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Guide Team
departs for Kathmandu:
Well the Everest season has officially begun. This morning we dropped off Dave
Morton at the airport today with all the gear and equipment for our 2006 Mt.
Everest Expedition. The rest of the guide team has already begun to travel to
Nepal. This year's team will be guides, Vern Tejas and Dave Morton and base
camp manager, Ellie Henke. Willi Prittie will be leading our trekking team up
to Everest Base Camp.
Today's departures could never have happened without the great help over at
United Airlines at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. We would like to
send out our continued appreciation to their amazing staff, specifically to
Lora and Marylee at the group check-in desk, who have enthusiastically always
made sure things have gone smoothly for us. Thank you again for all of your
help and support over the years.
So the guides and equipment have all departed and the climbers and trekkers
should be joining them shortly in Kathmandu. Stay tuned as we begin our 2006
expedition to Mt. Everest.
March 29 -
Namche Bazaar:
Namaste, Tashi Delek & Hello!
Welcome to the Alpine Ascents International 2006 Everest Expedition.
It’s already Wednesday the 29th here in Nepal and we are now sitting in Namche
Bazaar. The past few days have been a whirlwind of activity getting ready to
head into the Khumbu and our first cybercast has been a bit delayed. This
morning we flew from Kathmandu on two MI 17 helicopters into the airstrip
above Namche in perfectly clear skies. We were out the door of the hotel by
5:30 am and on the ground here in the Khumbu by 7:30.
Judging by the first few days our team is going to have a great time together.
We’ll definitely be having entertaining evenings with lots of joking and
laughing- we already are. Everyone is psyched to be up in the Everest region
and feeling as if the expedition has now really started. Our trekking group
flew into the region this morning as well but landed a bit lower in Lukla and
is spending the night in Phakding. Tomorrow afternoon we’ll reunite here in
the Panorama Lodge and spend the evening being treated to a great meal from
Sherap and Lhakpa Doma.
In the morning we’ll head up for a hike after breakfast and get our first
unobstructed views of Everest and the surrounding peaks. A couple of us had a
spectacular but brief view of Lhotse, Nuptse, Pumori and Everest from the
cockpit of the helicopter. Unfortunately the skies around Namche are very hazy
by mid morning right now due to many fires just below Lukla and in the
surrounding area of the Kathmandu valley. Fires have been flaring up as we hit
the heart of the dry season.
The entire trekking and climbing team had dinner together the first night in
the city at our favorite spot- about 30 people around one table. Tuesday we
toured the city and it’s prominent Buddhist and Hindu temples then spent the
late afternoon packing up and readying for the flight today and the 4 am wake
up call.
We had some sleepy team members at dinner tonight and now Vern, Gerhard,
Chris, Kay, Suzanne, Jacques & Alastair have all headed off to bed and it’s
probably about that time for me.
It’s going to be another great season here in the majestic Himalaya… we’ll be
in touch with more photos and messages at least every other day during the
trek.
All the best,
Dave
April 1 - Thame: Hello
friends, family and loved ones,
We made a fast start today as we had an ambitious schedule. An early breakfast
allowed us to enjoy our Sherpa host blessing us with a farewell ceremony.
Lahkpa Doma offered us Chang, the local alcoholic beverage of choice while
Sherap laid a prayer shawl over our shoulders and wished us a safe return.
Then we were off to the culturally interesting Sherpa museum. Just in front of
the museum we passed by two recent MI-17 helicopter crashes. These are the
same type we flew in and reiterated that the atmosphere is rather thin here
and that there are risks in every facet of our undertaking. There are also
great rewards as well, and we were treated to one of them when we dropped into
the Saturday morning market that Namche Bazaar is famous for. Throngs of
humanity swirling in a colorful dance of wheeling and dealing were a delight
to the eye. And it’s always good fun to snag great buy on a last minute must
have item. As we departed for our next village of Thame our packs were a bit
heavier and wallets lighter.
On our way to Thame we spotted a pair of Tar, the wild Himalayan goat and
several exquisite Danphe or Imperial Pheasant which is the national bird of
Nepal. Through out our trek up the Bote Kosi River the music of falling water
soothed us. The weather changed as we climbed and clouds blew under and around
us as we crossed the bridge to the settlement. Thame is the home of many well
known climbing Sherpas. Tenzing Nogay the first man along with Hillary to
climb Everest grew up here. Our very accomplished Sirdar Lahkpa Rita and his
brother are from here. Another of our Sherpa team, Chewang, who has summited
Everest thirteen times also calls Thame home. The Guinness record holder of
Everest ascents (15) Apa Sherpa lives here too and runs a very pleasant hotel.
This is where we are staying the night and Apa has just welcomed to his home.
He is a delightful gentleman despite his worldwide fame.
It’s snowing outside and that’s no April Fools!
Namaste,
Vern Tejas
Dispatch Index
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