13 April: Soccer Field 18,680'

Over the last two days, the team decided that this was a wonderful opportunity to take a nature walk through the Khumbu Icefall, going as high as the "Soccer Field"- a flat area almost at the top of the Icefall at 18,680'. While the Icefall Doctors have not yet successfully blazed a trail through to Camp I, the purpose of these climbs for us is simply and purely acclimatization. The first time we moved through the Icefall, it took us 1 1/2 hours to make that days' destination- a large ice boulder roughly 300 vertical feet from camp. Today, it took us 45 minutes to pass that as we continue to become accustomed to the altitude a little at a time. 300 vertical feet sounds deceiving because it's not just a 300' climb- it's more like 1,300' thanks to the wavy, up and down movement of the trail through the Lake District of the Icefall. Even afterward as you move up and up, this trail continues to meander as it puts on- and takes off- altitude moving toward Camp I.

Along the way, we walked ladders that cross crevasses easily 150' deep. Some are so wide that the Icefall Doctors have tied two sets of aluminum ladders together in order to span the gaps. The key to these ladder crossings is to lean forward and apply positive pressure to the ropes behind you. While this is happening, you move forward and place your crampons in a manner where you can establish a base- toe points down on the front rung, rear points down on the rear rung. Move forward slowly, holding the ropes fast. Try not to look down too deeply as snow clumps fall off your boots into the blackness below.

At some points, the trail ascends vertically up and over serac. When we arrive at these points twice in our journey upward, we use mechanical ascenders combined with arm strength and crampon kick points to move up and over. As the trail becomes more established, these kick points will eventually become boot holes that we can use and where we may not even need ascenders- acclimatization dependent. An extremely bored Lhakpa looks off to the horizon in this pic as an extremely exhausted Doug finds an excuse to stop for a sec for a pic... and to catch his breath.

After an ass kicking 2 1/2 hours, we finally arrived at the top of the "Popcorn Field," a hazardous area of smaller ice pieces in a typically steeper section breaking up faster than others and one that is more or less a no stop zone thanks to the frequency of movement. We boogied through this as quickly as we could given the lack of air and our bodies fighting every foot taken... but it was definitely slow going.

It was here that I was reminded of my 29 Palms days. A group of us- Tony, Nick, Jim, Jason, John. me- were all in our early 20s, stuck in a far corner of the Mojave Desert as Active Duty Marines. In between long nights talking about how awesome it was to be stuck here for three years when all of our Marine buddies were forced to live down in San Diego or Camp Pendleton- both on the coast- we would still wish for girlfriends and as normal a life as we could find. The closest town to 29 Palms (anyone not familiar with 29 Palms needs to look it up on a map- it's truly in the middle of nowhere) is Palm Springs and a standard haunt for Marines when the weekend hit. When we would meet a girl on vacation there from somewhere like Los Angeles and she'd ask us where we lived, we'd tell her "five minutes down the road"- knowing full well that it was close to an hour. Sometimes it worked, most of the time it didn't. But it was our standard line and we used it liberally.

So here's Lhakpa on the top of the Popcorn Field. "How much further, Lhakpa?" "Five minutes" was the standard reply, no matter when or how many times asked. After the third time of this I relayed my 29 Palms story and Lhakpa knowingly laughed. So I knew we were nowhere near 5 minutes away from the Soccer Field, but we pressed on and at one point decided to make light of it and took a pic of him pointing to our destination "five minutes away" as he explained away our so-closeness to two Sour Patch Kids.

Finally, thirty minutes later we arrived at the Soccer Field. It was truly beautiful. The flatness of this site so close to the top of the Icefall can only be explained by mountain contours underneath the ice where a flat surface and air pockets allow for an area about the size of a soccer field to exist year after year. We drank some water, relaxed for a few minutes and then got out of there as quickly as we could. Late afternoon in the Icefall isn't a good place to be thanks to softer ice and collapsing snow bridges so we made haste to get out of there. At one point a snow bridge gave way right under my feet and I was left dangling for a few seconds before pulling myself out. Good way to get your pulse going for sure.

