I just got two posts from Max, one old and one current. Below you will find a post from Max that is about two weeks late, and above is the latest. Here it is in his own words...
It took about a week and dodging illness in some very questionable towns along the way but we've been at Base Camp for about a week now and life has been good. Everyone on the team has their own 3-man tent to sleep and store their gear in and there are two mess tents each equipped with a 32" plasma TV. They are run off of solar power and a generator. We have a huge selection of DVD's to choose from and every night after dinner the generator gets turned on and each mess tent watches a film. We are at about 16,000ft and I've had my bad days of headaches but I'm acclimatizing well and we've gone on a couple walks to higher altitude including one to 6000m which is just under 20,000ft and I felt great. Even so there are times when the simplest task leaves you gasping for air. Sometimes when you’re sleeping you will wake up abruptly trying to catch your breath.
During the day the sun is brutal and if you're not careful you can get some serious burns. Every morning before I leave the tent I put on a bunch of spf 70 sunscreen and a zinc based sun screen for my lips and nose. I've recorded the temperature in my tent during the middle of the day at 115 degrees but as soon as the sun goes down and the wind picks up the temperature drops big time and is well below freezing. A couple nights there has been snowfall and in the morning everything is coated with a fresh layer of snow. My sleeping bag keeps me very warm and I can't even zip it up all the way or I will start sweating.
We have a perfect view of Everest from Base Camp and it is amazing to look up at the tallest mountain in the world and know that I'm going to be trying to get to the top in a month. The scenery definitely can not be beaten. The Sherpas cook 3 excellent meals a day and there are barrels of snacks to grab during the day when you get hungry. I've even eaten watermelon a few times. Keeping an adequate protein intake is important and there is always a meat or fish served with every meal whether it's bacon, tuna, chicken or spam. I was hoping to go through my entire life without ever eating spam, but I have already eaten it on a few occasions here and because of the lack of options it has actually tasted decent. The meals are full of calories to help us keep our energy levels at their highest.
During the day to pass the time I've been playing Risk, reading books and talking with other members of the group. There are quite a few guys that I get along with and that helps to pass the time. Unfortunately one member of the group came down with altitude sickness and had to be evacuated all the way back to Kathmandu, but we received word that he has recovered and is on his way back to Base Camp soon.
The other day we had our Puja which is a religious ceremony that climbers undertake before attempting the mountain. The Sherpa's won't step foot on the mountain without a Puja first and it involves a Buddhist monk going through a prayer ceremony and then everybody throwing flour into each others faces and dancing. Today I went for a dip in a glacial lake and it was freezing but was also refreshing and a way to get semi-clean. I was a little hesitant at first because the sun wasn't out but some spectators on my team started a USA-USA-USA chant and I had to defend my country's pride so I stripped down to my underwear and dove in. Tomorrow we start our trip to Advanced Base Camp and we spend a night halfway before finishing the trip the next day. After a rest day or two we are going to make a trip to the North Col and then we will come back to Base Camp for some recovery and more DVD's.
As you may have seen on the news, there is a 13 year old climber named Jordan Romero attempting Everest from the same side as I am. I met him the other night and he's a very down to earth and humble kid. There are a lot of people criticizing what he's doing and despite whether I think he should be here or not I wish him the best. Time seems to be passing pretty quickly and we will actually be setting foot on Everest in the next couple days and I'm getting excited. Thanks for checking in, Max.
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