Blogs About "Alison Levine"

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...

I am really enjoying our time at base camp (BC). One big reason is that we have an awesome team of Sherpas cooking for us, and another is that we all get our own tents while we are here. We will be sharing tents at the higher camps as we move up the mountain, but for the nights we spend here we get to sleep solo which is nice because it...

We finally arrived at BC (elevation 17,600') April 11th. The most memorable part of the trek in: walking through an area that is riddled with stone chortans that serve as memorials to Everest's fallen climbers. Unfortunately, this area has been built up quite a bit since my last trip. This kind of growth is not good. A few of the names I recognized (see photo of a memorial for Scott Fisher,...

Okay, so...the trek to Mt Everest base camp has been pretty uneventful so far. The real show starts once we reach the base of that bad boy. We are still making our way through the Khumbu region and are trying not to get run over by yaks along the trail. We have visited a couple of pretty impressive monasteries and our team has been blessed by a very cool lama (as...

April 6, 2010

Just a quick note to say THANK YOU to everyone for the birthday text messages–they really put a smile on my face. I even heard from people from my elementary school thanks to Linda Schlenker's Facebook posting. :-) My birthday was a lot of fun. Our Sherpas walked Lord knows how far (miles?) to a bakery in another village and brought back a chocolate cake for me. They even...

Today is April 3rd, and it is day 3 of our trek in to base camp. 9 more to go. We are currently in Namche, which actually does resemble a typical little town (in a 3rd world country). This place has been built up quite a bit since I was last here 8 years ago. There are trinket shops, bookstores and internet cafes. But of course with more capital, infrastructure...

This article was created on March 28, 2010.

As I boarded the plane from SFO, I had a lot on my mind — did I pack everything I needed? Did I pack too much? Will there be enough sun to power my solar charger so that my satellite phone will work? Does my sunscreen block both UVA and UVB and which kind is worse anyway??? Did I remember to pack toilet paper?...

I am honored to be supporting Alison Levine as she returns to Mount Everest this spring! 85 Broads member Alison Levine will climb to honor the memory of a friend and fellow 85 Broads member Meg Berte’ Owen. I had the honor of "meeting" Meg soon after starting to work for 85 Broads in fall of 2006. I was in awe of her grace under pressure and...