Mt. Everest 2010 #14

Gabcast! Mt. Everest 2010 #14

Hello Everyone.

Well, we're here at the airport, we're checked in,
everything is going well. We will be flying out in about
an hour and a half. So, just keep following the blog,
talk to you soon, bye.

Bon Voyage at O'Byrnes Pub on Whyte

Last night a bunch of friends and colleagues from STARS and the Royal Alex gathered with Domnhall and I at O'Byrnes pub for a bit of a Bon Voyage party.

John, a STARS medic, made me this incredible cake in the shape of Mt. Everest. At the bottom are three Ju-Jubes representing tents at base camp, and then four more Ju-Jubes on the mountain for camps 1, 2, 3 and 4.

Mini-Marshmallows represent the Khumbu Icefall between base camp and camp 1, complete with aluminum ladders for the crevasse crossings.

And finally, both the Lhotse and Everest summits, covered in snow.

Thank you John, and all that attended. And everytime that I am scared crossing the icefall, I will think of the big seracs as just mini-marshmellows, soft and sweet.

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