As with every day here, temperature and weather extremes play a part in what you wear. I started out in a soft shell with high mists, was in a T-shirt an hour later under bright sun, threw the soft shell back on when it started to snow, and then was in a down jacket when afternoon snow, clouds and temp. drops called for it. It was slow, slow, slow going by the time we made it home. The last little scramble to our campsite was one of the hardest parts of the climb for us and as we parked ourselves on a rock halfway up this little 40' scramble, Gyalgen- one of the kitchen help- ran down to BS with us and give us a Sprite. Ahhh... home again.

Thanks to being thoroughly wiped and perhaps a little dehydrated, we had some of the most amazing high altitude dreams of the trip to date. Crazy dreams... especially when we'd hear rock fall or avalanches, which were more active than normal last night.

11 April: Ropes Course & Base Camp Layout

I think I'm falling in love with our space heater. I'm sitting right next to the thing right now as I type this and am trying to hatch a plan for hiding this contraption in my backpack unnoticed and getting it to high camp. I wonder if anyone will notice...

Today we spent the morning playing around on the ropes course that Willie pulled together. This of course only after we woke again to beautiful and warm skies. And what do warm skies bring? Melting snow. And what does melting snow bring? Avalanches. Check out this nice sized one calving off the Lola Col:


The three of us moved gingerly through the ropes course while Willie familiarized us with types of challenges and obstacles we will be facing within days. After moving directly up and across aluminum ladders with mechanical ascenders, we traversed along narrow ledges and relied on ropes to rappel back to the beginning. With time, our confidence grew and we picked up on little tips and pointers Willie taught us in order to make our time in the Icefall more comfortable.



I have been asked by several people what exactly our Base Camp life is like. So since we have another slow day (it's snowing outside right now), I thought it might be good to take the chance to describe our camp layout and the earthier side of camp life. All things considered, our camp is fairly cush compared to some other camps which are very expeditionary in nature (read: one tent, one cook pot). Here's a quick strip map of our camp perimeter:

With each day, we try to improve just a little more. For example, two days ago we put in the camp shower- a plastic canvas tent that has a propane heater installed on the outside where water is injected into heat coils when our generator is running. The water then is pumped into a shower head and with the use of an on/off switch you can take a -quick- shower. It is important to zip the door closed all the way or an errant wisp of wind will leave you shaking uncontrollably... the water isn't that hot but this is truly a luxury item. I took a shower for the first time yesterday since Namche Bazaar... so mebbe like 10 days? I'll probably take one in a day or two again but only after the sun comes out and it isn't windy. Everyone's stinky here and you can't really smell anyway so it's not that bad.


Our tents are located in several areas across the camp site. Joe, Francisco and I are located in one area. Lama Jambu and Tendi are located in another. Lhakpa moved his tent from next to Willie's because the generator was too loud, and the cook staff and other support team members crash in their respective tents- there's plenty of room in there for them and they are truly happy with this arrangement.

Each tent is home for the next several weeks. We try to keep ours clean and well organized in order to feel like you have more space inside. The tent models we use are Mountain Hardware Trangos and North Face VE-25s- 4 season hardened models that can withstand just about anything thrown at them. Except as it turns out, UV Rays. These rays are so intense here that one tent has only about a 2 or 3 season service life before the rays structurally weaken the fabric beyond serviceability. Each tent has a little garden solar light out front and is anchored down with heavy glacier rocks should stronger wind gusts come along. There is a front window to see out of and through the rain fly, we also have three foam and air mattresses to keep comfortable from the rocks below and insulated from ground freeze. Last night while trying to sleep I could hear the glacier creak, groan and snap underneath us.


There are two toilets, both covered in blue tarp- one western (a.k.a. there's a toilet seat) and one of the Middle Eastern/ Nepali model which is more a hole in the rocks. There's an unwritten rule to not pee in the barrel- human waste is transported out and weighed for charges. Peeing in the barrel will increase weight dramatically and therefore, we have designated sites for that. There is an actual rule in Everest Base Camp that if you were to lose your mind and drop a bomb outside of your cans- and are caught... congratulations! You are now the proud owner of a $5,000 fine. Like many other items in camp, we have solar lights to illuminate the inside once darkness descends across camp.


We do our own laundry by asking the cook staff for a "washing pot" and then scrubbing dirty clothes like crazy in water that turns brown quickly. Once these items are clean, we lay them on a rock to dry- you have to do that b/c if you try to line dry them they'll just flash freeze- even when it's fairly warm thanks to the UV rays. The air is still below freezing.

