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March 31- Kathmandu: We’ll
folks, we are off and running!
Welcome to the Alpine Ascents 2007 Everest Expedition. All but one of our team
members have arrived here in warm, dusty and spectacular Kathmandu. This
evening we’ll be meeting up with the crew and doing a bit of an orientation
before a group dinner and early bedtime for those jetlagged travelers. In the
a.m. we’ll be going in a few different directions: some on the first
helicopter flight up to Syangboche, others on the Kathmandu valley tour, and 2
or 3 headed for last minute supplies and gear runs.
It’s already shaping up to be a great team here and I’m looking forward to
getting to know some of these members more on the trek in. Even in the past
couple of days we’ve had some wonderful times. We had Dr. Bruce Gardner from
Seattle here giving physical exams to the 18 Sherpa students who are sponsored
in their schooling by the Alpine Ascents Foundation/Sherpa Education Fund (www.sherpafund.org).
Amy Bullard, myself and Kristine Kitayama helped the “Dr” with heights,
weights, blood pressures, scoliosis screening, tooth exams, etc. It was fairly
painless aside from the two teeth extracted from one of our young girls. What
a champ she was though- even smiling after it was over. Dr. Gardner did a
wonderful job and we are feeling very good about the students’ health.
After our initial flight tomorrow the rest of the team will be joining in
Namche on one of 2 flights scheduled for April 2nd. Our trekkers will fly to
Lukla on the 2nd as well and we will all reunite in Namche on the 3rd of April
for 2 nights. This evening both groups will be together for a grand group
dinner.
We will be in touch soon!
All the best, Dave Morton
April 1 - Namche Bazaar
Namaste from Namche Bazaar!
It’s 6 pm here in the heart of the Khumbu. All 3 of our Mi-17 Heli flights
made it into Syangboche and we’re celebrating our first night in the
mountains. Yesterday our first group was unable to get out and was bumped to
today so we all ended up on the same schedule.
The flight in was a wonderful spectacle. It was the clearest skies I’ve seen
in my multiple Everest seasons giving everyone a perfect view of Chomolungma
as we landed. The fact that this particular Mi-17 had windows that you could
actually see out made a difference too I guess! Other peaks like Thamserku,
Kusum Kanguru and Kongde Ri were also out in all their glory.
At this point the gear has been unloaded and stored for the night up at the
airstrip and the army of Yaks will arrive tomorrow to start hauling it up to
BC. Namche is a buzz with the Everest season in full swing. Teams are milling
around purchasing last minute supplies and getting their bakery fixes before
heading onward and upward to higher elevations. The paths in the heart of the
village were filled this afternoon with Westerners checking out the latest and
greatest in Chinese made knock off outwear and Yak bells which seem to get
larger and larger each season.
Our team is healthy and smiling. Everyone is happy to be up in the hills after
the sights, sounds and smells of magical Kathmandu. In about 15 minutes we’ll
be sitting in front of some Yak steak and fries and settling into life of the
Khumbu that will be home for the next couple of months… hard not to smile
thinking about it.
Once I’m able to download some photos from our day today we’ll get those sent
out on the cybercast. Please note family and friends that our BC email address
will only be checked once we’re at BC so don’t be surprised that you’re being
ignored!
All the best, Dave
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See more here. |
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