Everest 2015: New Icefall Route Proving Fickle
Today, Friday, April 17, a collapse of a four ladder traverse across a huge crevasse in the middle of the Icefall, caused 80 Sherpas to turn back. There were no injuries. The Icefall Doctors will go back up to inspect the situation and either reinstall the ladders, or find a new route around the crevasse. So all teams remain at Base Camp. This is not unusual but everyone in getting a bit anxious to get into the Western Cwm. The attached photo taken by Garrett Madison show the area. You need to zoom in to see the actual ladder and monster crevasse. Tomorrow, April 18th, is the first anniversary of the death of 16 in the Icefall from the release of an ice serac onto the Khumbu Icefall. There will be a ceremony at Everest Base Camp to honor all those who died. Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything
Everest 2015: Blessings on the Mountain
Before climbing in the Himalaya with Sherpas, a Puja ceremony must be held. There can be multiple Pujas, help or blessing. For example we had one with Lama Geshi a few days ago in his home in Pangyboche. Yesterday, Wednesday April 15, we held our Puja at our Base Camp for our Everest and Lhotse climbs. It is a very special ceremony where “members” and Sherpas come together to ask the mountain Gods permission to climb, forgiveness for any damage to the mountain and safety for all the climbers. It was a drawn out ceremony with a Lama coming from one of the lower villages. He chanted and prayed for about two hours from a 300 year-old Tibetan prayer book. We placed our climbing gear against the chorten to be blessed Even though it sounds quite formal it is actually fun and relaxed (see the end of the video) with everyone milling around, taking photos and chatting while the Lama does all the heavy lifting 🙂 Prayer flags are strung from the Puja pole across the tents at Base Camp so every time the wind blows, prayers are sent. The Puja ends with spreading sampa (barley powder) on each other’s faces to represent white beads and long life. Finally, everyone lines up for some Sherpa dancing – some are much better than others at this part! We had perfect weather this morning, albeit a bit chilly with a 7:00AM start! At the end Kami, serving as the Senior Sherpa talked about how we are family and must climb together as a team. Then Purba, who lost a brother in the ice fall last year, talked about how we must all be careful and support one another. All in all a moving ceremony which ended with copious amounts of Johnny Walker, Turborg beer and red wine – go figure! Snow, Snow, Snow Later yesterday afternoon, we all donned our climbing gear (boots, crampons, harness, ice axe, etc) and took a spin onto the Khumbu Icefall. It began snowing, again, and the clouds covered up any views. Today, we worked on more skills. This is happening all over EBC in hopes climbers will move quickly and efficiently thought the climb. Regardless of your experience, it is wise to review your skills and practice before doing the real thing. There were several Sherpas planning to go into the Western Cwm today (Thursday April 16) from multiple teams but the poor weather stopped them. In fact, no team has climbed into the Icefall, much less to Camp 1 or 2 yet. This morning, Thursday, it is still overcast with light snow. This is now three days of snow and cold temps and it the forecast looks like more of the same for a few more days. This is a bit unusual but happen occasionally, but it’s a long expedition so no worries. Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything Please consider joining ?Alzheimer’s Prevention Registry. Joining does not obligate you, just provides you the opportunity. Many trails are questions and surveys. Open to anyone over 18 worldwide. 80% of all al trails fail due to lack of volunteers http://bit.ly/1HONXgl
Everest 2015: “Safer and Shorter” from Head of the Icefall Doctors
“Safer and shorter”, that is what the leader of the Icefall Doctors told me this morning on camera in an “exclusive interview” at Everest Base Camp. Looking at the Icefall, I am still in awe that is climbed each year. From my perspective it looks more broken and jumbled but I will have a better feeling once we start climbing it later this week This will be my fifth time to go through the multiple rotations to attempt Everest or this year, > Lhotse, in the Khumbu Icefall. It has been snowing heavily off and on all day and most everyone has reed to their tents to read or catch another nap. To date, April 14th local time, no commercial teams have climbed through Icefall. In addition to the Icefall Doctors, reportedly David Breashears, who is helping with the route placement, has climbed to Camp 2. Trek from Gorak Shep We arrived at Everest Base Camp (EBC) yesterday, Monday April 13, 2015 in overcast and