The camp is powered by a 16 year old Honda generator and this accomplishes two things: it powers the lights that illuminate the community shelter and cook tent. It also recharges two automobile dry-cell batteries that power items when the generator is off.

10 April: Everest Base Camp

The tent camp next to ours decided that their Puja Ceremony was to go at 07:00 this morning. Seriously, why? I only say that because I thought that these ceremonies were supposed to be scheduled as something written in the scripts and interpreted by Buddhist Monks. Fortunately, our Monks determined 09:30 as a more appropriate time two days ago, because when I woke up at seven to the sounds of their ceremony it was still wicked cold and I was way too happy to be eyeball deep in my sleeping bag. Speaking with Joe and Francisco, I'm not alone in thinking that way.

After breakfast, the day warmed up and we followed Willie over to a site at the edge of the Khumbu Icefall where he proceeded to set up a ropes course consisting of ropes, ladders and up/down obstacles. He does this every year in conjunction with other teams, and leaves it up for ten days as a familiarization course to perfect rope skills and prepare climbers for challenges to come.


While observing Willie on the course, we happened across an overboot from what must have been the 60's, if not earlier. This boot had emerged from the ice and was just sitting there, in plain view. It’s amazing to see artifacts like this and wonder what sort of protection it must have offered its owner at the time. We did a side-by-side comparison in terms of then vs. now cutting edge footwear technology. No wonder so many people lost toes back then.


Toward lunch, we moved back to our site and happened upon several of the Mtn. Madness trekking group enroute. They arrived in from Gorak Shep today and stayed for another great meal that our cooking staff pulled together for the combined group. It was very interesting to meet with them and to hear the stories on what brought them to take on their trek to base camp. Some were doing it for fun, some for birthday presents, and some as a family bonding moment. We caught up, hung some prayer flags, and then they were off again, back down the trail to Gorak Shep and home.

It was here that we also learned that the Icefall Doctors haven't quite made it through to the Western Cwm yet- apparently the top 300 vertical meters are still sketchy and a course hasn't been navigated completely. This appears to have thrown a temporary wrench into our initial plans of pushing a "super-squad" team of Sherpas up to stake out Camp I and Camp II areas. Given the crush of teams on the south side this year, gaining territory will be critical in the higher camps. Willie remains unfazed about this, knowing exactly what plan we have to maintain our initiative. But we do have a set of equipment sidelined for when the team of Lama Jambu and Tendi can launch up through the Icefall. I heard Willie and Lhakpa talking about the plan over lunch, and said "I wanna go!" The look I received back was priceless. Both had one of those "ahh, little grasshopper. Your day will come" expressions and didn't respond other than a simple "no."

So I went and grabbed a football, tossed it a little bit as the temperatures dipped. This in turn meant that all that warmed up water re-froze, causing avalanches all over the valley. In a span of three hours we must have either seen or heard five larger slides in the now-standard locations on Lhola, Nuptse and Pumori. Lama Jambu has a good arm as it turns out.

Initial Icefall Foray

Today started slow enough, with another beautiful morning cresting over Base Camp. The team spent several hours relaxing and talking about what the day holds. Then a little after noon, Willie told us to go grab our gear, and we were off into the Khumbu Icefall.

The intent of today wasn’t to complete this leg of the climb; it was to gain some elevation and familiarization with the Icefall itself. Over the next few hours the group moved through undulating glacial towers and across frozen lakes, further and further from Base Camp.

After some time, the route became steeper and we began to ascend fixed lines, passing tons and tons of gear from previous expeditions along the way. We were able to identify some items; some were barely recognizable thanks to years on and in the glacier. It was staggering to see all of these items though, knowing full well that this was just the tip of the iceberg.

Rumor has it that there are only another 600m of lines to be fixed to reach Camp 1 by the Icefall Doctors (a group of Sherpas employed by the National Park who fix all of the ropes and ladders in the Icefall) and that they may make their objective tomorrow. With any luck we should be making our way to the top of the Icefall in the next couple of days, but today still proved to be a challenging and physical effort for us. Interestingly, we were told that despite how tired we were upon return that in a few weeks, once properly acclimatized the Icefall would take us no more than two to three hours to navigate from start to finish. Man, I can't wait for that day.

