SummitClimb Everest - Lhotse International Expedition 2005: The SummitClimb Everest Basecamp trekkers have returned safely to Kathmandu

SummitClimb Everest BC trek final dispatch

Dear EverestNews.com, The SummitClimb Everest Basecamp trekkers have returned safely to Kathmandu.

After a beautiful trek in with the Everest en Lhotse expeditions, the

Basecamp trekkers spend two nights and a full rest day at Everest Basecamp (+/- 5300m). The weather was perfect and during the rest day Thomas, Karen and Kyle participated in the fixed line training on the glacier. Basecamp was for most trekkers a new personal altitude record and after two cold and for some of us rough nights everybody was ready to head back down again. Going slow, but steady we decided to rest a little in Gorak Shep, before

most of us would move on to Lobuche. Patrick, Paul and Kyle felt up to climbing Kala Pattar and saved our honors by reaching the 5545m viewing point for Everest. Melissa and Thomas decided to keep on going down and made a huge effort in reaching Pheriche that same day.

Being at lower altitude everybody started to feel better and stronger again and the trail to Dingboche felt like a walk in the park. Still lucky with the weather, we had spectacular views of Nuptse, Lobuche Peak, the north face of Ama Dablam and the Chukung valley. The next day we continued down to Pangboche where we rejoined Melissa and Thomas before retracing our steps towards Tyangboche (going to Phortse would have been to hard on the porters and Zopkyo's). Arriving at Tyangboche early in the day gave us a chance to witness a chanting session by the monks in the Monestary, talk to the brother of Nima Doma (our Sherpani on the trek) who has been a monk for 6 years there and join the porters in there singing and dancing at the end of a hard days work. It was great to experience a little more of Nepali culture that way.

From Tyangboche we took a little side trip to Kumjung which is the largest town in the Khumbu Valley. Kumjung sits in a gorgeous valley and the lovely meadows on the way to Namche where nice to see. Dropping down almost 300m on a steep goat trail towards Namche was tricky, but experienced as we now were, everybody was able to make it down safely. Being back in Namche gave us the feeling of being back in civilization again, suddenly being able to email, call, shop for souvenirs and playing pool while having a beer at the Danfe bar!

Our last trekking day took us from Namche down to the river and back up to Lukla. Nima Doma's family was so friendly to invite us in their home in Ghat (halfway up the hill to Lukla) where we had the best chang (fermented rice drink) ever and boiled potatoes with delicious sherpa chili. Arriving at Lukla at the end of a long, last day made us appreciate a perfect chicken chili Dhal Bhat, served by our own kitchen staff, even more. The next morning we walked to Lukla airport, weighed our bags, received a boarding pass and went to the bakery across the street to kill time. We learned that the airport in Kathmandu was closed to give King Gyaendra free passage through Trubhuvan Domestic airport. Ke Garnee! 

A few hours and a fairly brumby flight later we were back in Nepal's chaotic capitol Kathmandu, enjoying the sudden comfort of a hot shower and sit-down toilet.

After this great, challenging, beautiful and fun trek, I would like to

thank all the trekkers for being such a great group to hang out with!

Also I would like to thank EverestNews.com for their hard work, giving us the opportunity to tell our story and follow the news on our friends at Everest and Lhotse! We wish them all the best!!!

Thank you from all of us at SummitClimb. Elselien te Hennepe.

Dispatches

Below please find the team rosters for the Everest and Lhotse expeditions and the Everest basecamp trek.

FAMILY NAME, First Name, country of origin,  Trip Name, leader

EVEREST-NEPAL-EXPEDITION

MR. CLARKE, Clay, USA, Everest

MR. COSTER, Arnold, Netherlands, Everest, leader

MR. FRANKELIUS, Johan, Sweden, Everest

MR. MAZUR, Daniel, England, and USA, Everest, leader

MR. O'BRIEN (CHRIS), USA, Everest

MR. O'BRIEN (MIKE), USA, Everest

MR. VOIGT, Jens, Germany, Everest

LHOTSE-NEPAL-EXPEDITION

MR. BACH, James Anugata, USA, Lhotse

MR. BARILLA, Jason, Kripabindu, USA, Lhotse

MR. BARLOW, George, USA, Lhotse

MR. BOURDEAU, Pierre, Canada, Lhotse

MR. BROILI, Ben, USA, Lhotse

MR. EDMONDS, Shane, USA, Lhotse, leader

MR. FALAHEY, Blair, Australia, Lhotse

MR. GARCIA, Joao, Portugal, Lhotse

MR. GAUTHIER, Jowan, Portugal, Lhotse

MR. HAGGE, Malte, Australia, Lhotse

MR. KAUSCH, Max, Argentina, Lhotse, leader

MR. MAZUR, Daniel, England and USA, Lhotse, leader

MR. MERWIN, Mark, USA, Lhotse, leader

MR. MEYRING, Gary, USA, Lhotse

MR. SANTOS, Helder, Portugal, Lhotse

MR. THOMAS (JASON), USA, Lhotse, leader

MR. THOMAS (WILLIAM), USA, Lhotse

MR. THURLEY, Kay, Germany, Lhotse, leader

MR. WIGDERSON, Eyal, Israel, Lhotse, leader

EVEREST-NEPAL-BASECAMP-TREK

MR. AMBROSIUS, Kelly, USA, Basecamp Trek

MS. CARDINAL, France, Canada, Basecamp Trek

MR. DELISANTI, Rip, USA, Basecamp Trek

MR. EMERY, Tom, USA, Basecamp Trek

MS. MOORE, Melissa, South Africa, Basecamp Trek

MS. NEORR, Karen, USA, Basecamp Trek

MS. OLSEN, Colleen, USA, Basecamp Trek

MS. ROBINSON, Jenni, USA, Basecamp Trek

MS. ROTHENBERG, Maja, Germany, Basecamp Trek

MR. SCHAEFFER, Kelly, USA, Basecamp Trek

MR. STROHMAYER, Paul, USA, Basecamp Trek

MS. TE HENNEPE, Elselien, Netherlands, Basecamp trek, leader

MR. TONOZZI, Pat, USA, Basecamp Trek

Dispatches

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