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Adventures International's
Live Everest 2003 Expedition Reports!
March
| March 31st, Everest BC Support and Island Peak Team Report | |
 Namaste
from all of us Adventures International trekkers. Currently we are
in a small village called Dingboche (13,900 feet - close to being at
the top of Mt. Rainier in Washington). There are seven of us in the
group. Erin Blanchett (Hood River, 8th grade), Josh Blanchett (Hood
River, Senior), Yvette Blanchett (Hood River, Adventures
International Officer Manager), Dennis Bokovoy (Hood RIver, Geology
Professor), Julianne Aitchison (Canada, Doctor), Andy Obanion (New
York, Machinist), and Louisa Drouet (San Diego, Journalist). We're
staying at a tea house, Tashi Delek Lodge, where we are enjoying the
company of the Adventures International South Col and Everest Summit
climbing groups. In approximately 3-4 days, Andy, Julianne and
Louisa will attempt climbing Island Peak (20,235 feet). For the time
being we are safely acclimatizing to the higher elevations. Overall,
everyone is feeling good, with the exception of a few light
headaches due to less oxygen in the air. Louisa will trek with two
others (John and Scott) from the South Col climbing group tomorrow
to Island Peak Base Camp (roughly 15,500 feet) to help set up camp.
The others are to arrive at Island Peak Base Camp 2 days later. Stay
tuned for the latest from Island Peak Base Camp in several days to
find out how the attempt went. After Island Peak we'll head to
Everest Base Camp to enjoy the traditional Puja ceremony to bless
those climbers attempting the South Col and Summit.Reported by Yvette Blanchett and Louisa Drouet |
|
| March 31st, Lhotse Team 2003 Report | |
 Namaste
from Dingboche, Nepal! The Lhotse Team 2003 members are Scott
Durcanin (a financial planner from New York), George Barisas Jr. (a
Chemistry Teacher at Colorado State Univeristy), Lorenzo Gariano (an
Italian plant specialist living in Britain), and myself the leader
John Rust (a mountian guide and ski coach from Hood River, Oregon).
Our expedition has two primary goals; the first and foremost is to
get everyone to the South Col on Everest (26,000+ feet and 8000
meters), second, is to make an attempt on Lhotse, the World's fourth
highest mountain (27,883 feet) and closest neighbor to Mt. Everest
(29,035 feet). Why South Col only? The height of 8000 meters in the
climbing world is a magical number. There are only 14 mountains in
the world over 8000 meters. Nine of these mountains are in Nepal.
They are Dhalghari, Annapurna, Manaslu, Sishapangma, Cho Oyu,
Everest, Lhotse, Makalu, and Kangchanjunga. The remaining five; K2,
Broad Peak, Gasherbrum I, Gasherbrum II, and Nanga Parbat are in
Pakistan. A South Col attempt gives a climber the opportunity to
gain 8000 meters without the expense and time commitment of a full
Everest Expedition. The South Col only option, takes 50 to 60 days
while a full Everest summit expedition takes 90 days. Tomorrow, we
head to Island Peak to acclimatize for Everest Base Camp and attempt
to climb to 20,325 feet. If all goes well and team members remain
strong we may be able to give you a great report from Island Peak
Base Camp. Stay Tuned for more reports in the next 5 days. (Note:
spelling and heights of mountains are not exact)Reported by John Rust |
|
| March 30th, Tyanboche to Dingboche | |
 Pulled
into Tyangboche last night just before a small blizzard. Watched the
monks at the restored Tyangboche monastery saying prayers, then back
to our cozy little lodge to watch the snow fall. Not too much fell
overnight. This morning saw crystal blue skies with Everest, Lhotse,
Ama Dablam, Taboche, Kangtaiga and Tamserku out all covered with
fresh snow. A beautiful day. We started out dropping down to the
Duhd Koshi River then up to Pangboche to our small Puja, or blessing
ceremony. Meeting several of our sherpas, Phenden, Dawa and Tenzi
for the 3 hour long Puja by the Lama in Pangboche. We have been
running into several other Everest teams along the way. This is the
time for lots of expedition groups heading into base camp. Everyone
is jazzed to be feeling good and getting higher. Super important to
just take it easy going up as there is no hurry. We'll be at Island
Peak in a couple days where we plan a few days in base camp there
before climbing this smaller, 20,200 ft peak. There is a trekking
group along that will also attempt Island Peak with us. More very
soon. Check out the Trekking group and Lhotse Team reports here
also. |
|
| March 30th, Photos of the Everest Team 2003 | |
 Heres
some photos of the Everest Team! |
|
| March 27, Up to Namche! | |
 Off
to Namche today. A bit better weather and a stop at the Monastery in
Ghat. A very amazing experience as the Lama offers us a blessing and
good luck. This is called a Puja or blessing ceremony. We passed
into Sagarmatha National Park today, heading up along the Dudh Koshi
river, then up into Namche, the center of the Khumbu region. We are
starting to meet some of the other expeditions along the way. Lots
of expedition gear, equipment, oxygen going in right now on a mix of
Yaks, Dzopyoks (a cross between Yaks and cows) and porters. The
photo is from the small bridge crossing the Duhd Koshi below Namche.
