Canadian Mt. Everest 2005: Drama on the mountain

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Update: Tuesday 19th April, 8pm. Everest Base Camp

Diary by Harold Mah

There was drama on the mountain today when one of the climbers from another expedition broke his leg on his way to Camp Two. It took a big operation to get him off the mountain with 20 Sherpas involved and he'll be flown off the mountain tomorrow. This is a cruel environment and it's tough to see someone's dreams crushed so quickly and completely. It left many of us huddled together in the dining tents comparing climbing experiences including exploding oxygen bottles, Russian drinking parties, New Year's Eve parties, protracted negotiations for coveted chocolate brownies and dreams of favorite foods!

We have had a fairly gentle time today, taking a one hour hike in the Base Camp area to take in more of the sights and sounds of this dramatic landscape. Sean and one of the researchers from Browns University saw a weasel today! These animals are fairly common in Canada but I had no idea they lived at such high altitudes. It was probably lost and very out-of-breath.

The weather forecast is calling for snow in the next couple of days which will be a distraction, to say the least. Right now, I wake up at 8.06am when the sun rises over the mountains and hits our tent. The temperature inside the tent jumps from 0 to +20 in a matter of minutes and it's too hot to sleep anymore. As long as there is no cloud cover it's quite pleasant here, but as soon as the clouds come everyone rushes for their coats.

Tonight we ate a traditional Sherpas meal of Dahlbot (rice and lentils) which was delicious, followed by canned peaches. Both Sean and I have to force ourselves to eat more as we have lost weight and we need to regain it.

We will set off again up the mountain soon and this time I hope to climb beyond Camp 2, which should be an awesome experience. Sean is ahead of schedule, in terms of his acclimatisation, and is looking to go for the summit around May 12th -14th. But dates and programs change on a daily basis so we'll just take it one step at a time.

More later, Harold

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