snowy conditions. We awoke yesterday morning to heavy snow and a fresh one to three feet on the ground from an overnight storm. But the winds were low and the temps mild so our trek higher was enjoyable. As we crested one of the final hills, EBC came into view. Prayer flags were everywhere as were the red and yellow tents marking the temporary city that is created each April and May. In my estimation, camp looked smaller than in previous years. Also the glacier where base camp is established seemed much more broken thus spreading out the teams – a good thing. Old Friend Instead of heading to our Madison Mountaineering Base Camp, I went to find my friend Jim Davidson. I found his camp and called out his name, a teammate pointed to a tent and soon his head poked out like a prairie dog back in Colorado. We embraced tightly and he simply said, “Can you believe we are here?” This is my fifth time to EBC but Jim’s first. I am so happy for him. We probably have a couple hundred days together in our Colorado mountains back home. He has trained hard and is so focused that I know he will do great on his Everest climb. He looked healthy, confident and ready to climb. For his team, they will return down valley to acclimatize on the 20,000 foot Lobuche Peak before returning to EBC to begin their Everest climb. Madison Mountaineering Base Camp Soon I left him to find my team. Once again, I heard a familiar voice “Alan.” It was Kami calling out from our camp. I scrambled up a steep snow covered hillside to find our collection of yellow, red and green tents. Our team had an excellent lunch but it was quiet inside as I think each person was buried in their own private thoughts. The trekkers had made their “summit” and left today. The climbers, well, we have a lot of work ahead. Thus far, I’m very impressed with what Garrett Madison has put together. I will do a video tour of our camp in a few days. For now, we will rest up and adjust to the 17,300 foot altitude and early season cold temps – it was well below 0F last night. Numbers Updates About 375 Everest 2015 permits issues thus far, with 125 from 2014. 96 issues for Lhotse. Total Everest permits issues in 2014 was 326. Nepali Min bahadur Sherchan 84 to go for male age record. Comms and Climbing Update Garrett Madison, Outside Magazine Cover Boy, worked with EverestLink to get a repeater installed near our base camp and now are getting 2.5mbps upload and download speeds – that is fast!! It costs about US$40 per 1GB of data. It is only available at base camp and not at the higher camps so I will posting updates from high camps using my voice blogging. It appears most of the major teams have arrived at base camp. Many of them are sending Sherpas up to Camp 2 on Wednesday to check on the gear left there in 2014 after the tragedy. In spite of extreme lobbying by many expeditions leaders, helicopter flights to carry gear into the Cwm was denied once again for 2015. Curiously, however, helicopters were supposed to be banned from Base Camp except for emergency evacuations. As I type this at 3:45 PM, I just heard the 10th helicopter of the day arrive at base camp. I visited EverestER and they said they have been busy, but not 10 evacs in one day! Over on the north side, many teams are making their way by road to Chinese Base Camp. They will arrive in a few days and start climbing shortly thereafter. Climb On! I awoke this morning to the sound of prayers, the smell of juniper boughs burning and Sherpas dancing as pujas were taking place all around us. We will have ours tomorrow. As I lay in my tent this morning I heard the sound of gas stoves and the bustle of base camp, I let it all sink in. Stepping outside my tent, I saw the sun just rising off Everest’s West Shoulder, the Icefall was dimly lit in the morning sun. The fresh snow made for a clean carpet over the rocks of the Khumbu Glacier. Yes, I’m happy to be here. Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything Please consider joining ??Alzheimer?’s Prevention Registry. Joining does not obligate you, just provides you the opportunity. Many trails are questions and surveys. Open to anyone over 18 worldwide. 80% of all al trails fail due to lack of volunteers http://bit.ly/1HONXgl
Everest 2015: Updates and Impressions
