric.

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Photo Ang Dorjee Sherpa

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30 May - Honouring Everest 1st Ascent. Last night, it rained in Lukla; our heli had to land in Pheriche. Our team, plus heli-co staff piled into a lodge for spirited celebration of YESTERDAY being anniversary of Sir Edmund Hillary and Sir Tenzing Norgay Sherpa making 1st ascent of Mighty Mt Everest on Royal Geographical Expedition led by Sir Lord John Hunt: 29 May, 1953. Imagine this scene: successful SummitClimb Everest team giddy to finally be away from BC + hard working Nepali heli crew grounded in Pheriche lodge on short notice with happy summiters. Obviously, prodigious amount of celebration was achieved to honour Tenzing and Hillary's 1st ascent of Earth's highest spot. Side note: helis did not arrive early in bc this morning! At 3am, 8 of our Sherpas departed BC to climb to C2 + C3: dig out tents, O2 cylinders, masks, regulators, epigas cans/burners, member eqp, rubbish. Sherpas returned BC 8pm. Wow

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29 May - Farewell Friends! Early this a.m. we had the most snowfall of any day so far: a mega dump. Our dining tent roof collapsed. Our base camp was buried. It took a team effort to dig out. During breakfast the weather cleared so we telephoned the helicopter dispatcher in Lukla. The dispatcher said go to the helipad now with all passengers and all bags. At the helipad, 100 people were already queuing. Looking across bc to the 4 other helipads we could see another 50 or so people waiting for their heli. A few flights came, then the clouds closed in. After 1 hour we took the luggage back to our bc, planning to trek down to Pheriche: we even hired porters! Then the clouds parted and we decided to try the heli again. We waited 3 hours for weather, then our heli came. We had to choose between putting bags or people on the heli. 3 bags are on the helipad. Don, Jake, Eric we miss you. Everest Congratulations!

Photo Eric.

Photo Eric.

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28 May - Challenging Weather + Team Dynamics - Storm intensifies; all 20 of us remain pinned down in basecamp by driving wind blowing horizontal curtains of blasted snow chunks/flakes, steady drumroll of whipping prayer flags + flapping nylon. We may feel nervous here in bc, but can you imagine whats happening in the camps above us? We say our prayers for them as we listen to roaring low base notes of 1 million tons fresh heavy wet snow peeling off rock and ice face above us, avalanche boiling down onto moraine beside our tents, stopping there...For now. Today a Sherpa tells us Camp 3 was pulverised by an avalanche sweeping the Lhotse Face. All other teams take note: If you need it, we are here to help. Our team is dividing into 4 groups: 1) those who want to walk down now 2) those who want to wait and helicopter 3) those who want climb up and retrieve our gear 4) those who want to wait for yaks on 31 May.

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27 May - Everest News: Trapped In Base Camp - Heavy snow fell all night. Now thick clouds choke our camp in the gauzy fog of big fat snow flakes. A new white carpet of sticky late May snow coats the ground and every surface. Above us a low leaden grey overcast ceiling obscures the peaks. Weather must be ripping inside there. Our members are tired; would like to helicopter down. No chance of that now. Our Sherpas need to return to camps 1, 2 and 3 to carry down 50 oxygen bottles, 35 epigas cans, 6 burners, 14 tents, 18 masks and regulators, 30 kilos of rubbish, and 25 kilos of assorted member's personal gear. The Sherpas wanted to go up through the Khumbu icefall last night to begin their downcarrying. However, we took a look at the conditions: 1) non-stop heavy snowfall 2) strong winds 3) already tired Sherpas 4) walkie talkie batteries all dead. We vetoed the plan of them going up until situation improves.

Photo Eric.

Photo Eric

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26 May - We Are All Safe In Base Camp! Thank God. What a relief. It was challenging but we made it. Congratulations to the team and thanks to their families for the strong support. Thanks to the Sherpas for their amazing efforts and team care. The weather is currently horrible, snowing+raining, windy+foggy. What will tomorrow bring??

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Video Eric.

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26 May Everest News: Trying To Reach Base Camp

Its early morning and we already left Camp 2. Last night it snowed and the wind blew. Now its 7:30 am and its foggy, breezy, snowing. Overall very bad weather. In C2 we finished a good breakfast, lots of hot drinks, filled our water bottles, got packed up and are now heading down to base camp. We called base camp on the radio. It is also snowing and foggy and windy in base camp. We are trying to have a very safe journey through the Khumbu Ice Fall. We are walking slowly, checking every rope, every ladder, every anchor, staying together and being very careful. We said thoughts and prayers of thanks to the mountain before our departure and are keeping our focus targeted on route-finding and technical safety and awareness of the conditions around us and helping each other and other teams, and we will keep you updated. Thank you very much!

 Video : Eric

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25 May: Everest News: 2nd Update: We Finally Made It Down to Camp 2!

