May 10, Dingboche

We’re all here relaxing and enjoying our time down in the low, oxygen rich land of Dingboche. We’re eating great, and getting good restful nights of sleep. The Snow Lion Lodge here in Dingboche is feeling like home, and we are very well taken care of by the lady who runs the place, Mingma Sherpa.

Last night, Chris presented his movie “Australis: An Antarctic Ski Odyssey” to the whole lodge. It was a great venue (a laptop computer perched on a table in the dining room), and the movie was enjoyed by all. Check it out at www.antarcticskiodyssey.com It’s a beautiful movie about a ski trip he and some friends did to the Antarctic peninsula recently. It got us all excited to go ski in Antarctica, but for now we’re remaining focused on Everest.

Today we spent most of the day relaxing, with a short hike over to the nearby village of Pheriche for a cup of tea. We also stopped by the Medical Clinic to visit a doctor friend and found a scale for our weight loss competition. Ephi and Neal seem to be tied right now, but we are all eating really well now, and putting the pounds back on. Tonight we’re playing some pretty competitive Scrabble and Cribbage after another big dinner.

We’ll spend another day here tomorrow, and then head back up to base camp. We’re watching the weather closely, but haven’t yet seen the window of good weather we’re looking for in the forecast. It’s exciting to be thinking about heading up towards the summit soon, but for now we are all thoroughly enjoying the rest.

Here’s the crew after another great dinner tonight.
L-R: Scott, Neal, Ephi, Bill, Chris, Irek, Newall, and Gregg

Bill Allen
Dingbohe