Ice-climbing near base camp Photo courtesy of Mt. Link

We received word from Richie Gardner at Everest Base Camp. He reports to us that Joe Hughes, Jeff Justman, Lhawang Dhondup and the Sherpa crew have made it through the Khumbu Ice Fall for the second time. They spent the night at Camp One at 19,800 feet. Today they will make a carry to Camp 2 and descend to Camp 1 to spend another night.

Dispatch 10 - April 21, 2004 by Rich Gardner

Since I've been here at Everest Base Camp I frequently get asked the question if there is any tension between the trekkers that mosey through and the folks who are spending the entire climbing season. Being a surfer from California I am used to and a bit immune to those sorts of vibes. So naturally I say, "Naw that's a bunch of crap." That may be because we haven't had any trekkers here at our camp yet. Well it went from zero to sixty today at around 11:00 am when we got our first batch of trekkers. I can sort of see what the "vibe" may be all about. Picture yourself in your living room of your own house and someone walks in and says that you will have 15 visitors from various counties in an hour. Then they show up and your surroundings have totally changed, not for the worse necessarily, but it leaves you feeling shell shocked in a way. I found myself chatting with one of the trekkers and he has a totally different and outspoken view about Base Camp than I do and suddenly I haven't anything else to say, so I head off to the med tent and check the weather for the team.

Base Camp is a thriving community of people from all over the world. It is a strange universe to be thrown into, especially for someone like myself, the Base Camp Manager. We live here. We stay in or around Base and stay in contact with our climbing teams, sheppard the electronics, play lots of Hearts, and hang with the kitchen crew (who are the nicest people on the planet).

Ice-climbing Photo courtesy of Mt. Link

Dispatch 11 - April 22, 2004 by Richie Gardner

You just never know what activities will transpire here at Base. After my wonderful chicken hot dog omelet and Peet's coffee this morning I decided to rearrange the rocks leading to my tent so that I stop stubbing my toes and tripping in the dark (exciting, I know). Then some friends in a nearby camp swung by to see if I wanted to go climb some ice with them below the Icefall. To hell with the sidewalk that can wait another day...We scoped a nice looking ice wall about a week ago that we've been waiting to get on and today was the day. The ice was perfect, a lot like the stuff on the inside of an old freezer but much thicker. We led a couple of sections and hung top ropes for doing laps. We kept that up until the weather crapped out and packed it in and headed back to our respective camps for lunch. Yummm... more chicken hot dog stuff. Now I'm sitting in my little freeze hole with a beautiful can of beer writing you folks. Life is super.

On a different note, the climbers are still chillin' at Camp 2 breathing heavily and drinking loads of hot fluids. Pretty much every climbing team is up at Camp 2 right now doing the same thing. Sounds like a party. If all goes as planned, they will be back down in about 3-4 days to rest for a while and then wait for some big ol' window of calm weather so that they can do what we are here for.

Dispatch 12 - April 27, 2004 by Jeff Justman

It certainly has been awhile since we've updated all of you on what has been going on here on Mount Everest. The team has spent some time above base camp acclimatizing. We carried gear to Camp 1 (19,700') and returned to B.C. After a few days we climbed back to Camp 1, spent the night and then the following day did a carry to Camp 2 (21,300'). After our carry we returned to Camp 2 and spent two nights there. It's at that point when you leave Camp 2 that the climbing gets steep up the Lhotse Wall. We were planning on heading up to 3 but that's when the unexpected happened. One of our team members at Camp 2 was suffering from a nasty cough and had trouble just standing up and walking around camp. It was at that point that I made the decision that the following morning we would descend to Base camp.

Climbing near old base camp Photo courtesy of Mt. Link

The next morning Joe was suffering even more and he told me he could not make it and he wanted to stay at Camp 2. NOT AN OPTION! That's what I was screaming at him, as he just stood there hardly able to move. I knew Joe was ex-military and since I have been called a drill sergeant I thought it would be the best motivation for him. And it was. Joe started slowly, barely moving towards Camp 1. We passed Dawa Sherpa on our way down as he was going up. At that point I knew Joe needed serious help. I asked Dawa to grab a bottle of Oxygen and hurry back down to us. I also called Base camp and told the boys to grab some O's and head up towards us.

We got Joe on high flow oxygen and Dawa, Awngschew, Tendee, Lhakpa Nuru and I assisted Joe from Camp One to Base camp. It normally takes a person 2 hours to get down. It took us with Joe 10 1/2 hours. I knew things were not good and they were getting worse. When we finally reached Base Camp I called the doctors and they sent a stretcher over for transport to the medical tent. Joe made it down just in time and thankfully for the docs Joe's high altitude pulmonary edema was controlled until the next morning when he was taken by helicopter safely to Kathmandu where he went to the Norvic Medical Center, respected for its specialty in high altitude illnesses. Yes, a very serious situation has come to a happy ending. Joe is healthy and I am a little upset seeing he is now chowing down cheeseburgers and cokes. I asked Joe if he wanted me there with him and he said absolutely not. He missed the point that I didn't really want to be there with him; I just wanted the luxuries of Kathmandu. Thanks Joe!

The climb continues but first we are going to take a vacation and go down in altitude to Namche (12,500') for a little R & R. When we return, we will head up the mountain hopefully to the top.

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As of April 28, both climber Joe Hughes and base camp manager Richie Gardner departed for the United States. Richie went out with Joe to make sure his health was stable. Joe is doing well. Dispatches will be slightly scattered once Jeff Justman and Craig Van Hoy go up on the mountain. Once I get information from a satellite phone call from Jeff high on the mountain, I will be posting his dispatches.

Dispatch 13 - May 2, 2004 by Jeff Justman

Well, well, well, we have been out of communication for some time and for good reason. Lhawang, Craig Van Hoy and I have been in the lowlands (12,500') for a little rest and relaxation. After two long days getting team member Joe Hughes down after he suffered a bout of pulmonary edema. We are very happy to report he is back in the U.S. most likely eating a big fat steak dinner right now. As I was saying we went to lower altitudes to give our lungs a break with rich oxygen and moist air. Okay, okay, we might have had a beer or two as well. Spending too much time at extreme altitude just wears you down. So after a few days down low we are back at base camp fresh as daisies. Yes! I even took a shower after one month.

Winds are howling up high on Everest but the good news is the route to the South Col is officially established. That means once we hear and see that the weather up high is calming down, we are packing up and making our summit push, this could be any day. Our team, now consists of Craig Van Hoy (fellow RMI Guide), myself, Lhawang Dhondup and our team of Sherpas (Dawa, Lhakpa Nuru, Tendee and Wangschew) will climb from base camp to Camp 2 (21,400'). The following day Craig and I plan to climb to Camp 3 (23,500'). The Sherpas with their super-human strength will climb directly to the South Col or Camp 4 (26,700') where Craig and I will meet them the following day. From there it's a quick brew of water, food and we are out the door moving for the summit. Man! It sounds good on paper, keep your fingers crossed for good weather. Quite possibly the next time you hear from us it will be after our summit attempt.