Monday April 14. Another Rest Day in BC.
Today was another rest day in base camp. We hope to know more later today about access to the upper mountain and communication. Right now there are only roumours so I will not add to them.
Breakfast was at 8am again. It was a pretty relaxed affair as we did not really have a plan for the day. We decided to do a walk to Pumori base camp.
The walk started by backtracking on the base camp trail for about an hour. We then cut off to the right and followed a barely there trail that was quite steep. We stopped just before Pumori base camp as we needed to get back to our camp for lunch at 1pm. We had some good views of Everest and Everest base camp on the walk. Otherwise it was pretty uneventful.
The other day as we were walking through the ice fall we saw the remains of a crashed helicopter. All that is left is a huge turbine engine, some body panels and some gears. We wondered where it was from as there have only been two helicopter crashes in base camp over the last seven years and none were in the ice fall. After talking to some other climbers we learned that the helicopter was from a 1970#s French expedition. They apparently did not want to use Sherpas to carry to Camp 1 so they decided to use a helicopter. The helicopter crashed at the top of the ice fall and with the movement of the ice fall over the last 30 something years it is now at the bottom of the ice fall.
The last couple nights I have taken the DVD player to my tent as I did not want to go to sleep at 8:30pm (the standard bed time around here). In Kathmandu I got the LOST season 1-3 series and have watched 5 episodes over the last two nights. I don't often get to watch LOST at home so it is good to catch up on the show. This has helped to make the night go faster.
I have then slept pretty well until around 6am. The sun hits my tent around 7:37am (it was 7:45 when we first got here) and I lay there for 10-15 minutes as my tent warms up. I then get dressed and head to the dining tent for breakfast.
Ron, who is climbing on the same permit as us just got back from a trip up the ice fall. He went to the top of the ropes and was about 65m and 3/4 km from camp 1. He said there were about 5 ladders stacked there to finish the route. When the route will be finished is unknown at this time. Ron said the last section of the ice fall was made of of five vertical ladders tied together and leaning at quite an angel.
I think we will take a walk up the ice fall tomorrow for something to do and to continue our acclimatization.
That's all for now.
Big hugs to Susan, Amy and Colin.
Scott (SS)

Messages:

Zap and Doug. Great to hear from you. Your positive energy is much appreciated.

WP, the ice fall is a beautiful thing and it is quite exciting to climb in. It seems to get more interesting as you climb higher. The risk of danger does not seem too high. Talking to others who have been here in previous years they say that the ice fall is much more fun, easier and safer than in past years.

Nathan, the ice fall is made of ice, but it is covered with snow so it is not slippery like a skating rink. You could not skate on it. You do, however, need your crampons in order to walk in the ice fall. Without them you would slip around.

Maggie, I love popcorn as well. We often have it as a snack before dinner. It is one of my favourite foods at base camp.

Susan, can you tell me what group Mike B is with. I would like to find him