Trek to Everest Base Camp, April 2010
Fritz is holding out on us.
Nunc est bibendum
I think he is catching up with all the work he missed, but am disappointed he has forgotten where his real priorities ought to lie.Sam Page wrote:I saw a video of him on the summit of Kala Pataar (~18,500 feet). I think he has forgotten about the San Gabriels . . .
Nunc est bibendum
His friends he was meeting there are with Mountain Trip.mve wrote:Do you know which outfitter Fritz went with?
This is their blog: http://mteverest2010.blogspot.com/
Cindy Abbott (frequent Baldy climber) is with them too: http://reachingbeyondtheclouds.com/category/mt-everest/
Nunc est bibendum
Hi, everybody!
Just want to report that my friends Denise, Paul & Cindy reached the summit of Mount Everest a few hours ago (Wohoo!) and are at Camp 4 resting before making their way down to Camp 2 tonight ..
Mountain Trip Report
Didn't mean to keep y'all hanging without a report, but I wanted to wait until they made it.
We were all there at base camp to support our friends after-all ...
Uploading photos for you now!
Just want to report that my friends Denise, Paul & Cindy reached the summit of Mount Everest a few hours ago (Wohoo!) and are at Camp 4 resting before making their way down to Camp 2 tonight ..
Mountain Trip Report
Didn't mean to keep y'all hanging without a report, but I wanted to wait until they made it.
We were all there at base camp to support our friends after-all ...
Uploading photos for you now!
We started off on April 15th with a 13.5 hour direct flight to Hong Kong ...
Fritzilla in the streets of HK
The city has grown a lot since my last visit, when it was still a British colony.
Partial ETE group shot in HK - 23 of us went up to Everest Base Camp
We arrive in Kathmandu, Nepal, 34.5 grueling hours after leaving LAX - along with a stop-over in Dhaka, Bangladesh! We lost contact with the Kathmandu Control Tower a couple of times during a thunderstorm. After multiple aborted landing attempts and after circling for almost 2 hours we finally arrive around midnight!
^ This Sadhu was 103 years old!
Hindus, Muslims and Buddhists all live together in relative harmony ..
Symbols of good fortune
Back of Durbar Palace
After a stay at the Yak & Yeti hotel we head to Lukla in two small planes and a turbulent flight to the base of the Himalaya Mountains.
Tenzing-Hillary Airport in Lukla. There are only two airports in the world higher in elevation.
to be continued ..
Fritzilla in the streets of HK
The city has grown a lot since my last visit, when it was still a British colony.
Partial ETE group shot in HK - 23 of us went up to Everest Base Camp
We arrive in Kathmandu, Nepal, 34.5 grueling hours after leaving LAX - along with a stop-over in Dhaka, Bangladesh! We lost contact with the Kathmandu Control Tower a couple of times during a thunderstorm. After multiple aborted landing attempts and after circling for almost 2 hours we finally arrive around midnight!
^ This Sadhu was 103 years old!
Hindus, Muslims and Buddhists all live together in relative harmony ..
Symbols of good fortune
Back of Durbar Palace
After a stay at the Yak & Yeti hotel we head to Lukla in two small planes and a turbulent flight to the base of the Himalaya Mountains.
Tenzing-Hillary Airport in Lukla. There are only two airports in the world higher in elevation.
to be continued ..
The Yak & Yeti is a pretty sweet joint. Used to be one of the Royal Palaces.mve wrote:That's awesome -- keep it coming man! How did you like staying at the Yak & Yeti hotel?
You never know who you're going to run into there. It was especially sweet after almost 3 weeks on the trail.
The shower, food, clean bed, rooms and real flushing toilets were regarded with great appreciation upon our return ..
The Yak & Yeti was an oasis in a town overwhelmed by Maoists staging a general strike by shutting down the city and local transportation upon our return. I think it's still going on. Luckily the people are non-violent and the riot police gave some measured sense of protection.
Good thing we saw the city in a different light when we arrived.
Arriving in Lukla we made our way on the trail and the 10 day hike to Everest Base-camp.
Guides & Porters looking for work
Just above the runway. No room for touch & go's ..
Lukla
Typical Prayer wall. You always pass clockwise. It felt great to finally start trekking ..
One of dozens of suspension and other types of bridges
Our porters. What a luxury not having to hump the additional weight.