It was hard going in a wind snow blizzard, but at least the fixed ropes were there. Lots of spindrift avalanches flowing down the Lhotse Face as we were descending. Crossing the apron at the base of the Lhotse Face was a bit worrisome, as there was no rope and no trail there. Finally we made it to Camp 2 in this terrible weather, and collapsed into the tents. A feeling of relief, for sure. Tomorrow we are going to base camp, if the weather cooperates!

Photo Eric.

Photo Eric.

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25 May - Everest News: Trying To Come Down From The Summit

After summiting, we descended to Camp 3 last night. Very tired, we could not make it all of the way to Camp 2. We slept on Oxygen last night. We are awake now, eating breakfast and drinking tea. But the winds are ferocious here in Camp 3. Tents shaking, spindrift snow blasting into the tents through tiny zipper openings…Part of our team is now in Camp 2, and they reported that the kitchen/dining tent almost blew away in the high winds. For us here in Camp 3, we are hoping the wind will let up and we can descend safely down the Lhotse Face. Right now, that is not something we can do voluntarily!

Video Eric

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24 May - Everest Update: The wind here on the South Col is very strong so we will descend now to camp 3 or perhaps camp 2. We are very tired and with the wind blowing us, its a bit difficult walk down. Trying to stay focused for a safe descent.

Photo Eric.

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24 May - Everest News: Back On South Col - All 8 of us summited and are back safe at Camp 4, in the tents drinking tea, soup, resting on oxygen. Exhausted and happy is how i would describe the way we are feeling right now. It was very windy on the summit. We saw very few other teams or even any other people during our ascent; basically we had the mountain to ourselves. We did pass a few groups while we were descending and they were coming up.

Photo Eric.

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24 May - Everest News: Summit - 4:30am -WE ARE NOW ON THE SUMMIT !!! It is very windy here.

Photo Eirc.

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EVEREST UPDATE - SUCCESS! 24th of May 04:20am Local time I successfully summited the highest mountain in the world. Mt Everest - 8,848m - Our team had the mountain to ourselves, it was incredible!

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23 May: Summit Plans - We had a nice rest today. Winds calmed a bit and we feel good and ready to start climbing to the summit at 20:00pm tonight. Please send your thoughts and prayers and wishes for summit luck!

Photo Eric.

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23 May - Everest News: Waiting For The Wind! Strong breezes continued through the night. All of us are resting on oxygen. Its morning now and the sun is up. There is still a lenticular cloud on the summit and it is very windy. Our plan is to rest, rehydrate, eat, and try to go tonight after dinner.

Video Eric

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22 May - 3rd update: high winds show no sign of abating. We are thinking of waiting until tomorrow

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22 May - Everest News Continued: South Col !! We arrived at 1645 pm. Our team is doing well, Sherpas are amazing as ever. Climbing the Geneva Spur was a little steep but not bad. We are still climbing together with the same 100 or so people. Everyone was being polite and helpful. The group is moving at a good steady pace. The weather has been a bit mixed, with clouds shifting around throughout the afternoon, especially due to this massive lenticular cloud clinging to the summit like a windblown head of hair. So after this long 10 hour day, we are cresting the Spur, onto the South Col, finally reaching out in excitement to touch our ultimate goal: 8000 metres! But, I have to admit, we feel a bit dissapointed...Its so damn WINDY up here Now we are safe in the tents resting, drinking, eating, and huffing huge amounts of bottled oxygen. Except for some of our members who are trying to climb without O2.

Photo Eric.

Photo Eric.

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22 May - We are just crossing the Yellow Band now, on our way to the Geneva Spur. Its a very sunny very high altitude day up here. Wind is a bit gusty but ok. Chill factor is not too bad. Our team is feeling good and moving well. There are approximately 100 other people climbing near us, and everyone seems to be moving together well and helping each other.

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21 May - Everest News: Return to Camp 3! Good weather today in C2 so LETS GO. We climbed in warm windless sunshine to C3 in 6 hours - good for us (well some of us are using oxygen). Now we are relaxing in the tent in C3 watching the most amazing incredible sunset over Mts Pumori and Cho Oyu while eating noodle soup. We will put our heads down shortly, some of us sleeping on O2. We plan to wake up at 1am eat breakfast, pack up, and begin the epic climb to C4, some of us using O2, across the Yellow Band, over the Geneva Spur, and dropping down onto the South Col. The weather forecast is calling for 45kph winds but no snow, so take your pick. We are still targetting 23 May for a low wind, no snow, summit day. Fingers crossed and all manner of thoughts and prayers that the mountain is going to let this happen and kindly please let us summit!

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20 May - Everest News: We tried to go to Camp 3 this morning, but due to heavy wind and snow we turned back to Camp 2. Our plan is to wait until tomorrow when the weather is supposed to be better.

Photo Don.

Photo Don.

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19 May Everest News: Because of the cyclone forecast and 5 new cm of falling snow, we decided we should remain in Camp 2 today. Our plan is to move to c3 on 20 may (tomorrow), c4 on 21 may, rest in c4 on 22 may, and then ascend the summit on night of 22 and morning of 23 may. According to the 4 weather forecasts we checked, thats when the winds should be the most quiet. Lets hope it has stopped snowing by then, otherwise it would be like walking in a huge blizzard. Fingers Crossed!

