Namche to Phortse

On Friday we trekked from Namche to Phortse, the home of most of the Sherpa guides employed by IMG.  It was a solid 7 hour walk with amazing views along the way.  Phortse sits on a high plateau at almost 13,000 ft overlooking the confluence of two rivers below.  It's an amazing setting and the town itself is a traditional mix of homes, a few guest houses and farmers' fields.

We are staying at the house of Karma Rita Sherpa tonight.  He's a long-time guide for IMG with an impressive resume of summits.  The guest house seems fairly new and is comfortable.  Our experiences here in Phortse seem just a little bit special since there's a strong connection between IMG and the Sherpa guides.  We feel welcomed and are given a tour around town.

First stop was the school.  It's on the site of the first schoolhouse built by Sir Edmond Hillary in the early 1960's. The photo below shows the school with a rubble pile below it that was the Hillary school.  It was damaged beyond repair from the earthquakes and was recently demolished.  The stones will be used to construct two more rooms onto the new school in the background.. We were able to look into the three small classrooms with their minimal supplies and long benches where the students sit.  Kriss was in seventh heaven peeking into the rooms and wished that school was in session.

Our next stop was to check out the new prayer wheel and building that was financed with donations collected by IMG for it's reconstruction after the earthquake.  It's among the largest wheels we've seen on our trek and quite impressive for this small town of about 800 residents.  Again, it's obvious how connected we are to Phortse.

From the prayer wheel, we headed down to check out one of the two town Stupas (shrines) that were badly damaged and are in need of reconstruction.  IMG has set up a fund to help raise the money necessary for this effort and are hopeful to get it done this year.  

The last stop on our town tour was to the construction site for the new Khumbu Climbing Center.  This project has been planned for years and is now in full swing.  We met the construction manager, a westerner, who told us they have about 40 people working on the building now.  It's primarily stone construction with steel beam reinforcement and looks quite modern.  As with other construction projects we've seen in the Khumbu, all of the stone is hand chiseled into properly sized rectangular shapes. The amount of labor hours and effort required to complete the project is staggering and reminds us of what it must have been like hundreds of years ago in the west.

  A short walk and a warm dinner back in the guest house topped off a fantastic day.  We learned that the Sherpa House restaurant in Golden employs a few climbing guides from Phortse during the summer and fall.  It's a favorite place of ours to visit and will now have a special meaning.

Namche

Namche is our home for two more days and we're excited to do some exploring.  After breakfast, our team heads uphill to the Everest View Hotel for our first look at Mt. Everest.  It's a solid hour of uphill hiking but when we get there, our effort is rewarded with an amazing view.  Mt. Everest is there with a huge plume coming off it, Lohtse is there also but completely obscured with a plume and Ama Dablam is completely visible with its iconic shape.  The photo below is from our roaming on Thursday up to the Sherpa museum and another overlook spot.

Yes, those who have read previous posts know what I'm going to say next.  The view of Everest made it all real in an instant.  What was a vacation like trek from town to town transformed into a  long walk to climb the highest mountain in the world and I was looking right at it.  What an amazingly beautiful sight!

From the Everest View, we headed up to another village called Khumjung.  This was a traditional Nepali farming village and we found out later that children from over an hour walk away come here for school after about the 4th grade.  Talk about walking to school up hill both ways, these kids actually do it.

Much of Khumjung was damaged during the earthquake and we visited the Buddhist temple to view the reconstruction.  The workers were making good progress and expected to be complete by mid-summer.

Back in Namche, we enjoyed the comforts of a traditional trading center with some shopping, talking to the locals and making multiple visits to the German bakery.  Another highlight was a visit to the Sherpa museum.  Outside and up on the hill stands a statue of Tenzing Norgay, the first Sherpa to climb Mt. Everest (photo above).  Below in the museum buildings, were displays of old traditional Sherpa household items, displays of Sherpa life and a household prayer room.  The typical  Buddhist Sherpa household has a prayer room which was interesting to understand.

Another room at the museum holds photos of all the climbing Sherpas who have summited Mt. Everest.  Below each photo is a list of the summit dates and it's amazing to see the climbing experience of many of these amazing mountaineers.  Many of these guys will be climbing with us this season and we look forward to meeting them later in the trek and on the mountain.

Phakding to Namche

Today is Tuesday and our plan is to make the trek from Phakding to Namche.  This turns out to be a pretty good walk with a few thousand feed of elevation gain.  We're taking our time with a steady pace because the goal is for everyone to stay healthy during every step of the journey.  At times, it takes a little self control to not open it up for a while but restraint is a better choice and I use the slow pace to soak up the scenery.

