Mt. Everest 2004: Mountain Madness Expedition 2004

Day 33: April 28

This is Sarah Henley reporting from Everest Basecamp. The guys seemed to manage ok without me!  Since I have been away from base for ten days I needed to be filled in with what has been going on around here.  I'll do my best to update you up until now.

On the 17th the crew came back from camp 1 for a few days rest.  Once they recovered they headed back up but this time they slept at camp 2 for five nights. Camp 2 is at 6400 meters.  Gene and Gary made it up the Lhotse Face to camp 3, which is 7000 meters.  Murray unfortunately did not quite make it that far on account of one of his crampons breaking. He had to go back to camp 2 with one crampon.  It has now been fixed so hopefully it holds.

The team came down from camp 2 yesterday. The plan now is to rest for four days and then make their way to camp 3 to sleep for a night or two.  After sleeping at camp 3 they rest at base and then wait for a window of good weather to try for the summit.

All the members are healthy and seem to be in great spirits which is a great sign at this stage.  Apparently, since I have been away the Ice Fall has been very active with bits and pieces (often big) falling everyday.  As the team was walking through a large section, about an hour later, collapsed after they had passed.  The "Ice Doctor" and whoever else will contribute have been re-fixing lines and ladders daily.  There is actually a sherpa who is nick-named the "Ice Doc" and he is a legend here.  All this activity in the Fall means the teams need to move as quickly as possible throughout this section.  This is not a place to hang out and wait for something to fall on you.  Gary, Gene, and Murray have cut their time in the Ice Fall by two hours, from seven hours the first time to now being five hour.  This time cut is only to their safety advantage!

 

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  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