On our way back home

The adventure has come to an end; we are leaving Kathmandu in a few hours. We will stopover for the night in Bangkok - that's just the way the flights work. From there we will then fly to SFO via NRT. Hopefully all will go without delays and we will be back in SFO on May 31st at 11.16!   Provided we're not too jetlagged we are looking forward to a burger in our favorite pub 21st Amendment Sunday evening!!!!   caroline.

PS: We went to the Rum doodle Restaurant last night were Stephen signed the board is now registered as an Everest Summiteer - www.therumdoodle.com

Greetings from Kathmandu.

We have been relaxing for the last 2 days in the 'Yak and Yeti' hotel in Kathmandu, which has been very nice. This morning the last members and guides of Stephen's Expedition Team arrived here as well. Our bags... well... they are on their way from EBC to Lukla and then they still have to get to Kathmandu... so we are not going to wait for them; they will get shipped later.   Getting out of EBC was epic.   As reported, the AAI Team got back to EBC around lunchtime on the 25th. By then it had been snowing solidly for over 12 hours - and it wasn't going to stop; on the contrary. It continued to snow that day and night. In fact it snowed so much that during the night, unknown to all of us sleeping, our tents slowly but surely completely got covered in snow. Luckily some of the guides were on the ball, got up in the middle of the night, woke everyone and made sure all the tents got uncovered partially, to make sure no one suffocated. Closer to the morning we woke up to find the sherpas literally digging our tents out from under the snow. This was officially called a 'freak snow storm'. We all got up and convened in the dining tent. By then some of the sleeping tents and the cook tent had collapsed; there was 5ft/1.5m of snow by then and it was still snowing.   It was decided that we would march out of there all together in a tight group. Some of our sherpas broke the trail for us (they did an amazing job) and off we went, single file, tight formation, with our guides looking after us, hip deep in snow with more snow falling.   The first 2 hours were nerve racking; once we got out of the danger zone (avalanche danger and steep drop-offs either side) it got a 'tad' easier. We briefly stopped in Gorak Shep and Lobuche and made it to Pheriche that day. We left at 9am and got there around 6pm.   It was the hardest day of hiking I have ever done in my life and I don't ever want to have to do that again. Thanks to Stephen and guides Garrett, Mike (the first 2 hours) and Vern (the last part) I got out of there safely and without panicking. Also thanks to the whole team banding together. It was gruelling but we made it.   The next day miraculously (to us at least) the weather in Pheriche was clear in the morning and 8 of us who had booked helicopter rides out of there actually did get out on helis. We were overjoyed once we landed in Kathmandu and were whisked away to our hotel!   On arrival in the hotel Stephen and I were greeted by Alison, Stephen's mum, who'd been waiting for us in Kathmandu. Very nice to have her here with us!   As said we are now all relaxed (and cleaned up) and are looking forward to starting the trip home tomorrow. It has been great to be able to relax and sit down with members of the team in the last few days. As for our bags.. well we were only allowed to take survival gear out of EBC, so the rest will get to us when it does. We have capable people sorting that out.   greetings from Kathmandu, next post should be from home in SF!!   caroline.

Back in Kathmandu

Just a quick post to let everyone know that Caroline and I are safely back in Kathmandu.

After arriving back at EBC and celebrating with the Sherpa staff our success, we got hit with a pretty strong snow storm. So we made a quick departure from EBC to avoid being trapped too long.

Now that we are in Kathmandu, it is time to drink beer, eat lots of food and celebrate.

Stephen expected back in EBC anytime now!

Hi All,

It is about 10:30 here at EBC and I expect Stephen (and the whole team) to arrive before lunch.

The weather today here is not so good: we are completely under cloud cover and it has been snowing since very early this morning and has not let up.  Not too sure what that will do to our chances of getting out of here early!

The idea is that tomorrow May 26th we hike to Pheriche and 4 of us have opted for a helicopter ride out of there the morning of the 27th. The helicopter has been ordered and confirmed, but for it to actually be able to fly the weather has to improve dramatically...  And the monsoon has started and we are being affected by a weather system in the Bay of Bengal (which has been upgraded to a cyclone). So fingers crossed...

