Namaste from Nepal!

Namaste from Nepal!

Life has been very interesting up here in the Khumbu for the past few weeks. Right now we have all descended to Dingboche (at 4,350 meters) for a few days rest at a lower elevation.

Our long delay in updating this site has been due to the many restrictions placed on all teams at Everest Base Camp regarding communication via satellite phones or email. Basically, the Nepalese Army has a couple of dozen military staff stationed in Base Camp. All satellite phones, satellite modems, computers and video cameras have been confiscated and/or severely restricted in their use (some can be used for certain purposes under direct supervision of the military staff while in their camp). This is being done in order to prevent any unauthorized transmissions that could possibly interfere with the Chinese Olympic Torch Everest Expedition taking place right now from the Tibetan side of the mountain.

However, we are now outside of the Base Camp area and are free to update via the public email service here in Dingboche.

The biggest development in our team’s progress has been regarding Rob Hill and his climb. Unfortunately, Rob experienced a relapse of his Chrones disease. Our team physician Dr. Clarke Lewis spent 4 days treating Rob down in Gorak Shep, and later in Lobuche. After 4 days the decision was made to fly Rob out for tests and supervision in Kathmandu on April 14th. After flying out, Rob came to the decision that he would not be able to continue on the climb this year. We were all saddened to see him go, but everyone realizes that continuing to climb a mountain such as Everest requires full health and energy. Dave Sarkany, along as videographer for Rob Hill’s climb, has also left the mountain with Rob.

This has put our climbing team down to 6 – Wayne Browning, Darrel Ainscough, Sebastien Sasseville, Erik Bjarnason (Erik says ‘Hi to Mom”), and Guides John Furneaux and Brian Jones. All are doing very well and acclimatizing fine.

We had a very successful Puja ceremony on April 13^th. This was a 4 hour ceremony led by a Lama at our camp in order to bless our team members, Sherpas, equipment and all aspects of our climb. Once this was completed, we could continue higher up the mountain. Since then we have been up and down the Khumbu Icefall a few times now, with most of the team having spent 2 nights already in Camp I.

Our plan now is to rest and enjoy the relatively “thick” air down here for a couple of more days before heading back up to Base Camp. After a couple of days in Base Camp, we’ll move back up to Camp 1, then on to Camp 2 for a few days of acclimatization. We’ll follow this routine for a couple of more weeks, then should be ready to head on to the upper mountain and prepare for our summit attempt by mid to late May.

We may not be able to update here for quite a while, as the communications restrictions in Base Camp apply till May 10^th, or whenever the Chinese summit with the Olympic Torch. If their team summits earlier then May 10th, we should have all restrictions lifted though.

Thanks again for following our climb and for thinking of us over here! I'll try to have updates if possible sent by phone through our office, so feel free to call Linda in Vancouver to find out any news about your Everest climbing friends and family members. In the meantime, no news from us means good news!

Best regards from Everest,

Brian Jones
Canada West Everest 2008 Expedition Leader

Hello from Everest Base Camp

Well, we’ve been at Base Camp for a few days now and are getting settled in and acclimatized. Sorry for the delay in updates, we’ve had lot’s to do here over the past few days.

We arrived in a snowstorm on the evening of April 6th. Everyone was pretty excited to get here, we were one of the first teams to arrive. Since then teams have been steadily flowing in, so now there are dozens of camps established and hundreds of climbers and Sherpa staff here. Quite a social atmosphere is developing, many of us are meeting a lot of old friends and acquaintances from previous climbs.

Everyone on the team is acclimatizing as well as expected (we are camped at over 5,300 meters, after all!). Our trekkers have all left us – Jeremy went down early after one night at Base Camp, and Paul Head, Christine Dennstedt, and Louise MacDougal all left yesterday after a hike up to their high point of Kala Patar at 5,590 meters.

Paul would like to pass on “Many thanks to his family, friends, Fitness World and Trail Trekkers for helping him reach his personal summit of Kala Patar. Prayers and good energy sent to all of you!”

Christine sends a “Happy 90th Birthday to Nana from Everest Base Camp”.

Louise added “Mom and Dad – the feet were a little cold in the flip-flops, but I survived Base Camp!”

They are all off to trek over Cho La pass into the Gokyo Lake region, and up to Gokyo Ri before descending back out to Namche Bazar and on to Lukla.

As for the Everest Climbing Team, we are awaiting our Puja Ceremony, where a Lama will come up to bless our team before we will venture onto the mountain. This important ceremony is a critical part of climbing this mountain, as no Sherpa will set foot onto the mountain until the blessing has been completed, and most non-sherpas are also very content to wait for this blessing before heading up. Our Puja Ceremony will take place on Monday, April 14th. After this we will start on the next leg of our journey up Everest by heading up the Khumbu Icefall to Camp I for more acclimatization.

The route through the Icefall is now almost complete. This is established by the “Icefall Doctors”, a team of full-time Sherpas who only work on establishing and maintaining the fixed lines and ladders through the Khumbu Icefall. This allows the climbing teams to move quickly though this terrain and focus more energy on there logistics and climbing.

So, all is well here in Base Camp land, we’ve been ice climbing, relaxing, practicing with our gear and systems and generally getting healthy and used to the altitude. Dave Sarkany lead a small team down valley to the small village of Gorak Shep today to track down some cold beers (his stated objective at least!).

Thanks again for following our progress!

Brian Jones
Canada West Everest 2008 Expedition Leader

From Lobuche, Nepal

Just to let everyone know that we are all doing very well, aside from some experiencing headaches. We are at ~4900m in a small town (6-7 buildings) called Lobuche where overnight we had a few centimeters of fresh snow. We woke up however to sunny skies and a clear view of the mountain above us. Everyone is in good spirits. We will be moving up to Gorakshep next, then to base camp to settle in an prepare for the real task of climbing the mountain. At this point, Sattalite phone is our only communication device and I will check in as often as possible. Until next time, Brian Jones

Update from Dingboche

Hello All,

Here we are on day-6 of our Everest adventure, up at 4,400 meters in the small town of Dingboche. I am posting this from the highest internet cafe in the world (according to local rumours!). The weather is great today, though we had fresh snow last night. The views here are incredible, we are surrounded on all sides by classic Himalayan peaks - Ama Dablam towers above our camp, Nuptse and Lhotse are just up the valley, and many other 6,000 meter+ spires dot the skyline!

All the team are well and enjoying the approach. We have taken an extra rest day here in order to enjoy the area more. Tomorrow we will hike up the valley towards the South Face of Nuptse and climb up Chhukung Ri, a 5,000 meter spur below Nuptse. Hopefully the weather is clear!

It is great to be in the mountains and away from all the turmoil of the outside world. We are confident that the political issues surrounding the climbs of Everest this season will not affect us in any big way.

Everyone is acclimatizing very well and moving strong, we are looking forward to getting to Base Camp on April 6th. For all the friends and families of the team members and trekkers, be assured that your friends and loved ones are doing well and having a great adventure. Our next post will most likely be on the 6th.

Cheers from the Khumbu Valley,

Brian Jones
Canada West Everest 2008 Expedition Leader