Mt. Everest 2005: Mountain Madness Expedition: Greetings from Lobuche!

Greetings from Lobuche!

This is Christine calling from Lobuche at 16,100 feet!  On August 2nd we left Thangbouche and trekked through the dense rhododendron forest and along the Dodh Koshi River.  We had magnificent views of Ama Dablam.  Once we arrived at the village of Pangbouche Lama Jungmu brought our group to the monastery on the hillside for a Buddhist ceremony.  The local Lhama from Pangbouche performed the ceremony.  We asked the Gods for good health and a safe climb for our team members.  The ceremony also made the Gods happy, so they would allow us to climb the mountain.  This ceremony is very important part to our Everest climb according to the Buddhist customs.

We spent two nights at Dingbouche at 14,200 feet to allow our bodies to acclimatize to the altitude.  Kay, Sam, Javier and I trekked to Chukkung on our rest day (August 3rd) to stretch our legs.  A group of us have been playing the card game, "Hearts".   Joe has been the winner so far, but we can wait for the rematch.  On the 4th the trekking team trekked to Dzugla and the climbing team continued on to Lobuche. 

Today our trekking team hiked to Lobuche.  Our trekking team is doing well and staying healthy.  We are staying at the Eco-lodge with hot showers and deluxe rooms with comfortable beds.  Our cooks have been too good to us with many delicious meals and our trekkers are concerned with gaining weight!  Willie caught up to us in Lobuche today.  He is 90 percent recovered from his cold.  It was a good call for him to remain in Namache at a lower elevation and warmer temperatures to allow him to recover quicker.  Our climbing team members, Kay, Joe, Eric, Dean, Ray, and Javier hiked up Kala Pattar and will stay in Gorek Shep tonight.

We are all excited to arrive at base camp in the next couple days!

All the best, Christine

Since 1994, Mountain Madness has led 29 team members on successful expeditions to Everest's summit.  This year's Everest expedition will approach the mountain from the Normal Route--ascending through to the South Col from the Khumbu Glacier, and continuing to the summit via the Southeast ridge.

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