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18 May - PITA Day-Today was a pain in the you know what. Everything's figured out, then goes all pear shaped. We awaken early to a cloudy, snowy, windy morning, so decide to stay put. You know the feeling: you are packed and excited to depart on a big trip; then at the last moment you can't go? = Severe LetDown! So we have crawled back into our sleeping bags. Snow continues to fall on our tents, with the occasional sluffing sound as the white stuff piles up and slips down the nylon. By noon nearly 8 cm has accumulated. Luckily we are in a protected spot; we hear huge avalanche booms roaring down the west face of Everest overhead. SUDDENLY radio crackles to life: base camp calling with a new weather report: we are stuck in a cyclone from the Arabian Sea. Nepal government advises all mountaineers: be cautious until 21 May. Base camp says they checked forecast and best summit day is 23 May. Ok, back to sleep!

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17 May Everest News: Camp 2 Rest Day- Yesterday was a big day, waking up at 1am and walking from base camp direct to camp 2. So we have decided today shall be proclaimed an official day of rest. What to do? Lay around, drink a lot of fluids, eat several meals, worry. Things to worry about: 1) the weather - its kind of foggy today, 2) the traffic jam - 600 foreigners+Sherpas still need to summit, 3) our team - are we all strong and healthy enough? 4) the forecast - will the 21 May window hold? Should we chase the elusive 27 May window? 5) the virus - does that Sherpa I can hear coughing have covid? 6) How will I get home? We heard all airports are closed and all flights are cancelled. 7) if I do get home, will i have to go into quarantine for 2 weeks? 8) what will happen to kathmandu? We heard many people have covid there. OMG i have to stop worrying now, we are waking up early tomorrow AM to go to C3 !

Photo Eric.

Photo Eric.

Photo Eric.

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Photo Eric.

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Photo Eric.

Photo Eric.

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Photo Eric.

Photo Eric.

Photo Eric.

Photo Eric.

Photo Eric.

Photo Eric.

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16 May Everest News:  At 2:30am we all set off to ascend the Khumbu Icefall. The night sky is very black, except for the vast shimmering silver Milky Way backlighting the silhouettes of the black and white himalayan peaks all around us. We saw the flickering headtorches of a few other groups around us as we skirted crevasses and traversed serac bands on our way to camp 1. A still night, we heard only the jingling of carabiners on harnesses and light murmuring of Sherpa conversation. The wind picked up in the morning over camp 1. We stopped for soup. Camp 2 is beckoning and we are already acclimated to this altitude, so lets carry on through the flat plains of the Western Cwm. We have made it to C2 in time for afternoon snacks and dinner. The wind has mellowed. Its good 2 be back!

Photo Eric

Photo Eric

Photo: Jacob G.

Team trekking to Everest Basecamp. Painting by S. Poudel. Everest Cimbers at Khumbu Icefall. Photo Eric.

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15 May - Everest News: We are studying many weather forecasts and speaking to all teams about summit plans. Our goal is to choose the best "weather window" during which to climb to the summit. After more than 7 days of daily weather forecast analysis by multiple members of our team and others, there appear to be 2 weather windows: A) 20-21 May and B)26-27 May. One thing we need to clarify: these windows are always changing. For example, window A is getting smaller, that is the number of hours with low winds is reducing. And, window B seems to be getting later, which means the window was going to be on 24-25 and now it has already delayed to 26-27. We are thinking window A is more reliable because it is sooner. Window B is 10 days away, and in weather forecasting, that is a very long time; anything could happen, and we have already seen B keeps postponing. Thus for us: 1 in the hand is worth 2 in the bush.

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14 May - Everest News: All members and Sherpas are in base camp. We are pleased to be all together again. Now we are watching the forecasts, in order to attempt to choose the best weather window for summiting.

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13 May - Everest News: Our team members are beginning to come back up to base camp after several days rest at lower altitude villages. They report feeling refreshed and excited to climb to the summit!

Everest Base Camp. Lobuche

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12 May - Everest News: All Sherpas returned safely to basecamp today. They are tired after stocking all of the high camps with oxygen, tents, and epigas. We are very proud of them. They did such a good job. Now they can relax and rest in base camp where its warm and they dont have to wear their down suit and big boots 24 hours a day. Some of our loyal Sherpas have aches and pains and other ailments. We will take them over to the base camp hospital right away for a checkup.

SummitClimb Everest Base Camp. Summit Climb Oxygen

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11 May Everest News: Today 3 Sherpas carried a full load of oxygen tanks, epigas, and tents to C4. They used oxygen and have now safely returned to C2.

