Saturday May 3.
Last night after dinner we decided to have a party. This will be the FREE EVEREST Cocktail Party. It will start at 5:00pm and go to 7:00pm or so. We have sent out invitations to half of base camp. I suspect it will be a big turn out as people are looking for something to do and for an outlet for their stress. However, many people have also used this forced break to go down valley for a few days. We have decided to stay here in the hopes that we can get back on the mountain soon; wrong. We will supply snack food and rum punch and guests will bring what they want. We will have music and will decorate the tent. Regardless of who turns up it should be a fun time. We will have a late dinner once the gang is gone.

Sunday May 4.
The party last night was a great success. We had guests from many of the expeditions in camp. Our kitchen team did a great job on the food and everyone enjoyed themselves. I s started off pretty casual, but it got a little crazy later in the evening (8pm this is late up here) when the dancing started. We had music supplied by various mp3 players and mini speakers. Most people were moving a bit to the music, but it was not until our Sherpa Sam started to dance the everyone let loose. Pretty soon the light bulb was turned out and head lamps were turned on in strobe mode.Yes there were a few women at the party so it was not just a bunch of guys dancing together. It was a pretty interesting scene.
I retired around 9pm, but the party continued until around 10:30.
I think it was quite a success and was a good moral booster for many people. We sure did need it.
During the day today I did not do too much. I did laundry in the morning and shaved. I went for a walk in the afternoon and spent some time talking with Mike who is also posting on MyEverest. After dinner we watched LOST as usual and in bed I watched Taladaga Nights on Bridies iPod. I think I am watching way more TV here than at home.
Speaking of TV, I heard there is an ecpedition that has a full size 25" TV and they watch movies every day at 3:00. I guess Sandy Pitman bringing a capachino maker in 1996 does not seem so indulgant.

Monday May 5. Still at Base Camp.
Well we are still at BC and not really sure why. Information is pretty much non-existant here. I have heard that the Chinese have made the summit, but am not sure. The officials here say no. All we know at this point is that we will head to camp 2 on May 7 and spend two nights there. We will then go to camp 3 for one night and back to BC. This is assuming that camp 3 will be open and the ropes will be fixed. The information we are getting right now says this plan will work. But things have been known to change here.
If this plan does work we should still be in pretty good shape for a summit attempt. By going to camp 3 we will have acclimitized high on the mountain and the date will still be pretty early in May. Giving us a five day rest, that means we should go for the summit, weather permitting, any time between May 15-20. This is a little early compared to traditional summit dates, but the weather has been very good here so far this year and this may work. This may also give us enough time for a second attempt if necessary and to wait out bad weather.
Although it has been a challenging season to be here, we are all in pretty good spirits and have been dealing with the constant unknown reasonably well.
We all hope that within the next few days that everything returns to normal up here.
I continue to have problems with Thuraya and with the PDA so posting has been difficult. Uploading has been hit and miss for me and my PDA seems to freeze if I look at it the wrong way. Word will not longer work and I lost about 5 days of my journal through this failure. Maybe I can get it back when I get home, but it does not look good. I may need to revert to pen, paper and carrier pigeon soon.
That's really about it for now.
Scott.

Messages:

Hi Colin, thank you for the great email you sent me. I really enjoyed reading it. I am doing well here on Everest. I hear you want to learn to climb Everest as well. We can start with some more rock climbing this summer and a canoe camping trip as well. That way you can start to learn the skills you will need. When you and Amy are a little older we can trek here so you can see what it looks like. You will also need to talk to Mommy about this. She may not be so keen.
Be a good boy and keep helping Mommy and Amy at home. I look forward to seeing you as soon as I can.
Love Daddy.

Marty, all the waiting is tough, but fortunately I do have a high tollerance for this. We do find things to keep us busy, like reading, playing games, watching DVD's, and chatting, but I would rather be climbing. Hopefully soon.

Janicke, Paul, Helena and Ellie, thanks for the message. Maybe one day we can all come back here on a trek. It is a beautiful place.
When does the boat go in the water. I look forward to getting back to summer when I get home. It is quite cold here today and the forecast is for a fair bit of snow.

Galen, thanks for the note and the unfair mental picture of spring on the West coast. I"ll be thinking of that as I freeze my butt off up here. Lots of fun stories to tell some day. Lots that can not be written here right now.

Paul, I wanted to let you know that the card adapter finally arrived. Thanks for all your effort to help on this. Unfortunately it is the wrong one. The Compact Flash adapter will not fit in the PDA. It needed to be an SD adapter. No problem, I will continue to use photos from other people's cameras. Hope all is well with Fiona and the baby.

Claudia, Happy Birthday. Sorry I could not be there. I hear things are going great at FG. I look forward to catching up when I get home.