Mt. Everest 2005: Alpine Ascents Everest 2005: A few teams that have made the move out of Base camp

Update: May 14 Everest BC
    
Well it’s that time of the Everest Expedition season again… everyone is wondering what everyone else is going to do because in reality they’re wondering what they themselves are going to do. We’re really no exception.

It’s time to plan the summit bid now that we are back in BC after our ‘vacation’ below. Everyone is of course anxious to get on with it yet the need to balance our drive with weather forecasts is essential. There are a few teams that have made the move out of BC and on up the mountain to see if they can parlay the most optimistic of the forecasts into a successful summit bid. Most of those are small teams. Much of the weather info indicates that the winds will be too high over the next few days above the South Col. We wish those pushing up the best of luck. Most teams are in BC planning on moving up sometime over the next week. We are tentatively in that same boat.

The team is doing well and everyone is quite healthy here at BC after the long rest down low. We’re all caught up on our sleep, hydration, and mentally refreshed from the warmth, flowers, trees and running water down below the tree line. Our first rest day back here in BC it was the same M.O. Laundry, showers, reading, visiting camps, and napping. I decided it was time for a haircut so I consulted our resident barber/cook Gopal and he got a bit nervous. He explained to me that Pemba Nuru was better than he at cutting hair these days. Once I found Pemba he said that no, no- Mingma Tsering was the best barber in camp. Mingma was close by and started to crack a nervous smile when Lhakpa Sona enthusiastically said he’d do it. I was persuaded by his enthusiasm. There were other team members waiting to see if they’d also get a trim but tonight everyone still has the same head of hair as this morning. I think a weed eater may have performed better. Lakpa Rita did a decent job of repairing some of the damage.

We also got out and did some more practice for the fixed lines on the Lhotse face. I think everyone can pass anchors at this point blindfolded and with large mittens on. Tomorrow we’ll be getting everyone familiar with the oxygen systems we’ll be using for the summit push. It’ll definitely make for good photos.

At this point our very tentative plan will be to depart BC on the 17th. Stay tuned as this very well may change day by day.

We are thinking of all of you back home- wherever that may be.

All the best,
Dave

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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