The Thulo Gumela Monastery at Phakding, 2670m
End of day 1
Anybody know how to rotate pix on imageshack?
Guides & Porters looking for work
Just above the runway. No room for touch & go's ..
Lukla
Typical Prayer wall. You always pass clockwise. It felt great to finally start trekking ..
One of dozens of suspension and other types of bridges
Our porters. What a luxury not having to hump the additional weight.
The Thulo Gumela Monastery at Phakding, 2670m
End of day 1
Anybody know how to rotate pix on imageshack?
Day 2
Sagarmatha National Park entrance
The food from the various Tea Houses we visited exceeded my expectations.
Man and beast share the path up and down. You constantly have to watch what you step into.
The route up to Namche Bazar. This is where we gained some altitude.
Entering Namche Bazar, 3,440m
And a nice dinner of Yak Steak, Fries & Wine. Yak only survive above 11,000 feet. This one didn't make it ;]
Sagarmatha National Park entrance
The food from the various Tea Houses we visited exceeded my expectations.
Man and beast share the path up and down. You constantly have to watch what you step into.
The route up to Namche Bazar. This is where we gained some altitude.
Entering Namche Bazar, 3,440m
And a nice dinner of Yak Steak, Fries & Wine. Yak only survive above 11,000 feet. This one didn't make it ;]
Great pics. What kind of distance is it from Lukla to Namche and Base Camp?
Nunc est bibendum
Not quite sure, but it's about a 75 mile round-trip from Lukla to Base Camp climbing from 9,000 to 18,500 feet in 10 days, 3 of those being rest days to acclimate. The medivac helo flew multiple times a day up along the route rescuing climbers and trekkers suffering from AMS. Without travel insurance that flight would cost you 8-10k for service to a hospital in Khatmandu!simonov wrote:Great pics. What kind of distance is it from Lukla to Namche and Base Camp?
You lose about a half a day flying into Lukla and hike for 4-5 hours up to Phakding and then 6-9 hours a day including breaks. We stayed at nice lodges, all compartmentalized into 6'x8' sleeping quarters constructed of thin 1/4" plywood with two berths each. You'd hear people snoring in the rooms around and you would shake when they move. Still a lot better than sleeping in a tent. The bathrooms were to be desired, a hole in the ground and a bucket of water to flush. The stench is overpowering, especially with an exotic diet of curry, lentils and garlic. I almost lost it a couple of times and retreated whenever possible.
Our lead guide, Natang, is a bit of a local celebrity. He came out of retirement to help out Mountain Trip when our original guide, Heidi Kloos (RiP), was killed in an avalanche at her home in Colorado just two weeks before our trip. Natang was a top Nepali climber but his wife forced him into retirement and into managing a lodge after 4 members of his joint Nepali-Indian Army climbing team perished 200 meters below the summit of Everest many years ago. Natang runs the Moonlite Lodge high on Namche. That's where we stayed. We had 6 or 7 porters, 5 Sherpa guides and Natang for the 23 of us.
Things really start to get interesting from Namche up. We took an acclimation day at Namche and hiked up to Syangboche and the Everest View Hotel to get our first views of Mount Everest.
April 20th, 2010 (Day 3):
View from the Moonlite Lodge overlooking Namche Bazar
First views of Everest and Lhotse from Syangboche. Ama Dablam on right hand side
Everest with the plume and Lhotse South Face.
Ama Dablam West Face
Everest View Hotel
And back down to Namche.
Namche Bazar
A short visit to the Sherpa Museum and some shopping in Namche
Loads of mountaineering clothes and equipment, mostly inexpensive knock-offs.
Bought a traditional Nepali-Tibetian fox fur hat ..
It's a formal hat, not constructed for climbing ..TacoDelRio wrote:Gonna hafta sport that hat on climbs!!!
Day 4, Namche Bazar to Tengboche (top of middle ridge, rhs). Everest is the distant peak behind the Lhotse ridgeline
This is where we approach the Rhododendron Forest that surrounds Tengboche
Crossing the Dudh Kosi and the Imja Khola rivers, then some nice gain
Looking back towards Namche (beyond the ridge that's below the snow) from Tengboche, 3,867 metres (12,687 ft)
Tengboche Monastery, one of the most important religious centers for the Sherpa culture. The area is surrounded by the Rhododendron forest.
Everest, Lhotse and Ama Dablam from Tengboche
The Monks loved Frisbee. There's always downtime before settling in for the night ..
