Mt. Everest 2005: Alpine Ascents Everest 2005: Our Sherpa team has reported very hard blue ice on the Lhotse Face

Update: Everest Base Camp
    
Hello friends, family and loved ones,

Ah, it’s been a glorious four days of rest and recuperation. We’ve enjoyed oxygen, good food and lots of sleep. Today was no exception; however, there is now a sense of urgency coursing through the team. We are in preparation mode because tonight we awaken at 2:30am for our second acclimatization climb. We took our last showers for a while and packed trail snacks into our rucksacks. Some of us repaired holy gloves while others sharpened our crampons. Our Sherpa team has reported very hard blue ice on the Lhotse Face so sharp spikes on our crampons will enable our boots to stick in the ice with less effort. “Less effort “ becomes very important when multiplied thousands of times. Most of us also tried to take care of last minute communications with calls and emails. We will be out touch while we are trying to push our bodies up to 23,000 ft. for the next week.

This is one cool team. Though we are quite diverse in age, occupation, nationality and gender, we have melded into a motivated yet caring team. This group has humor, hope and heart and that’s a wonderful combination. The weather has been cooperating and the report of coming winds will hopefully hold off until we have attained Camp 3. Keep sending the best wishes, we appreciate ‘em.

Thinking of you all,
Vern Tejas

Dispatches

Vern Tejas, Willi Prittie, Dave Morton, Jose Luis Peralvo, and Lakpa Rita Sherpa will lead the Alpine Ascent team on Everest this Spring. They will attempt the standard South East ridge route.

GUIDE STAFF (BIOS)
Lakpa Rita Sherpa Senior Guide & Sirdar	Vern Tejas Senior Guide	Willi Prittie Senior Guide
Dave Morton Senior Guide	Jose Luis Peralvo Senior Guide	Ellie Henke Base Camp Manager
CLIMBERS
Nigel Clark	Esther Colwill	Ron Farb
Kevin Grant	Cathy Groninger	Kent Groninger
Mostafa Mahmoud	Jeanne Stawiecki	Dianette Strange-Wells
Tony Van Marken	David Liano	Danielle Fisher

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