Everest Camp 2. Photo Eric Sherpa carrying climbing equipment and oxygen

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10 May - Everest News: My Name Is Tenji Sherpa. I am leader of SummitClimb Sherpa team. I am 38 years old with 2 kids, 1 girl, 1 boy. When i started working, I was a kitchen boy, now I've summited Everest 15 times. Today our group of 7 Sherpas each carried 6 oxygen bottles, 1 tent, and 5 epigas cans up to camp 4 on the south col. Our rucksacks were 35 kilos each. Its a very hard climb up the steep icy cold Lhotse face. We left c2 at 9pm and we used oxygen. Another team was climbing the face at the same time as us. They are about 100 foreign members and 100 Sherpas, all trudging up in a long line. There is no way our 7 Sherpas could pass 200 while climbing this blue ice face so we had to wait for 2 extra hours. At 8am we deposited our loads at c4 on the cold windy south col with the other 80 or so tents. On our way down we waited for 80+ people (same group) adding 2 hours to our descent, reaching c2 at 4pm.

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9 May - Everest News: Oxygen Story-Today our Sherpa team carried 50 bottles (tanks) of O2 up to C3. Why so much? 1 bottle lasts about 8 hours of walking, or appx 12 hours of "sleep". How does O2 feel? Not like superman, but a little more like a normal person. Walking uphill at high altitude with oxygen you might breathe 2 times per step, without you might need 8! Slow going indeed. At night in the tent without O2 you will gasp for air, with O2 you can snooze a bit. What about the mask? Its attached to the bottle by a hose connected to a regulator, which is like the tap on your sink. You can turn it on or off, make it go slow or fast. When your reg is on, the O2 pours into your mask. If you breathe in, the O2 goes in your lungs, when you exhale the O2 goes out the mask's exit port. Its a constant flow from the reg, and thats why we need so many bottles, because so much O2 is wasted each time you breathe out!

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8 May - Everest News: Sherpa Team Moves Up! It has taken 2 days of hauling our team supplies to high altitude: oxygen tanks, tents, food, fuel, stoves, ropes, and gear, but finally its all in Camp 2. Now get ready for our Sherpa team: Tenji, Ang Dorji, Ang Dawa, Gyelje, Chewang, Gele, Lakpa Dawa, Pasang Nuri, Pema, Wang Chu, and Karma. Many of these Sherpa names are days of the week. Sunday = Nima. Monday = Dawa. Tuesday = Mingma. Wednesday = Lakpa. Thursday = Phurba. Friday = Pasang. Saturday = Pemba. Ang means Little or Baby. This year, due to new government regulation, we have a huge Sherpa team. But we are very lucky our Sherpas are especially qualified, experienced, friendly and helpful. Today our entire Sherpa team moved up to Camp 2. They will be based out of C2 for a few days while they stock the higher camps, in preparation for our summit attempts. Theirs is a very tough job and we are grateful!

Photo Eric.

Photo Eric.

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7 May - Everest News: Visiting Base Camp Hospital - Our member felt a shin pain so me and 2 Sherpas hobbled them 20 min over to BC hospital (bch) for an exam. Its not easy to find bch, stumbling through 4 different Everest team's camps, tripping over their tent guys on an ill-defined trail. Finally we arrived at a plastic quonset hut, looking like 1/2 of a soup can lying on its side, with carpeting on the floor, equipment inside, and 3 of the nicest doctors (1 woman and 2 men) you ever met. They expertly examined our patient and determined them to have a blood clot in their leg. Upon which we called the insurance company and after several hours of phone arguing with multiple insco staff, callbacks, time spent on hold, they recommended a helicopter evac to Kathmandu for further analysis. Next step: find helipad. Located in a mountainous section of bc, we scrambled over some huge rocks until we found the pad.

7 May Cont: BC Tales - We found the helipad but not good weather. It was foggy and snowing, the afternoon weather pattern. So we went inside a nearby cook tent to drink tea. We hoped the weather might clear. Suddenly someone announces an important meeting is going on and i should attend. I was led to a large boardroom tent, and inside were seated the government ministers in charge of Everest! Embarassed, i sat down. They were staring, so i awkwardly thanked them for looking after us. They continued to stare. I said it must be challenging with the stories circulating in the press. They stared more. Then I told how a BBC reporter had called me to say our member who was helivacked surely had covid, and when I replied they had a negative pcr test, the reporter basically hung up on me. Stony silence was thankfully interrupted by a shout: "Helis Coming!". I ran to the helipad to wish our member a safe flight.

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6 May - Everest News:  Members Descend To Lower Villages While Sherpas Work Up High. 9 of our Sherpas carried oxygen tanks to camp 1, in preparation for stocking c3 and c4. Our members are moving back down valley to villages of Lobuche, Dingboche, Pheriche, as far as Namche. They are wearing masks and social distancing. Why would you leave the comfort of basecamp and backtrack, reversing our original trek-in route? Like many things in life, seems there is more than 1 answer...(A) Its nice to breathe the oxygen rich air at lower altitude. Its good to be around green plants again. (C) Go sleep in a bed for a while. (D) Hang out in front of a toasty yak dung stove. (E) Eat different food. (F) Order any drink you want whenever you want. (G) Party with funnest people from your team and others. (H) Escape from base camp routine. (I) Experience Khumbu Sherpa hospitality. (J) Stand in a hot shower for 2 hours.

