A bit of light scrambling to keep occupied on our rest day! Namche is in the background.
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All posts for the month March, 2012
On our way to Namche we picked up our first climbing permit. We will climb Labouche after reaching Base Camp in an effort to speed the acclimatisation process and avoid the dangers of passing through the ice fall too many times.
After a relatively easy day yesterday we had an early start and headed for Namche Bazar- the main hub of the Everest trekking region. We gained around 600m of altitude over the course of the day to end Up at around 3400 meters. Namche is a pretty amazing village considering almost everything here arrives on someone’s back. On that note, it was good to see that my essential supplies and mattress were making there way to base camp ( see pics). The porters are amazing. They climb with 40+kg loads wearing flip flops. Schools are closed here for the peak climbing season so the kids can also carry loads!
We have a rest day tomorrow and will do a short trek to gain around 400 meters before returning to Namche for the night. Part of the climb high sleep low protocol.
The Chairwoman of the Edmund Hillary Foundation provided the three climbers on our team (Pierre, Nathalie, and me) with good luck charms for the climb before we left Lukla. A Small seed that we had to swallow and a yellow string/necklace that we have to wear. Let’s hope it works.
And to think Nicky was worried about Air India! We have successfully landed at Lukla Airport – apparently the most dangerous airport in the world. It’s situated between mountains, is very short, and is uphill. We start our Trek to Base Camp from here. We have about 8 hours walking today but not much net elevation gain. It is much colder than expected, part of some freak weather system in play. Hopefully, that won’t impact the mountain too much.
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To have your own foot in the Rum Doodle bar (as an Everest Summiter) whereupon you can eat free for life!
Ps – see the footstep of a Kiwi who has been here before.
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Well we are (hopefully) fully packed and on our way to the airport with 138kg of luggage for our flight to Delhi and then on to Kathmandu. Sadly, I have had to leave all but one my flowery shirts at home! Nicky is quite concerned about flying Air India. I told her she should be more worried about her Helicopter flight from Base Camp back to Kathmandu in a 50-year-old Russian Helicopter – check this out !! Nothing a pack of Temazepam won’t fix.
So, I have been encouraged to use wordpress as a forum to provide updates on my upcoming trip to Everest. It is fair to say that I have sought to limit my online profile so do not appear on Facebook, Twitter, or other popular social networking sites so this is all a bit new to me. Sadlly, the trip is still 3 weeks out and I am focussed on tidying my desk at the office and trying to recover from a broken rib and torn calf muscle sustained through a skiing accident last weekend. More to follow soon. Paul