We are now at Gorak Shep and will arrive at Everest Base Camp tomorrow, Monday April 13. While the route has been fixed through the Icefall to Camp 1, there have been no reports of teams starting their climbs. Most are either still trekking in or doing acclimatization exercises on Lobuche Peak, or to Pumori Camp 1 near Everest Base Camp. As I have previously mentioned the route through the Khumbu Icefall takes a more right hand variation near Nuptse to avoid the potential serac danger off Everest’s West Shoulder that killed 16 last year. The route is reported to perhaps take a bit longer and have some long vertical ladders near the top, but lets wait until we actually go through it to make an assessment of the difficultly, and safety. I will post pictures and videos based on my own experiences as I do my own rotations for Lhotse in a week or so. 2015 Everest Numbers Update As for numbers, it appears last year’s tragedy has had little impact on Everest’s popularity from the south, the Nepal side. The Ministry of Tourism reported 319 individuals with Everest permits and 96 for Lhotse. 109 climbers from 2014 used their permits to return this year. There were a few more teams yet to report so this may go up a bit. But the bottom line is that the number are almost the same as last year, certainly not a surge as reported in some circles or a dearth as some who went to the North wanted to see to justify their move. Almost all the precautions announced by the Ministry of Tourism to “make Everest safer” from weather reports, to GPS systems to liaison officers and safety officials have yet to materialize. Once again, it is up to each climber to careful select their operator and to be self sufficient when climbing in Nepal. Most teams are at their traditional levels of 8 to 12 members but there are a few Nepali operators with as many as 60 members thus changing the landscape and business model of Everest. As always, lets hope for a safe season for all on both sides – full stop. The Khumbu Personality I have spent the last eight days trekking from Lukla to now at Gorak Shep. I can report that there is a change in the mood in the Khumbu. Sadly, the tea house operators seem not to be as accommodating as in the past. The prices have gone up dramatically for everything from water to recharging batteries to alleged Wifi access. And it is crowded. I have seen many trekking teams of 30 to 40 members snaking along the trails. These crowds are making the teahouse dining rooms very crowded and nosey. Of course, I am part for the problem as I am trekking right along with them! I am a bit dismayed by all the hype around wifi and the specifically the vendor EverestLink. Their website, emails and promotions marketed “high speed” Internet access from Lukla to Basecamp and you can cards at “100+ locations”. Thus far I’ve not been able to find one location selling the cards. The problem seems to be that the teahouse operators sell their own access, through EverestLink, at an enormous profit thus will not sell individual access. The issue is that when you have 100 people trying to access a single link, it brings access to a complete stop. The teahouse operators are happy to sell you access for US15 a day and then shrug when you complain about the speed. Similar, getting access to recharge batteries has come to a complete stop with teahouses overloaded with cell phones, laptops, cameras and the like. So, let’s keep all of this in perspective. This is all in an extremely remote area where all this are luxuries. However, the problem is when expectations are set and money is taken with little recourse for misrepresentation. So, as always, it is er beware. If batteries are important, bring your own solar panel. If communication back home is important, bring a satellite phone. And on and on. I guess I’m just a bit disappointed and miss the smiles and helpful attitudes of a few years. Mind you they are there, just not for everything we all want in this modern era. Trekking With all this said, I still find magic in the Khumbu. From the heavily forested lower Khumbu with rhodredrums to cherry and magnolias trees to the barren terrain above tree line where your eyes focus on 20,000 foot snow covered mountain tops. Each step is like turning a page in a book. The children still laugh and play with glee as we walk by. They shout out a glorious Namaste and laugh in delight when you smile back at them. The Sherpa women are doing back breaking work in the small dirt plots growing potatoes for themselves and the thousand of visitors each year. The Sherpas who are trekking along with us, remind me of why I love coming here. They are full of life, brimming with competency and confidence. They gladly answer the same question repeatedly, and their smiles are contagious. Blessings On our way we stopped at the home of Lama Geshi, who has been owing blessings on climbers for decades. I first saw him in 1997. In 2010 he suffered a stroke. Many of you made a donation to help cover his hospital costs. On Friday, April 10th, I was so happy to see his smiling face, and large grin. As he prayed for our safety, he beat a small drum on the table holding his prayer book, not that he needed it! He rang a bell and sprinkled holy water on us as he had us say O? ma?i padme h?? after him. He asked us to tell our friends back home to one another with loving kindness and that would bring peace to the world. He gave each of us a white
