…was two days ago.

I’m sitting here in the Kathmandu airport on my way back to the US after having decided to leave the expedition early.

First, I want to thank everyone that has been regularly following this blog and supporting the team from afar. I’d also like to thank Mountain Trip, Expedition Himalaya and everyone else associated with this trip for everything you’ve done and continue to do.

I’m sure by now, there are a number of questions as to the “why” of the aforementioned decision. I’ve always prided myself on being transparent, and probably even sharing more than I should. With that, here’s “why”

Most people will struggle with truly relating to why I would have wanted to leave a comfortable life with those I love around me for two months of mental & physical anguish simply to strive for a mountain on top of which there is no prize or treasure. Why climb Mount Everest? The simplest answer as related by George Mallory almost a hundred years ago: Because it’s there. Obviously, there’s a lot more to it than that, but it’s aside the point. This has been a goal I’ve been working towards for several years, and represents a major life goal which is apart of another larger goal I’ve been slowly chipping away at – reaching the summit of the highest point on each continent of this place we call Earth. So far, I’ve successfully reached the highest point of four continents (North & South America, Africa & Antarctica) which is still pretty cool all by itself. Everest was to be number five.

Regardless of outcome, this was an incredible experience from day one. Getting to see Kathmandu for the first time along with its chaos, beauty, poverty, opulence and tranquility was an experience of a life time without ever needing to leave the city. Then, we flew by helicopter at the last minute into Lukla, which is famed as the world’s most dangerous airport. From there, we started a 10-day trek through the Khumbu Valley in the foothills of the Himalaya. Each village was special in its own right on the way in. From Pangboche, to Namche Bazar with its outdoor markets and cafes with amazing pastires to Debouche where we got an impromptu blessing from a 79yr old Lama granting us safe passage and return. We continued on to Dingboche where Mingma took exceptional care of us, and made roast chicken I still crave while sitting back in civilization. The French fries we had that first day, made with love, make me salivate while I write this. I had the best tea of my life at that lodge – Fresh ginger, hot lemon & honey. I want one now. We were fortunate enough to get a blessing by Lama Geshe, who is famed for blessing countless climbers & Sherpa on their way into the Himalaya and asking for their safe travels. We then pushed on up the valley to stay a final few nights in Lobouche where you had to take a pitcher of water and dump it in the toilet itself to force a “flush” It seemed that no amount of water truly did the job, but hey, that was part of the experience, right? Icing the cake in that luxurious bathroom was getting dripped on when you walked in from the bathroom upstairs. I think if that was the first bathroom of the trip, people would be a lot more disgusted & discouraged. After 8 days of progressively worsening conditions, you just wrote it off as part of the deal with no real consideration to what was happening. Finally, we pushed out and onward towards Everest Base Camp where we were greeted with teas, coffee, treats and a massive dining tent that would become our homebase for the rest of the trip.

Up to this point, you still might say “Sounds like a great trip, I don’t see what’s wrong.” Well, under the surface were boiling several negative emotions which everyone kept trying to fight & push through. Personally, I had a bad vibe from the moment I landed in Kathmandu. I knew this trip was going to be mostly a mental challenge and less of a pure physical push. Starting with a bad premonition was not allayed by getting sick for 3 days on the way in, nor was it when I couldn’t shake being sick. I knew that physical ailments were just par for the course on the trek, but this seemed to transcend that. On all prior trips I’d definitely had “WTF?” type moments where I questioned why I was putting myself through the suffering when I could be home, but they had all ultimately faded and disappeared. Not this trip. Not this time. I can’t explain why, but I just felt red flag after red flag. The catalyst of red flags came when we were en route to camp one for our first rotation. Just prior to getting to the first real stopping point, I started coughing up blood. The cough persisted for the next two days. On the way down, the desire of the entire team to continue on completely fell apart. Jon decided that he’d had enough and was wanting to leave. The red flags were too great for him to ignore as well. When we were back at basecamp, we had several deep conversations about the trip, why we do it, and what was most important to us. The answer was pretty straightforward for the three of us. Everyone reading this blog was whom we cared about most. None of us felt worth it to push through the warnings we were getting about the hill. This was not our year, and not our trip.

The decision to turn around and go home gave us peace of mind if for no other reason than it gives us the opportunity, should we choose it, to try the mountain again, or to simply do anything else. We all get to go home and see loved ones. We all have our digits. We all have our pride, if bruised slightly. This was one of the most difficult decisions I’ve had to make. This was a big deal. I put a lot of people through stressful times worrying about my safety, worrying about my absence. This decision wasn’t totally about me. This was as much about those around me that care. I wanted to see them again, and I didn’t feel comfortable pushing through the warnings simply to reach a goal of “mine.” I have reason to go home. Jon & Trudi felt the same way. This was not the trip to push it. We all felt it, and we all recognized it. We all made the conscious decision to go home, albeit an incredibly difficult one.