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Photo Eric

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5 May - Everest News: Bring on the Rest! Our day was occupied by amazing breakfast, lunch, dinner, watching movies, drinking tea, eating cake. Our members are beginning to walk down to lower villages to breath thicker air. Our incredible Sherpas are continuing to stock the upper camps with oxygen tanks, food, stoves, fuel, tents. You may ask: OF COURSE we feel guilty our Sherpas are working while we are lazing. How could we not? But our Sherpas are payed well, they receive good tips. We look after our Sherpas health and safety extremely carefully. Each of our Sherpas probably supports 10 family members, so their money goes to a very good purpose. Without our Sherpas, climbing Everest would be much more challenging. We recognize that, and are thankful.

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4 May - Everest News: We are back! Some of us took 5 hours and some took 2 days...but we made it back to base camp with the help of incredible Sherpas. Delicious food, hot showers, laundry, wifi, free international phone calls, uninterrupted full nights sleep on a thick soft mattress, big screen movies, nice chilled coke and beer, relaxing in the warm tent reading all afternoon. We are on a total full body battery recharge!

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May 3 - Everest News: Escape From Camp 3 - We woke up this morning at 7100 metres to greet the morning sunbeams. While sipping milk tea we absorbed expansive views out across the entire Western Cwm, taking in Camp 2, Camp 1, Mount Cho Oyo, and all the rest. What a way to start your day! I must say, last night was nothing to brag about. Being the first night at very high altitude, not much sleep was to be had. Dont get me wrong, the Sherpas made perfectly flat tent sites, so no excuses there. It is just a lack of oxygen and low airpressure takes getting used to. Even though our actual sleep only amounted to 1-5 hours, still we spent 15 hours above 7000 metres, which is not inconsequential. In fact there may be no better acclimatisation you could do in such a short amount of time. But, Anyway...As soon as we finish breakfast, we safely descend the face, return to C2, and collapse into the tents for a huge nap

Photo Don.

Photo Don.

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2 May - Everest News -  Climbing the Lhotse Face to Camp 3. Its a sunny morning, so we set off after breakfast to try the Lhotse Face. It looks very huge, but weather's good, so why not? Our trusty Sherpas help us pack what we need for Camp 3. We hike the snow apron to the base of the face, and then we mount the ice. Shiny patches and snowy patches alternating on this 30 degree average slope. The metallic click sound of the carabiner clipping the safety line, the whizzing noise of the ascender sliding up the cord, teeth biting the rope, the thunk, thunk, wham, of two crampons stomped into the ice, followed by the ice axe pick chipping a hole. And...Repeat! Heavy breathing, some sections approaching 50 degrees. Inching our way up the slope...This is taking forever. After hours of climbing...Oh no, its starting to snow. Must keep going. And then, out of the cloud, there it is, tents, on a ledge. Camp 3 !!!

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1 May - Everest News: Weather Watch! Today our big goal is to become very acclimatized to C2. Also to stretch our legs toward the Lhotse Face, walking up the huge but easy snow apron to 6550 m to prepare ourselves physically and mentally for our big quest to reach camp 3. And the question of the moment is: When will we go to camp 3? In order to answer that we have to check the weather forecast. Actually, we are going to compare 4 forecasts: A) Swiss government, Norwegian government, C) British Virgin Islands private company, D) US private co. Not surprisingly, when comparing these 4 weather reports, we can draw 4 different conclusions! But, we are able to identify certain common themes. Our summary: the overall weather pattern may continue to bring increasing clouds and light snow flurries each afternoon. Sunday looks to be the day with least snow and cloud. After which, increased snowfall may develop.

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30 April - Everest News: Helicopter Rescue! Today our member awoke in C2 unable to remember their name. Uh Oh! Suspecting cerebral oedema we gave warm water to drink, 5mg oral dexamethasone, oxygen at 2 ltrs per min. They responded to treatment but we phoned the insurance company, who called in a heli rescue. Weather was swirling clouds between basecamp and summit, with occasional blue holes, mild to no wind. In 30 minutes a heli showed up over basecamp, circling to gain enough elevation to enter the Western Cwm. However heli could not find a way through the clouds and retreated down to Pheriche for more fuel. After 1 hour heli came back. This time landing at the BC helipad, biding its time. When the moment was right the heli rapidly ascended, found a cloud break, got into C2, picked up the patient, and escaped before the blue hole closed. Our member is now safe in Kathmandu. Awesome pilot and helipad crew!

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Video Eric.

