April 9, 2013' Down to business now... The trek team departed camp today after a
fantastic early morning puja and shortly thereafter getting up close in the ice-
fall. Tears, fears and complete joy were all part of the emotions circulating the group. After a late lunch they packed up and headed down to the closest village to base camp called Gorak Shep. Tomorrow very early they will make their own summit bid on top of Kala Pattar. They think they were impressed at this point, wait till they get up there.
Tomorrow we rest and begin our strategy and safety talks, the next day we'll get out on the ice and start assessing skills to make sure we are all on the same page. This serves as a good opportunity for the personal Sherpas and the western guides to see how well honed these climbers are and if any adjustments are needed. Some are known to us, repeat climbers or participants of our previous training climbs, while some we've not seen in action till now. As certified guides there are ways to run climbers through the rigors and see how well they respond so we can trust them up there when the going gets tough. Sometimes decisions have to be made quickly to avoid situations that should be prevented. Rule number one of leading people up here in this hostile environment is "prevention".
Busy? looks much the same as last year, it's hard to tell. Not sure how many folks are here as trekkers and who are climbers. We'll have a better idea in a few weeks when things settle out. Maybe some are doing Island Peak or Lobuche or even Nuptse. Those climbing Lhotse will be on the same route as us till the South Col or Camp 3 so you can count them in the busy factor. I will say there are some extremely large expeditions here. Just as long as they carry their poop off the mountain we're ok with that.
Over and out.... Good luck trekkers.... Tim
Photo: Everest, Lhotse, Nuptse & Everest 2013 climbers with Ama Dablam in the background.
www.peakfreaks.com
fantastic early morning puja and shortly thereafter getting up close in the ice-
The climbing team got down to business after camp cleared out, showers first order of business. It's all been one big social for the past nine days, now it's time to start talking climbing and getting into each others heads to begin playing this mountain with so many variables.
Tomorrow we rest and begin our strategy and safety talks, the next day we'll get out on the ice and start assessing skills to make sure we are all on the same page. This serves as a good opportunity for the personal Sherpas and the western guides to see how well honed these climbers are and if any adjustments are needed. Some are known to us, repeat climbers or participants of our previous training climbs, while some we've not seen in action till now. As certified guides there are ways to run climbers through the rigors and see how well they respond so we can trust them up there when the going gets tough. Sometimes decisions have to be made quickly to avoid situations that should be prevented. Rule number one of leading people up here in this hostile environment is "prevention". Over and out.... Good luck trekkers.... Tim
Photo: Everest, Lhotse, Nuptse & Everest 2013 climbers with Ama Dablam in the background.
www.peakfreaks.com
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