Today, the “drop back” begins for the Everest team.  The drop back is part of the acclimatization rotations where the team members descend down the Khumbu Valley to enjoy the “thick” air of the lower elevations to give their bodies a chance to rest and recover after the high-altitude rotations up the mountain.  This gets them fully ready for the summit push which will be coming up next.  Expedition leader, Garrett Madison, has today’s dispatch from base camp where he is overseeing operations:

Hello, this is Garrett calling in for the Everest climbing team.  Today our team started the first day of the “drop back” where we go back down valley to rest and recover in preparation for our summit rotation.  Some members were able to fly to Namche, where they are staying at the Panorama Lodge.  And other members of our team have hiked down valley to Pheriche on their way to the village of Debuche for a few nights.  All’s well here in base camp.  Our Sherpa team is heading up tonight to Camp 2 to start working on carrying loads to the South Col.  We are just waiting for the winds to drop down up high on the mountain so we can get back to work for rope fixing towards the summit.  All’s well here on Everest, we’ll check in soon!

(photo:  good sized avalanche nearby Everest base camp this morning, posed no danger)

With the wind still blowing somewhat, the Everest team was able to do some Lhotse face climbing as part of this second rotation.  Garrett provides these details via sat phone:

Hello this is Garrett calling in for the Everest climbing team.  Today is May 5th and we had a great day up here on Mount Everest.  We got up early, left the camp at 3pm and climbed up partway up the Lhotse face towards Camp 3.  Then we came back down to Camp 2 and had a nice lunch, dinner, and now we are tucked in.  Looking forward to heading down tomorrow.  We didn’t go all the way to Camp 3 because it was really windy and there was a little bit of rockfall on the Lhotse face so we safely decided to come back to Camp 2.  All’s well here, everyone’s doing great, morale is high and we’re looking forward to heading down to base camp tomorrow.

(photo:  Madison Mountaineering archives)

It’s been windy at Camp 2 but the Everest team is doing well, having fun, and hopeful that the conditions will improve by tomorrow.  Expedition leader, Garrett Madison, called in this dispatch by satellite phone:

Hello, this is Garrett calling in.  We are up here at Camp 2!  All’s well.  It’s been a windy day.  The winds picked up around 2am last night and they have continued pretty consistently through out the day and it’s still pretty breezy.  So we spent the day fortifying our camp making sure that your tents are in good condition.  We’ve been enjoying a few good meals and good conversation and making the best of it.  It’s good training for the South Col on a windy day.  So we are having fun up here and after the winds die down there might be a little snow in the forecast, so we’ll wait to see if that materializes.  Tomorrow we will try to go for a hike up the Lhotse face, if the weather permits.  All’s well here and we’ll check in soon.  Thanks!

(photo:  from the Madison Mountaineering archives)

In just a few hours, the Everest team will be starting their second rotation up the mountain to continue the acclimatization process.  Just before heading to bed, expedition leader, Garrett Madison, provided this update:

Hello, this is Garrett calling in for the Mount Everest climbing team.  Tonight we are going to head out from base camp around 2am and climb up through the Khumbu Icefall and then the Western Cwm to Camp 2!  Our plan is to get up to Camp 2 and spend a few nights up there.  Hopefully climb up the Lhotse face and touch Camp 3 (7230m/23,720ft), as well.  It looks like a little snow in the forecast, but not too much, so we are excited for a late night departure and to see what the mountain brings!  We’ll check in soon.  Thanks.

The view of the Khumbu Icefall from EBC

‘Chicken Sizzler’ dinner at EBC