Leaving base camp

< Newer | Older > Sun, 11/18/2007 - 13:05 — Cas
Crossing a bridge near Chukkung on our way to Pangboche today. L-R Paul B, David, Darren, Paul A. Photo Cassra.Can you spot the yak at Island Peak Base Camp in this picture? Photo Darren Smith.

Local time: 18:00 18 Nov 2007
Location: Pangboche
Altitude: 3940m
Weather: Sunny. -8C overnight.

Hi, Darren here with my final turn for a trip report.

Island Peak Base camp to Pangboche
Well, after a pretty full-on day yesterday and with all in our group summiting Island Peak we all had a pretty solid sleep in our final camp in the cold above 5000m. Although we covered approximately 15km and descended 1200m, today was a relatively relaxing walk down from Island Peak base camp to Pangboche. During the trip down we were all able to soak up the remaining spectacular views surrounding us, the experiences and ponder over trips and adventures to plan for the future. One of the things we'll all definitely miss is the contagious, genuine and hearty laughs and smiles of the Nepalese people, in particular our guides Passang and Mila. Pauly B's mission tomorrow will be to capture the laugh of Passang on video......

Tomorrow we trek down further to Namche Bazaar then onto Lukla to fly out to Kathmandu on Wednesday. Hopefully we'll have a day in Kathmandu to find something fun to do such as mtn biking, rafting etc, along with some DVD and camp gear shopping and downing a few well deserved ales....

A special Happy Birthday today to Fiona Adler too and hope you had a great day.... :)

Darren

Your Messages

Aaron, Hayden & Nan
Thanks for your message. Hope all is well. I will be back in Aus on the 25th and will call you then.
Love Dave, Uncle Dave & Your Favourite Grandson.

Messages

cas - rock god

Visitor — Sun, 11/18/2007 - 20:03

hi cassra, just been talking to your better half on the phone and decided u look like a rock star with the new image. look forward to hearing your news and seeing the photos. love from us all lisa, rob, abigail, rebecca and harry

Well Done all!

Dinesy — Sun, 11/18/2007 - 22:41

Hello Five!

Well done for completing the summit! :o) It is an amazing achievement and you should all be so proud of yourselves!!
Good to hear none of you suffered from any major sicknesses along the way as well.

For those of you returning to England you may not be too keen to know that it has been constantly raining today :o( so enjoy the good weather you have there whilst you can!
Sounds like you have a good day planned for when you reach Kathmandu as well....make to the most of that before you all have to return to civilisation and the joy of work...for those of you who may still have a job that is!! lol

Take care on your climb down....
Katy xx

Happy Birthday Fiona Adler...and congrats Five Island Peakers.

wmpopper — Sun, 11/18/2007 - 22:59

May the return to K and beyond be fun & fine.
WP

WOW - Awesome effort!

Wayne R — Sun, 11/18/2007 - 23:52

Well done guys. Awesome effort.
Looking forward to hearing all the details on your return David
Wayne Rodgers

Gongrats

Visitor — Mon, 11/19/2007 - 10:42

Hi Dave,

Congrats on your achievement. I guess now you will take a rest in preparation for your next big adventure.......marrying Erin, which will probably make Everest look like a stroll through the frozen food section at Coles.

Erin if you read this....love you long time.

Take care & we'll have to catch up when you return.

Cath (the designer one)

To Darren

Visitor — Mon, 11/19/2007 - 10:58

Helloo darren, we just wanted to tell you that we don't think our daddy looks like the yak. The Yak is much more hairy (once daddy has shaved) and has horns. Luca ssays could you bring the Yak home, as its very cute.
From the schahbasi boys

To David

Visitor — Mon, 11/19/2007 - 11:53

Hi David. Congratulations on reaching your goal. It has been amazing to be able to log on and receive uptodate info on the trip. I hope all goes well for the rest of the journey
Leeanne and Michael-Hobart. Tas

Various

Edwards — Tue, 11/27/2007 - 10:03

Gday. I am goint to Island peak in a years time , almost to the day and i am keen to know about your experiences. Not too much of course as i would like to discover the place for myself. Are any of you guys from Tassie? Im particularly interested in what clothing and gear is available there...and the prices. My trip is partly sponsored by Mountain Designs- so I will get most of my gear here before i leave. So far i have my walking boots, plastic mountaineering boots, alpinettes, poles but I still need a gortex jacket and sleeping bag. What did you guys do? Buy there or before you left your own countries? Also, how hard is the trek- some people here have told me its real easy and others have said that its really hard yakka. In 52 but reasonably fit- on the weekend easilly getting up the summit of Cradle Mountain. Any tips are gratefully received. I wish you all well. I can't wait to get there myself. Good luck and good health.