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29 April - Everest News: In the interest of acclimatization we hung around camp 2 today. Drinking water, soup, tea, juice. Eating 3 hearty meals. The weather was mixed sun, cloud, snow, no wind. Camp 2 is very interesting, spread across a moraine at the edge of the ice sheet which fills the Western Cwm. This moraine which cradles C2 is about 130 metres in relief, slopes at about 18 degrees, and is appx 1 km in length. The moraine is made of ever churning dirt, rocks, gravel and silt. Layers of ice and crevasses are also interlaced. Flat shelves have been leveled into the moraine up and down at intervals, and on these shelves are placed different camps, some quite large. Nowadays all trash is hauled down to basecamp, but in the old days, most trash was 'crevassed' on the spot. Because of the porous and moving nature of the moraine, old trash constantly resurfaces and has to be cleaned up again and again!

Photo Don.

Photo Don.

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28 April - Everest News: Camp 2! Weather is sunny-calm. After breakfast we stuff sleeping bags, load rucksacks, Sherpas take extra kit, and we're off. Up terrace, down basin, across pressure ridge, making end runs around long crevasses, crossing a shaky ladder. Leaving behind pillowy white terraces of camp 1, we crawl antlike onto massive windblasted plain of Western Cwm. In this great expanse of crevasseless ice, more than a kilometre across, an Airbus could land here, yet we are trapped within the heart of Everest itself. Crossing this frosty plateau should be easy but its not...Theres no air up here and I can't breathe dammit! Finally, after what feels like wading through jelly for hours, we reach the other side, where an amazing Sherpa gives us a sweet hot cup of juice. We hike up a steep scree moraine, breathlessly arriving at a 6350 metre ledge we'll call home for the next week. Welcome To C2 Friend!

Photo Eric.

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27 April - Everest News: We awoke to our 6000 metre camp 1 breakfast and lots of hot drinks, then stepped out of the tent on a sunny morning for a 2.5 hour jaunt up the glacier toward camp 2. We wanted to stretch our legs and do a bit of an acclimatization hike. Goal Achieved! We found some nice steep snowy hills to hike up and down, and blow the cobwebs out of our lungs and brains. After a good long stroll, we came back to C1 for lunch and a relaxing afternoon of reading, conversing, card playing, and napping. The weather was absolutely textbook mountain weather today. The morning was bright and warm and sunny and windless, clouds rolled in at lunch, it snowed 1 cm, .5 inch in the afternoon, and the skies cleared out in the evening. We are feeling much more comfortable with this high altitude. Our headaches are clearing, appetites resurging, thirst bubbling-up and we can sleep for longer uninterrupted chunks of the night. In other words, it seems like we are getting acclimated to C1 – 6100 metres, and may be ready to walk up the Western Cwm to Camp 2. Exciting!!!!! Our trusty Sherpas have detected our hunger for the heights, and tell us they have been busy setting up tents for our kitchen and sleeping in C2, so here is hoping the weather holds steady and lets go and try to get up there!

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26 April - Everest News: Well today is a rest day, albeit at 6100 metre high camp 1. Wow, what a place to rest. After yesterday’s epic climb up from Everest Base Camp through the twisted Khumbu Icefall, to Camp 1, we all felt we needed a break, so we are laying around in our sleeping bags in secure tents and sipping soup, tea, munching biscuits and reading our kindles, phones, and books on tape. You know how sometimes it feels really good to just lay around and do nothing?Especially after the day before’s very hard climb, so you feel like you’ve earned it. Our 10 Sherpas are taking amazing care of us, keeping our water bottles full and checking in on us constantly. A few of us have mild headaches, perhaps from not drinking enough during the climb yesterday, or last night while laying in our sleeping bags, and we are trying to lower our deficit of dehydration by drinking copious amounts of any kind of liquid we can get our hands on. The weather up here is sunny, with no wind and no clouds. Today you really could call this a Himalayan Beach of sorts, and we even have to retreat into the tents at midday because it is just too blindingly bright outside. The terrain around camp 1 looks like a layer cake of sorts, with the rising Western Cwm going up in one giant flat village sized terrace stacked one upon the other, elevating to camp 2 far up the valley above us. When we look up valley, we see the monstrous wall that is Mount Lhotse, the world’s 4th highest peak, dominating the head of the valley. When we look due west, we stare into the amazing flanks of Mount Pumori and Mount Lingtren, the children of Everest a couple of stunning teen-aged peaks. Even we can see really good views of Mount Cho Oyu, the 6th highest peak in the world from here!! Nevertheless, lets not forget our little Camp 1 patch of the Western Cwm is sandwiched in the alligator jaws of the flanks of Mount Nuptse and the West Ridge of Everest. Here is hoping the critter’s mouth does’nt snap shut while we are peacefully relaxing down in here! By the way, we cant see basecamp from here, as it is below the curve of the Khumbu icefall, but we can spot the helicopters flying in and out of basecamp. From way up here, these helis look like tiny honey bees going to and fro, maintaining their hive.

Photo Eric.

Photo Eric.

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25 April - Everest News: All Team Climbs The Khumbu Icefall to Camp 1:

Photo Don.

Photo Don.

