Blogs

Hello friends and family,

All members, guides and Sherpa are safely back to the South Col and happy to be out of the wind and snow!!

After 15 hours of stomping around on top of the world, everyone is safe and accounted for.

As the Sherpa say… Subharatri (good night)

May 24, 8:30 am

SUMMIT! The Ice Ninjas have done it, through very taxing conditions. The first group arrived at the summit at 8:10 this morning: Alison (myself!),Lakpa, Garrett, Vanessa, Chewang Nima, Fura Kancha, and Dorjee. They were followed shortly after at 8:20 by Michael Horst with Victor, Jack, Thapkee, and Mingma. The last group of Vern, Mike Kraft, Don, Da Nuru, and Ang Passang arrived at 8:50. A huge congratulations goes...

Today we moved up from Camp 3 to Camp 4 in beautiful weather. Currently the team is tucked into the tents at the South Col and we've had dinner and hot drinks. The weather forecast looks excellent for a summit day on the 24th. Tomorrow we're all just going to hang tight, suck oxygen, have hot drinks, and eat a few more good meals while we rest up for our summit...

We started out up the Lhotse face this morning in a raging wind storm. But the mountain was kind to us and the wind gentled down as we climbed. We are now perched at Camp 3, 7,200 meters above sea level, and it is a beautifully calm evening. Team members are now snuggled deep into their sleeping bags with oxygen flowing. We're psyched that the weather is finally cooperating and we...

An unspeakable crime was committed at BC a few weeks ago (unspeakable, but not untype-able), and the perpetrator has still not been apprehended. Spike, the Gonzaga Bulldogs’ mascot was being carried up the mountain by one of my teammates, John Rudolph. Needless to say, JR is a big big BIG Gonzaga basketball fan (the team actually spends time at his lake house in Idaho). There is an athletic center on the...

I know. That’s a horrible thing to say and I am expecting nastygrams from the AARP. But before you get all undone about how politically incorrect this blog title is, let me say this: Sometimes 65 is the new 45. Just not in the case of one of our teammates that left the expedition early and is now headed home. She was 65 years old and a veteran of multiple Himalayan...

Dear Kate -

You and I have not met, but we have much in common. I know that for years people have scrutinized your eating habits and have criticized your weight. Well, I know just how you feel because after so many weeks at altitude I am also really having trouble getting my food down and keeping it down. I realize that the difference between your situation and mine is that you...

Best surprise EVER 2 days ago when my friend Leon Watts from Tampa, FL stopped by our camp to say hello. It’s always nice to get a visit from an old friend at 17,600’. Leon was leading a group on a trek to BC and managed to wander around long enough to find our digs (not easy, as it takes over an hour to walk all the way through base camp)....

We are just back down at BC after 4 nights up higher on the mountain -- 2 nights at camp 1 (19,600') and 2 nights at camp 2 (21,300'). It took us 8.5 hours to get from BC to camp 1, because the Khumbu Icefall is just plain HARD to climb through. The terrain is challenging enough on it's own -- but the worry about the moving ice chunks/collapsing seracs creates...

Yesterday was our first foray into the dreaded Khumbu Icefall, which is 2000 vertical feet of massive ice chunks that can be as large as school busses or apartment buildings. The terrain is nonstop unevenness and just about every step you take has to be carefully positioned. What makes this area so dangerous is not only the challenging terrain, but also the fact that the icefall is in constant motion and...