Local time: 22 April, 18:28
Location: Base Camp
Altitude: 5300m
Weather: Fine in the morning, snow in the afternoon, now clear. Overnight min -7C.
Today we woke up to find base camp completely covered with snow. In fact the snow was deep enough higher up to stop all travel for our group through the icefall today. My day has been spent sorting gear for my planned carry tomorrow to camp 1 and and then hopefully onto camp 2 in the next few days.
Our base camp
Moraima asked about the arrangement of base camp, so if you look at the first photo my tent is the second orange tent from the right. All the orange tents are 3 man North face Ve25 tents and we have one each. The small tent behind the rightmost tent is the toilet tent, the next small tent to the left of it and in the middle of the picture is the shower tent. The brown colored tent, with lots of snow on it to the left again is our dining tent. The tents to the left are for cooking and storing expedition gear. There are about 12 more sleeping tents not in this picture – our camp is spread out a bit.
The second picture shows the dining tent on the left with the cook tent on the right. Propane tanks for cooking are in the foreground and Pumori is the mountain in the background. Hopefully my next photos of Pumori will be looking across at it from the Western Cwm.
Getting gear ready
There is a lot of gear to organize when going above base camp. Firstly what are you going to climb in? I am going to wear some reasonably lightweight soft-shell climbing pants, and on my top I will have a very lightweight long sleeved white synthetic breathable top, plus a down jacket. That’s it. No Thermals or Gore-Tex. When it gets hot I will take off the down jacket, leaving the long-sleeved top, which I hope will help me cope with the sun well. I expect the sun to hit us in the icefall at about 8am, by which stage I hope to be near the top. I will take three different sets of gloves, so that as it warms up I can change down to lighter pairs. I am also bringing my down suit for use at Camp 2.
Sleeping
I will be carrying a foam ridgerest and an inflatable thermarest for sleeping on, plus a good sleeping bag (rated to -20C). I have another sleeping bag at base camp which I will bring up to c2 next time. It’s for use above c2 and is much lighter that the other one (only rated to about -5C). This makes it easier to carry up the Lhotse face, and I should be warm enough as long as I sleep in my down suit.
Food
I am bringing some food with me to snack on that I know that I like – specifically chocolate, cheese and salami. Asian trekking are providing the main bulk of the food at camps. Cooking pots and pans are shared amongst the group and are supplied by Asian Trekking. I am brining my own lighter as this can be a problem.
Your Messages
Hi MC will do a shot of the Polar masks. Please keep the photo suggestion coming – they are very helpful.
Hi Moiraima, Thanks for the pic idea. It’s really hard for me to say how fit someone needs to be to get to bc. As a guide you would want to be able to walk for 4 hours straight. If you play golf, then you can already do this! Some practice climbing hills for 1-2 hours at a time is also advisable. To climb the real thing, you want to be as fit as you can possibly get yourself. This means 5 days a week training for a min of six months, assuming you are starting off a reasonable base. The fitter you are the safer your climb will be.
Hi Gavin, Great to hear from you. It’s a bit like climbing Kalar Patar to get up to Pumori c1. The track is in good condition because it doesn’t get much traffic. Highly recommend it for the views, and you don’t need to go all the way either. No change in the weather that day, but then we have had a lot of snow yesterday and today.
Hi KW, I haven’t seen TA yet. Thanks for the update though. Where is she now? She sounds like she might be on a similar schedule to me and I might be able to catch up with her at c1 or c2.
Hi to everyone else. Sorry I couldn’t reply individually, but I ran out of time. Just time to upload this and then it’s time for dinner (6:30pm).
Regards,
Paul.
Very informative post; thanks for giving us readers a great visual of your current life at BC. I especially enjoyed the “Getting gear ready” section. I’m a big fan of having the best possible clothing and gear for each situation on a mountain. I did not realize that the sun would hit the Icefall as early as 8:00 am. What is the average temps this time of year when the sun first hits and what is the average temps mid-day?
Hopefully, you are reading this from C-1. Glad you are feeling healthy and all seems to be going well.
MC
Paul,
I was wondering if you had used the LuxuryLite Low Rise Cots in base camp?
I noticed that the cots are not listed in the sleeping group of your gear page and was wondering.
Sleep Good!
–Bruce Warren
Paul,
TA climbed up to Camp One on Sat. Due to poor weather, she stayed there on Sunday. Her plan is to go to Camp Two on Monday. You might meet her about the Icefall as it sounds like your schedules are similiar. Look for her bright yellow topped supergaitors.