Everest 2015: Namche Bazaar is sometimes Bizarre
I walked the dirt paths of Namche Bazaar shielded from the rain by three story rock buildings. I was careful not to get gored by yak horns or a trekker’s hiking pole. I find the cafe I was looking for, the one with Internet that worked. As I walked in, it was dark, a pool table was off to my left. A long table were filled with Brits, Germans, and Americans drinking beer, a large latte or just sitting quietly. A yak train walked by the windows, their bells clankingly loudly. The music inside the cafe heaved with bass as Stephen Tyler screamed at the top of his lungs through the ceiling mounted speakers. The Everest Bakery, where I left because their Internet was down, was playing mellow Tibetan chants intermixed with New Age elevator music. A new lodge is under construction. Men with sharp chisels, hammer away at blocks of white stone, making perfectly formed blocks that will create another wall in this village of stone buildings. At the Everest Bakery, a young trekker told me his story: quit his job, flew to Nepal, no agenda. As he wrote in his diary, in tiny cursive to save space, he looked up, pausing, then said he was looking for himself. Down a side street, the ATM was not working, the Internet being intermittent with the heavy rain stopped this luxury at 12,000 feet in remote Nepal. The Sherpa store keepers were putting blue plastic sheets over their prayer beads, necklaces, bracelets and yak wool scarfs, upset the rain was scaring customers away. A small store that had two barber chairs was empty on this Tuesday afternoon. A man with a load taller than he was, tried to navigate the trekkers shopping the stands on the narrow streets. He probably weighed 120 pounds, and his load was probably more than that. He didn’t look concerned. Namche Bazaar, old world people, new world visitors; a village of contradictions Business is Good The lodges are full of climbers and trekkers. The lodge owners say business is a bit down but still good. My own observations is that the streets are teaming with people, spending money, laughing and seemingly happy to be in the Khumbu. The weather continues to be mostly good with afternoon rain or snow. The temperature seems warmer to me than in my previous visits for early April. The Khumbu is also teaming with film crews, eager to take advantage of the world’s attention on Everest – for all the wrong reasons. Moving On Today, we took another acclimatization walk to about 1,000 feet above Namache. Tomorrow, Wednesday April 8, we leave for our next stop at Deboche just below the Tengboche Monastery at 12,687 feet. On Thursday we will visit Lama Geshe in his home in Pangboche. I am so looking forward to seeing him again. The Internet is said to be weak or missing until we get a few villages higher so it may be a few days until I can post again. Thank you for your comments on the blog Twitter and Facebook. I read each one. Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything Please consider joining ??Alzheimer?’s Prevention Registry. Joining does not obligate you, just provides you the opportunity. Many trails are questions and surveys. Open to anyone over 18 worldwide. 80% of all al trails fail due to lack of volunteers http://bit.ly/1HONXgl
Everest 2015: First View – New Icefall Route Pictures
Today we were rewarded with spectacular views of Everest, doctor Lhotse and Ama Dablam from the Everest View Hotel just above Namche Bazaar. I created a gallery of some of my favorites from today. New Icefall Route On another topic, Garrett Madison scouted out the new route in the Khumbu Icefall. In fact, it is totally new compared to 2014. See Madison Mountaineering’s site for more and larger images. In a post on his site at this link, you can see it hugs the side towards Nuptse and should offer significantly improved protection from ice releases off Everest’s West Shoulder over the previous routes. However, it looks like there may be more ladders required to scale the high ice blocks towards the top of the Icefall. I’m not sure how all this will impact climb times. Everest View Gallery – April 6, 2015 Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything
Everest 2015: Gratitude for the Khumbu
