Author: bartw55

I must have dropped off to sleep at midnight and then awakened at 1:30 am by his phone call. The connection was terrible – I couldn’t understand anything he was trying to say.  Finally after the fourth try of calling me back, I was able to understand him say “Camp 3, high winds.”  I hope they don’t last long.   For the latest update go to IMG’s website.

I just heard from Bart that all climbers have retreated to Camp 2 due to deteriorating conditions at Camp 3.  It started snowing resulting in possible avalanche risk.

Bart is 3,000 feet closer to realizing  his dream.  After a six-hour climb, Bart arrived safely at Camp 3 at noon.  He called me at 12:30 pm.  I was surprised at how good his voice sounded, no labored breathing or hoarseness.  He was obviously tired but felt good.  As we were talking, his Sherpa was trying to put his oxygen tank on him.  I thought to myself, he doesn’t sound like he even needs it. 

The next leg will be a 2,300-foot climb to the South Col, which is at 26,300 feet.  They are planning on leaving at 7:00 am, arriving at noon. 

 

 

 

 

 

Bart made it safely to Camp 2.  It was a long eight hours. They’re all completely wasted. He’s really hoping that a few hours of sleep will re-energize him for his arduous climb up to Camp 3.  His voice sounded good. I asked about his lung capacity and he said it was fine. I forgot to ask what time they start their climb up the Lhotse face, maybe that’s a good thing.

Bart called this morning at 7:30 with good news. The winds have subsided so they will begin their ascent at 3:00 am.   He is in the first group which will be heading directly to Camp 2 and spend the night.  The second group will leave an hour later and will spend their first night at Camp 1.   GO BART!!

Greg got the new weather report, called a quick staff meeting, and then suddenly the climbers were being summoned for an unscheduled meeting.

The weather report is giving us the weather windows we need to get us all up there in two teams. My team will leave at 3:00 in the morning and go directly to Camp 2. Team 2 will leave at 4:00 am and go to Camp 1.

I’ll spend a night at Camp 2, then climb up to Camp 3. I’ll spend another night on oxygen at Camp 3, then climb to Camp 4. I should get to Camp 4 by noon, then rest all day on oxygen there until I start for the summit about 9:00 that night, hoping to summit early the morning of the 18th of May.

I’ll check in with Jude at each camp by sat phone and she will update the blog with my progress.

Send your energy my way, please!  I will need it!  With utmost gratitude.

Yours truly,

Bart

Winds on the summit are forecast to 50 knots for May 19-21st. Twenty-four hours ago these dates had been looking good for the summit days of our three groups.  I was particularly interested in May 20th. It will be our 39th wedding anniversary!  Since Mother Nature has thrown us a curve, it’s back to the drawing board.

Expedition leader, Greg Vernovage, will be carefully monitoring the ever-changing weather maps to determine possible summit days between now and the end of May, which is also the end of the climbing season, as summer monsoon weather moves in making climbing Mt. Everest far too dangerous.

Several groups were able to summit over the past couple of days on the heels of the fixed line finally being set to the summit.  Though as many as eight or nine IMG climbers would have been capable, Greg determined it too risky. If for some reason like weather, or health of the fixing Sherpa, the fixed lines are delayed getting set; those groups following close behind are forced to retreat which can be problematic.

As for me, I’m on the mend but still not 100%.  My lungs still need several days of healing before I feel capable of climbing back up through the Icefall to the higher camps above.

Thanks to all who have indicated confidence in my ability to make this happen and for all the thoughts and prayers that go with it.  I have to say the hardest part is waiting.  Patience has never been an attribute of mine, and what very little I have is being put to the supreme test!

 

Being sick is never easy, especially in the mountains, but several little things happened yesterday to change my attitude and outlook and made me feel like a new person.

I started the day talking to my best friend and confidant, Judy. I was still feeling sick and I laid bare all my raw emotions.  Like the smart person Judy is, she just quietly listened, with a little consoling here and there.

Secondly, I had some remodeling done to my living quarters. A moving glacier tends to do crazy things to a tent platform. A sink hole inside my tent was causing havoc with my bed and any gear that happened to get too close.  I invited the Sherpa tent-fixing crew over and they did a great job leveling it out. My tent is now the pride of the neighborhood, and I am much more comfortable inside.

Thirdly, I said goodbye to four people who have become good friends over the past six weeks.  A Brazilian woman, a Swiss man, a Romanian, and an Englishman all decided to call it quits for various health-related issues, mostly due to high altitude. They all brought a certain color and fascination to the trip, and I was sorry to see them go.

