Everest 2006: ANDALUCIA EVEREST EXPEDITION WIND AND COLD TEMPERATURES IN ISLAND PEAK'S BASE CAMP

Huisa and Lopez will attack the summit of 'Imja Tse' this morning 

Island Peak's Base Camp, April 6, 2006

The tents at Island Peak's Base Camp, which belong to Andalucia Everest 2006 Expedition, were this morning covered by frost.  During the night the temperature outdoors went below -4º.  By daybreak the silence of the mountain was broken by the song of two beautiful pheasants called 'cucura' who look for food around the tents without fear.  The cook, Lopsang, looks around in the tin pots, in the mess tent to prepare some grilled eggs and toasts with his noisy kerosene blow torch. 

The morning is sunny, but the wind coming up from the south is very nasty.  One of our Sherpas, Kancha, is very affected by the altitude today.  He has a strong head ache and vomits.  The climbers are fine.  Pedro López and Carlos Garranzo leave to cover the first part of the route to take a look to what is waiting for them tonight.  Huisa has preferred to rest, organize bills and plan the many days of trekking left until their return to Lukla.

Tonight, around three in the morning (23:15) hours in Spain, wearing special clothing and boots, frontal flashlights, crampons and piolets, the climbers will start a hard journey in which they have to climb 1,100m to the summit, with a very exposed passage by an aerial ridge before the summit (6,189m).  After reaching the objective they will return to Base Camp, which will be already unmounted and then they will continue down to Chukhung, that means 1,400m going down.

A LOT OF TRASH AT BASE CAMP

Sadly the surroundings of Base Camp are full of trash.  Plastic bottles, used cans, wrappings of instant food, cookies, cigarette buts, packs of tobacco, remains of prayer flags, pieces of rope...  Each group installs their own restroom tents to go in a hole, sheltered from the wind and the looks of everybody else.  The cooks wash their dishes and pots and throw everything on the rocks, which is supposed to be extra food for the pheasants, crows and little orange birds, 'tora', the only animals in the place, who at least take advantage of the presence of man on this mountain of Solukhumbhu. 

Translated from Spanish by Jorge Rivera

Dispatches

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