Email update: thanks to all for your emails to EBC; Stephen will reply when he can, but that probably won't be possible from EBC anymore, since there is a delay on getting emails in and out of here.  So from now on: no more emails to the special EBC email address since we probably won't get them anymore. You can email to our regular Yahoo addresses again; we should be able to read those in a few days in Kathmandu (depending on when we get there).greetings from EBC,

caroline (who can't wait to get to warmer weather again!).

PS: just heard on the radio that they are about 30-60 mins away.

Stephen summited at 8:20 this morning!!!!!

Yihaa!!!!!!!

Stephen summited Everest at 8:20 on May 23rd!!!!!!!! He was second of the AAI group to accomplish this amazing feat!!! More summit details on the AAI cybercasts.

Everyone is going down to Camp 4 now. Tomorrow to Camp 2 and back in EBC on the 25th.

More details on how and when we get out of here once we have them!

greetings from an excited BC,

caroline.

This is the morning of the big night!!!!

Hello Everyone!

This is the morning of the big night/day!

Stephen and team are currently at Camp 4; today is their rest day there (they arrived there yesterday).

I've been listenening to the radio communications between EBC and Camp 4 and it sounds like everyone is in great spirits and doing very well (specially on O2!) and getting very excited. We here in EBC are getting excited as well.

The way I understand it, this is what's in store for today/tonight (Nepal time of course - go to www.dateandtime.com to see what that means for where you are):

Sometime between 10pm (May 22) and 1am (May 23) the climbers with AAI (Alpine Ascents Int'l) will leave Camp 4 for their summit bid. The team will get spread out a little to avoid a 'traffic jam' at the top (the whole AAI team up there consists of about 27 people: climbers, guides and climbing Sherpa).

This whole adventure will take approx 12 hours!  And then they still have to come partway down.

I believe everyone is expected back at EBC on the 25th.

Once the summit bid starts, Ellie (BC manager) will fire off regular cybercasts, about every 2/3 hours, to allow everyone to follow the whole thing just about in real time - isn't that neat!!!!! So check the cybercasts frequently!!!!!

Naturally we here in BC will stay awake through the whole thing, way into the 23rd.

So keep the comments coming! We can't read them here at EBC but we will read them with great pleasure either in Kathmandu or at home!!!!! We do appreciate you all following Stephen's summit bid!!!!!

Greetings from EBC,

caroline.

May 19th - Greetings from EBC!

Hi All!

This is my second day at EBC and although there is not that much to do around here but sit around and take in the amazing scenery and read, it is fascinating to be a part of it all. It is quite an operation up here. When all the climbers are in camp there are about 50 people in the Alpine Ascents Camp alone. So you can imagine the logistics involved in running the camp. Ellie is the BC manager for AAInt'l and she is doing an amazing job! She also gave me access to the BC computer today which is mighty nice of her - thanks Ellie!

Stephen and teams (Blue and Red - Stephen elected to be on Blue team this time because he was hit by a terrible cold about 4 days ago - but you know him: he's keeping his spirits up and is taking it one day, one camp and one step at the time!) are up at Camp 2 where they are 'enjoying' a rest day after the gruelling climb up yesterday. The weather is fine and seems to be holding, so it looks like they wil push on tomorrow. All the climbing sherpa here at BC are getting organized to go up tomorrow.

We have already heard cheers from other camps here this morning, meaning that some teams have summited.

Yesterday the weather here at BC was quite blustery; today it is very nice and warm.

Once summit day is known we will have a better idea of when we will get out of EBC. We will post again when we can!

Greetings from EBC,

caroline.

Dates (tentative) set for the Summit Push

Caroline made it to EBC.  She did a big push from Loboche and pulled in just in time for lunch with the rest of the team.

