Update from Namche Bazar

What a world we live in - I am sitting in a Cyber Cafe in Namche Bazar, at 3,500 meters in the center of the Nepalese Himalaya. This is the trading center of the Khumbu region and loaded with ancient temples, home to the Sherpa people and smack in the middle of the traditional trade routes between Tibet and Nepal.

Everest was in view today, a great sight and very inspiring. Our team is all healthy and looking forward to the rest of the trek in and ensuing climb. We had a great day acclimatizing above Namche up to 3,800 meters, and now back down into Namche to enjoy the last of our access to good coffee, internet and electricity.

Tomorrow we head to Tengboche, a high Monastary in the Khumbu Valley, and then onwards to our next camp down on the Khumbu river. It is still 7 days until Everest Base Camp at 5,300 meters, then a lot of waiting, resting and getting used to the altitude as we go up and down the lower mountain.

We will keep the updates coming every few days as we continue our trek up the valley, thanks again for reading!

Brian Jones
Canada West Everest 2008 Expedition Leader

Hello from Kathmandu!

Here we all are (well, most of us!) in Kathmandu getting ready to fly into Lukla. We are still waiting on two members to fly in today (March 26), but the rest of the team is here. Everyone is in great spirits, good health and enjoying Nepal.

We have met with a few of our Climbing Sherpas, our cooks and our Trekking Guide (Nima) today. They are all looking forward to getting going as much as we are, especially after the long hassle with permits and government wrangling between China and Nepal. But. our temporary permit has been issued, so all looks well for the climb at this point.

I'll get another update tomorrow on the eve of our departure, once everyone is here and we've done our final briefing and gear checks. In the meantime, it's of to enjoy the evening here in Thamel, Kathmandu!

Thanks for following our climb and reading these updates!

Brian Jones

Agreement about Everest

The recent news coming from Nepal is all looking good, the government is now issuing permits and we are good to go. The conditions that have been agreed to are that everyone can climb to Camp 3 at any time up till May 10. After May 10 we can go above Camp 3. Also, before May 10 we will not be able to sleep above Camp 2. These conditions should not present any real problem for us.

One other condition (that will not affect our ability to climb) is that the government is restricting all forms of outside communication (satellite phone call's, pda update's, computer update's, etc) up until May 10th, except for emergency purposes. This means that most likely we will not be able update any websites or phone out with any information. Having said this, everyone will know that we are below Camp 2, because we won't be able to climb on the upper mountain during that period anyway! So, the loss of update ability is not that big, and certainly won't impact on the climb.

Our team is all set to meet in Kathmandu on March 25th! This will most likely be the last post until then as we are all in transit.

Thanks for reading and keep checking back for more updates after March 25th.

Brian Jones

Latest Everest update

I have just received word that the Ministry of Tourism in Nepal has agreed to let climbers stay on Everest up to Camp 2, including during the May 1-10 time period. This is the good news.

The down side is that the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Foreign Relations still have to give their final approvals.

So, it looks very good that one element of the Nepalese bureaucracy has agreed to a plan that has minimal disruption to climbers, but we still need to wait for the final say by other levels of government.

The expectation is still that climbing will proceed as planned on the South side, so we are still moving forward on that assumption.

Thanks for reading, soon the "real" climb will begin!

Brian Jones

Everest closures?

Over the past week there have been many rumors and much speculation surrounding the access to climbing Mount Everest for the 2008 season.

China has closed climbing on Mount Everest from the Tibetan side for the 2008 season in order to keep the mountain free of any protests while the Chinese are conducting an Olympic torch ceremony on Everest. Nepal has also considered placing a limit on climbing activities from May 1-10 on the south side (Nepalese side). At this point we are awaiting official news from Nepal authorities regarding the situation for climbing from the Nepal side.

The current expectation is that climbers from the South side will be granted their permits to climb as expected, with some conditions. These conditions include:

• No team members will climb above Base Camp between May 1 and May 10, 2008
• Prior to May 1, teams will be allowed to climb up to the South Col (Camp 4) in order to acclimatise and to stock camps
  
• After May 10 climbers will be able to ascend to the summit as planned

This means that our climbing team will still continue with a climbing itinerary that is very similar to our original plan. We will still arrive into Base Camp on April 7th as planned. This leaves us 23 days to acclimatize up to Camp 3 and get the upper mountain camps placed and prepared for our summit bid.

During the period of May 1-10 we will take a much needed break at lower altitudes (already planned and expected in our original plan) and spend a few extra days climbing and trekking in the Khumbu region in order to maintain our acclimatization. On May 10th we will return to Base Camp and continue on back up the mountain as scheduled. Our Summit window will realistically be between May 17th and May 30th. Typically, this is the best time to be climbing to the summit of Everest.

In my opinion, if Nepal decides to limit the climbing during May 1-10 this will not have a great impact on our ability to safely and reasonably attempt Mount Everest this season.

