Prayer Flags

These are the prayer flags that I will be carrying with me. They have prayers printed on them and are usually placed on the highest points in Nepal and Tibet where they can flap in the wind. The belief is that everytime they flap, it sends off prayers for the person who placed them there. This set has been signed by my family and friends and I will carry them up with me and leave them on the summit along with two small vials of ashes, one from my father, and the other of my cousin Chantal. I also have a picture of Father Michael Troy who was also a mountaineer who dreamed of climbing Everest. I met him last week and I received his blessing. Unfortunately he passed away a few days after I met him as I would have loved to have heard all his stories. I'm sure that they will all be there helping me along when it becomes difficult.

Getting ready to go.

This is a picture of all my equipment and clothing for the expedition. It's all layed out on the living room floor in some sort of organized heap. It looks like a lot to me but since there aren't any stores at base camp I have to bring everything that I think I will need for the expedition.

My baggage allowance is 30kg and that will be brought into base camp by yak, and up to another 20kg that a porter and I will carry into base camp. The gear list is fairly extensive, and as a result I am not bringing in many luxury items to stay within the weight allowed. One reading book, puzzle books and a deck of cards are the luxury items that I am bringing for entertainment during the rest/weather days that we will have, and they will also be the first to go if I am over weight.

Are you a K-12 teacher?

Would you like your class to follow Lucille's adventure and interact with other classes doing the same? You can post comments on my blog, and after they are moderated, will appear for all to see. If there are questions from the students, then I will try my best to answer them on my blog posts, perhaps with some assistance from my helpers. You can also go to my profile page and send me an email. Although I will have limited access to email on my journey, my helpers will forward information to my sat phone via text messaging.

Thanks for following my blog. I will be updating this blog daily once I leave for Everest, but until then I will only be blogging my trips. To see what I have been doing with my time training for Everest click on the training blog link found on the right side of this page.

Edmonton Journal Article Today

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/life/shortcuts+Everest+peak+childhood+bucket+list/2687995/story.html

Beowolf

We spent the night at Janet's, got up early 6am and headed off into the Ghost area to play. We decided on Beowolf, and it was a great decision. With the new bridge that was being put in the last time we were here, it cut down the hiking time.















We were a bit chilled waiting as we arrived right behind a party of three. Once we were up the first pitch, the sun was warming us up, and we had to strip down a bit.

















A great climbing day.

David Thompson

We got up early and headed out for some ice climbing. The weather was perfect and we had a great time.