Hello All! Just down through the Khumbu Icefall this morning and all of us are now safe in Base Camp. Feels amazing to be here in the relative heat and luxury of the Mountain Trip Base Camp. Last night at Camp 2 we enjoyed some cinnamon rolls sent up from base camp with ice cream and swiss chocolate. Today its enjoying our cooks new lunch favorite, sushi rolls! Yesterday was an interesting storm day. Woke up early and made a go at getting up to Camp 3, but blowing snow and poor visability turned us around near 23,000 ft. Last night was our 6th night at 21,500 ft. so now we are back down to recover. We managed to do 4 trips above Camp 2 over the last few days. Now with 9 nights sleeping in Camp 2 this will provide the acclimatization needed for our summit push. Staying that long at the higher camps slowly wears everyone down. Coughs and colds get worse, energy deteriorates and so its down to lower elevations to recover. Tomorrow we are off to the small village of Dingboche and the Snow Lion Lodge. We plan 4 nights there before starting back up to Base Camp and what we hope will be our summit push. Right now there are no ropes fixed to the South Col yet, only Camp 3. This is a little late in the season, but also not uncommon. Things will move fast once the lines are in. It is compressing groups a little now as more people will be looking at fewer summit days. Still way early to really guess what will happen.
Stay tuned and we will keep you updated as the summit time nears! Very soon now and we are all excited!
Cheers from Everest Base Camp, Scott Woolums
Beautiful Morning in the Icefall (Pumori in background)
Chuck and Trudi crossing a ladder in the Khumbu Ice Fall
