Author: bartw55

The first view of Everest always takes my breath away!  It also took my mind off the fact I’m not feeling well.  My stomach, like many of the others, is trying to get used to strange food.  I still have a cough and my energy level is good but not great.  We hiked up to the Everest View Hotel this morning after arriving in Namche yesterday.  This is part of the acclimatization process and also a beautiful hike not to be missed.  The hotel sits at 12,700 feet as opposed to our place in Namche at 11,350.

We had a little snack while enjoying the view, then returned by way of Kumjung. We had lunch in front of the school Sir Edmond Hillary built there.  It was fun to visit this cute little village for the first time.  I had to muster up enough energy to get back up over the hill and back down the steep trail and stairs to our Namche tea house.

 

 

 

The flight to Lukla was even more exciting than usual with a bonus stop at an alternate airstrip while the fog cleared. Like Lukla the airstrip is slanted instead of flat, but unlike Lukla it runs along the side of the mountain instead of into it. We landed going downhill but took off 30 minutes later, going uphill after dumping half our duffels for weight purposes. The pilot went back after them later. We were still not airborne at the end of runway using the sudden drop off to put enough air under the wings to fly. Indiana Jones exciting!

After finally getting to Lukla we trekked the three hours to Phakding. It started raining hard just as we arrived. Our duffels

which arrived later on Yaks were soaked. Thankfully my North Face duffel weathered it well with only minimal dampness inside.

Today, we made the six-hour trek from Phakging to Namche under more threatening skies, but lucked out and had perfect cool hiking weather. It started raining again after we arrived, so we lucked out again.

There are 14 climbers (15 if you count our guide, Johnny Schrock) and 7 trekkers in my group. One of the climbers is a surgeon who lives in Sugarhouse!  There are two other medical doctors and two professors.  There’s a German, a Romanian, a Swede, an Englishman, a Brazilian, a Canadian, an Iranian, an Australian and a 19-year-old Japanese girl who will complete her “Seven Summits” if she’s successful here and on Denali after.  The remaining are Americans living in California, Washington, Virginia, and Ohio.  The trekkers are all Americans living in the United States.

We’ll spend a few days here in Namche acclimatizing before moving on.

 

It’s so good to be back in Nepal!  It seems like just yesterday I was here!

The flight from Incheon went as planned and I arrived last night about 6 pm with all my luggage!  What a relief!  It helped watching another three movies to pass the time.  The selection this time consisted of “Truth,” “Steve Jobs,” and “Miss You Already,” (appropriate).  I liked all three.

Expedition leader, Greg Vernovage, welcomed me with a good strong hug, as he did ten or so others returning from both 2015 and 2014 mishaps.   There’s even someone returning from a 2012 failed attempt.  IMG’s climbing and trekking numbers are the same as usual, but many of the other guide services are down 50 percent or more.  It definitely won’t be as crowded this year.

He did a gear check with me before I went to bed to make sure I hadn’t forgotten anything.  I passed!!   It’s always fun playing with gear!

 

 

It’s good to be back in Korea for an overnight layover. I love Korean food. So much so, I had rice, kimchee, and seaweed for breakfast this morning!

It’s always a pleasure flying Korean Airlines, as well. It’s never fun sitting in one place for so long, but Korean goes a long ways in taking my mind off TB and backaches. I watched four movies and had three meals on the flight from San Francisco.  Out of “Room,” “Creed,” “Carol,” and “33,” I liked “33” the best.  With an eight-hour flight left to Nepal, I’ll likely add at least two more.  Also, the crew is the best.  They evidently adhere to the 10-second rule – drop something and it’s picked up at least that fast.

I had a bit of a scare upon my arrival in San Francisco.  Because of the layover in Korea the airline won’t check bags all the way through to Kathmandu. I chose to pick them up in San Francisco rather than Incheon and have them sent all the way from there.  Surprisingly, my red duffel made it but my black duffel with all my climbing equipment didn’t show up!  Auspicious start!  I visited the claim office where they informed me my bag took a different airline to get there, and that I could pick it up in a different terminal when the Delta flight it was on comes in two hours later.  Thankfully, it shows up.  And fortunately it all worked out since I had a five-hour layover.  So, for all you travelers, make sure you and your bags are getting along (ha-ha) before you fly😉.