As I walked up Namche Hill yesterday, healing I found myself alone. The tall pine trees waved in a steady breeze. The well worn dirt path held the memories of so many who have passed before. My own memories took over as I thought about my first climb up this infamous Hill in 1997. Now, drugstore 18 years later, discount I felt the same excitement, the same sense of how unique and special the Khumbu is and, while there is progress for the people, the spirit remains intact, full of loving kindness. We left Kathmandu on time (a rare occurrence) and the 25 minute flight to Lukla was mostly uneventful except for the sharp turbulence as we crossed the high ridge, barley 500 feet off the earth. The snow covered Himalaya were to the left, showing us that winter was still strong up high. Lukla As we approached Lukla, I strained to see the runway, but all of a sudden with the skill of a Top Gun pilot, we hit the runway hard – a true carrier landing if there ever was one. With the runaway, a short 1,729 feet, the airplane needed to stop quickly as the landing strip has, well, an abrupt ending into the side of a mountain. There is no opportunity to “go around” if the landing is missed. With the successful landing, we made our way over to have breakfast before starting the first leg of our 10 day trek to Everest Base Camp. The route is obvious, with many trekkers and climbers both returning from their trek and other starting. Our team, Madison Mountaineering, is in the middle of the Everest/Lhotse climbing teams headed to Base Camp. We plan on taking a safe 10 day schedule to ensure solid acclimatization before we get serious about gaining altitude. Our first night in Phakding was welcome even though it was only a short three hour walk. Most of us were still adjusting to the time change. In fact, I enjoyed a four hour afternoon nap, what a luxury! Also I met a new friend in the lodge. Our team represents 10 different countries. I like the international flavor. We left Lukla at 9,334 feet and lost 810 feet, the only time this will happen until we return in late May, well other than descending during the climb. As I walked, I made sure I focused on the moment. It is often so easy to think about the past – you know the could of, would of, should of’s in life; or the future, what’s next, what tomorrow will bring, plans, hopes, dreams. But for me, this moment was all about gratitude for being here again. A Feast for the Eyes The rhododendrons, choke cherry trees and magnolias were in full bloom as spring was just touching the Khumbu. The trail was full of Zos, with their bells clanging announcing their arrival. Trekkers from across the globe carefully navigated the rocky trail going slowly uphill and downhill, eyes fixed on the next step. They too were living in the moment. Looking up was rewarded with snow covered 20,000 foot peaks. Smooth hill tops to craggy, sharp summits, they all held a special place. It seemed that in the foreground of each view, a string of prayer flags protected those below and those above. We stopped for tea and again for lunch before entering the Sagarmatha National Park proper. Our permits were checked three different times between Lukla and Namche. I was pleased to see almost no trash – candy wrappers, soda bottles, etc. on the trail. Waste containers were regularly placed with signs asking people to “keep the Khumbu clean”. It seems to be working. Namache After about five hours, we approached Namche Bazaar, the informal capital of the Khumbu. It has grown significantly since my first visit. We are staying at the Panorama Lodge where Garrett has stayed for years. It is clean with individual rooms complete with toilet and shower. Quite civilized compared to some of the other lodges. The Lodge is filled with part of our Sherpa team. Also here is Kami Rita Sherpa, who was on our K2 team last summer. Kami Sherpa (Ang Chhiring Sherpa – Pangboche), whom I summited Everest and K2 with and will be climbing Lhotse will arrive tomorrow. Such special people in so many ways. I am so glad to see them again. I remember describing my first trip here to my mom, Ida. She listened intently and asked many questions about how the Sherpa people lived, the role of the women, how the kids were raised. In later years, she never remembered I went to Everest but I enjoyed telling her the same stories all over again. I think she would have been pleased to know I returned so many times. We are here for three nights, adjusting to the altitude of 11,280 feet. We will take walks each day to help the process along. Hopefully we’ll get our first view of Everest and Lhotse today from the Everest View Hotel, about 45 minutes walk up hill for the Lodge. So, I’m happy to be here. I’m grateful for another opportunity to visit this special place, to see these unique people. Yes, all is well. Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything Note, while we have Internet, uploading large video files is a problem thus this one is smaller. I hope to keep making these videos as long as the local Internet service allows. If this one cuts off, I’ll reload later today. Please consider joining ??Alzheimer?’s Prevention Registry. Joining does not obligate you, just provides you the opportunity. Many trails are questions and surveys. Open to anyone over 18 worldwide. 80% of all al trails fail due to lack of volunteers http://bit.ly/1HONXgl
