Wednesday May 14. Base Camp - Rest Day.
The sun hit my tent at 7:08am this morning. I remember when we first got here the sun hit my tent at 7:45am. This reminds me of just how long we have been here. I left home on March 15. Tomorrow I will have been away from home for two months.
That is probably the most difficult thing about climbing Everest. Being away from my family for this long is difficult. I often lay in my tent and think about what is going on back home. I know the tremendous amount of work that is being done so I can be where I am.
Having almost daily email updates from home has been unbelievably great and the miracle of sat phones makes the occasional phone call possible. Messages from MyEverest have also been a strong source of support.
I want to take a moment to say thanks to Susan for doing all that you do and making it look so easy, and to Amy and Colin for being so supportive of their Daddy while I am away from them chasing this dream.
I want thank Dave for doing such a great job of keeping Summit going while I am gone. You are such a critical part of Summit.
I want to thank Claudia, Mary, Scott, and Melanie (in no particularly order as you all have important roles) for doing such a great job with FG. I know I have been a bit of an absentee leader, but I can only do this because you are so good at what you do. I promise to be around more this next year.
I also want to thank Susan's Mom and Dad as I know you provide a ton of support for Susan, Amy, and Colin.
Finally, thanks to all our friends back home who have had Susan and the kids over for dinner, had Amy and Colin out for play dates, called Susan to talk etc.. It all makes this time a little easier.
Now back to life on Everest.
Our Sherpas had quite a party last night. As I left the dining tent after our nightly LOST club, I could hear the music, clapping, laughing, and dancing coming from the kitchen tent. It went on quite late into the night so I expect breakfast may be a little late this morning.
Speaking of parties, today we will host the NASA "Blast Off" reception from 4-6. This is a send off for Kellie and Bridie and an opportunity for everyone in camp to say good bye to them. Because of their unique role here at base camp they have gotten to know more people from more groups than anybody else. They have been a refreshing influence on our camp and our LOST club would not have been the same without them.
This get together will be much more subdued than the last two as we are in summit mode now.
Behind my tent there is a pretty good size pond that has formed from melt water. The walls of the pond are quite steep and there are huge boulders perched all around the rim of the crater that houses the pond. As more melting occurs these rocks lose their already precarious stance and tumble into the pond. Last night just as I was getting into my sleeping bag a massive rock let go, crashed into the pone and caused a small tidal wave. The wave came nowhere near me, but the result of the huge crash was a little unsettling. There is one more small car size boulder sitting up there, and I found myself thinking about it a lot last night. When would it go and in which direction. When I got up this morning I had a careful look at this rock and its trajectory appears not to be in the direction of my tent unless the melt pattern changes drastically. I should sleep better tonight.
And now the news you have all been waiting for; summit plans. We had a meeting this morning and provided the weather forecast does not change, we will head up on the 17th to camp 2, take a rest day at camp 2 on the 18th, go to camp 3 on the 19th, go to camp 4 on the 20th, and summit (if all goes well) on the 21st.
This is the perfect scenario and we all know that many factors can impact this plan.
At this point ropes are fixed to the South Col, and gear will be there within a few days. There are at least two groups that we know of that are planning to go for a 17th summit. This would be excellent as they would break the trail and set the ropes from the Col to the top.
As a team we are doing very well. We are all healthy and moving strong. From a group dynamic perspective all is going well and Ryan is a good leader. We travel at a similar pace and our goal will be to all stand on top together. This is a lofty goal, but I believe within our reach.
2:30pm Update: We have just had a meeting with our Sherpa team. They are such a strong group it is amazing. You often don't hear much about the Sherpa climbers, but they make it all possible for most of us. Between the four of them they have over 12 summits.
Our Sherpa team will go to C4 two times before we even start our summit bid. They are just on a different level of high altitude climbing strength than the average Western climber. They grow up at altitude and walk these hills every day of their lives. I can not compare to them.
Each of us will have a 1:1 Sherpa climbing partner on summit day. As a friend of mine said "if the s--t hits the fan, you want someone with you who is stronger than you are".
My guy is Nima Dorjee, also known as Kala. I would say he is in his mid to late 20's and has stood on the summit of Everest two times already. He is a friendly, gregarious guy who always wears a smile. He has longish jet black hair, a soul patch on his chin and often wears a colourful bandana. We have climbed to camp 2 together and he is very strong. I look forward to climbing to the summit with Kala as my partner.
That is all for today.
Hugs to Susan, Amy, and Colin.
Scott SS.

Messages:

Susan, I will call you tonight.

