Everest(8848) - Page 10

This morning Lakpa Sherpa climbed on the top of Mount Everest and became the first woman to do it for the 10th time!  She simply has no competitors.  Lakpa is our old friend, a participant of several of our expeditions. She is the sister of our sirdar, the representative of the 7 Summits Club in Nepal Mingma Gelu.  However, in expeditions Lakpa always works according to its own program. This is especially true of the current one, in which she is accompanied by a small film crew from the USA. Recently, Lakpa managed to "break through the wall", that is, to get to American sponsors. So now it will be necessary to report.

 By the way, Lakpa plans to climb K2 in the summer to "enter the history of mountaineering," as she claims. And there, I think, it will be necessary to add the "Seven summits". We will wait on Elbrus!

Alexander Abramov, President of the 7 Summits Club, Head of the Everest expedition:

What the Everest 2022 expedition has been doing for the last three days?  While Russia is celebrating May 9, we decided to rest and descended to Namche Bazaar at an altitude of 3600 m. Closer to oxygen. And in order not to get tired, we used helicopters. Upon arrival in Namche, oxygen literally fell on us. At first I slept for 24 hours. And I didn't want to wake up. 

But it's dangerous. I had to get up and go eat. Then there was a bar, billiards, beer....  The usual life of climbers on vacation in Namche Bazaar. Arrival of friends and relatives. Haircut, shaving, sauna and massage. Coffee, croissants, momos and cakes. Then shops, shops, pharmacies, shops. And all this in 2 days. All – we must stop. Tomorrow at 11:00 we fly to BC. The rest is over.

 The forecast changes every day. Today, the first teams of climbers spend the night at the 8000 m assault camp. And at night they go to the assault. According to the forecast, the wind is strong. We think we will be at the summit on May 18 or 19.

The main part of the expedition of the 7 Summits Club descended by helicopter to Namche Bazaar. The team will rest presumably for 4 days to fully recuperate before attempting to storm Everest.

 Olga Rumyantseva: Whoosh. And we are in Namche Bazaar. The air is thick and warm here. And trees grow.

Artem Rostovtsev, a guide of the 7 Summits Club, from Nepal:

Greetings to all from the group "Touching Everest"! It is all over, almost, except for a small nuance – the participants are waiting for a helicopter to fly to Kathmandu. And the helicopter is waiting for good weather, and the weather is not promised today. Yesterday we descended from the second high-altitude camp to the base camp without much difficulty. The burning sun and accumulated fatigue made it a little difficult to enjoy a walk along the majestic. And today all people are already at a low start towards big cities. Except for the guide, who goes up again at night.

The main team of the 7 Summits Everest-22 Club climbed to Camp-1. The second acclimatization rotation has begun.

Olga Rumyantseva: Today we got up at two o'clock in the morning and again climbed into the first camp through the Khumbu icefall. Well, what? We did it. But for a while there was such a terrible heat that everyone swam. Therefore, the second icefall cross turned out to be physically not easier, but even more difficult. Tomorrow we will go to the second camp.

Some photos from Mingma Gelu

Artem Rostovtsev, a guide of the 7 Summits Club, from Nepal:

Greetings to all from the group "Touching Everest"! We touched Everest very well today. It was both cold and hot. The team admitted that it was not easy, but very informative. We got a great experience for future ascents. Tried additional oxygen. All the participants have already gone down to the camp-2, tomorrow morning we are going down to the base camp.

Artem Rostovtsev, guide of the 7 Summits Club, from Nepal:

Over the past two days, the group "Touching Everest" has climbed from the base camp to the second high-altitude camp at an altitude of 6400m. Everyone passed the baptism of the Khumbu icefall steadfastly, they were almost not afraid. The move from the first high-altitude camp to the second was planned with the support of additional oxygen, but the group decided to test themselves and pass it without doping. We coped perfectly, although in the first part of the route strong gusts of wind were a little disturbing. Tonight, the participants will have the opportunity to restore their strength with oxygen before tomorrow's decisive exit to 7100 m.