River crossings are a bit lively on these cable bridges which are shared by humans and animals alike.  I haven't mentioned the trail stock yet but in addition to the human porters, much freight is transported by mules, cows and eventually yaks further up the valley.  Driven by their handlers, the animals number from 4 or 5 to as many as a dozen or more.  Being large beasts on a narrow trail, they have the obvious advantage and therefore the right of way.  Many times we move over on the high side and let them pass while we pull up our buffs (neck gaiters) to cover our mouths and noses from the dust.

So back to the bridges now.  The crossings are easily 200-300 feet from shore to shore and the highest one today was at least 250 ft above the river below.  Supported by a pair of 1.25" diameter cables with mesh fencing on the sides and metal planks on the bottom, they look quite substantial.  It's only when you're a third of the way or so across that you get the full experience which includes bouncing and swaying of the entire affair as our team and others make their way.  The most important strategy is to be sure that no animals will be coming up behind you or worse yet from the opposite direction as you cross.  We were lucky today in our timing and I cannot imagine the trapped feeling one would have being halfway across when a dozen animals each weighing 600# or more enter from the opposite side.

The last couple of miles into Namche are fairly steep and we pull into town in mid afternoon feeling well exercised and ready for a rest.  This town is the historical trading center of the Khumbu valley and is much larger than others we've passed through so far.  Filled with hotels and shops of all shapes and sizes, it's a good place to rest and acclimatize for a few days.

After tea, we gather our duffels and settle into our closet-sized rooms.  We had the luxury of a shower facility in the hotels to wash the trail and mule dung dust off of us.  After that was a quick exploration of the local shops to see what the town had to offer.  Namche has an energetic feel with lots of climbers and trekkers mixing with the locals.  We look forward to finding a few bargains before moving on up the valley.  At the top of the list is an inexpensive rug to make my base camp tent more homey.

Kathmandu -Lukla-Phakding

It's Monday the 27th and we're heading to the airport at 5am after packing things up.  Our plan is to fly to Lukla and begin our trek but the airport there has been closed due to weather so our excitement is tempered for the time being.

As it turns out, our flight is a go and we're in the small turboprop by 6:30 and on our way.  The flight was 45 minutes and almost immediately we were entertained by views of Himalayan mountains.  Granted the ones we saw were probably no taller than 20,000 ft or so but the mountaineering juices were definitely flowing and our team was excited to be out of the city.

The Lukla airport is pretty famous and it's worth checking out some YouTube videos.  The runway is extremely short and considerably sloped upward in the landing direction to aid in slowing down the planes before they hit the mountain at the end.  Our landing was uneventful and from inside the plane, it didn't feel out of the ordinary.  It wasn't until getting out and taking a look that we got the true feeling of it.

We enjoy a 4 hour trek to Phakding and are surprised at the number of trekkers on the trail.  Of course there are people from all over the world arriving here for the season and the people watching is good.

The trail follows the Khumbu valley through small villages where local people mix with visitors.  Our day packs seem puny in comparison to the huge loads that porters carry along the route.  A recent study documented that porters, especially Sherpa porters, can carry a significant percentage of their body weight.  An average load is 70% or so and many porters can carry 130% of their body weight or more.  Considering the small stature of these people, it's amazing to watch them travel along the trail with a 100# load supported only by a strap on their head.

The architecture is primarily stone buildings which look like they're built to last a century or more.  Villages are a mix of businesses, homes and fields bordered by stone walls.  It seems we're between growing seasons now where the winter leeks and cabbage are being replaced by potato planting.  We've learned the composted fertilizer is a combination of human waste, Yak and cow dung and leaves.

Arriving at our lodge, we settle in for a meal and rest.  No real exploring to do this afternoon except for around the property since we're on the far side of town.  It sure was nice to get some exercise today and stretch our legs.

Leaving Kathmandu in the Morning

Saturday morning came far too quickly but the bright sunshine outside our window called to us to get up and get moving.  After a light breakfast at our hotel we headed out on foot to the Thamel area of Kathmandu to find a cheap cellphone.  We quickly learned that Kathmandu is dusty, noisy, crowded and a bit of a challenge to get around on foot.  There aren't any traffic signals or stop signs in the city.  Cars, buses, taxis, motorcycles and foot traffic converge in the streets without a care in the world for pedestrians.  Sidewalks are uneven or nonexistent.  It was difficult to look for a phone store while trying not to fall flat on your face.

After negotiating the main road and a labyrinth of side streets we found a shop and purchased a cheap phone.  It's a wonder that there will be WIFI service up most of the Khumbu Valley and at EBC.  We only needed to ask for directions once and were soon back at the hotel.  We had lunch just down the street, and ate the most wonderful Indian food!

