March 31, 2013- 21:00hrs (NPT) - Here we are, minus a few that didn't make the morning photo shoot.
We are off to a great start. The weather has been good getting flights in and out of Kathmandu to Lukla so we are all heading off to bed in the next hour to rest up for our 04:00hrs wake up call to meet our "hopeful" first flight out.
Gear checks are complete and bags are organized. Our base camp was built weeks ago and our cargo was sent up early February so we are now officially ready to climb, just need climbers up there and we're off to the top of the world.
I'll give this blog a shout out once we land in Lukla. Happy Easter everyone at home.... over and out ... Tim
March 29,2013- Ministry Formalities, Mountain Works and team members arriving...... one by one members of the expedition are checking into our base hotel in Kathmandu. It's a fun time but also very tiring as we are all suffering from jet-lag.
There appears to be a few things shaking in changes with regards to way things are done here. Each climber is now required to carry and ID card that added an extra four hours to the paperwork formalities at the Ministry today.
There has also been some changes in the way the mountain will be setup this season. One of them is an effort that is currently being put forth to fix the mountain ahead of it's typical schedule with the thought that more climbers can be pushed through earlier lessening the overcrowding situation of a small window. Interesting how this will play out considering the jet stream has more to do with the window of opportunity than rope. As part of this aggressive approach the ice-fall doctors have already completed fixing the ladders to Camp 1. The Lhotse face is slated to be fixed in just a couple days.
There is a good amount of snow on Everest this year which is good to see in keeping things glued together up there from avalanches and rock fall. But when it starts to heat up we'll be back to the typical challenges of climbing this mountain and working around hazards as they present themselves.
This is it!.... We often get referred to as the "Mom and Pops" of Everest. We'll go with that.... I hope it says and shows what's most important to us - that we care.
Welcome to Peak Freaks Everest 2013' season and blog spot. Our team members are currently making their way to Kathmandu in preparation of the annual push to the top that has been going on here actively in a commercial sense since 1991, the year of our first Everest experience.
We have no insight or prediction to share on how the 2013' season will play out this year. Every expedition is unique and so are the participants, that's the cool part of this lifestyle and experience for everyone involved. We wonder how many climbers there will be? how many teams? weather? mountain conditions? politics and so on. Each year it's a total surprise. The puzzle starts to come together once we start bumping elbows in the Khumbu Valley. At that time we'll start getting a better idea on what we will be working with in giving climbers their best shot at reaching their goals and standing on top of the world.
We continue to keep our teams small in size offering more flexibility to work around the challenges as they are presented. We continue to keep our staff ratio well above average of our competitors -safety in numbers rules!!!- and can sleep at night knowing our Sherpas and Mountain Guides always give us 100% to get the job done, and more importantly bring everyone home maintaining our 100% client safety record during 42 Himalayan expeditions and other extreme adventures worldwide.
We've come to realize that our blog has been a bit one sided with no place for comment. Tim's Facebook is max'd out at 5000 friends but you can click the FOLLOW button (above) enabling you to still participate, get posts and comment. As well we will have a BLOG post where you can leave your comments- coming soon!
We'll have SPOT Trackers on a couple of climbers this year and there are some climbs for great causes that we'll be featuring throughout this journey.
It's all up hill from here until it's time to turn around and climb back down mid to late May. Team introductions coming soon!
the expedition are checking into our base hotel in Kathmandu. It's a fun time but also very tiring as we are all suffering from jet-lag.
This is it!