We awoke at 23:30 pm and got dressed, meeting at our team dining/mess tent at midnight. The weather is perfect: clear skies, near full moon, no wind, no clouds, no snow. After a big midnight breakfast and lots of tea, coffee and juice, we grabbed our pack lunches and shouldered our rucksacks. The Sherpas helped carry extra water and a few of our extra bits and pieces, which was very helpful. We set off at 1am and walked to the “crampon point” where our team members and Sherpas regrouped to begin our ascent. We tightened all of our straps and clipped to the fixed lines at this point, not to unclip until camp 1. Together with the Sherpas, members climbed up through the incredible Khumbu icefall, a maze of shifting ice blocks, terraces, overhangs, long traverses, and “football pitches / fields”. During the ascent we counted one ladder bridging a horizontal crevasse and one ladder ascending a vertical icewall. During the climb we had to climb 2 major big icewalls using our ascending devices, ice axe, and ice climbing technique we had practiced in basecamp. Also, in these steep sections, our awesome Sherpas helped to belay us and provided hauling aid of members and their rucksacks where necessary. There were also 3 smaller icewalls. The route through the Khumbu Icefall is quite long, and some of us reached camp 1 at around 9am breakfast time, some around lunch time, and others not until dinner time or afterward. Exhausting work, but EVERYONE MADE IT and the feeling of accomplishment is very prominent: this is the most difficult task our members have done yet on this expedition. The Sherpas provided very strong assistance and did an amazing job. Congratulations To Everyone in Our Team!

   

Photo Eric.

Photo Eric.

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24 April - Everest News Blog: This morning we received word the new snow has settled and the icefall route has been carefully checked by the icefall doctors and is open for travel. All 9 of our members say they are ready, willing, able, and excited to go. Our 12 Sherpas are packing their rucksacks with our team member's personal equipment, the Sherpa's own equipment, and the group equipment needed for a 10 day visit to Everest's Western Cwm. The weather seems perfect and we plan to depart at 1am tonight.

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Photo Eric.

Photo Timothy M.

Photo Timothy M.

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23 April - Everest News Blog from SummitClimb: Sunny warm amazing day here at Everest Base Camp, located on the surface of the massive Khumbu Glacier, lying at the foot of Mount Everest. We are waiting for the newly fallen snow to melt and consolidate so we can safely ascend the Khumbu icefall up to Camp 1. Perhaps one more day and all will be ok. Tim we miss you very much.

Photo Timothy M.

Photo Timothy M.

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22 April Everest News: Today is meant to be a rest day, but nothing prepared us for how true this would be. We awoke at our usual hour (7:30am) to an eery silence. Upon unzipping the inner tent door, we noticed the outer door bulging inward. As we unzipped the outer door, snow cascaded inside. We shoveled the mound away, opened the door wide, and were greeted by a full-on snow blizzard. Silent, white, and thick. Blazing the trail to the mess tent, we note there are 18cm / 7in of fresh snow on the ground with more falling. All members and Sherpas are safe in camp, so we spend the day huddling inside tents and occasionally skipping out to measure the latest accumulation. By evening, clouds have parted, snowfall has ceased and the moon is skating high above us in a silver black twilight sky framed by puffy white receding clouds over an incredible mountain landscape blanketed in a thick white crystaline cloak

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21 April - SummitClimb News Blog: Last night we heard a snowy weather forecast. So we started early today at 5:30 am. Skies held high clouds, and breezes were mild, so we decided to continue on with today's game plan, which is advanced acclimatization. After a nutritious breakfast we were handed our packed lunches and we11 members and 4 sherpas headed out for Pumori Advanced Base Camp. After a good few hours of hiking over rocks, up grassy slopes, and across granite slabs, we made it to the small raised stone tuft known as Pumori ABC at 5750 metres. From this spot, hands down some of the best photos are taken of the Nepal Everest massif. By which we mean Everest Summit, Everest W Ridge, Western Cwm, Lhotse Face and Summit, Mt Nuptse, Khumbu Ice Fall. After shooting 100s of dumbstruck photos, we hurried back to camp under lowering clouds, reaching EBC in time to eat a hot lunch while a snow storm engulfed us

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20 April - SummitClimb News Blog: Ice climbing training today. We are practicing crossing crevasses on aluminum ladders. We practice ascending 20 metre ice pinnacles using rope, ascender, ice axe and crampon. Then we tie in for a safe roped descent via figure 8 abseil rappel. Next we are climbing aluminum ladders pinned to the ice. At the top of the ladder we traverse out onto steep ice, and climb the rope once more with ascender, axe, crampon. This time when descending down we learned the traditional arm rappel abseil. We wrapped up our enjoyable educational training day with a delicious pizza dinner!

Photo Don.

Photo Don.

Photo Don.

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19 April - Everest SummitClimb Blog: Today we had a beautiful Sherpa blessing ceremony replete with authentic Tibetan Buddhist Lama Priests, clashing cymbals, thumping drums, and smoky chanting voices twisting in clouds of juniper incense. We strung colorful prayer flags all around our camp. The Sherpas presented us with food gifts, poured rice wine down our throats, and decorated our faces with barley flour. We reciprocated! Finally after a deliciously prepared fresh food feast, we retired to our cozy warm private spacious tents, with thick plush mattresses, toasty sleeping bags and the sweetest of dreams!

