Mt. Everest 2004: Mountain Madness Expedition 2004

Day 20: April 15

This is Sarah Henley reporting from base camp once again. At five this morning Willie, Gary, Murray, and Gene left base camp for camp 1, along with all of our sherpas. Tonight the team, less the sherpas, will camp there. Sherpas generally always come back to sleep at base camp until later on in the climb. First of all, they do this because it is better on one's body to sleep at a lower elevation. Second, their bodies are already so acclimatized they do not need to go through the same process as others. Thirdly, because they can (they are so darn fast). These guys can go from base camp to camp 2 and back to base faster than most can go from base camp to camp 1. They do not even get the credit they deserve. We always here about the first this and the first that to summit Everest but we rarely here about the amazing Sherpa people who generally are the ones who make it happen or at least are a huge part. These are the folks who carry all the huge loads up to the different camps so the teams have food and gear up on the mountain. I am just in ah of the sherpas everyday!

Tomorrow our team will hike to Camp 2, for the first time, and then go back to Camp 1 to sleep for a second and maybe third night. This all depends on the weather and the well being of the team members. Once they are back to base they will have a few days rest.

Not too long ago I heard from Willie on the radio. They had just topped out of the ice fall and had about an hour left till camp 1. The report is that the wind is a little strong. This does not surprise me because the tents are getting quite a beating here at base. He also said the conditions in the ice fall were fantastic this morning.

Apparently, Gene has a little stomach bug and may come back to base today with a sherpa to get well. It is tough to recover from anything at high altitude so it is best to rest at base camp. Not to worry because Gene is very strong. I myself woke up with something this morning - it must be going around. The rest of the team is feeling and doing great, lets hope it stays that way.

 

Altitech2: Digital Altimeter, Barometer, Compass and Thermometer. Time/Date/Alarms. Chronograph with 24 hour working range. Timer with stop, repeat and up function. Rotating Bezel. Leveling bubble. Carabiner latch. E.L. 3 second backlight. Water resistant. 4" x 2-1/4" x 3/4" 2 oz. Requires 1 CR2032 battery. See more here.

  Altitude pre-
   acclimatization

   Ascenders

   Atlas snowshoes

   Black Diamond

   Botas

   Brunton

   Carabiners

   CaVa Climbing Shoes
   Clearance

   Clif Bar

   CMI

   Crampons

   Edelweiss ropes
   Eureka Tents

   Featured

   FoxRiver

   Garmin

   Granite Gear

   Harnesses
   Headlamps
   Helmets

   HighGear
   Ice Axes

   Kavu Eyewear

   Katadyn

   Kong

   Lekisport

   Lowepro

   Motorola

   Nalgene

   New England Ropes

   Nikwax

   Omega

   Outdoor Designs

   Pelican

   PowerBar

   Princeton Tec

   Prescription Glacier

   Glasses

   Primus

   Rope Bags

   Seattle Sports

   Serius
   Sleeping Bags

   Stubai

   Suunto

   Tents

   Trekking Poles
   Ushba
   and more here