Hello Everyone,
Today is Friday the 21st of April, and we all moved to Camp 2 today. Everyone did great! We made it to camp in 4.5 hours.Our camp is located towards the top of the camp, with great views of the Lhotse Face. My GPS says we are at 21,300 feet or 6,500 meters (for my beautiful Dutch wife ;)).
The Khumbu Icefall is in good shape, with two, 3-ladder sections going up vertical ice towers for added excitement. The route makes a huge zigzag as it ascends through the Icefall. first heading up next to Nuptse, before jogging across towards the West Shoulder of Mount Everest. This means that it takes quite a long time to climb through, compared to the other two years I have climbed up through it.
In the Khumbu Icefall at about 6am.
Chris Jentz near the top of the Khumbu Icefall
The trail going to Camp 2 similarly goes back and forth a lot as it climbs through the Western Cwm, and we crossed another 4-6 ladders, some of them double-ladders, two ladders attached together in a fashion to make the crossing very long and exciting!
Hiking up through the Western Cwm, about 1.5 hours from reaching Camp 2.
Our plan is to rest tomorrow, take a walk up to the base of the Lhotse Face on the 23rd, and then return to Everest Base Camp on Monday the 24th.
Cheers,
Jacob Schmitz
Wonderful update, Jacob! That’s a great shot of a 3-ladder section in the Icefall. Thanks, too, for the picture of my Chris – it made his Swedish wife’s day ;)). Wishing the MT/MM team an invigorating weekend at Camp 2, and a smooth, uneventful descent to EBC.
Thank you very much for the updates and the pictures. Hoping you have a
wonderful weekend and stay warm! Liked your picture of Chris, too.
Sandy, Chris’ mom
Amazing pictures guys. Great to hear the update from Jacob. It is reassuring to know that everyone is doing so well. Looking forward to hearing from you Terry K when you get back to Base Camp . Jackie
Hi Terry. Best wishes to you and the team from the Dungeon Gang at UCD. We’re keeping an eye on your progress and from the fotos and descriptions of the ‘trek’ it is the unanimous opinion of us all ‘better you than any of us’. Stay safe.