Category: Mt. Everest
More from Everest Base Camp!
Everest Team Reaches Base Camp!
Everest Team Moving Closer to Base Camp!
After 3 nights in Namche Bazaar we hiked 5 hours to the village of Deboche at 3820m/12,533′ where we spent the nights April 1 and 2 at the Rivendell Lodge.
Deboche is located 40m/131′ below Tengboche, site of the most well known Buddhist monasteries in the Khumbu. The team visited the monastery then went next door to the best bakery in the Khumbu. We sat outside enjoying freshly baked apple pie and chocolate cake under sunny skies with views of Everest (8850m/29,035′), Lhotse (8516m/27,939′), and Ama Dablam (6856m/22,493′).
On April 3 the team packed up to move to Pheriche (4240m/13,910′). Along the hike we were treated to a close sighting of a group of Nepalese mountain goats perched on a shelf directly above our trail. Moving higher the team passed through Pangboche where we visited Lama Geshe, a local monk who offered his blessing on our climb. His blessings included chanting, incense burning, and the presentation of a scarf an a choker around each trekker’s neck along with a delicate “head butt”. After our visit the weather turned cloudy and by noon light snow was falling. We stopped at a tea house for lunch then finished our hike to Pheriche with snow creating a thin blanket on our trail.
The weather cleared on April 4 and the team decided to take an acclimatization day hike above Pheriche where we got nice views of the surrounding peaks. Besides Everest there are many spectacular peaks in this region of the Himalayas. Every new bend in our route reveals more of these beautiful mountains. We feel humbled and truly blessed to be among these great peaks, many of which rise over a mile above us and are relatively unknown among the general mountaineering community. Peaks within our field of view today included Tabuche (6495m/21,308′), Cholatse (6335m/20,784′), and Arakam Tse (6423m/21,072′) as well as the more well known Island Peak (6189m/20,304′), which is one of the most popular trekking peaks in the region.
Located in Pheriche is a high altitude medical clinic that has been in operation since 1973. The Himalayan Rescue Association staffs it with doctors who provide service to trekkers and climbers in need of medical attention. The work done here over the past 39 years has led to a large contribution of what we know about high altitude medicine today. The team visited the clinic in the afternoon after our day hike where one of the doctors shared some insights on high altitude medicine then gave us a tour of the facility.
On April 5 our plan is to move to Lobuche (5290m/17,355′) Base Camp. Lobuche is another trekking peak in the area. It’s Base Camp will be a nice place to continue our acclimatization. We’ll spend three nights here then trek to Everest Base Camp! It looks like we’ll be “out of range” from the outside world during this time. The next time we expect to check in will be after we’re settled at Everest Base Camp.
We want to thank everybody for all your prayers and support during our journey so far. We look forward to being in touch again soon!!
Everest Team Healthy And Moving Well
Everest Team Is On It’s Way!
Kurt Wedberg and good friend of SMI Fred Simmons have embarked on their much anticipated expedition to Mt. Everest! After all the planning and preparation they had one last meal with Fred’s family in Los Angeles then boarded a Thai Airlines flight bound for Kathmandu, Nepal on March 24. We will attempt to share highlights of the journey through this blog. This is the first entry as written by Kurt Wedberg:
Greetings from the town of Phakding at 2620m/8596′ in the Khumbu region of Nepal. All the altitudes are in meters here. To convert we multiply by 3.2808.
After 24+ hours of travel from LA to Kathmandu landing on March 26 we spent two nights and one day in Nepal’s capitol city making final preparations before starting our trek into Everest Base Camp. We organized our equipment into gear that will be shipped by yak directly to Base Camp and other necessities that will be used during our 11-day trek. Fred and I have tacked ourselved onto a large tea run by my good friend Eric who has been organizing Everest expeditions for many years. We will be using all their logistics and support and be able to climb on our own schedule.
On March 28 we left our hotel at 4:45am and soon were at the airport where local flights originate from (versus where the international flights go in and out of). A bit of organized chaos ensued as we got 23 people plus 23 duffle bags through security. Shortly after 6am we were called to our flight and boarded a Twin Otter that holds about 15 people. We divided into two groups on separate planes and took off on the 45 minute flight that ended at the village of Lukla at 2840m/9300′ in the Solu Khumbu region of Nepal. This airport is a trip. The runway is angled at 11 degrees. This helps the airplane stop on this short runway. Upon exiting the plane there are several Nepali police officers who love blowing their whistles incessantly as we walk off the tarmac.
The first order of business was to get 23 porters matched with our 23 duffle bags. While that was going on we took some time to have a little breakfast. There are little bakery’s in Luka that have espresso and cinnamon rolls. This mountaineering business is tough work!! At 7:45am we took off on our trek. Today was a very easy trek. We had very little uphill mixed in with mostly downhill hence how we ended up 220 meters lower than where we started. We took a leisurely pace and got to Phakding 3 hours after leaving Lukla.
We’re staying in tea houses. These are little lodges that exist all up and down the Khumbu region. They have simple bedrooms and a dining room. The menus are pretty similar at all of them. There are American dishes like spaghetti, lasagna, pizza, and chips (french fries to you and me). They also have traditional Nepali food including dahl baht (rice with lentils) and momo’s, which are steamed dumplings with vegetables or meat.
For the next day of our trek we plan to hike approximately 6 hours to Namche Bazar at 3440m/11,286′. We plan to spend 3 nights here acclimatizing before trekking farther up the valley towards Everest Base Camp.
We will try to share a few photos from our journey on this blog. This may not always be possible though so we will also have them posted on the SMI Photo Gallery site here: http://www.kurtwedbergphotography.com/International-Expeditions/Everest-2012/22141785_sRN2QC