Back in our room we unpacked everything in preparation for our gear check.  Dallas, one of our guides, spent a good 30 minutes with us making sure that we have all of the proper gear for the trek and the climbs.  Thankfully no shopping was required.  Then came the arduous task of organizing the gear into four piles; one duffel for EBC, a duffel and backpack for the trek and one for things to leave at the hotel.  Three hours later most of the work was complete.

Dinner was at a small local restaurant ten minutes walk from the hotel.  More Nepali/Indian food, and a good cold beer finished off our first day in Nepal.

Our Sunday started early with breakfast at 6 followed by a team meeting.  This was the first chance we had to meet all 19 of our climbing/trekking teammates.  Greg, the IMG expedition leader laid out the overall trekking plan and provided some words of wisdom from his considerable experience.  We also met Ang Jangbu, the local Sherpa partner for IMG.  Everyone seems very nice, and some of the men have been on Everest before.

The best part of today was spending the afternoon with Tsering Dolkar who owns not only the hotel where we're staying but also a Tibetan rug factory.  At the factory we were able to see each step in the rug making process.  We watched women spinning wool, saw the enormous patterns the weavers follow, watched women weaving rugs (100 knots/inch), and saw a group of men cutting the surface of finished rugs on the rooftop to ensure they were even.

Then Tsering took us to the room where we found the perfect rug to put in the new room above the garage!  It is a traditional lotus pattern rug made from Tibetan wool and silk.  After we had lunch with her and her brother we picked out a smaller rug which depicts a phoenix and a dragon.  They're both so beautiful, and we can't wait to see them at home!

After spending a couple of days in the busy city of Kathmandu, we're happy to be wrapping it up and hopefully flying to Lukla in the morning to begin our trek.

Everything But the Kitchen Sink

The final two weeks prior to leaving Denver was a blur of gathering gear, buying gear, ferrying gear to Pipestone, organizing gear and packing gear.  Multiple lists were kept by both of us so we could remember the final chores that had to get done and the last minute items that had to be purchased before we could get on that first plane.  In the end we packed 4 duffles weighing in at 198.6 pounds, two carry-on suitcases with all our medications, electronics, toiletries and clothing and two small backpacks for all that other junk you need when you travel.   It seemed as if we were taking everything but the kitchen sink to Nepal.

After dropping off the pups and eating dinner we were off to stay near the airport due to our 6:00 am departure.  We spent most of the evening downloading apps for the iPad, as well as books and music to entertain ourselves during the long rest days in the tent.  Finally after 7 months of planning, training, shopping, organizing and packing it was time to begin the adventure!

Thanks to a malfunctioning fuel gauge we left Denver International Airport 30 minutes late and on edge.  Thankfully the pilot was able to make up time in the air, and we landed at LAX on time.  One shuttle bus ride to another terminal and a quick blog post at the gate (see Antarctica) we boarded the Cathay Pacific flight to Hong Kong.  The upgrade to premium economy was worth its weight in gold as there were only 8 other passengers in our section of the plane!

Fifteen hours later we arrived in Hong Kong on a beautiful sunny afternoon.  We spent our three hour layover wandering throughout the spotlessly modern terminal, people watching and window shopping.  It felt wonderful to walk and stretch our legs after all of that sitting and sleeping.  We almost felt human again.

Little did we know that the last leg of the journey would be so difficult.  What should have been an easy 4 hour flight turned into a marathon.  We were unable to land in Kathmandu due to a thunderstorm and circled for over an hour before the captain decided we needed to refuel.  So we flew to Dhaka, Bangladesh, which took an hour, sat on the plane for an hour during the refueling and flew back to Kathmandu where we finally landed.  Instead of landing at 10:00 pm, we touched down at 2:30 am.  Ah, the joys of overseas travel!

We are thrilled to be here with all of our gear.  Looking forward to tomorrow and the next part of our adventure!

Antarctica 2014!

In November of 2014, Kriss and I headed to Antarctica to climb Vinson Massif.  Vinson is the highest mountain on the Antarctic continent at 16,050 ft and if all goes well, will be the 6th of the Seven Summits for us.

As you can imagine, the logistics for getting to Antarctica alone are pretty complicated.  Commercial airliners got us to Punta Arenas, Chile after which we connected with Antarctic Logistics & Expeditions (ALE), the company who runs the big charter plane that brings climbers, tourists, explorers and others to the ice.  When I say big charter plane, I mean an old Russian cargo plane with seats bolted to the deck in the front and any manner of gear, equipment, machinery, supplies or whatever is required to sustain life in the cold and inhospitable environment of the frozen Antarctic continent in back.

