4/25/2007 10:57:44 AM -- SuperSherpas team member Jerry Mika checked in Wednesday morning [Wednesday night in Nepal]. He reports the team is now one day from the Mount Everest base camp and that the climbing team is in good shape.
    The team left Namche on April 22 and headed for Dingboche. They started at 11,000 feet and ended up at 12,500 and took 17,886 steps. The team stopped at the famous Thyangboche monastery, but didn't stay as long as they would have liked because of bad weather.
    "I'm realizing how amazing the porters really are," Jerry said. "They weigh about 120 pounds and they are carrying 100 pounds and they are wearing rubber sandals."
    On April 23 the team took 17,323 steps and went from 12,500 feet to 14,000 feet.
    "The scenery changed from forest to something that looks like the surface of the moon," Jerry said. The team got their first view of one of the most spectacular Himalayan peaks, Ama Dablam.
    The team took a day of rest on the 24th and the realities of health issues related to high altitude trekking and climbing became clear.
    "Elevation does so many things to different people. I've seen people carried off the mountain and helicopter evacuations," Jerry said. "I've realized this is extreme."
    Jerry went on a hike by himself and came across the memorial area for Sherpas who have died on Everest.
    "There were so many of them. I got big tears in my eyes as I realized how many young Sherpas have died for the glories of others."
    Jerry also found the memorial for Scott Fischer, a Mountain Madness guide and one of the eight people who died on Everest in the famous 1996 tragedy.
    On April 25 the team headed for Lobuche, going from 14,226 feet to 15,600 feet, taking 14,221 steps. They will head for Gorakshep, the last permanent human settlement before base camp, on April 26.
    Jerry said the expedition was sad to hear about Sir Edmund Hillary's recent fall in New Zealand and said the team was sending him healthy thoughts.
    — Brett Prettyman, The Salt Lake Tribune