Everest 2015: Trek to Everest Base Camp Begins
Those who have followed me for years know I always say: Do the trek to Everest Base Camp, cheap it will change your life. Well I’m on my way for the 5th time, look 7th if you include overall trekking in the Khumbu. As part of the Madison Mountaineering team, we are a rather large party with 12 Everest climbers, 2 Lhotse and 10 trekkers. You will probably be able to see us moving from the space shuttle as we move along! The trek will take 7 days, taking a leisurely pace between villages. Carrying on a samll day pack, our duffels are moved along with us by porters and Dzo aka Zo. This is a cross breed between a cow and a yak, some call them yattle! The females are called dzomo but I dare you to determine the difference 🙂 In any event, Zos, Dzomo, Yas and Naks are all huge furry beasts, and I love seeing them!! 🙂 Zos do the heavy lifting until 14,000 feet when the yaks take over. My understanding is the yaks overheat at lower altitudes and the Dzos can’t handle the high altitude thus the hand-off. I’m sure you bovine experts can correct my description. We will stay in tea houses each day. They have come a long way since my fist trek here in 1997 when they heated the inside dining rooms with yak dung and it was poorly vented. This was common thus many Sherpas in the area suffered from emphysema. Today, the venting is adequate but you still hear a lot of coughing in the older people and sometimes the rooms can be smoky. We will start out trek from Lukla and follow the normal route taking 10 days to reach Base Camp: If you want to read more about this trek, visit my Everest Base Camp FAQ page at this link. By the way, the Nepal Ministry of Tourism reports that 287 individuals have received Everest climbing permits for 2015 representing 30 major teams. They expect a few more teams to show up. This all means that the tragic season of 2014 has had little impact on climbing Everest from Nepal. Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything
Everest 2015: Ceremonies of Life and Death in Kathmandu
Our last day in Kathmandu, we did the tourist thing by visiting two of the more popular spots: the Boudhanath Stupa and the Pashupatinath Temple. I had visited these spots on my first visit in 1997, but have never returned so it was interesting to see them again. Warning: this post and video has graphic descriptions and images that may be disturbing to some people Our first stop was to the Pashupatinath Temple where both Hindus and Buddhist take their dead for cremation ceremonies. Everything is out in the public and the families are accustomed to having tourist and locals, s watch the ceremonies complete with camera in hand. If it is the death of a mother, the youngest son leads the ceremony, if the father, then the oldest son takes charge. The total cost is between $40 to $60, a lot of money for many of these families. It is believed that those who die in Pashupatinath Temple are reborn as a human, regardless of any misconduct that could worsen their karma. The dead are cremated within 24 hours of death. The body is lovingly cleaned, sometimes painted before being wrapped in white cloth and gently laid on a pyre of wood. The son then take a flaming torch, circles the body many times before setting the structure aflame. It takes about three hours to complete and the ashes are spread into the Bagmati River which eventually joins the Ganges in India. Posing for pictures in the temple area are Sadhus, wandering ascetic yogis, who are trying to acquire liberation from the cycle of death and rebirth by meditating. They are quite eager to pose for tourists in exchange for a small donation. Next stop was to one of the largest stupa is South Asia, Boudhanath. It has become the focal point of Tibetan Buddhism in Nepal. With April 3, the last day of the full moon and the start of the Nepal new year around the corner, the Boudhanath was full of families praying for their dead of the past year. They circled all three levels of the stupa. The air was full of smoke and incense and the sound of praying monks, clanging bells and announcements over a loud speaker competed the sensory overload. Again, abject poverty was obvious with many handicapped people begging for money. Prayer wheels encased in the lower wall made for more crowds as many people, locals and tourist alike circled the base spinning each wheel This afternoon, we returned to the hotel to do our final pack and will leave early tomorrow morning. I’ll do another post on that later. So, a good last day in Kathmandu with vivid reminders of the circle of life. Sights, sounds and smells to last a lifetime. Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything
Everest 2015: Life in Kathmandu
