Mt. Everest 2005: Valencia: Meteo, meteo, meteo

Hello everybody!!  The truth is that the word meteo is not widely used, or at least was not used before.  I think it is a heritage from our summer trips to the Alps, when in Chamonix we approached the Maison de la Montagne, where there was a sign that read: Météo, and under it, at 12 h and 19 h, they hanged a pair of sheets of paper that explained the weather forecast...

What happens is that as time passes we are mad as dogs, it's the consequence of being so many days in BC, the "Weather Forecast" looks very long, so our thoughts spin around the "meteo", and lately they spin around so much that they don't know where they have to go, so we wait everyday for the meteo just in case, after reading it, our immediate destiny is a little clearer...

For the moment we have it clear, out immediate destiny passes through the Chillou, to write the chronicle and wait for the report from Jordi Pons, but Endika has told us in the guest book (yes, we accept it, we are hooked), that it won't arrive until 17 hours Nepal time, that is, in an hour and a half.  Meanwhile we are with the chronicle, preparing our backpacks just in case we decide to leave tomorrow morning to CII, writing some message for the family and friends, and trying to stand the endless wait...

We are not upset, that is not true... Besides, as you saw yesterday, we had a very busy day with what we had to do here in Base Camp.  But we have been here a lot of days, we are looking that the calendar is progressing day by day, and in theory, on the 26 we have to leave here to be in time to take the flight at Lukla...  But all this can change, what can't change is the will we have to climb... and now it starts to rain!  Yes, yes!  To rain, not to snow... this weather is a little crazy, but are patient...

We now have interesting news, well, yesterday too, but today's news is a little more real (only a little).  This morning, Diego, the Italian, has confirmed what we suspected yesterday: he is leaving to Katmandu.

He came down very depressed from CII.  He had been there three nights alone, with Lakpa, his Sherpa, and he couldn't get to CIII. Besides he was not well physically, and he was tired of waiting... this is his fourth expedition to an eight-thousand, and he is tired of not getting to the summit, so he told us that he is turning around: for him, the expedition is over...

This news left us a little shocked.  To see there are people who quit is always a symptom that Everest is not a gift for anyone, that the ascent is really hard, but to see it from so close, in one teammate with whom we shared Base Camp from the beginning, it is always harder.  Anyway, we are not quitting and we will wait for our moment.  That window of good weather shows every year, and this year doesn't have to be different...

Besides, Diego's Sherpa, Lakpa, has been left without work now, and all the Sherpas say he is one of the strongest in BC.  So, quickly, and knowing we had one less Sherpa, we went to propose him to climb to the summit with us, and help us with carrying things to CIV.

Some really bad thing happened to me right now: I closed Word without saving, and I had been writing for a long time.  Now, the battery is low and I have to close to let it charge a little.  I'll continue later... 

Well, it is later, so I continue...

Today all our Sherpas came down from CIV, Dawa in the morning, one of the Brazilians, and Nawang and Pemba in the afternoon. Nawang came down very tired, and when we told him that Lakpa was going to be with us from now on, he was very happy. 

Now we have CIV all stocked up and the only thing left... the only thing left is the usual, the meteo to give us a green light...

Well, this afternoon we have visited the website to read the guest book (we accept it, we are hooked on it), we are not going to get hooked to chronicles, we write them...  The other day we read a long message from Toni from Fadisel, the company that gave us the solar panels and station, and today we have read his girlfriend Aurelia... the truth is that Toni's message was a reflection about the mountain world that we really liked, and to see now that his girlfriend is also hooked is good to us...  Surely on the next expedition we will go to them again when we need energy...

We also read the messages from Idoia, Lorpen, who besides giving us support, they are collaborating with the socks we are using in the expedition, they cheer us up from the web to get to the highest point.

Noël, who is hooked on every website that has the word Everest on it, tell us he needs this chronicle as methadone.  Alfredo offered to pick us up with his car when we come down from the summit, Hector is already animating the webpage with his interventions, all the bunch of expeadicts that look like they used our absence to meet for dinner, our girlfriends who are fighting for the Top Ten of all the entries in the guest book and who cheer us up every moment, the family who are supporting us like crazy, the friends that follow us, push us, support us, the strangers that have come to the webpage and make us feel like old time friends...  All of you deserve that we climb up and that we get to the highest point, so easy, we will do it...

But it won't be this time, we will wait, if you let us, for the meteo to let us, and when it lets us we will be there.

I know we are very repetitive, that we tell you everyday, but for us the wait is becoming hard.  We know it will come, but we don't want to make you wait, we want you to see this summit soon...

A hug for everybody!  And patience, we are all waiting for the moment on Everest...

Translated from Spanish by Jorge Rivera

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