Everest 2006 Nepal side: Dirk Stephan dispatch one

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Here's the plan... Last year, I aborted the final acclimatization trip out of the Western CWM due to khumbu cough triggering vomiting and worsening my fight against the side effects of my diarrhea. 

This year I trained even more by doubling my amount of exercising. I also worked hard on mental fitness, invented some stupid mind games to survive the mental depressions, which are likely to occur in high altitude.

Also, having been there, will give me a big confidence boost, as I know now what to expect around BC, the icefall and so on. Last year I crossed the icefall eight times, climbed to C1 in less than three ours, and did the trip BC-C2 in about six hours. Coming down from BC to Namche took me 9 hours in one move.

Nevertheless, I did not adhere to my own rules, keeping pulse as low as possible, such saving as much as energy as possible. This strategy helped me up mountains such as Denali  or Aconcagua and made those trips a gentle pleasure - at least most of the time....

High altitude climbing is not about speed records, as long as you are not a pro or blessed by sherpa genes.

Unfortunately last year was a competition between team members from the very beginning - starting in the staircases of Kathmandu. Although I knew better, I did join this approach, ending up where I did not want to go at all - exhausted and frustrated.

The second rule I did not adhere to enough, was to drink, to drink and to drink. I did not force myself to do so during the nights prior the climbs. I was never dehydrated, but still could have been better on this.

Diarrhea struck me hard last year, ending up with pants down in the middle of the icefall. I found a vaccination to be useful to cope with the pain of diarrhea, I will see whether this works out in the end. I will have a better eye on the food situation, hoping bird flu will have no impact on the overall situation and I will carry a water filter to assure water quality.

This year I intend to trigger acclimatization early by trekking early March into the Khumbu valley and end up better adopted to the BC altitude, such enabling myself to climb more easy and saving enough energy  to survive the ultimate challenge around end of May. Dirk

Previous Update: This is to announce a new try on Everest South in Spring 2006. While being beaten in 2005, this year comes with another try. Again I will team up with asian trekking to get rid of all required logistics. This time I have had improved training and was optimizing my own logistics. I will have an early start in March 2006 for additional training in the Khumbu area to slip better into the acclimatization process, targeting an attempt in late May. Once again, all merchandising is nonprofit-type, the last expedition supported a cancer related project in Germany. Dirk Stephan

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