Arriving in Kathmandu always brings a wave of emotions. This is my 10th visit here since 1997 and every time, illness I’m struck by the contradiction of poverty and smiles. My flight from the U.S. went well except for a six hour delay in Istanbul. But at least I was able to spend it in one of the lounges I’ve seen, and I have seen many. It was large, with comfortable seating and amazing food. The only bad part was when Turkish Airlines delayed my flight from Kathmandu from 8:30PM to 1:30AM but overall, I’m not complaining. Nepal recently introduced a computer system where you can register for your visa online. Well I did and still spent almost two hours trying to enter the country. The lines were long, the process slow, manual and cumbersome. But I met some of my teammates in line, and enjoyed watching the diversity of incoming tourists from diplomats to trekkers to climbers. Changes in Thamel As I walked the streets of Thamel, the district of Kathmandu where many climbers stay, I am always struck by the nature of the businesses and how they have changed over the years. Now there is a The North Face, Marmott and Mountain Hardwear stores next to the “Khumbu Climbing Gear” local store. You can all your medicine here, at very low prices. You can get all the gear you need at good quality, if you are careful not to the Chinese rip-offs, and the selection is not bad. You can get a logo made for your jackets or pack in a day, or a custom shirt. Basically anything you want is available. One of the first tasks on everyone list these days is to get their phone set up with the Nepal operator NCELL. You can make a call from Nepal to the US for $0.025 per minute! Using your own satellite phone costs $1.00 per minute and your guide’s, maybe $3.00 per minute. They also offer 3G service for your smartphone so you can post Facebook selfies from Kathmandu to the summit. 🙂 But the problem is that as you go into the Khumbu, there are fewer antennas and with every, and I mean every, Sherpa, porter, monk, Lama and yak having a phone and a Facebook account, the bandwidth gets clogged thus slowing everything down to a crawl! I guess this is what many would call a 1st world problem in a 3rd world country! For the first time, I’m staying at the Yak and Yeti hotel, just outside of Thamel. It is a “proper” hotel with full service. This is where Madison Mountaineering stays, nice digs! They have a wall of banners welcoming other teams here. The Internet is fast but there is a premium charge for it as compared to the very slow but free access in Thamel. But I miss the friendly faces of Michelle and Pujan at the Hotel Courtyard where I have stayed the past few times. Everest: Business as Usual Teams are still streaming into Kathmandu and there is a steady flow out to Lukla or Lhasa. The permitting process seems to going smoothly with no reports of delays. All in all, it is business as usual for the Everest Industrial Complex 🙂 There are some big names here that are keeping a low profile. Not sure what they are up to. It is reported that more than 40 team permits will be issued for 2015 compared to 31 in 2014. Be assured this will be spun by the media that Everest continues to be overcrowded, and nothing was learned from last year’s disaster. Meanwhile Nepal’s Ministry of Tourism will spin it that their efforts to “make Everest safer” through offering rescues squads, weather forecasting and a “new” safe route has resulted in making Everest more attractive than ever. But the truth is that permits are not representative of the number of climbers. This year, a permit can be issued to a team of two: foreigner and a Sherpa Guide. In the past it took seven people to make up one permit, thus you can now have seven permits instead of one to account for the same number of climbers. Wait for the final count of climbers permitted for the real story. I expect we will see over 300 foreigners with permits for 2015. Adding in an equal number of mountain workers, I am predicting 2015 will come close to 2013 where over 600 people summited Everest that spring. Yes, the highest mountain in the world, continues to be very popular. The Trek Goes On Expect the first teams to arrive at Everest Base Camp (EBC) this weekend but the main activity will not begin until around April 10th as it takes seven to nine days to make the trek, allowing the body to adjust to the higher altitude. Most everyone starts in Lukla at 9400 feet and moves to 17,500 feet at EBC. We leave on Saturday, weather allowing, for Lukla. I hope you enjoy this short video I took today doing a little shopping and traffic hopping! Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything Please consider joining ??Alzheimer?’s Prevention Registry. Joining does not obligate you, just provides you the opportunity. Many trails are questions and surveys. Open to anyone over 18 worldwide. 80% of all al trails fail due to lack of volunteers http://bit.ly/1HONXgl