Gear & Preparation for Island Peak

Paul Adler — Tue, 11/27/2007 - 22:42

Hi, There is lots of gear available in Nepal at very cheap prices, however while you can find some good stuff, most of it is fake. But if you know what you are looking for, you can pick up some very good bargains. Paul B got all his gear in Kathmandu except his hiking boots. This took us a day to organise. You can find quite good sleeping bags for about $100. The Gortex jackets that are sold are pretty heavy and although they look like Gortex, I would be pretty certain that they are an imitation. Genuine crampons with anti-snow plates were available for USD100.

I think that how hard you find something is very much up to the individual and in particular how fit you are and how much similar activities you have done previously. This would be why you are getting a range of comments. The trek itself is quite straightforward physically, especially if you have trained for climbing. I think that if you get sick over there, then this makes it much harder, so carrying the right antibiotics & knowing when to use them is essential. Ciprofloxacin is the most important.

It's hard to define what is fit and what isn't, but all that I can say is that there is nothing in Australia that remotely compares to the altitude & difficulty of climbing in the Himalayas. To try and put this into Cradle mountain terms, you'd want to be climbing it in less than 30 minutes from the turn-off from the Overland Track. It's important to remember that at the summit of Island Peak there is less than half the amount of oxygen that we enjoy at sea level, which is why having very good aerobic fitness is important. To train you need to really focus on your aerobic capability by either running, riding or stair climbing at a fast pace for more than 1 hour and at least 4 times a week. Building up this takes at least 6 months, so the earlier you start the better. Most people I saw on Island Peak looked completely stuffed - this is not a good thing at all from an enjoyment or safety perspective. If you can find a nearby steep hill and climb it repeatedly with a pack containing 10-16kg, then this is the best training, as it best mimics what you will be doing, including the decent. You most likely won't be carrying as much weight as this, but it helps make it harder for you in training.

Hope this helps, Paul.
PS. David Armstrong is from Tasmania.

Response to Paul's comments about gear and fitness

Edwards — Sat, 12/01/2007 - 23:08

Dear Paul
Thank you for your response. My wife said just yesterday that I was being excessive in my training ( 2000calories being burnt by riding50 ks on the bike). ..but it appears that it isn't. My normal regime is to walk up hills often with weights, a little running and 30-60min on the bike. This seems to be what you are advocating, so I will continue along this path. Thank you also for your tips on gear. I wish you well,, cheers, Wayne

Island Peak and Base Camp

paul smith — Thu, 07/17/2008 - 21:39

Paul
I am a 42 yr.. old man with a very small amount of fitness, it is very had to find the right info on how to start training and where to get help. It has been a life long goal to do this trek and to get to base camp, after reading all of the different stories , i now really want to for fill my dream. Can you help with info i need and how i get started. Anything would be appreciated. I also live in Australia QLD.
Regards Paul

Preparation for trekking to base camp

Paul Adler — Fri, 07/18/2008 - 00:15

Hi Paul,

Trekking in Nepal and getting to Everest base camp is a fantastic experience. You get to experience being amongst the highest mountains on the planet, see the Sherpa villages and how they live their lives, and for most people, get higher than they have ever been before. You will have memories that will stay with you forever.
Good preparation is important so that you not only get to base camp safely, but that are able to fully take in the experience. There are two issues to consider - there is the fact the you are walking up and down lots of hills and also that you are going to be at quite a high altitude. The type of training needed is different for each of these.
If you have access to a gym, then time spent on a stepper and also doing some squats is good to help get you ready for climbing up. But to train your muscles for hills, your best bet is actually getting out in some hills and going up and down them, preferably carrying a pack with some weight in it (start with nothing and work up to about 10kg over a few months). This simulates very accurately what you'll be doing in Nepal, plus it also trains you for decent, which is something I am yet to see able to be done well in a gym.
But this doesn't help you cope with the reduced oxygen at altitude. At altitude, our heart and lungs need to work harder to get oxygen to your muscles. Each gulp of air you take in at Everest base camp will have only 60% of the oxygen in it than the same gulp of air at sea level. To help your cope with this, you need to improve your cardio fitness. Anything that gets your heart rate and breathing rate up high is good. Running and cycling are obvious candidates, but also an elliptical trainer at a gym can work well, because it makes you move both your legs and arms (instead of just legs), which means your heart has to work harder to pump blood to more areas.
I will be leading a group into base camp and then onto Island Peak for Earth Sea Sky around April-May 09. This might work well for you - ESS programs package up all the training needed to get you ready (it's conducted by personal trainers), plus gear, flights from Australia and everything else you need. Island peak is suitable for people with moderate fitness, but no mountaineering experience is needed. If you want more info you can contact me by clicking on my username and sending me a message.

Good luck and I wish you all the best.

Cheers,
Paul Adler.

Thank you.

annewyl — Wed, 11/17/2010 - 03:46

Thank you for your interesting account of your adventures. My daughter and her fiance(working in UK) are trekking from Tengboche to Dingboche today and I am beside myself with worry, wondering what the terrain and weather is like for them. But after reading your recounts, eventhough they are a few years old, has given me some comfort, knowing that it is not such a desolate and treacherous place.
Anne. (Sydney, Australia)