You've done the trek, Sam?Sam Page wrote:Your pictures bring back some of the best memories I have.
Day 5: Tengboche to Dingboche (14,250 feet)
The trail passes trough the Rhododendron Forest, a magical place. The whole time I kept thingking that a Unicorn would cross our path ;]
After decending to Debuche we crossed a truss bridge over the Imja Khola and then climbed up to Pangboche among the mani stones.
Kumar, one of our porters ..
Ama Dablam South Face
Everest beyond the Lhotse Ridgeline, Lhotse on the right
Vegetation diminishes as we enter Alpine territory
Ice.
Day 6 we hiked up to the village of Chukhung to the east, Lhotse Base-camp approach.
Ama Dablam North Face
Island Peak
Lhotse debris field
Cold and windy at 17,125 feet overlooking Ama Dablam and the Lhotse debris field. A small group of us decided to suck air and climbed Chukhung Ri.
Natang during our daily briefings at the Snow Lion Lodge in Dingboche. The ususal Yak-dung fired stove in the middle of the great room ..
Day 7, Dingboche. We did a small hike to another local peak and I used the time to do some badly needed laundry. Met the climbers of the Kazakh Army Climbing team CSKA (Central Sports Club of Kazakh Army) while staying at the same lodge at Dingboche. These guys are tough as nails. A couple of Latvians in our group translated through the Russian language and we got the lowdown on their expedition. After losing a climber last year descending the Lhotse face, they are attempting to summit Lhotse again this year; no Sherpas, no Porters, no oxygen. They approach using Everest BC and veer right at the South Col in lieu of left to Everest. These guys are rock solid and never crack a smile. All they do is climb 8,000+ meter peaks .. totally self-sufficient.
having done considerable amount of woodwork and construction I am just floored by them carrying all that plywood and beams up there!!! Day 8: Dingboche to Lobuche, 16,175 feet
Dughla (15,158 feet / 4,620m). Crossing the freezing glacial runoff we head up the Khumbu Glacial moraine
Chortens to those who perished on Everest, a solemn place.
Heading up the lateral moraine of the Khumbu Glacier
.. and arriving in Lobuche
Lou A, Sherpas and Porters. The youngest two porters are 16 years old!
Day 9, Lobuche to Gorak Shep (17,000 feet) then up Kala Patthar!
Even small gains become more of a challenge at altitude ..
The Khumbu Glacier. If you don't believe in climate change then you have to see for yourself how these glaciers have receded.
Nuptse!
The tarn at Gorak Shep with Pumori in the background. After a bowl of soup we head up Kala Patthar, just a little bump we think
... but it's out of view and farther up the Pumori ridgeline
Nuptse West Face (25,790 feet)
Everest's peak and plume barely visible next to Nuptse ...
It may look easy, but in the thin air at 17.5k your heart starts racing as you struggle to breathe
Finally the last scramble, heart practically beating out of my chest!
And 18,515 feet (5,643m), wohoo - Kala Patthar!
Everest and Nuptse
Everest Basecamp and the Khumbu Icefall below
The next day we head into Basecamp ..
Dughla (15,158 feet / 4,620m). Crossing the freezing glacial runoff we head up the Khumbu Glacial moraine
Chortens to those who perished on Everest, a solemn place.
Heading up the lateral moraine of the Khumbu Glacier
.. and arriving in Lobuche
Lou A, Sherpas and Porters. The youngest two porters are 16 years old!
Day 9, Lobuche to Gorak Shep (17,000 feet) then up Kala Patthar!
Even small gains become more of a challenge at altitude ..
The Khumbu Glacier. If you don't believe in climate change then you have to see for yourself how these glaciers have receded.
Nuptse!
The tarn at Gorak Shep with Pumori in the background. After a bowl of soup we head up Kala Patthar, just a little bump we think
... but it's out of view and farther up the Pumori ridgeline
Nuptse West Face (25,790 feet)
Everest's peak and plume barely visible next to Nuptse ...
It may look easy, but in the thin air at 17.5k your heart starts racing as you struggle to breathe
Finally the last scramble, heart practically beating out of my chest!
And 18,515 feet (5,643m), wohoo - Kala Patthar!
Everest and Nuptse
Everest Basecamp and the Khumbu Icefall below
The next day we head into Basecamp ..