Mt. Everest 2010 #15 - Phortse

Gabcast! Mt. Everest 2010 #15



Namaste everybody.

I am here in, Phortse, I think I am ??? from the rest of the group because I met Dawa Sherpa yesterday, and so he invited me to come and stay at his home, so here I am in Phortse. Had a great day, took about three and a half hours of walking here and I'm at about 4000m of altitude so I'm a little bit short of breath, but everything is going well, everybody is feeling good, ?we have? a beautiful view. So ?I will? call you again tomorrow. Oh, and Happy Easter everybody. Alright, talk to you tomorrow. Bye.

Ted's note.
Dawa Nuru Sherpa is a friend of Lucille's that we met about three years ago in Golden, BC. He has been a long time friend of John MacIsaac from the time they were on an Everest expedition years ago. The summer we met Dawa, he had travelled to Canada and was working for John for the summer. We know John through the sport of Paragliding (remember that bucket list?), and it was at a Hang Gliding and Paragliding meet that we all met Dawa.

So now that the three degrees of separation are explained, I will go on to say that at the time they met, I was encouraging Lucille to go to Nepal and trek to Everest base camp. I just knew that it would be an incredibly meaningful trip for her. But it was through speaking with Dawa that her desire to go was really sparked, and events since that summer have led Lucille to the Everest expedition she is undertaking this year. To say that Dawa was an important person in Lucille's life would be an understatement.

Now, Dawa has been on the summit of Everest seven times as a climbing Sherpa. He is working at building a tea house in Phortse so he can retire from climbing. The gliding community has held fundraisers in support of this in the past, and has also had a lot of support from John MacIsaac as well. Lucille reported via email that the outside walls and structure are complete, but he still needs to make the inside rooms. She should have pictures when she returns.

Before Lucille left, the same gliding community had a social and fundraiser for Lucille where more than $2,000 was raised. With that money, she purchased the Satellite phone she used to make this posting, plus solar charging equipment, and some air time. With the remainder, she has donated $500.00 to her chosen charity, Learn for Life, and $500.00 to Dawa in support of his tea house. She was able to give Dawa this money yesterday, and he was very
thankful for it, and passes on his thanks to all who contributed to Lucille's fundraiser.


Dawa is the sherpa on the left in the yellow suit in the attached picture, and it shows him on the summit of Mt. Everest for his sixth time in 2008. He summitted again in 2009. The picture is credited to International Mountain Guides for whom Dawa works as a climbing sherpa.

Trek April 3 - Namche-Khunde-Kumjung-Namche

Namche Bazaar
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Khunde
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Khumjung
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Namche Bazarre - How high do you climb each day?

Today is an acclimatization day in Namche, so we headed off to visit the hospital in Khunde, the school in Khumjung and the Everest View Hotel. Domhnall joined us for the trek, as we were chatting we moved from the back of the pack to the front and chatted with Tim. Then we just headed off ahead of the group and met up with them in town.


This is the inside of the hospital in Khunde. The first is Domhnall in the lab and on the second is the main exam room. The hospital has two physicians, one who was trained locally, and minimal equipment. Anyone that is sick enough just gets evacuated to Kathmandu.

The picture below was the view of Everest from the Everest View Hotel. I get a bit emotional when I see Everest, and I'm thinking that if all goes well I will be up there in mid-May. I try not to think about summiting, but rather to keep focused on the task at hand which is to stay healthy, eat and drink properly, sleep as much as I can and not use up my energy doing things I don't need to do. I think about the struggles yet to be faced, and wonder if I will be able to rise to the challenge when the time comes. One day at a time, one step at a time.....and you'll all be right there beside me helping me out along the way.

The next question is from Ecole Routhier in Falher.
How high do you climb each day?
It is very important not to climb too high too fast to prevent altitude sickness. We must acclimatize properly, get our body used to the thin air at altitude. The generally accepted rule is 300meters/day or 1000 feet/day, and every third day you take an extra day at that same altitude. For this reason you will notice that we are only trekking for 3-6 hours/day. Once we are on the mountain, the motto is climb high/sleep low. So that means I will go up to camp 1 come back down to base camp to sleep. Then the next day I may go up to camp one and spend the night. Then move to camp two the next day, then come back down to base camp.

Trek April 2 - Monjo-Namche Bazaar

Monjo
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Namche Bazaar
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Monjo - Namche Bazaar - How many people are in your climbing party, and where are they from?

Yesterday was a very good day. We got up at 4:30 and after packing headed to the airport. Our flight was delayed by 30 minutes because the pilots slept in!!!! Once we got going, the flight was great, and we had breakfast in Lukla before hitting the trail. Lunch was in Phakding, about 2 1/2 hours walking from Lukla, then we made it to Monjo 2 hours later. The weather is good, and I am feeling great.

Today we left Monjo at 8am after a breakfast of oatmeal and Fench toast, and walked for about 15 minutes to the gates of Sagamartha national park. We presented our climbing permit to be allowed through. Sagamartha is the Nepalese name for Everest and Chomolungma is the Tibetan name. In 1865, Everest was given its official English name by the Royal Geographical Society upon recommendation of Andrew Waugh. Sir George Everest was Andrew Waugh's predecessor in his job of the the British Surveyor General of India. Imagine if he had named the mountain after himself instead, then the highest mountain in the world would be named Mt. Waugh.



I made good time to Namche today, just under 3 hours including the stop where we had our first view of Everest. Today was all uphill, but I usually do well on the uphill. My legs and cardio are doing well. I have a good appetite and I am sleeping well so all is good.



The next question is from Mrs. Gervais' class from the Bastion School in Salmon Arm. How many people are in your climbing party, and where are they from?

We are a large group. 16 climbers, 3 guides, 10 trekkers who are only going to base camp, and about 30 sherpas. Most of the sherpas are already ahead of us or at base camp. There are only 7 on the trek in. Of the climbers, twelve are from Canada or the USA, but we also have climbers from the UK, Turkey, Oman and one woman from Finland who is attempting to be the first Finnish woman to summit Everest. We seem to have a lot in common, and we are all getting along well.

You can read more at the Peak Freaks web site about who all is along. Click Here to see a list of Expedition Members, and Click Here to read some additional biographical information.

Trek April 1 - Kathmandu-Lukla-Monjo

Kathmandu
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Lukla
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Monjo
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Kathmandu - Lukla - Monjo

In a few hours we will leave for the airport to catch our flight to Lukla. It's an exciting flight that lasts 45 minutes and it saves us about 6 days of walking.

The views outside the plane are of the mountains, and terraced hillsides.

Once we have collected our bags we will start walking to the small town of Monjo. This will take us about 6 hours with only 60m of elevation gain. The elevation of Lukla is 2736m and 2800m at Monjo. On the way there will be some trees, grass and flowers and of course a lot of rocks. There are several small villages on the way, and many lodges where we can stop for tea if we like.

Now that we are on the trek it is very important that we are conscious about not doing any damage to the enviroment. One way is to not buy any bottled water but rather treating the local water. Drinking boiled water is also OK, but it requires fuel to boil the water, and that has to be brought up the valley from Kathmandu, so I try to limit the hot water that I drink to tea once we are stopped.