Spirits are high as we get closer to the mountain. We plan to head into the Chukung Valley and climb a smaller trekking peak to acclimatize a little better before going up to Everest Base Camp. Lots of snow from last week with the snow line reaching to just over 12,000 ft. Very unusually deep snows for this time of the year, should be an interesting hike up to base. We'll be here in Namche tomorrow night also so will send out another report after another acclimatization hike up to the Everest View Hotel for our first views of the mountain this trip. More soon. |
|
| March 26th, On the Trail! | |
 After
a few busy days in Kathmandu, were finally off to Lukla! Always
interesting flying in here. Up at 4.30 this morning for flights in
on Yeti Air. Still a lot of cloud but the pilot found a hole
through..Lots of expeditions coming in now. Have met several other groups heading for Everest. I have a feeling we won't be alone! We have several other groups of sherpas ahead of us with more equipment heading in, literally several tons of gear is either at base camp now, on the way in or coming in still with the last of the sherpas. We plan to be in Namche tomorrow for a couple nights. On our arrival in Lukla, Dawa the owner of the Himalayan Lodge in Lukla offered us a blessing cerimony for good luck and safety. This is an important part of the sherpa culture. The photo shows us receiving the traditional Kata or silk blessing from Dawa's wife. The snow level is very low right now with reports of over 2 feet at base camp. This is the time of the year everything starts melting so we are hoping conditions improve. 7 sherpas are in Base Camp right now getting everything set for this season. The route through the icefall has been fixed thanks to the SPCC and their team of "Icefall Doctors" now. Everything is shaping up for a big season. Hopefully the deep snow will be gone by the time we reach base camp. We have two teams going into Lhotse and Everest, with 2 other trekking groups one day ahead. Our plans including going up to Island Peak for acclimatization. This may help minimize the number of trips our group takes through the icefall. We plan to be in Namche tomorrow for a couple nights. Stay connected with the team as we get closer Everest. |
|
| March 24th, Kathmandu | |
 Somewhat
controlled chaos is a good way to describe events in Kathmandu!
Everything is going well here. Busy getting things packed, permits,
food, tickets, baggage, visiting and enjoying the rhythm of life
within Kathmandu. A fast pace that takes a long time to accomplish!
We still have 3 guys arriving later today, then have our flights
into Lukla on the 26th. That will be good, to be on the road and off
to the mountain. Have been hearing that the route through the
icefall is in now. About half our sherpas are in base camp right now
getting things set for the season. So far the number of permits is
around 22 to 25 this year, so we'll be not alone on the mountain.
This looks like a huge season, the biggest ever for the 50 year
anniversary. Have had some thunderstorms yesterday in Kathmandu.
Still the tail end of the winter now. We also have 2 trekking groups
going, and they are out seeing the temples today with some of the
climbing team. Still lots to do, more soon. |
|
| Everest, the Adventure begins! March 20th, 2003 | |
 March
20th, in an uncertain and unpredictable world political environment,
we find ourselves off to the tiny kingdom of Nepal and the start of
our Everest Expedition. We're at 36,000 ft now heading for Tokyo,
Bangkok, then tomorrow Kathmandu at 500 some miles an hour. The bags
are checked, now its sit back and relax after several very long
weeks of preparations, packing and sorting. Everything is organized
and ready. The last 2 nights we've all had very little sleep as we
have been checking and rechecking all the details for 4 separate
trips leaving this next week! The adventure begins! I'm the first out to sort things in Kathmandu. John is leaving a bit later today via another set of connections, everyone else is a day to two days behind. Looking forward to settling into Kathmandu at the Tibet Guest House for 4 days before our flights into Lukla and the start of the trek into base camp. We have a total of 4 trips leaving only one day apart. Our climbing expedition to Everest, another to Camp IV, then 2 treks that will be one day ahead of the expeditions. Yvette Blanchett and John Rust will be leading the treks into both Tyangboche (12 days) and Island Peak/Everest Base Camp (24 days). Everyone is both excited and nervous with many of us flying the day after the first missiles are launched in Iraq. Of course the new strain of Pneumonia has popped up also in the weeks before our departure to make just the trip to Nepal interesting. In reality the risks from these world events are very small, of course there is more chance of a delayed or cancelled flights along the way, so far as I write this somewhere high above the Pacific Ocean, all things are on schedule. Even in these times, Nepal will be as it has been for hundreds of years once we're in the mountains. A beautiful and spiritual place that offers solitude from most of the worlds crazy events. |
|
| March 18, 2003 - And we're off! | |
 Well
were finally almost packed and ready to head out to Nepal. A wild
time to be off and traveling around the world. We'll see what
happens this week.-Scott |
|