KW
Hi Paul,
The photos are really cool and to see the snow covering over is just beautiful! Thanks for explaining the arrangement of tents, the view looks great. Cold shower tent though!
Have a great day!
Ann and Graham
It is Earthday Sunday morning here in the SFrancisco Bay Area, with some clearing after wind, fog and rain thankfully as the water is much needed.
Thank you for the excellent images and informative details regarding the physical arrangement of Mt. Everest Base Camp. The images and narrative convey the information and appearance of camp quite effectively. Image suggestion might be additional images showing the location of the tents as placed for safety and accessibility at the other camps as well.
Hope that a day of “good weather” occurs soon in the cwm and that passage to c1 is fine.
wp
Thank you, Paul for the message even with photo! I was also in the mountains (our wonderful alps!!) over the weekend, therefore I can thank you not until today!! THANK YOU SOOO MUCH!!!
Best greetings, Corinna
Again, some lines for Rudi
Hallo mein Schatz,
leider weiß ich nicht wo du gerade bist, aber ich hoffe du bekommst diese Nachricht! Du hast versucht mich heute Vormittag anzurufen, aber ich hatte leider keinen Empfang!
Jedenfalls hatte ich wunder-,wunder-,wunderschöne 3 Tage am Großvenediger. Ich habe wieder viel gelernt und was nicht fehlen darf – auch viel Spaß gehabt! Außerdem ist mir sehr gut gegangen, aber ich war ja auch in besten Händen, neben Norbert und Traude war nämlich die gesamte Gruppe (11 Leute) ganz, ganz spitze!!! Jedenfalls hoffe ich, dass du nach deiner Expedition noch Lust auf Hochtouren mit mir in den Alpen hast!! Denn bei diesem gewaltigen Wochenende bin ich so richtig auf den Geschmack gekommen!!
So, nun Schluss von meiner Schwärmerei…
Ich konnte diese Wochende viel Energie tanken, dabei war ich in Gedanken sehr oft bei dir und habe auch dir Energie “geschickt” – ich hoffe du kannst in den nächsten harten Wochen daran zehren!!
Viel liebe Grüße natürlich von Traude und Norbert!!! (Ich glaube Norbert geht jeden Schritt von dir in Gedanken mit 😉 )
Ich hoffe ich hör´bald wieder was von dir!! Bis bald…
Kuss Corinna
Hi Paul
Sounds like the climbing is starting for real now. Good luck in the icefall and with all the gear. See you on the 10th if the weather allows you to stick to your schedule. Really looking forward to meeting you
Cas
thanks for another excellent report and photos.how you manage to do all this and climb a mountain beats me!good luck with the climb to camps 1@2. ‘regards [ken .n.z.]
Hi Paul,
I have arrived home safe and sound from Thailand. I really enjoyed my adventure in Nepal and brief travels in Thailand and now have to return to the real world. I missed the last few updates so will spend some time catching up on the latest developments. Beck says hi. Dame
hey paul just wanna say good luck to u when u climb and i hoped u liked the gifts Q.E.C.V.I sent u i am in Mrs Penny’s grade 9 class. are you at base camp and is it ausem.
from ur new friend from Q.E.C.V.I:Jennifer Babcock
P.S. good luck
Hey Paul
just wanted to say thanks for answering my questions and for the great pictures…. this is why is so nice following you, because you keep us up to date in every little detail… we are part of your adventure… and that same way you are part of our prayers to keep you safe in the mountain and back…
Good luck going up
Moraima
Hi Paul,
Neil H here – location Heathmont, Australia, altitude approx 95 metres, temperature 15C.
Thanks for the fantastic audio and pictures. The audio gives us at least some idea as to just how hard and dangerous the whole experience is. All that training and preparation wasn’t for nothing! Hope all continues to go well for you. The next group fly out tomorrow night and are looking forward to meeting up with you.
cheers
Neil
Hi Paul and Fiona
Ive been checking out your new site and I am impressed you ve both done a great job , I hope its all going to plan , when plans aactually happen, dont forget Anzac Day and Collingwood and Essendon are at the G tommorrow thats if you can tune in . Its also Ambers Birthday 28 i think and Damian has organised a BBQ for Anzac Day so I been roped in to crank the bbq , Can we send you photos to you ?? got to run as I have to pick up Darcie for Gym I be watching see you Jonnno