Mt. Everest 2004: IMG Mount Everest Expedition 2004
South Side (Nepal) Dispatch Two

IMG 2004 Everest Nepal Dispatch #2 Sunday, March 28, 2004 - Namche

Well, we survived the flight into Lukla (actually I exaggerated that experience, it's come a long way in recent years, the runway is real now and it's much better than the livestock grazing field it used to be, although the cliff is still a cliff) and spent our first night in Phakding, then moved up to Namche on Friday, where we then spent two days and nights resting and getting ready for the next push uphill.

We met the high altitude sherpas here in Namche and, as I said in my first dispatch, these are the guys with the real stuff. Between the 15 of them I counted 98 previous 8000m expeditions (mostly with IMG) including 53 8000m summits, 28 of which were on Everest. I'm sure I am estimating on the low side with this tabulation and that by the time this expedition is over that statistic will need further adjustment, but they stand as one of the strongest Sherpa teams on the mountain year after year and I am grateful for their support and hard work every time!

We charted two helicopters into Shyangboche to get the bulk of our gear that far up the valley. Its always fairly amazing to see the huge assembly of manpower and beastpower and general efficiency as the helicopters are unloaded, gear sorted and counted, and prepared for loading onto the animals for the rest of the journey upward. With the beautiful Himalayan peaks as a backdrop, its all fairly satisfying to see this culmination of months and months of planning and procurement.

Ang Jangbu and I will bid farewell to the team and head back to Kathmandu on one of the choppers today. After seeing the gear loaded onto the animals, the group will hike up to Phortse tonight. Phortse is always a real treat as it is the home village of many of our sherpa team members and their families make the visit special for everyone. After a night there, the group will head on up to Tengboche and spend 2 nights there. The views from there of Everest, Lhotse, Nuptse, Ama Dablam and more are world-class. We'll hope to hear from them sometime in the next few days and will let you know when we do!

 

Eric Simonson, veteran expedition leader, Everest Summiter, author and motivational speaker.

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