Ice fall. Photo Don.

Photo Don.

Checking equipment. Photo Don.

18 April - SummitClimb Everest News Blog: 11 Sherpas climbed from EBC to Camp 1 to set up tents and deposit gear. They returned to BC to report the route through the Khumbu ice fall is long, windy, and crosses only a few large crevasses. Today members set up their harnesses, fit crampons to boots, leashed ice axes, strapped on helmets, and set off into the Khumbu Glacier at basecamp to test their kit and learn snow + ice skills. The weather has been a mix of sunshine, light breeze, occasional snow flurries, with crystal clear starry nights. Paul and Raphael we miss you very much!

Photo Paul H.

Photo Paul H.

Photo Paul H.

Photo Paul H.

Photo Paul H.

Photo Paul H.

Photo Paul H.

Photo Paul H.

Photo Paul H.

Photo Don.

Photo Don.

Photo Don.

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17 April - SummitClimb Dispatch: Awoke in beautiful Everest basecamp. Sunny breakfast. All members walk to EBC hospital for routine checkup. Back to EBC for unpacking and acclimatizing.

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16 April - Dispatch: Awoke to a light dusting of snow. Trekked past the research pyramid and over rocky moraines to the last outpost of Gorak Shep. Delicious lunch then final steps onto Khumbu glacier to arrive basecamp, our home for next 6 weeks

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15 April - Dispatch: Big breakfast then beautiful walk across Khumbu valley beneath towering summits. Delicious lunch at Dughla. Climbed Dughla hill to the famous sad site of Everest memorials. Walked a little further to Lobuche town and tucked into a warm comfy teahouse

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April 14 - Dispatch: Good morning Dingboche Village. Big breakfast followed by a walk up to 5028 metres. Building on our acclimatization in the very thin air, while taking in smashing views of Khumbu valley stretched out far below. Returned to Dingboche for another large lunch and wandering around town shopping, drinking coffee and eating fresh baked biscuits. Big dinner and off to bed at 8pm!

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April 13 - Dispatch: Gorgeous breakfast at Sonam Lodge in Pangboche with picture postcard stunning views of Ama Dablam and the Everest Massif. Walked up to the Pangboche Monastery for 2 blessing ceremonies by 2 Lamas. Toured the ancient monastery, then visited the giant Buddha statue on top of the hill. Trekked up the EBC trail to Shomare village for delicious lunch at Friendship Lodge. Final walk over to Dingboche town in light snow flurries and a welcome warm hotel dining room.

Photo Paul H.

 Team at Pangboche Monastery. Pangboche lama. Photo Don.

Photo Paul H.

Photo Paul H.

Guru Rinpoche Statue. Photo Don

Lighting at monastery photo Don

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12 April - Dispatch: Long beautiful walk. Trek across ridges, then down to Dudh Khosi river lunch. Crossed Nepal Army checkpost. Hiked up a big hill to famous Tengboche monastery with praying monks. Amazing views of Everest. Hiked up to Pangboche village at the foot of mighty Mt Ama Dablam. Delicious yak steak dinner, fresh veggies, local potatoes, home made garlic soup.

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11 April - Dispatch. Rest day in Namche. Staying in beautiful Hilltop Lodge. Morning acclimatization walk to Everest View Hotel. Everyone made it! Relaxing afternoon. Card playing, capuccino, chocolate cake, Irish Pub. Special day!

Photo Eric.

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Photo Paul H.

Photo Paul H.

Photo Paul H.

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10 April - dispatch. Delicious breakfast followed by lovely river valley walk to Jorsalle village, where we entered Everest National Park. Sunny lunch on the terrace and a nap! Big hike up to Namche, arriving in time for cake, pizza, capuccino. Beautiful day, everyone feeling well

Donkeys carrying Expedition goods.

Team members. Photo Don.

Suspension bridge and Dhudkhosi river. Photo Don

Namche Bazaar. Player flag. Photo Don

 

 

 

At airport. Namche Bazaar. Photo Gopal

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9 April -  dispatch: Lukla flight went smoothly. We saw lots of mountains. Trekked down to Zamfute Village in light rain. Now sleeping in Sonam Guest House. Very beautiful. No other tourists here!

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April 9 - Early morning flight to "World's Most Dangerous Airport". We lived, and our bags arrived too! ‪‎Trekked‬ 200m down to Phakding.

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April 6 - SummitClimb Everest and Lhotse members shopping for gear in one of the literally  100s of mountain shops in Thamel, Kathmandu

Photo Deha

Photo Deha

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4 April :

Everest Sherpas preparing climbing equipments and food for Everest, Lhotse and Everest Camp 3 training. Photo by Deha

Thanks to Benoit Lafon of Revelstoke ski area for the amazing mountain jackets. 16 SummitClimb Sherpas ready to climb Everest! Photo by Don

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Everest Nepal / Lhotse / Everest Training Team Roster -

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