Olga Rumyantseva works as a mountain guide in 7 Summits Club. However, in this expedition she is just a participant. After the first acclimatization rotation, she sent a large report, available in Russian. And 46 photos have been added to the report – a complete description of the Khumbu icefall in its current state.

Alexander Abramov, President of the 7 Summits Club, leader of the Everest expedition, from Nepal:

Late yesterday, until 12 o'clock at night, our team was returning from camp 2 6400m to the Base Camp. Therefore, it was not possible to congratulate on May 1 and send a report. All well done, everyone got to the place. It was snowing all day and even photos were difficult to take. Today, May 2, we wash, sleep, go for a massage. We eat the best mutton in BC from our Chef. By the way, a Russian guy named Sergey woke me up in the morning. He bought my book "The Height-Altitude Gene". And he brought it to the Base Camp, asked me to sign it. Such are our events.

We are resting until May 5th. Early on May 5, into battle again, with the aim of climbing to Camp 7300m.

Olga Rumyantseva, a member of the expedition: The Everest-22 team descended from Camp 2 at an altitude of 6500 to the base camp. And again we passed through the Khumbu icefall. For the next three days, we will all rest and sleep off. Well, I will have time to tell detailed stories just in these three days.

You asked if there is snow in the base camp. Compare with the photos of the days when we just arrived with today.

We came to Camp Two at an altitude of 6450 meters. Compared to yesterday, it is an easy walk along the plane and a gradual climb. But the height makes itself felt.

We have a very limited amount of Internet. Therefore, I will not abuse it. And for your patience, here is our beautiful morning view of the Everest - Lhotse traverse from the first camp.

 View of the second camp. Well, as experts suggest, this is the Valley of Silence.

Artem Rostovtsev, a guide of the 7 Summits Club, from Nepal:

The team "Touching Everest" reached the base camp. We spent the previous two nights in the town of Lobuche, recovering from a vigorous climb. Which was not superfluous at all. Now at the base camp we are preparing for the main event – the "touch" itself. Today we held rope classes on the ice, we felt confident, tomorrow we will repeat and fix it. And then – into the icefall!

Alexander Abramov, President of the 7 Summits Club, leader of the Everest expedition, from Nepal:

News of the Everest 2022 expedition. Today our team held ice training sessions. All participants learned a lot of new things. How to walk with jumar. What is means of self-arrest and most importantly, how to walk up the stairs over crevasses. And there are a lot of crevsses on the Khumbu icefall this year. Many thanks to our team of Sherpas who prepared the traces and controlled the process!  Tonight we are going out for the overnight to Camp 1 6000m and then we will go up to camp 2 6400m and come back. This will be the first acclimatization rotation.

 Let me, after all, fulfill my promise and start talking about how our camp is organized.

Here it is. Or rather, ours – it is in the right part of the frame, outlined by yellow tents.

That is, light green. The participants of the expedition live in them - a slender row of 12 tents, guides and superiors - a row of smaller tents.

Of course, everyone is interested to know how it is inside.  It's nice inside. These are two-layer insulated tents. Each tent is for one person. A small dressing room with hooks for clothes and hanging shelves.

And the main, insulated room, where there is a folding bed, mattress, blanket, pillow, small table.

The pillow, however, is so high that it is impossible to sleep on it.

Electricity is installed in the tent.

From a solar battery - very weak, but enough to keep the light on and it was possible to charge, for example, a powerbank through the USB connector.

There is also an extension 220. It is powered by a generator that is turned on from 17 to 22.

But it hasn't been working in my room for the second day. They promise to fix it. But not yet.

Hurray! The electricity was fixed for me.

But you can also charge electrical appliances in the dining salon, where there are several tables, an inflatable sofa, there are a bunch of extension cords and besides, it is heating.

There are also various board games and one paper book "Anna Karenina".

The dining salon is connected to the bar. In the bar, as usual, they pour. There is also a hair dryer, as it turned out today. Which is very valuable.

In the general photos, these are two hemispheres standing side by side.

Moving on. The long purple is the kitchen. Here the chef from La Sherpa restaurant makes wonders.

I'll tell you more about them later.