Manoj has chosen to stay on and give the mountain his all. We truly commend him, and wish him the best. I want that summit shot of Manoj and Scott! I want to see him at the top. Manoj is one of the most positive people I’ve ever met and he sees himself at the top. So do I. You’ll get it Manoj!

This is the end of the series on Everest in 2013. Thank you to everyone whom have been regularly reading this and sending good vibes! It was always nice to get emails, and comments from everyone supporting us. This was a life experience I will be eternally grateful for and never forget. I learned a lot about myself on this trip, and I’ve got some amazing new friends, well except Jon, he doesn’t count 😉 j/k.

Take care, and thanks for following.

-Bryan

It’s Christmas!!! Well, not really, but we did get snow over night. Now, our chore for the day is to keep shaking the tent to keep the snow from building up and ultimately leaking into our sprawling estate we call the dining tent.

The upside with the snow is that it keeps it a bit warmer at night than when we get the clear, crisp skies. The downside, is that the laundry I did and threw up on my tent is now stiff as a board and totally covered in snow. Awesome. Sure glad I wasn’t planning on using that stuff today…

The plan of record is still to head up to camp one tonight.

One thing we still haven’t quite gotten used to is the sound of avalanche all around us. From rock slide on neighboring peaks, to snow, to ice. It keeps you on alert, that’s for sure. Constant reminders that we are not in control, and Chomolungma (Tibetan name for Mt Everest) is whom will decide, not us.

I’ve thrown in a few pictures of the lower icefall for your viewing pleasure. The shot of Pumori turned out too, so I threw that in for good measure.

Yesterday we had our Puja, which is a Buddhist ceremony led by a Lama where the whole focus is on asking for safe travel and return on the mountain. It was about two hours long with three of our Sherpa, one of which being a Lama, reading from their prayer books. All the while, incense, Juniper branches and other items are smoking and ultimately, blessing all our gear.

One of the focal points of the Puja is to bless all of the gear we will climb with (crampons, ice axe, helmet and anything else we wanted in there) as well as to bless all of the climbers and sherpa to ask for safe travel and most importantly, safe return. They build up a shrine of granite rocks on top of which they’ll place several images of Buddha and other special deities. When the Puja is almost over, they raise a pole with prayer flags attached, and then strung across several hundred feet throughout camp. The belief is that every time a prayer flag flaps in the wind, a prayer is sent to heaven. Some people joke that the Sherpa people are lazy because they rely on the wind to send the countless prayers to heaven instead of doing it themselves. After watching these machines (aka Sherpa) work, I can tell you first hand that lazy is the last word I’d use to describe their ethos.

Under the shrine are plate upon plate of snacks, candies and breads as well as beer, rum & coca cola which are also blessed as part of the Puja. When all is said and done, naturally, you imbibe of the blessed food and drink. Disappointingly, I drank that one beer slower than I’d ever done so in my life. Something to do with the altitude, or so I’m telling myself. Not to mention, they made me have a bit of their boot-leg rum. At 17,500ft, it hits you like a brick. The rest of the Sherpa continued to drink what was left, and then started singing and dancing. Of course, Sherpa from other camps came over for the celebration to continue the good vibes.

Those machines got up and left camp about 2:30am this morning to start carrying loads up to Camp 1 (roughly 20,000ft) and onto Camp 2 (22,500ft-ish). Many were already back down to basecamp by about 1:30 today. In 11hrs they went to Camp2 and back… We’ll probably take 11hrs to get to C2, collectively, the first time. Very impressive.

While they were off doing real work, we went on a day hike up to Camp 1 on Pumori which put us about 19,000ft. That ledge, which I’d hate to sleep on, offered amazing views of the Lhotse face just before the clouds blew in and shrouded it from view. The cool thing, in addition to the view, was the fact that we got 3G from Gorak Shep up on that ridge. So, we checked email, sent out some updates and then headed back to basecamp, for yet another awesome lunch.

We’ve also learned of the tragedy that took place at the Boston marathon and we all send our condolences to those affected.

After a few days adjusting to the altitude of basecamp (17,500ft), we went for a short jaunt up into the icefall. The goal was to give each of us an idea of what to expect when we move through it up to Camp1 and beyond. It was pretty wild to be hopping on big ol’ chunks of ice the size of a car and seeing other larger blocks the size of a small office building above. In interest of safety, we only went into the icefall for about an hour or so. When we move up to C1, it’ll probably take us 5-6hrs to get through it the first go.

The icefall is a very sobering place to be, yet spectacular and breathtaking all at the same time. I’m hoping I got a bunch of good pictures today, and hoping to get even more when we make our actual move. I’m expecting that my best shots might not be until we descend through the icefall. When we’re moving up, we’ll likely be leaving camp between 2:00 and 3:00am to ensure that the ice is as cold and as glued together as possible.

