Big greetings from team Mountain Madness here above 14,000 feet. It feels like we've lived four lifetimes in the span of the last week we've had here in Nepal.

We started out ingloriously our first night in the Khumbu

All good news so far from the Everest team! On Friday the 21st, they successfully reached Camp II in only 4.5 hours with an elevation gain of 1425 feet. Our camp is toward the top at 21,300 feet/6500meters, and looking toward the Lhotse Face.

Madness Guide Alan Rousseau writes in with some great images and description of an ideal climb of Ham and Eggs in the Alaska Range.

MM Everest Guide Ossy Freire writes in to tell us the team did skills on the icefall today. Everybody is feeling strong and motivated, and climbed 800 feet.

It sounds easy: Wake-up tea every morning, yaks carrying your bags, kind Sherpas showing you the way, tea houses with hot showers to wash the dust off every day. 

Yet even with all that support, the challenge is real. This place remains untamed.  It's such a beautiful yet harsh landscape. Dry, rocky, dusty. Blazing sun, cold nights. 

Everest Base Camp Guide Shy Rohani reflects on the journey.