My kids and grandkids came over Friday to say goodbye.   Don, who is in Vegas for a tennis tournament, visited the night before.  It was impossible to hold back the tears.  It will be a long two months for all of us.  It’s times like this when I recognize how important my family is to me!  My dear parents threw a big family party last week and had weekly lunches for the last two months to be with me and say their goodbyes.  And lastly, giving Judy that last big hug at the airport was heart wrenching!  I will miss everyone, but especially her!!

 

 

 

 

Continue reading iRock

As the title suggests, the 50-50 chance of returning to Everest that I spoke of in my 2015 epilogue, turns out to be a yes! There were two conditions that had to be met before I would make the important decision. First, I had to receive the trip insurance money back, and second, I needed Judy’s unsolicited support for a second attempt. Lucky for me, I got both.

Travelex was quick to return 90% of the expedition expenses (thankfully, I chose to insure my entire trip), including the helicopter rescue from Camp 1, and special delivery four weeks later of my climbing equipment left behind at base camp. Only the cost of the Lobuche acclimatization training summit and round trip airfare were excluded.

I waited for Judy to approach me about my desires to return before I expressed them to her. One day, out of the blue, she broached the subject. Basically, under the unusual circumstances of the earthquake, she granted her unwavering support for a second attempt should I still have it in my heart to do so. After personally witnessing the degree of experience, expertise, and care IMG exhibited before, during, and after the earthquake, she was convinced I was in good hands, and that IMG’s top priority is my safety. Not oblivious to mountaineering’s inherent risks, she nonetheless magnanimously gave me full thumbs up!

I made the decision to return at the end of July 2015, just in time to take advantage of a $1500 early decision discount IMG offers, and began training all over again. Though I had a good base to build on, I started slowly after injuring my foot the month before.

Today is Martin Luther King Day and I have the day off. My training is progressing well. I’m once again almost at that 60-day mark before I depart. That’s the magical day Alan Arnette referred to in my 2015 blog, “Preface.”

I’ve tweaked a few things in my training this time around, and plan to approach the climb itself mostly with “conservation of energy” in mind. I was a bit too eager and impatient, and plan to be more measured this time around. On rest days, I will rest. I will not hike to Pumori High Camp on my rest day. I will stop, rest, eat and hydrate more often.

This past Wednesday I had a fun experience with my nephew, Jon Cracroft, and his friend, Steve Sadler. We toured up Mill D (Big Cottonwood Canyon) to the top of Reynolds Peak (featured photo by Jon), and skied a bit of powder. Saturday, I skinned and skied Snowbasin from 4-9am for a total of 6,300 vertical with a 30-pound pack. My goal is to work up to roughly twice that amount to simulate summit day. Though only 3,000 feet from Camp 4 to the summit, it can take the better part of a 24-hour day to make the round trip and back to the relative safety of Camp 2.

At 61, I’m fortunate to feel strong and healthy at the moment – knock on wood! Last year, it was about now that I started sleeping in an oxygen tent. I had felt strong then too, but thought the tent gradually made me weaker and later didn’t seem to contribute to any enhanced advantage on the mountain. It became a matter of some debate between me and a fellow climber, who had also utilized an oxygen tent beforehand. He thought it helped him. I felt little difference at base camp when compared to my 2012 trek, when I hadn’t used it. I had felt at least as strong then, if not stronger. I was also three years younger, so it’s hard to say for sure. IMG’s expedition leader, Greg Vernovage, has also observed no noticeable difference. It’s all a matter of a slow methodical acclimatization period. Hence, two full months on the mountain. At any rate, life will be much simpler for the next two months without it.

I will do my best, once again, to keep this blog updated as often as possible once the expedition begins. I leave March 26th. Thanks in advance for your interest, and or concern, on my behalf.

Bart

As I am completing my blog, I realize there is an important preface to come before all that I have blogged, so I now add it at the end knowing it should have prefaced all of my thoughts.

