Hi everyone – Paul here,
We have another set of photos sorted, captioned, compressed for the internet and uploaded to the web site. This group of pictures shows life around Everest Basecamp as we experienced it.
We’ve had great fun doing this – reliving memories and reflecting on the feelings and thoughts we had at Basecamp before we knew what the mountain had in store for us higher up!
We spent a lot of time at base camp – not sure how many days exactly, but it must have been close to two thirds of our time on the expedition. We’ve had to select the best from around 400 good basecamp photos but there are still 60 or so here so you should get a good feel for the place.
For those who weren’t following us during our climb, Chris and Bridget hiked to Basecamp with us and spent 3 days there, and later Mary joined while we were climbing – it was great to have this extra company and moral support.
By the way, several people have asked questions about various things and we’ve been posting our responses as messages on the website for all to see (these can be found under each individual update).
Hope everyone out there is well.
Paul.
WOW!!! Spectacular photos! Truly magnificent. The one looking through a telescope from BC at climbers on the icefall resembles people walking on the moon! Thank you for posting all the pix and for adding the captions. I love the format you have chosen. It is perfect for viewing.
Aside from the decision of Paul returning to Everest, have you considered which mountain will be the next challenge the two of you will take?
Nice to see that you are back on your bike, Fiona. I hope you are close to 100% from your bike accident.
Take good care, MC
Hi Fiona & Paul,
Here at MBS lots of us were following your progress. I went os for 5 weeks just a few days before you hit the top so missed all the goings on but the day I got back I went straight onto the website to check how you guys went. So happy for you Fiona that you made it & so glad you still have Paul back in one piece. That really is the important thing – you both made it back alive. I read a lot of books on climbing Everest & Antarctic exploration (reading Into Thin Air about the 1996 trip where a few died) and knowing how many die up there & how hard it is I find your trip just so amazing.
I know you guys are incredibly busy but I think lots of us here at MBS would love to hear you talk about your trip. I am not sure how hard or easy that would be to organise for the school but I think it would be fantastic.
When I was overseas I walked 7 hours to the top of Lake Louise in Canada & saw 3 avalanches. It was so exciting. I also walked 38km up to the top of Mt Robson which is the highest peak in the Rockies. Just beautiful country – lots of waterfalls, glaciers. Unreal!
I am pretty fit as I do the Oxfam 100 each year but I don’t think I could ever do Everest like you guys. I am getting old & my knees are getting pretty creaky. I so admire both of your achievements.
Have you met Bridget Muir Fiona ?
Anyway, sorry for taking up too much of your time – I am working in the library on a Sat & its very quiet so am bored.
Hope to hear from you soon.
Marina Herriman
Dear Paul and Fiona,
Thanks for the new images taken at Base
Camp.
We hear that you will be paying Dennis and Tam Kellner in the Florida Keys.
We are looking forward to meeting you and hearing more adventures that you shared.
Enjoy your winter. It is hot and humid here but with a nice ocean breeze.
God Bless !
Larry and Marianne B
Thanks for the photos, they are great. Since starting following your adventure, my family did a 2 and a half hour walk on Franz Joseph Glacier, so the enormity of your achievements is more poignant!! It was great to do I must say and a miniscule taste of what you guys did. A question if I may?
To get an overall feeling of the size of the mountain etc, what sort of distance is it from the bottom of Everest (in the black area) to the top in the photo you have on the photo page, taken from Kala Patar?
Thanks again.
Phil M
Hi Larry and Marianne,
Looking forward to getting down to the Keys and seeing you guys and Dennis’ Dong. The warm weather will definitely be a welcome change from the winter weather in Melbourne.
Regards,
Paul.
Hi Phil,
Thanks for your message. That’s great that you got to go out on the glacier. They are quite unreal places aren’t they? Its pretty amazing to see the impact of global warming on the New Zealand Glaciers – see them while you can!
It’s a good question you ask about the size, because it is hard to tell the scale from most photos. I assume you are talking about this picture: Chris and Bridget on Kala Patar
The black part of Everest that we can see in this photo is about 1200m high. From the start of the Khumbu Icefall and Glacier (visible at the bottom of the photo), its 3500m to the summit, or a little over 2 vertical miles.
Regards,
Paul.
Thanks Paul,
Great to hear from you.
Wow! its hard to imagine.
The specific photo was on your last updated photo page page “Around base camp photos”. The specific link was
javascript:PopupPic(‘http://www.adlers.com.au/images/photos3/IMG_0518.jpg’)
and named The view of Everest from Kala Patar. I remember seeing a photo on a website a few months ago that gave some vertical distances and I was amazed, but I only saw it once and forgot where I had been searching!
