April 15
Basecamp 5380 m
Last post for a while.

Hello to all those who have been following me, especially Evergreen School in Cobble Hill and the Everest Quest Club members who are supporting me.
When one climbs Everest (or any mountain) there are always factors that influence how one climbs; the weather, the strength and experience of team members, rates of acclimatization, the condition of the route, to name a few. However, this year on Everest there are also unique external factors that will affect our climb. All the sites reporting on our climb will be pretty quiet until May 10. I would ask that you bear with me on this lack of communication. I would also ask that you not post any negative comments on myeverest.com in response to these external factors. If there is an emergency or dramatic change of plan, I will call my wife Sarah Wiley and she will post it on myeverest.com. In other words, no news is good news for the next while.
Life goes on and we continue to get ready to move up. Yesterday we climbed up to Pumori basecamp to stretch our legs and to acclimatize. The conditions on Pumori (7165 m) have deteriorated over the last 10 years and the standard route is now exposed to a lot of rock fall and avalanches. Great views of the summit ridge of Everest on our way back. On another note, I am enjoying sharing our mess tent with an eclectic bunch of folks. In addition to our 5 person team, we have 3 researchers from Harvard doing a high altitude study on the effects of altitude on cognition (the researchers will be staying in base camp) and 3 independent climbers who will each climb with 2 Sherpas. The independent climbers are; Mustafa from Jordan, Ron from the US and Slyvie Frechette from Quebec City. Slyvie is a mother of 3 who is raising funds for Fondation Reves denfants. It is snowing outside as I type this, this weather is typical, beautiful and clear in the morning with light snow in the afternoon. So, as this may be my last post for a while, here's our tentative itinerary, a plan that may change for any number of reasons.

April 17 Climb to Camp 1 at 6065 m, sleep
April 18 Return to base camp
April 19 and 20 base camp rest days
April 21 Climb to C1, sleep
April 22 Climb to C2, 6500 m, sleep
April 23 C2
April 24 C2
April 25 Return to base camp
Rest

May
Climb to C3, 7200 m
Summit bid

I feel great, I am eating lots, no GI problems. I went for a 2 hour walk before dinner, then did my daily stretching and core strengthenibg program. I do this program daily to maintain my leg flexibility and lower back strength over the course of the expedition.

Thanks for following my progress and supporting me.
So long for now.
Angus