Update from Basecamp

Hey Folks,

Well the acclimatization process is good and done and now I'm sitting in Base Camp waiting on a good weather window for a summit attempt. The last trip up the mountain I reached 7300m while attempting to hit 7500m, but a nasty storm blew in and made conditions too dangerous to continue upward so I retreated back to my tent at the North Col. I spent two nights sleeping at the North Col around 7100m and the team got snowed on for almost all of the 48 hours we were there. The wind was really incredible up there and I saw more than one tent that was completely destroyed and another that was blown right off the ridge and was sitting 500m below.

The team had the option of which day to try to reach 7500m and I chose the first day because I couldn't stand the thought of spending all day sitting in the tent. The weather outside was definitely not ideal but the team leader Stue set off so I went as well. The camp on the North Col is semi-sheltered from the wind by a huge Serac, which is essentially a bug chunk of ice that could either fall on us or give us shelter. A short walk brings you out onto a ridge that is fully exposed and that day there was a brutal crosswind whipping across it. Progress was very slow and once I hit 7300m I knew it was time to turn around because the weather was getting worse and worse and ice was flying around in the wind like little bullets. The wind gusts were at least 70mph and even knocked me down on my way back to camp. I also saw a yellow tent flying through the air like a kite before it disappeared over the edge of the ridge. Visibility was close to zero at some points and even though I didn't make it to the benchmark I was shooting for, I was happier to have gotten to experience Everest in some truly savage conditions than have had a nice clear, calm day and made it all the way to 7500m. If I do experience these conditions again on the summit attempt then I will be much better ready to handle them than if I had not been out there.

Life at the North Col is tough, my appetite almost disappeared which hasn't happened yet to me on this trip and probably hasn't happened yet in my life. Up there we are given boil in the bag meals and when you don't have an appetite those can be extremely hard to put down and if you're lucky enough to put them down they are hard to keep down. Ice and snow need to be melted for water and the stoves are very ineffecient and it can take 30 minutes to melt and then boil to sterilize just one liter of water. At an altitude like that you should be drinking at least 5 liters a day but that becomes nearly impossible and if you drink 2-3 liters at the North Col I'd say you're doing pretty well.

I shared a tent with a young guy named Stephen from Scotland and when you have two people breathing in a closed off tent in very cold conditions, the inside of the tent becomes covered in ice. I was sleeping in my down suit and a light sleeping bag but it became very hard to get any rest when they were both iced up. When the sun rises in the morning, and we were lucky enough to have it break through the storm clouds once or twice, all of that ice inside the tent starts to melt and EVERYTHING gets soaking wet. That was without a doubt the most frustrating part of the trip so far. During the day it was too windy outside to leave the tent so I was stuck lying in a tent while water droplets splashed my face- good fun.

The morning after the second night I was ready to get back to Advanced Base Camp by 7am. Unfortunately being ready so early meant that I was going to have to break trail back down the North Col because nobody had been up it that morning and I was the first going down. All the snow from the previous two days had buried the fixed lines and I had to pull them out from under at least a foot of snow and more in places where the snow had drifted in order to clip into them. Due to the steepness of the route and the crevasses scattered around this was without a doubt the most nerve racking thing I have done in my climbing career. The avalanche danger was huge and getting good footing was impossible so a little slip meant a lot of loose snow riding under me like a wave, deciding on it's own when it was going to stop. I successfully crossed the 3 ladders that topped the larger crevasses but crossing ladders isn't my favorite thing to do here and really gets the adrenaline pumping.

When I reached the bottom it looked like it would be smooth sailing into ABC, another hour or so of walking. I was crossing the glacier at the bottom of the North Col when I stepped right on a crevasse that had been covered up by snow so I couldn't tell it was there. The initial fear when something like that happens is like nothing I have ever felt before and it isn't until after you realize that you'll be able to get yourself out that you can breathe again. Luckily my leading leg went in and my body followed up until my waist, but my forward momentum helped me get my hands to the other side to stabilize my body and when I calmed down I hoisted myself out, dusted the snow off of my pants and kept walking. I contribute most of the fault for this happening on pure exhaustion due to the rough previous day of climbing, lack of food, and dehydration. It becomes so easy to lose your focus up on the mountain and sometimes it takes a good scare to get you back on track.

Back at ABC I rehydrated and ate as much as I could stomach. I was really wiped out so I took the day to rest and the next morning I left at 8am back to Base Camp and beat my previous time of 4 and a half hours with a 3 hours 45 minute trek. Getting back into Base Camp is always awesome and it's a much easier place for your body to relax and recover. Instead of waking up 4 times a night which happens at ABC and above, I usually go to sleep at 10pm and sleep right on through until 7am or so. When the sun warms up the tent I'll read a book until breakfast at 9:30 and then bum around camp all day. Gotta love rest days.

I was thinking about shaving today but I haven't shaved since I left on April 2nd and I didn't want to ruin the streak so I didn't. I'm looking pretty haggard right now but most people around me do as well so it's alright. I'm really craving some Holy Cow ice cream and I plan on going there just about every night over the summer. I also really want to just lie in the thick grass on my lawn and sleep for a few days straight in the warm sun. I should be headed up the mountain in the next week for my summit attempt so the GPS should be updating soon. Thanks for checking in!