 On the contrary, there are utility rooms in an orange large tent. And in the largest, white hemisphere there is a dining room.  That is, a restaurant with a panoramic view of the glacier.

There are two washbasins next to the dining room. There is soap, antiseptic, paper towels.

In the mornings and evenings, warm water is poured there. So it's very comfortable to wash. But liquid soap is mostly frozen.

Well, since we are talking about washing, here is our washing room for you. It is located in a large orange tent. There is a dressing room where you can undress and a room where there are huge pots of hot water on the gas. There are also barrels of cold water.

The technology is simple: a basin, a ladle, mix water and wash. The main thing is, taking hot water, do not forget to add cold water to the pan so that it warms up for others.

There is also a portable shower where you need to pour water, but for me it's somehow easier with a basin.

The water is not constantly heated. They turn it on after breakfast and turn it off somewhere in two or three hours, when it gets cold and it won't work to wash without risking getting sick.

We have another big orange tent of the same size. It is a massage room. Well,  inside the masseur lives by himself. While the sun is shining outside, as in all other tents, it is warm. As soon as the sun disappears, it becomes noticeably cool and it is better not to go for a massage.

And so the massage is wonderful.

Here, by the way, is our masseur. He has lived all his life in Kathmandu, he has never been to the mountains. This is his first high-altitude experience.

To acclimatize, he went trekking with us from Lukla and said that the higher the mountains, the more they admire him.

There is also a tent where the doctor lives. His medical office is also there. Fortunately, I haven't been inside yet.

Well, everyone, as usual, is interested in what's going on with the toilet.

You probably noticed several purple houses of a characteristic shape. That's what they are.

And inside it looks like this. Considering where we are, it's just gorgeous.

 That's all, actually.

Alexander Abramov, President of the 7 Summits Club, leader of the Everest expedition, from Nepal:

Today was the opening day of the camp – Puja ceremony. The entire team of participants and Sherpas gathered in the center of our camp. There a monk was reading a prayer.

It started snowing. But we persisted in praying.

Artem Rostovtsev, super-guide of the 7 Summits Club, from Nepal:

Greetings to all from Periche from the team "Touching Everest". We are gradually gaining a foothold at new heights, today we spent the night at 4250m. We go according to the plan, along a beautiful path, in a good mood. Today we are moving to Lobuche.

Alexander Abramov, President of the 7 Summits Club, leader of the Everest expedition, from Nepal:

Today, the team of the 7 Summits Club "Everest-2022" reached the Base Camp, where they were met by a team of Sherpas.  First of all, the participants went to the bar, the traditional resting place of the team members. And then the participants were waiting for a great dinner from the chef.  Tomorrow there will be a celebration of the opening of the camp – Puja.

Alexander Abramov, President of the 7 Summits Club, leader of the Everest expedition, from Nepal:

 Today Alex Abramov and Elena Abramova reached the base camp, where we were met by our Super-Sherpas. And the Super Chef of La Sherpa restaurant.I still didn't understand how he can cook dishes of real Haute cuisine from ordinary chicken and ordinary pork.

Also, on the way, a historic meeting with the famous French climber, 70-year-old Marc Batard, took place in Gorakshep. He is making a new path to Everest, bypassing the Khumbu icefall. An exchange of views on this issue took place.

Alexander Abramov, President of the 7 Summits Club, leader of the Everest expedition, from Nepal:

The Everest-2022 team has successfully arrived in Lobuche 5030m.  On the way we visited the memorial to the lost climbers. There are also our friends there. Tomorrow Alex Abramov and Lena Abramova will go to the Base Camp to check its readiness. And the day after tomorrow the whole team arrives there. The weather is clear but windy.

Base camp

Artem Rostovtsev, super-guide of the 7 Summits Club, from Nepal:

News of the group "Touching Everest". Hello everyone from the scenic trail to the Everest base camp! This year it is loaded, there is a constant flow of tourists, and we are flowing with them towards the Big Mountain. After arriving in Lukla, the team reached Namche Bazaar in two days. Here we will rest for a day and then go further, or rather - forward, closer to our goal.