As with all of our expedition trips, it seems the toughest part isn't necessarily the climbing but the planning, training, packing, traveling and schlepping hundreds of pounds of gear to the destination.  Arriving at Union Glacier, we set up camp and settled into a routine consisting mostly of resting, eating and waiting for a clear weather window to fly to Vinson.  Obviously it's all visual flying which means few clouds can be present for the 100 or so miles we had to travel.

We waited 3-1/2 days at Union Glacier which seemed like forever for a bunch of athletes just itching to get climbing.  Once we got word though it was a quick series of events to break camp, pack everything up, get all the gear loaded into two deHaviland Otters and take off.  We certainly weren't going to fiddle about and miss the opportunity to get going.

Ah, the Otter is a fantastically rugged little plane and you know you're doing something fun and adventurous when flying in one.  The interior Antarctic landscape is basically snow, ice and rock and while there are plenty of features to look at during our flight, the scale is extremely deceiving.  In some places the ice is 8,000-9,000 ft or more thick so the mountains you see are only a small part of their true size.  It's crazy to think about how many millions of years the ice has been accumulating before our arrival.

After 30 or 40 minutes, we approached some larger mountains and then we saw it.  I've described previously the feeling you get when first seeing your objective and this experience was no different.  The size and height of Vinson standing in contrast to the surrounding landscape was impressive.  Then, thinking about where we were, how far away civilization was and how cold it must be on the top, that funny feeling got pretty strong.

Once we landed on the snow at base camp, there was another flurry of activity to get everything and everyone off the planes quickly so the pilots could get out of there and back to Union Glacier.  Then it was quiet.  We towed our gear on plastic sleds to a suitable campsite and started the work of setting up camp.

Finally with something to do, I was happy and energized!  Our guide Mike and I chose a spot for the cook tent and I went to work digging it out.  The "posh" as we call it is a teepee shaped tent, and when set up correctly provides space for someone to stand and cook while everyone else has room to sit in a circle around most of the perimeter.  It's got multiple levels and is fun to build.     Most importantly, it's a cozy place for us to gather at mealtime, make plans for the climb, share stories and socialize a bit.

We were finally on the mountain and settling into the familiar routine of climbing, cacheing gear, returning to lower camps, sleeping and then moving higher up.  The most difficult section of the climb was between camp 1 and high camp.  There's a large head wall with fixed lines to protect the teams agains a perilous fall.  The slope amounts to basically ascending straight up a double black diamond slope of hard ice/snow for 2,000 ft elevation gain.  We climbed this twice, first to move gear up and the next day to move camp.

After 5 days of continuous work, we were at high camp and ready to push for the summit.  The morning of day 6 looked reasonable but there were some high clouds and the sky wasn't the deep blue that we'd hoped for.  After watching for an hour or so, we decided to go for it.

Our first summit attempt was not a successful one.  Because of our weather delay at Union Glacier, we were all fired up and wanted to climb fast.  After 5 days of hard work and no rest, the  6th was difficult for some members of our team.  If the weather was perfect and we got an early start, we may have made the summit.  Our weather was not perfect and deteriorated rapidly as we approached 14,000 ft and beyond to the "rescue cache".  This spot is really the decision point for whether to proceed on the more exposed part of the mountain and on to the summit or to turn around and return to high camp.  Wisely Mike pulled the plug and we returned to our tents.

Day 7 was a rest day and everyone needed it both physically and mentally.  The itinerary for the day was rest, eat, rest and repeat.  Another team left for the summit and made it but had strong winds and very cold temps.  We were hoping that day 8 would provide us with better weather and strong legs.

As it turned out, day 8 did provide better weather and everyone was in good spirits and feeling strong.  We made steady progress and reached the summit in the early afternoon under mostly clear skies and a light breeze.  It was 50 below or more and we tried to stay covered up to prevent frostbite while taking photos and celebrating.  The return to high camp was downhill and thankfully uneventful.  After a big dinner we all crashed and our thoughts turned to heading back down.

Our last day on Vinson was pretty busy.  Breaking high camp, descending the fixed lines with heavy packs to camp 1, digging up our caches, transferring some gear to sleds and descending to base camp with pretty heavy loads, we pulled in at mid-afternoon.  I say mid-afternoon but on December 2nd in Antarctica, the sun mostly just circles above your head all day.  After waiting a few hours, the Otters arrived and we were off Vinson before the true feeling of accomplishment had settled in.

We spent another day and a half at Union Glacier before leaving the continent on the Russian cargo plane.  There were a couple of hours when the climbing teams just arriving mingled with those of us in the first wave who were leaving.  Some famous professional climbers were there, as well as those looking for personal glory or national pride.  People from all over the world descend on these places at the right time of year to climb and in those moments we all have one thing in common, a love for the mountains and the desire to reach the summit.