Everest 2006: N. Ireland and England Everest 2006 Expedition: None of the forecasts gave a definitive answer

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Update: Well the team have had 3 days of rest at Base Camp, and they have made the most of this time by taking it easy, reading, playing cards and eating plenty. The team are in good health and have certainly benefited from good food and decent sleep at night. Geoffrey had a word with our Sidar Luckpa, about the fact that we were not getting enough meat in our meals. This has made a huge difference and we have been treated to chicken, yak or pork most nights.

In the morning the weather here is sunny, and several of the team (Jonathan, Neill, Fergal and Raymond), have even been spotted sunbathing- which was not a pretty sight! Thankfully yesterday it was not quite as warm and they kept their t-shirts on! The afternoon generally brings wind and the temperature drops so we are driven inside the mess tent to play cards, read or go for a gentle walk. Fergal had also found a new past time (obsession) on the computer- he switched on to listen to some music and discovered solitaire, well he hasn’t moved from the computer for two days. In fact I have only just wrestled it off him because he managed to beat the computer for the first time in 48 hours!

Yesterday we took the short walk down to the Base Camp village to have a coke and a change of scenery. This village has to be seen to be believed! It is made up of a number of temporary huts with yak dung burning stoves in the middle to heat the space. Local villagers come up here to live for the season and try to eek out a living by selling drinks and fossils from Everest. We stayed long enough to drink the fizziest coke I have ever tasted before heading back to out fresh smelling??? mess tent.

Our evenings have been spent using the wonders of modern technology- 7 of us have been crowded round 1 laptop trying to watch one of the DVDs that Alan thankfully left behind. Unfortunately not everyone has a great view of the screen so there are regular discussions about whose turn it is to sit on the outside.

We have discussed a number of weather forecasts today, to try and decide when the team should move from the comfort of Base Camp up to ABC. None of the forecasts gave a definitive answer (but then weather forecasting is not an exact science), so we have also taken on board the advice of our Sidar and decided that the team should move tomorrow. They will then wait at ABC until there is a suitable weather window, which at the moment is forecast for later in the month. But then things change on daily basis around here so keep watching this space!-K

Dispatches

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