Settling in to EBC

The walk back to Everest base camp seemed longer than I remembered, most likely because I wasn't sharing it with Kriss.  Nevertheless, the solitude brought its own form of comfort and allowed me to begin the transition to Mt. Everest climber.

With a little effort and organization, a two-person tent can be quite luxurious for one inhabitant.  I brought a few things to Nepal to aid organization and purchased a little rug in Namche for a touch of class.  The finished product (for now) came out well and I'm comfortable in my new home.

Friday the 14th was a rest day and I managed to get a shower but the laundry didn't happen.  We've got two rest days in a row so there's no reason to accomplish everything right away.  Mostly I spent the day eating and drinking and being lazy.  The lazy part is a novel concept for me but I got the hang of it after a while.  This is a skill that will be honed over the next month to allow my body to recover between climbs on the mountain.

On Saturday, we woke up to 4" of new snow.  It's amazing how clean and fresh the snow made our basecamp look.  It also insulated our tents against the cold and most of us woke up warm and ready to meet the day.

Unfortunately the snow made laundry out of the question today since the water lines were frozen but really what's the problem with wearing the same clothes for a few more days right?  The only plans for today are to work on some climbing and fixed line skills.  We'll be entering the icefall for the first time tonight and building muscle memory helps efficiencies when transitioning at anchors and repels.  The IMG Sherpa staff set up a little ropes and ladders course for us in base camp and we had fun making laps around it for a couple of hours.

 

In the late morning, we had a visit from world class mountaineer Uli Steck (AKA the Swiss Machine).  He seemed like a nice humble guy and was patient with our photo requests.  When asked what his climbing plans were for the season, he just let us know that he had permits for Everest, Lhotse and Nuptse.  We later saw him entering the icefall Sunday morning as we were on our way out.  He was solo of course.

Saturday evening, we had dinner, packed for our 3am departure to the icefall and went to bed early.  Some have asked about our food during this adventure.  I have to say the IMG Sherpa cook staff do an excellent job to keep us well-fed and minimize weight loss.  Tonight was a special "chicken sizzler" dinner served on hot platters like a fajita dish.  Below is a photo of some teammates enjoying the steamy meal in our dining tent.

There's a palpable nervous anticipation for our first voyage into the infamous Khumbu icefall in a few hours.  Most of us eat, fill our water bottles and head to the tents without much delay, all hoping for a safe climb in the early morning.

Namaste