May 05 2009

 It has been another eventful few days. At 12:35 today the first team reached the summit of Mt. Everest. Consisting mainly of Sherpas and one western climber, the team had been fixing rope for the last two days. Now with the way to the summit cleared, we will start seeing groups and individuals all heading up to the summit. The fact that the ropes have been fixed so early in the season is good news for all of us. Having the entire pre-monsoon weather window in the month of May ahead of us, this will avoid traffic jams and bottle necks.
 In our own camp, Apa came back this morning from Camp 2, having installed the second bhumpa. Nic, Jesse, Yury and Walter's group have gone up to Camp 3 for their final acclimatization climb. They will be returning to base camp in the next few days for their final rest before going for the summit.
Our weather reports and the Buddhist calendar both shows that the weather will turn bad before its turns better. At the moment, we are not looking at a summit window until after the 15th of May. In fact, the weather at base camp has been rather strange these last few days. We have had unexpected snow and strong winds. Two days ago, it was such a cold day that we were all huddled around the heater in the dining hall. Today, it was such a warm day that I spent most of the day wearing a t-shirt and jeans.

Bill, Bud and Will are back in camp after their little break in Pheriche as they went down to wait this bad weekend weather out. They report that they had a lovely rest, but are happy to be back in Base Camp again. 

Garbage Count: 4581 KG
Dawa Steven Sherpa