The team is now getting ready for our Summit Push.  We are all a bit excited and a bit neverous.  Here is the current schedule, subject to weather of course

May 18th - Move to Camp 2

May 19th - Rest at Camp 2

May 20h - Move to Camp 3 and sleep on Oxygen

May 21st - Move to Camp 4 (aka the South Col)

May 22nd - Rest at Camp 4

May 23rd - Summit Bid and return to Camp 4

May 24th - Down to Camp 2

May 25th - Down to EBC

Well, that is the plan at least.  I picked up a virus or a bug in Pheriche, so I am not feeling so good at the moment.  I plan to move up to Camp 2 and assess the situation from there.

Please keep your fingers crossed for a safe and timely summit bid.  Signing out from a Sunny and Hot EBC - stephen

Greetings from Pheriche

So yes, I did make it to Lukla as planned and am well on my way to EBC!
Even better: Stephen's expedition team is down from EBC to get stronger (and there are some weather delays) and I managed to catch up with them!!! We have been together for the last 4 days; today is our last one before the expedition gets going again.
Stephen's group will hike form Pheriche to EBC tomorrow to hopefully start their summit push. I will take 2/3 days to hike to EBC.

PS: we did post together a few days ago, but internet has been very unreliable and obviously the post didn't get through.

So all is well with both of us; we won't be able to post anymore until back in Kathmandu (most likely).

Greetings from both of us!!!!!!!

Weather permitting I'm off to Lukla early on May 9th.

So fingers crossed that the weather in Lukla is good enough for the flight to depart. If so, I will then immediately start my EBC Trek; first stop: Phakding. My guide and one porter are meeting me here in the hotel. We then hire a second porter in Lukla (yep... taking lots of warm gear to EBC!). greetings from Kathmandu, caroline.

Arrived in Kathmandu.

I said goodbye to Pokhara and everyone at the Chhetri / 3Sisters Guesthouse this morning and flew to Kathmandu. I am comfortably checked-in to the 'Yak and Yeti Hotel'. Will go for lunch now and then I'm off for some sightseeing.   And yes: Stephen got his call through to me yesterday evening so we were able to chat for a few minutes... VERY nice!!!!!!!!   greetings from Kathmandu, caroline.

Rotation 2 Over - Back at EBC

Glad to be back at EBC after our rotation up to Camp 3.  Myself and the entire team are doing really well.  The plan for the next week is to drop down the valley to thicker air where we can get stronger and hopefully not pick up any bugs from trekkers and other.  And then we return for the summit push.

Restdays in Pokhara.

As promised a bit more on the last few days.   As said I finished the Annapurna Circuit yesterday, May 3rd. Which means I did it in 15 days instead of teh planned 18 days (and I wasn't the only one; lots of people do it like that). Otherwise it simply meant shorter day-hikes and a few more nights in Teahouses. But to be honest i ust wanted to get back to Pokhara. Don't get me wrong: I thorougly enjoyed the trek, but 15 days was more than enough. The last day was hard: about 1900m down and it was all steps, steps, steps. The day before was though but rewarding: about 1700m up and lots of of it was steps, steps, steps. I've done it!!!!! I've completed the Circuit!!!!!   So now I'm enjoying some well-deserved restdays in Pokhara (I spent most of today with my new Belgian friend, Sara - we trekked together on and off for 5 days) and am organizing the next stage of my trip.   On May 6th I'll be waiting next to the phone in the office of the 3Sisters Guesthouse hoping that Stephen can get his call through! On the 7th I will fly to Kathmandu and will stay in the Yak and Yeti Hotel for 2 nights; and then on the 9th I will make a first attempt to fly to Lukla - hopefully I won't have to try that for 4 days like Stephen had to!   The day I get to Lukla will also be the first day of my trek to EBC; it's the idea to hike to Phakding that same day. I've gone off the idea of a guide and a yak and will now instead have a guide and 2 porters. I plan to arrive there on the 17, 18 or 19.   Greetings from Pokhara, caroline.

Finished my Annapurna Circuit on May 3rd.

Hi Everyone,   just a quick one to let you know I have finished the Circuit yesterday, May 3rd, and am now resting in Pokhara for a few days. More news later today - have to go catch up with a friend!   caroline.