• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Paul & Fiona Adler

A place to keep our climbing blogs and other projects

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Current Projects
  • Mountaineering
    • Everest Photos
    • Mt Everest (2007)
    • Mt Everest (2006)
    • Khan Tengri (2004)
  • Contact Us

Back at camp 2

May 7, 2007 By paul.adler 5 Comments

The view from my tent on the Lhotse face. You can see how little room there is at the edge of the tents - about a boot width. The South Col is visible. Photo Paul Adler.
The view from my tent on the Lhotse face. You can see how little room there is at the edge of the tents – about a boot width. The South Col is visible. Photo Paul Adler.
Going down the Lhotse face this morning. Photo Mingma Nuru.
Going down the Lhotse face this morning. Photo Mingma Nuru.

Local time: 7 May, 19:00
Location: Camp 2
Altitude: 6500m
Weather: Overcast for much of the day -6C at c3

Hi it’s Paul at camp 2. After a restless night at camp 3, we descended safely down to C2.

The night at Camp 3
I felt pretty good during the afternoon and night yesterday at C3. I made sure that I drank plenty, which was easy as our Sherpa kept passing tea and water from their tent to ours.

I woke up a number of times during the night and it was hard to get back to sleep, but I did end up sleeping for about 6 hours, which was good. I’d find that just as I was going off to sleep, my breathing would slow down and not be enough, leaving me gasping for air. This is called Cheyenne Stokes breathing and would wake me up again.

We woke at 6am, got ready and left by a little after 7. We were back at camp 2 in time for breakfast of omelet with toast.

I have rested for much of today, and will be waking very early tomorrow to head down to base camp, where a nice shower will be waiting.

Your Messages
Hi Ken, I found the Lhotse face a bit easier this year than last. There were two very steep sections last year, but they have changed shape and are not so steep now. Yes, it’s very icy in some parts, but most of the way is hard snow. Since Pat has been there, a lot of Sherpa have traveled the route heading up to the South Col, kicking in steps, which makes it easier too. Some of Dan Mazur’s group were there, but otherwise that was it.

Hi Cam, The service from Asian Trekking has been really great so far. I have a few batteries, but I only carried one with me. I used it for about 5 hours in total on the one battery, and it was still going fine. I think it would be fantastic for fishing.

Hi Gavin, Yes the website seems to be working without a hitch. (Well from my end anyway).

Hi Moneal, The vest and battery is very lightweight – maybe 500grams. The battery is meant to be some new generation of battery and be very long lasting. The battery doesn’t get that cold, because the vest heats up within 30 seconds. I will put up a detailed comparison after the climb as I want future climbers to make an informed decision. It’s not all positive differences, and some things might be more important to other people, but I’ll give my perspective.

Hi Phil M,
My health is great this year and I feel very strong. The good food we are being feed and smaller group size is no doubt a big contributor. The Psolar mask that I am wearing really helps too. I would go as far as to say that no one should attempt to climb without one of these. It works better than any medication. Attila also has one of these and he swears by it too. I wish I could climb with it, but it fogs up my glasses too much. Once I get to camp, I put it on right away and I wear it every night.

Hi Mira, Thanks for the post about TA. This was the first I had heard of it – a real shame. I know how much effort she put into this. I presume TA feels that there isn’t enough time to get better between now and the end of May. Another guy with IMG got Giardia last year too – not sure how he contacted it. Obviously not systematic, but still a real concern. I and a few other people also got sick after the first meal prepared by their cooks on the trek in, but a course of antibiotics fixed this. The next day (going up to Namche) I was walking with a Swiss climber and we arrived at the lunch spot early. We watched them make some juice and saw that the water wasn’t boiled when they went to serve it. We both immediately asked them to boil the water properly, which they did, but it was a real concern. Bringing your own water filter is a good suggestion.

Hi Jennifer, I am doing really well this time and having a lot of fun.

Hi WP, Yes, you would be in big trouble if you forgot sunscreen. I have to remember to put it in my pocket, because otherwise it’s frozen solid.

Hi Liane, There are no rules, but usually the descending climber will unclip because a jumar (used by the ascending climber) is more work. When using a jumar, most people have a carabiner clipped as well, so this means more work.

Base camp, here we come! Paul.

Paul back at base camp
Random Thoughts from Lobuche

Filed Under: Everest 2007

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Anonymous says

    May 7, 2007 at 9:39 am

    Hi Paul,
    Congratulations on making it to C3 and back (to C2). Once again some amazing photos. On the share front -> there is a rumoured takover of RIO by BHP, not sure how much truth there is in it but both shares shot up about 4%.
    Cheers for now,
    Marc

    Reply
  2. Ann says

    May 7, 2007 at 7:14 pm

    Hi Paul,
    It really sounds like you are doing very well and in good spirits! One of the photos you posted with the “boots” width outside looks as if you could simply step out and woosh, be gone! How do you negotiate around the tents in dim light?
    Ann and Graham

    Reply
  3. gothgurl says

    May 7, 2007 at 9:00 pm

    hey paul its jennifer from Q.E.C.V.I how r u doing and i am wondering if u r at camp 3 and if u r i am happy u made it all the way to camp 3

    from your friend from Q.E.C.V.I jennifer

    p.s. hope u write back

    Reply
  4. Pumori says

    May 7, 2007 at 10:38 pm

    Glad your second rotation went well, Paul.

    As for water filters, I swear by the Katadyn Exstream water bottle that filters as you drink. I used it on the trek to EBC last year and never got sick. You can dip it in any stream and have instant drinking water with no worries and no yucky iodine taste. The Exstream bottle filters out giardia, E coli, and all those nasty bugs that can make your life miserable.

    It would be nice if the guiding companies carried a high volume water filter to supply drinking water for all the climbers/trekkers.

    Happy trails and best of luck to you on your next round!

    Shanda

    Reply
  5. Damien.Adler says

    May 8, 2007 at 7:30 am

    Hi Paul,

    Was just looking at the photo of your tent on the Lhotse face. I guess you wouldn’t want to be a sleep walker then?!?!

    Dame

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Paul’s Everest Climb 2007

In 2007, Paul returned to climb Mt Everest after missing out on reaching the summit by 100 metres the previous year. In 2006, Paul and Fiona both climbed together and although Fiona successfully summited, problems with Paul's oxygen system forced him to turn around. On 23 May 2007, exactly a year to the day later, he reached the summit. This is the daily blog from this climb.
  • All Everest 2007 Posts
  • About Me (Paul!)
  • Key Facts About Everest
  • Why Do This?
  • Preparations
  • Support Crew
  • Calendar (as planned)
  • Sponsors