I don’t suppose Australian Geographic has asked you to do a talk for them? Am just down the road in Sydney and would love to hear about it first hand.
All the best to both you and Fiona.
Phil Mickan
Ok lets work it out. In the photo you mentioned you can see the South Col – this is the lowest part of the ridge on the right hand side. The South Col is at 8000m, so that should put things into perspective, given that the summit (just visible under the cloud) is at 8850m.
However, it’s not all it seems.
The very top of the icefall can also just be seen at the bottom of the picture, about a third of the way in from the left hand side. The icefall finished at an altitude of about 6000m. It is confusing, because you wouldn’t think that there was that much difference (2000m) between the top of the icefall and the South Col.
We have done a few talks in Melbourne, but none yet in Sydney. Haven’t spoken with Australian Geographic.
Cheers,
Paul.
Hi Paul & Fiona
thanks you so, for posting such great pictures and sharing with all of us…I have been enjoying them, and can’t wait to see the rest…
Good luck on whatever you do next, and if Paul decides to go up Everest again, we’ll be here cheering him up. I hope we can follow him also through this website.
Good luck & God bless…
Thanks Paul, It does put it into some perspective. I look forward to seeing the rest of the photos as you get them organised. If you do do something up here let us know.
Thanks again.
Phil
Hi MC,
Thanks for your message. That photo looking through the telescope actually shows a group of Sherpas lowering an injured climber down through the icefall – if you look hard you can see the stretcher. It’s the climber we referred to here: http://www.adlers.com.au/mteverest/2006/05/another_acciden.html. Until you mentioned it, and caused me to have another look, I’d actually forgotten that it showed this incident. The guy had fallen and hit his head and seemed to be losing his sight at the time. But we found out that he had later recovered.
It’s actually Dennis’ photo – we’d often sit outside the dining tent and watch other climbers make their way through the icefall.
I’m now 99% recovered from the bike fall. I’m back out riding with Paul again (but probably around 3 times a week now instead of 10!). I’ve also been out for a few jogs which has been fine as well.
Will hopefully be putting more photos up soon. Fiona
Hi Marina,
Great to hear from you – I’m glad you’ve had a great trip yourself. We’ve been to Lake Louise too and it certainly is a stunning place. Congratulations on your hike up Mt Robson.
I’d love to come and share my experiencs with MBS but I’m actually about to head off on another trip myself – but this time just a sight-seeing holiday with my parents. I’ll be back at MBS next semester so hopefully something can be arranged then.
I’ve never met Bridgette Muir but have read her book. Maybe one day…
Cheers,
Fiona
Hi Paul and Fi
Congratulations once again on such a fine effort! But more importantly, great to see you’re both back home, safe and well.
Having read parts of the website, I picked up on some news. Congratulations to you Chris on your engagement! And congratulations Marc on reaching the peak of the Matterhorn! Hi to you too Brad and Tracey, and family??
Brett and I are living back in Melb (after Kalgoorlie – where we bumped into Jo!). Our latest news is that we are expecting our first child this weekend. This is my Everest!!
I’d love to hear how you’re all going, and share with you our upcoming news. (Our email is attached).
I hope this finds you all well,
regards
Stacey
I still check your website every day – hoping for news of you and your activities and for more pictures from your trip. I know you must be very busy, so I will be patient. Paul, I enjoyed reading your advice regarding trekking to Base Camp. I was 63 when I trekked to EBC in ’03. I started taking Diamox 2 days before going to Lukla and believe that it made the difference in allowing me to make it. Other younger ones in my group did not. However, I really should have had an additional rest day between Namche and Gorek Shep.
Hi Jill,
Great to hear from you! At the moment, Paul and I are in Spain travelling with my parents. We’ve just finished about 3 weeks in France where we enjoyed seeing Paris for the first time, visiting with Paul’s relatives, sampling lots of great foods and wines, seeing lots of wonderful little towns, and in general, having a great time. While traveling, we’ve managed to squeeze in some hiking through the Pyranees which has been lovely (despite the unexpected hail and snow!).
We’ve got our photos from Everest here with us and have almost finished getting the next batch ready. Sorry this is taking a while but we’ll be posting an update soon.
Making the trek in basecamp is a wonderful acheivement. As you say, it’s not everyone that is able to get there. At the moment, there are not many tourists due to the recent political instability in Nepal so the local operators are struggling a bit. Hopefully people will start to return soon.
Thanks a lot for your support during our climb – it meant a lot to have you and others cheering us along.
Cheers,
Fiona
You are so awesome to send a personal reply! Thank you so much – and it is so nice to hear that you are having a good time exploring other areas, especially with your family!
I can be even more patient now!