Finally, I ended the day talking to an old friend at work who always makes me laugh!  I caught him early in his day and when he saw the 15-digit phone number coming in from overseas he wasn’t sure whether to pick up, but he did. I’d told him before I left not to be surprised to get a call somewhere near the top of the world.

Somehow, the combination of all these little things combined to change my energy. Maybe, and coincidentally, I’m starting to get over the bronchitis, or maybe I’m finally starting to get my energy back from the strenuous second rotation to Camp 3. Or, maybe it was just one of those little things that happened to me today that has me back on track.

Yes, the bad news first. I have bronchitis! The good news – it runs its course in a week to ten days which is the next good summit weather window. There may be a short window between when the Sherpa complete fixing lines to the summit and the next wind event on May 16th. Some teams may try for the summit sooner; but, starting on about the 18th works for me.

Two nights after I returned to EBC from Camp 3, I had a cough-filled, sleepless night completely enervating me and making me hoarse.  I went to HRA the next day to make sure my lungs were clear. They were and I was diagnosed again with the Khumbu cough. But later in the day I started getting some production out of my coughs.  Another climber, who is a doctor himself, just went through this and told me it’s acute bronchitis. I plan to go back to HRA today to get some meds that help break up the mucus and make sure it doesn’t turn into pneumonia.

Such is life on a long expedition. Usually everyone gets sick at least once.  I think everyone has.  The trick is not to panic. Hopefully, it doesn’t happen at the wrong time.  A guy in our group got bronchitis on his summit bid in 2012 at Camp 3 and was forced to abandon his climb.

Four of our climbers who got behind because they had been sick left for their Camp 3 rotation this morning.  They’ll be back in five days.

Five of the eight hybrid team had been so sick on and after their Camp 3 rotation, they negotiated a good price on a helicopter ride  to the 12,000-foot village of Namche Bazaar where they are resting.

My friends, Tom and Will, who summited in 2012 had to wait until the end of May.  If I can start by the 18th I won’t feel so bad.

As an interesting side note, Dawa, a 57-year-old Sherpa who has summited 11 times, was at HRA the same time I was and was also diagnosed with bronchitis.  He will be climbing up to the South Col at 26,000 feet over the course of the next two days.

 

With my Sherpa, PK, just ahead of me and members of my team climbing out of the bergschrund at the bottom of the Lhotse face, I wait in anticipation of the six-hour challenge ahead.

Little did I know this would be the most physically and mentally exhausting climbing day of my life!

The steep terrain to Camp 3 is relentless, much of it over bulging blue ice, hard to claw a crampon into. A few inches of fresh snow made it doubly hard as I’d often slide back as if in sand.

My tent mate, Johnny, was having a bad day. He has the reputation of being one of the strongest North American guides in the business, but has been struggling with some GI issues for the past week. He finally caught me with about 500 feet to go as I was taking a break, and offered great words of encouragement. True to his word he stayed right behind me for the next two hours and we made it into Camp 3 together.

All seven of us made it, the last coming in about 5:20 pm.  We’d departed Camp 2 at 5:20 am.  The one who came in late needed a little oxygen during the night but was otherwise okay.

The Sherpa boiled water and I added it to two packs of Ramen Noodles for dinner. By the time I was done everyone was in their sleeping bag trying to sleep. I made a short sat phone call to Jude and started what would be the longest night of my life.

I tried to share my pad with Johnny, since his hadn’t arrived, but ended up on the cold tent floor trying to suck the little oxygen at 24,000 feet. I thought the night would never end, but it eventually did.

PK brought lukewarm water and I gagged down some oatmeal. Everyone was in a hurry to get back to Camp 2, but I needed to, well, you know. It wasn’t easy in a one-piece summit suit, on a ledge, but I managed.

We rappelled part way and hand rapped part way and were down the 2,500 feet to Camp 2 in 90 minutes. I passed four other teammates who had needed a rest day yesterday and who were now on their way to Camp 3, somewhere near the bergschrund. Three of the four later returned unable to make it.

It was good to get back to Camp 2 where we rested and prepared to descend to EBC the next day.

It took three and a half hours to return, and here I am back in my little cozy tent safe and sound.

The gun is “locked and loaded,” as Johnny says. Now we rest up and wait for the good weather forecast and head for the summit.

I received my call from Bart this morning at 1:00 am. telling me he had arrived at Camp 3.

 

As expected, he was exhausted. I just spoke to him and I could tell his breathing was a little labored. IMG chooses to put their camp 500 feet above the designated Camp 3 so that their climb on summit day isn’t as far. He told me it took him two hours to go that extra 500 feet.  

He is now trying to get some needed sleep and will head back down to Camp 2 where they will spend one night, then back to EBC.