Dispatches

November 9, 2006

We made it to Kathmandu today. We had the normal delays trying to fly out of Lukla but we finally made it out. We arrived Kathmandu at 2:30 this afternoon and went directly to Fire and Ice Pizzeria. We had a huge lunch with fresh salads, big pizzas and crepes with ice cream. It's great to be out of the mountains.

We couldn't have had better luck for our summit push. The weather had been poor and unsettled for the four days prior to our summit push. The first day started with an early start and bad weather. We were on the trail leaving basecamp by 7am. Our plan was to go directly to camp 2 in one day. We were acclimatized and feeling good. We ascended at a steady and not to fast pace. We arrived at camp 1 just after 12pm. We had ascended through light snow and it was still snowing at camp 1. We brewed and packed at camp 1 and left for camp 2 at 1:30. Weather was still bad. An hour later the clouds began to break up and in a matter of minutes the sun was beating down on us. We began to get really psyched. We knew this was our window and our shot at it. We arrived at camp two in the alpenglow and immediately began to brew and hydrate for the big day to come.

The morning came fast. We woke up at 2am to see that we barely needed our headlamps inside the tent the moon was so bright. At 4am we were climbing under the spectacular moon. Right out of camp 2 is 80 degree mixed climbing. We were loving it.... full moon, no people, we had the mountain to ourselves. First light came in the Scottish ice gully leading up to the mushroom ridge. We arrived at camp 3 only to find the climbers there still asleep......we left 3 at 7:30......the entire mountain above to ourselves. We made good time to the top of the Dablam and took our longest break of the climb, 15 minutes, in the little patch of sun on the Dablam. From there we slowly made our way up the beautiful fluted ridge toward the summit. We were definitely sucking wind up this section. One or two steps, breathe and so on.

At 11am Eric and I took the final steps in tandem to the summit. We high fived and yelled in joy. We had left base camp 28 hours prior in a snow storm and were now standing on top of Ama. The nearest climbers were two hours behind us. We had the spectacular windless summit to ourselves. Everest, Loutse, Makalu were at our fingertips. Ama has one of the most spectacular summits in the world!

20 minutes later and we were beginning to rap our way toward thicker air. We arrived down at camp 3 within an hour. It was down right hot. We took an extended break taking off all our down and laid in the sun, stripped down to our underwear layers. 3pm saw us horizontal at camp 2. We had earned the afternoon and evening of rest.

The next day we rose to clear skies, but lenticular clouds quickly began to form. We arrived at base camp at 1pm just in time for lunch. Five minutes before we arrived in base camp a big cloud rolled in which developed into a nasty evening snow storm. We were down in base camp and had seized the nicest day of weather of the entire trip in between days of nastiness. The weather has been unsettled since.

The next morning we said our goodbyes to Ama and were on our way to Namche!

November 7, 2006

We're leaving Namche today. We had a incredible hot showers upon arrival last night. Dinner was excellent at the Zamling Guest House. We then had a big celebration at the Namche Bar. Full update to follow in Kathmandu."

November 6, 2006

"We summitted yesterday. It was a great day. We had a full moon, splitter weather, and fairly warm temps. It took 11 hours from Camp 2 to the summit and back to Camp 2. We are on our way down to Base Camp today. We are hoping to make it there in time for lunch. I will try to send a longer update from Namche Bazaar tomorrow."

November 5, 2006

"It's 2:30 in the morning and we are brewing up for the summit day here at Camp 2. After several days of poor weather it has cleared up and we're looking out a brillant night. Wish us luck!"

November 4, 2006 7:30pm

"Eric and I are at Camp 2. Gene was still not feeling well this morning, so he decided to stay at Base Camp. The weather has been pretty bad for the past few days, but it has cleared up now. We are hoping that it will stay clear for our summit climb tomorrow."

November 2, 2006 1:00pm

"We are down from Camp 1 taking a rest day in Base Camp today. Gene has had a bad cough for the past few days, and it was hurting him at Camp 1. He is hoping to recover at base camp. We are either going to head up for our summit push tomorrow or the day after, depending on the weather."

October 31, 2006 7:30 pm Nepal Time:

We climbed up to Camp 1 today. Everyone did really well. There was some snow during part of the 3rd and 4th class climbing, but it cleared up by the time we got to camp. We are planning to climb up to Camp 2 tomorrow and then go back down to Base Camp tomorrow night. Then we will take 2 rest days before considering our first summit bid. We are settled in for the night, but it is really cold up here. Burr!

October 30, 2006:

Hello Everyone, Jim Wiedemer got sick when we got to Base Camp, so he went back down to Pengboche. He spent 4 nights there but never felt better, so he decided to go home. He is heading down to Namche Bazaar tomorrow and then down to Lukla. I went down to Pengboche last night to see him, and then came back up to Base Camp this morning. The rest of the team is feeling good. We have spent 1 night so far at ABC. We had a beautiful night with clear skies. We listened to music, played cards, and watched TV shows on Eric’s iPod. Today was a rest day, and then we are going up to Camp 1 tomorrow night. We are planning on climbing up to Camp 2 and then coming back to Base Camp. Eric and Eugene feel great and are doing awesome. We had a puja today to bless our climb. I also had two prayer flags blessed for Doug and Chad, and I will put them up at Camp 1 tomorrow.

Miles clear

October 26, 2006:

We are in Base Camp. Everyone is psyched. We took a rest day today,but we are going up to Advanced Base Camp tomorrow for an acclimatization hike. We will come back down to Base Camp tomorrow, but the next day we are planning on going up to ABC and sleeping there. Then we will go up to Camp 1 and back to ABC for a night before coming back to Base Camp. It has been snowing a lot, but it is beautiful today. People have been climbing the mountain despite the snow. People were on the mountain today, so it should be good. Everyone is feeling good and healthy.

All for now, more to come.

Miles clear

October 21st:

Well, it was an adventure to leave Kathmandu but we are now all on the trail and having a great time. One of Gene's bag's never arrived but Kili Sherpa was able to set him up with all the gear that was missing. Jim's flight was delayed two days. Jim did a great job of rallying the night before to fly to Lukla the next morning.

The flight to Lukla was as spectacular as ever. We arrived Lukla early on the first flight. We had lunch in Pakding and spent the night in Monjo. This morning we slowly climbed the steep trail to Namche Bazaar, 3440 meters. Lunch consisted of tasty pizza and chocolate cake. This afternoon was a bit rainy but this gave up an opportunity to enjoy all of the cafes, shops and bars of Namche. We are staying at the fantastic Zamling Hotel in Namche.

Tomorrow night we will sleep in Namche again. Tomorrow we will go for a morning acclimatization hike and if the weather cooperates we will have fantastic views of Everest and of course Ama Dablam. Everyone is pscyhed and ready to have our first view of Ama tomorrow.

All for now, more to come.

Miles clear