Preface

On January 23, 2015, approximately two months before my Everest Expedition is to begin, an acquaintance of mine, Alan Arnette, sums up my feelings.  Since he’s been there and done this many times, he knows what first-timers may be thinking.  I read it to family and discovered it moved me considerably.  What follows is his direct quote:

The Moment You Know

For many people, they can tell you the exact moment when a dream became reality, when planning became real, when the butterfly began to move from within. For many Everest climbers, that was this week.

Everest is not a spur of the moment decision, it’s sometimes a life long dream – literally. Some climbers, in their teenage years, carefully read each word in famous books, letting the imagery sink in as they tried to envision themselves on the Lhotse Face or at the North Col. Now decades later they will get their chance.

Other climbers, later in life, made a huge decision to move from dreaming to planning.  They looked out the window of their office and seized the moment. This week as they looked at the calendar, they counted the days.

60

In sixty days, they will arrive in Kathmandu; step off Thai TG319 and smell the warm, moist air of Nepal. Their dream will transform into an experience of a lifetime.

This week, they began to finalize all the preparation – bought rescue insurance, finalized payments to an outfitter, made a decision on what goggles to use, what color lens.

Their training has taken on a new intensity, yet the fear of injury tempers their zest to push too hard.

The butterflies took off.

Each day brings them closer. They look at their families with a more tender eye, taking a moment longer to listen to each story, lingering as they make eye contact.

No, Everest is not some wide-eyed romantic adventure. It is serious mountaineering. People die. It is this reality that gives flight to the butterfly.

The moment is exact, it is sealed for eternity.  -Alan Arnette

My mother and I have been working on polishing up my blog and she recommended I add some additional thoughts in the form of an Epilogue.

I’ve now been home for six weeks and feel it’s distant enough to reflect upon the entire experience.  Mom had just finished John Stockton’s book, Assisted, an Autobiography, and in one of his last chapters he makes an analogy to his own experience, using Mt. Everest.  In essence he says it would be a sterile accomplishment reaching the summit of Everest if one hadn’t enjoyed the journey along the way.  As most who followed Stockton and Malone over their years with the Utah Jazz know, they came ever so close to winning the NBA championship, but never did.  John goes on to say how much the journey and experiences meant to him, even without the coveted NBA ring.

I feel the same way and treasure my journey along the way to an attempt at the summit of Mt. Everest –  not only the experiences that occurred from Kathmandu to Camp 1 and back, but the training and preparation for almost an entire year before I left.

One day shortly after my return, in the wee hours of the morning, I was making my 30-minute drive to the gym near my office and I began reflecting on how much I had enjoyed this relaxing, stress-free commute early in the morning and the crazy workouts I’d done.  I remembered other things like skinning to the top of Snowbasin with Don and Judy, and how much I had enjoyed that.  A few of my friends and relatives realizing, like I, that the odds of a summit, especially on the first try, aren’t great had advised me to enjoy the journey.  And now I was realizing – I actually had!  It was and still is a great feeling.  I had always thought it wouldn’t be the same if I didn’t summit.  In some ways that is true.  I may never know what it feels like to experience the South Col, Hillary Step, or the summit, but now I know I’m happy and fulfilled without it.  And yes, I know and appreciate that I am alive when many are not.  However, I know many stories of great and wonderful people who have been unable, for one reason or another, to reach an important personal goal.  Interestingly, most of them seem just as happy as if they had.  Like one of my favorite adventurers, Squash Falconer, once said, “You’ve got to try, because you never know what you might achieve.”  She also said, “Take your love and passion wherever you go.”

I’ve told my story many times already, and I’ll bet you can’t guess which question I’ve been asked the most.  It’s not, “What did the earthquake feel like?”  or  “What did you think about when you thought you may be covered by an avalanche?” – it is “Are you going to go back?”

Some have said the earthquake robbed me of my dream and that I should consider going back.  Based on what I’ve just discussed, I don’t feel like I need to.  I’ve experienced every step vicariously through others, and I have even stood on the summit in my dreams.  It’s a big financial and time commitment, and there are many wonderful places in the world to visit.  But, that doesn’t mean I won’t give it one more try.  I’m considering multiple factors, and at this stage I’d say the odds are at best, 50-50.  Stay tuned.