Puja Ceremony

I learned a few things today: I learned that Guatemalans think Francisco is largely crazy for going someplace so cold, I learned that Sherpas take the Puja Ceremony very seriously, and I learned that two beers at 17,500' do the same thing to me as a seven month deployment to Iraq.

This morning, we woke to absolutely beautiful weather- not a breath of wind, no clouds, mild temperatures. Last night, Willie told us, the low was -6 Celsius- or roughly 20 degrees... mild given the track record of the last few days. I woke sweating; Joe mentioned he did the same. Francisco told us that he was freezing all night. I asked Francisco what his friends back home said when he told them he was coming here, and he responded that most said "what, where!?" From what he told us, it reminded me of how Hawaiians respond to cold when they are in a perceived arctic environment like San Diego. We all laughed as Francisco told us about how he continued to bundle last night to the point where he had so many layers on that he thought he'd suffocate- and then had to start taking them off. In Spanish, Willie told Francisco something that would roughly translate into "this is just the beginning", to which Francisco said "yes, I know" and mentioned that he was going to start bringing his sleeping bag to dinner.

I had my own issues to deal with this morning. On a Mt Olympus speed climb last summer, Sgt Brent H had us all entertained with his suffering due to severe chafing. At one point, he stumbled into a stop nine miles from the trailhead and said "screw IED's, man! If those Insurgents invent a Chafing Gun, I'm surrendering!" Somewhere on the trail from Gorak Shep to Base Camp yesterday, an Insurgent shot me in the crotch with a Chafing Gun. So I was dealing with that fun stuff and thanking my lucky stars that we don't have to move for the next few days.

Fortunately, most of the activity was happening in the Mess Tent instead- Tendi and most of the cook staff were deep at work preparing for today's Puja Ceremony, a Buddhist tradition that Sherpas enact each and every time they conduct a climb. There isn't just one Puja Ceremony, there are several- each group conducting an expedition has to do it. Sherpas won't go through the Icefall without it, they take it that seriously.


At 09:30, the climb team pulled together miscellaneous pieces of gear that they wanted blessed in the ceremony. This could include one or two pieces of gear like an Ice Axe, Crampons, or a Harness. Tendi and Lama Jambu, both retired priests and now climbing Sherpa on our team, were the Puja Ceremony leaders along with an actively practicing priest who came just for the ceremony. As an outsider looking in, I have to say that this was quite a ceremony filled with tradition, and deeply devout followers. There were chants, rice throwing, and group participation events that everyone was involved in with great fanfare. But there were also some comical moments for me as well, such as when one bowl was passed around and there, placed ornately and precisely on top: Sour Patch Kids.

Before I left the States, I tried to contact Cadbury Schweppes about the popularity of Sour Patch Kids on the trail and elsewhere. Scott S, my SMR teammate and good friend relayed a story to me about one rescue where the rescuee was wishing Scott had Sour Patch Kids instead of Gummy Bears despite starving for close to three days in the wilderness. They are popular here too- I have handed out at least 4 lbs of them so far and knew that as soon as the Sherpas tried a few? -Poof- Gone. So it's moments like this where a Puja Ceremony central fixture happens to be Sour Patch Kids that make me think it's funny that Cadbury Schweppes decided to gaff off my email. Oh well.


The rest of the ceremony involved erecting prayer flags to cover our camp area, passing around of baked goods, candy, beer, and sodas. Great fanfare goes into setting the prayer flags and everyone participates, some lines extending for great distances.



After the beer is passed along, a platter of a flour-like substance is also handed out. At first, we Westerners were like "what's this for?" till Willie mentioned with a huge grin that this was for good luck, and then most of it ended up on our cheeks. Everyone went around smearing cheeks, throwing flour into the air and having a great time.



It was here at some point that I realized that two beers at altitude after not drinking for almost three weeks has the same effect on me as not drinking for seven months while on deployment. When I returned from Iraq after not drinking for seven months, it took two beers to make me smashed and sleep for eight hours. During the Puja Ceremony I had two beers and about the same thing happened only without the eight hour nap because I had rocks to move. Rocks.
Anyone looking for a comical scene, please watch a really buzzed, extremely winded and very sleepy guy throw around rocks on top of a slippery glacier. I'm sure the Sherpas were as entertained with this scene as I was with Sour Patch Kids being involved in a climbing ceremony.