Barb, sorry our climb is impacting your work. Chris G is having a similar experience I believe. Perhaps you two can start a support group. It should also all be over in the next three weeks. Q&A: The Sherpa do not like to sleep at camp 3 for various reasons: they feel it is too steep and therefore too dangerous; they prefer to sleep at C2 where there is a cook and better food; and they are strong enough that they do not need to stay there.
I slept pretty well at C3 and quite enjoyed it.

Liane and the QE kids, the response above should answer your questions about C3. I have enjoyed reading your letters and looking through the year book. The coffee has also been a big hit.

WP, thanks for the message. We are all doing well and hope to be on our way back up soon. After this I think I will have had enough of UP for a while.

WRH, thanks for the message. All is well here. I look forward to seeing you all again in June.

Mom, Mike & Karen, thanks for the note. It will be good to get home and up to Collingwood again.

Janicke, Paul, Helena and Ellie, thanks for the note. Glad you are still following. See you soon.

Galen, eagles and cherry blossoms are no big deal. Here we have crows, rock and ice. It will be nice however, to see some colour some day soon. Pretty much a black and white environment up here. The smell of grass and trees will also be amazing.

QE Messages:

Christian, thank you for your letter. You pose many great questions and I will do my best to answer them here.
-Any time a person goes above 3000m it is considered high altitude and your breathing will be affected. Some people are more susceptible than others. For us here at 5400m there is a strong impact on our breathing. As time goes on however, our bodies adjust and it becomes easier to breathe, but it is never the same as at sea level. Up high on the mountain I will get out of breath just tying up my boots.
-I have never personally experienced HAPE, but have seen it in others and it is pretty scary.
-I have been climbing for over 20 years and have climbed many mountains in Canada, the US, Mexico, Ecuador, Argentina, Tibet and Nepal. Too many to list here. There is some more information on this in the "About Me" section of the web site.
-Because the ascent of the mountain is pretty slow it gives your body a chance to adjust and your ears do not pop as in an airplane.
-We have many Sherpa on our team and they are great climbing partners. They are so strong it is difficult to imagine climbing this mountain without them.
-You told me in your letter that you are blind. You may be interested in reading a book by a man named Eric Wyemeyer (sorry if this spelling is incorrect). I think his book is called "Touching the Top of the World". He was the first blind man to climb Everest about 5 years ago. It is an inspiring book. As Eric proves, lack of sight does not need to be a limiting factor in your life. You can do whatever you want. Dream big.
All the best, Scott.

Gordon, I grew up in Wasaga Beach and Collingwood so I know Rockland and have been there (if this is the same one).
Sometimes I think I am crazy to want to climb Mount Everest, but I also believe that one needs to dream big. I believe it was Michael Jordan who said "you miss 100% of the shots you don't take". Live large and go for the top.
The ice fall has not been too scary and I have found it quite exciting. I think this year it is a little safer than in past years.
The Lhotse face was also quite an exciting climb. We ran into some challenging weather, but I believe that as long as you are well prepared you can reduce some of the potential danger.
Thanks for your letter Gordon.
All the best, Scott.

Zach, glad to hear you have caught the climbing bug. Climbing has been a very strong influence in my life and has really directed me to where I am today in life (not just on this mountin). Regardless if climbing is your passion in life or if something else is, I believe we all need to have some passion. This passion can become a driving force in our lives.
If you want to continue climbing there are many great courses out there; you may want to consider Outward Bound or a similar program and Lakehead University, Laurentian U and Sceneca College all have great outdoor programs. If you choose to, you can channel this energy (or something different) for the rest of your life.
The height of Mount Everest is one of the most scary parts of climbing it. The route itself is not overly dangerous but, any time you go above 8000m it is a whole different world. The human body is not designed to live at this height. This is why anything above 8000m is called the "Death Zone". I do find that scary, but believe that I am ready for it and I have the support of my fellow climbers and our Sherpa team.
All the best, Scott.

Ronald, glad to hear that you are enjoying following my climb. It makes it fun for me to know that you and your class are following along. I hope that somehow this experience can make English class more fun for you. I did not really excel in school until I got to University and I was doing something I found interesting. That, I believe, is critical, you need to find something in class you find interesting and can latch onto.
I am a little nervous about the upcoming summit push. I really want to make it, but it is a massive undertaking. All I can do is to do my best and believe in myself.
All the best, Scott.

Ms. Penny, thanks for giving me the opportunity to be part of your class in this small way. I wish my high school teachers had done something creative as you are doing. I believe this makes learning so much more fun, and not coincidentally, much more effective at the same time.
It has also provided me with some inspiration and a connection with home.
Thank You, Scott.