• we will not be speeding up our climb (if anything, this will cause us to slow down a bit, which is good)
  
• we will not be taking any unnecessary risks (our philosophy towards climbing this mountain safely will not change any more than if we had a weather delay)
  
• we will not be climbing with any less support (all our supplies, oxygen and safety equipment will still be placed on the upper mountain)
  
• we will not be climbing during times that are normally outside of the typical summit window time-frame (May 10th and onwards is the usual summit window)
  

Climbing Everest is a serious endeavor and comes with many potential challenges (weather, altitude illness, avalanches, logistics, other teams, etc) , even in a "good" season. This latest challenge of dealing with the Chinese request to have the mountain free of climbers for 10 days is certainly less then ideal, but it is not an insurmountable challenge by any means.

Attempting to climb Mount Everest always has included (and always will include) the potential for many different factors to interfere with the best laid plans of the most experienced climbers. Illness and weather alone are two factors that every Everest climber accepts as a very real risk that may cause them to not achieve their dream of standing on top of Mount Everest, along with many other variables that may stand in the way. A 10-day period of time not being able to go above 5,300 meters is not a major obstacle, given the amount of time allowed for such "unforeseen circumstances" in a 70 day expedition.

We should have final news today, Tuesday March 18th regarding the decision by the Nepalese Tourism Board as to how, and if, they will restrict climbing access on Mount Everest this season.

Thanks for keeping in touch with our Everest climbing plans and reading this update!

Brian Jones

Everest Expedition - 2008

Well, the time has finally come for our crew to mobilize and head for Nepal to set out for our Mt. Everest Expedition! We all will be meeting in Kathmandu on March 25th.

This trip has been in the making for many years, and it is very exciting to finally have it all come together! I have been leading trips to the 7 Summits since 2002 with many excellent climbers who have had their eye on Everest - and this season I'm very pleased to be joined by a few of them as we head to Nepal to see how the mountains will treat us.

Our Team this year is made up of the following members:

Myself (Brian Jones) and John Furneaux are along as the Canada West Mountain School Guides. I have worked with John over the past few years and am really looking forward to being on this mountain with such a strong and talented climber.

Rob Hill will be joining us as he sets his sights on the last of his 7 Summits quest. Rob and I have shared 5 of the 7 summits together, and I am sure we'll have as much fun on this one as we have on all the others. Rob has been a truly inspiring climber to be in the mountains with, climbing these mountain after having had his colon removed as a result of his ongoing battle with Crohns Disease. Rob's story can also be followed at www.nogutsknowglory.com.

Darrel Ainscough will also be joining us for the last of his 7 Summits. After spending time on Aconcagua, Carstensz and Vinson Massif with Darrel I couldn't be more pleased to have him on our Everest team this season!

Wayne Browning is back again for another big mountain, after climbs with us on Carstensz, Cho Oyu and Mt Waddington last season.

Sebastien Sasseville is another climber who refuses to let obstacle get in his way. Seb has been dealing with Type-1 Diabetes for the past 6 years, and after successfully summiting 7,000 meter Peak Lenin in 2006, an attempt on Cho Oyu in 2007, he is now planning on climbing Everest to help increase awareness of just how much a person with Diabetes can accomplish. See www.sebastiensassevilleinspires.com.

Erik Bjarnason from North Vancouver, BC will be joining us on his 3rd expedition to the Himalaya. Erik is also directly involved in providing wilderness and trekking adventures for people with disabilities. This season his organization, Courage to Carry On will be working with 2 wheelchair-confined people to accompany them into Everest Base Camp, truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience for them.

We are also very lucky to have film-maker Dave Sarkany along as well. Dave joined Rob Hill and I on Denali for Rob's "No Guts - Know Glory McKinley Climb" in 2006. Dave will again be along to document Robs quest to stand on top of the highest peak on every continent.

We will also be joined by Clark Lewis, our Team Physician, who will be stationed in Base Camp for the duration. Clark will also be acting as our communications link to keep our Web updates coming out in a timely fashion.

Our trekking support team is made up of John O'Shaughnessy, Paul Head, Phil Wu, Jeremy Wilson, Christine Dennstedt and Louise MacDougal

Lhakpa Chhiri Sherpa, with 8 Everest expeditions under his belt and 5 Everest summits, will be our lead climbing Sherpa and Guide. Then Dorjee Sherpa, also with 5 ascents of Everest, will be the 2nd half of this highly experienced Everest leadership team of Sherpas who will be providing the essential component of coordinating all the climbing Sherpas on the upper mountain, fixing ropes and establishing camps.

Joining this team are Nima Thundu Sherpa, 2-times Everest summitter; Phurba Ridar Bhote, also a veteran of 5 Everest summits; Dawa Finjo Lama Bhote, Phurba's son, with one Everest summit already; Chhetan Dorjee Sherpa, also with one previous ascent of Everest; Pasang Yila Sherpa, with 3 ascents of Everest; and, Mingma Dukpa Sherpa, with one previous ascent of Everest.

Of course, we all know that an expedition is only as successful as its food, so we have only the best cooks along! Navraj Dahal, our Base Camp cook, is one of the best Expeditions cooks in the region, with years of experience keeping everyone happy and healthy with great meals and good company in Base Camp. Kul Bahadur Thapa Magar will be cooking and taking care of Camp 2 for us, with many years of experience cooking for Expeditions to Everest, Cho Oyu, Amadablam and other peaks.

Our Expedition Sirdar is Bhola Paudel, with many years of experience both Guiding and working as Sirdar to Expeditions to mountains such as Everest and Cho Oyu.