Yesterday, Scott set us up a little training course to prepare us for what we’ll run into throughout the course of the climb. Everything from using our ascenders (which clip onto the rope and lock down to prevent us from falling backwards) climbing up nearly vertical ice to simulating a fall into a crevasse where we need to get ourselves out. We repelled a number of times as well to ensure we were comfortable with doing that regardless of what kinds of gloves or mittens we had on. All in all, it was a really fun day “playing” in the ice.

That’s it for now. Nearly time for appetizer hour 🙂

We’re here at base camp, finally! We got in around noon yesterday, in time for Sherke’s (the cook) all you can eat amazing meal. We are going to be spoiled when it comes to food, as there is absolutely no shortage of it here.

We spent the bulk of the afternoon just getting sorted out, arranging our ‘homes’ for the next several weeks. Each of us have 2-3 big bags in addition to the big bag we’d been trekking in. Now, we just need to find space for it in our luxurious three-man tents and put things in a location that will be somewhat readily accessible should we need it.

It’s weird. I’ve stared at countless pictures, Google Earth images, and read tons about Everest, but getting here and seeing Base Camp, the icefall and surrounding area has been quite surreal. The icefall is massive. It’s hard to imagine how big that thing is and until you actually see it first hand, it’s impossible to truly articulate the magnitude of that thing. We’ve already been watching people go up and down, which means the route is definitely in place. We’ve also heard that there may be fewer ladders than last year. We won’t know for certain until our climbing team starts up the mountain early next week to get Camp 1 and Camp 2 put in place.

The first night here at EBC was pretty nice, although it definitely gets cooler here than it has been on the trek in. I think Jon saw the temperature at 6º at some point throughout the night. Then, during the day, when the sun is on the tent it isn’t uncommon to get up to 80º or more. Pretty big swings in temperature here, which will just be the norm, although as the season goes on, it’ll likely just get warmer and warmer.

Today was our first formal rest day in 10 days. It was nice to not have to do anything all day long for once. For 10 solid days we were on at least one, if not two hikes. Good training for higher on the hill, that’s for sure. We’ll start doing day hikes out of basecamp in the next few days to get used to being even higher. Unlike a lot of other groups, Scott’s preference is to try to use adjacent peaks for acclimatization as opposed to going through that icefall a bunch of times. No argument here.

Well, it’s almost time for more chum, and dinner. Then, the subject of debate tonight will be what movie we pick to watch after dinner.

Right now we’re taking a tea break in Gorak Shep which is about 17,000ft on our way to Everest Base Camp. We should be there in about 1.5hrs and then can set up, sprawl out, and enjoy the little city of EBC.

John, Trudy, Manoj and Scott are all doing well, and eager to get there.

They have 3G here at Gorak Shep, so we’re all getting our technology fix before we continue on.

Almost there!!!!

I think everyone slept pretty well last night, which is great considering we are actually closer to 16,400ft and came up from 14,500ft the night before.

Conveniently, the lodge next door has high speed Internet, so it’s not quite the journey to get on the information super highway. Only 500 Rupees for 30minutes, or about $6 USD, which isn’t too bad. Plus, they had their stove going sooner than our lodge, so it was quite warm. It was also nice to run into my buddy Dean that I met on Vinson last December in Antarctica. I think our spots at basecamp aren’t too far apart, so we should be able to catch up.

Today, we took breakfast at 7:30, and I think the French Toast has run its course with me and I’ll be moving on tomorrow. One more day and then we get French press coffee on a regular basis instead of the instant Nescafé with powdered milk we’d been having on the way in. Occasionally though, they use Nak milk, which is pretty strong and sometimes it’s just way too much. On a side note, a Nak is the female counterpart to a Yak. If you get Yak milk, you should seriously consider how exactly they got that…

We headed out, and went past the Italian research center and then up along this sub ridge of Lobouche Ri. After a rock scramble for a couple hundred feet, we called it good when we’d got to about 18,000ft or so. When we got down off the rocks, we just chilled out for a bit as some of us (aka Scott) got the data connection on his tablet working and he just sat and did emails for a while. The rest of us headed down the hill and back to the lodge for some tea, a game or two of chum and then lunch.

We’re all pretty psyched to head up to base camp tomorrow where we can spread out a bit more and settle in for a while. Plus, the food situation shouldn’t be so sketchy, and we should be able to take ‘showers’ a little more easily. Allegedly, it’ll be bottomless food & water. Can’t wait to start the next phase of the expedition!

We got up and made our move up to Lobouche today. Great hike up through Dugla (or Thukla) where we took a break for hot lemon tea, coconut crunchies and some candy bars.

One of the more sobering elements of the hike in were when you get just past Dugla at the top of the hill. The area has turned into a memorial for climbers that have died on various mountains in the region. Some more notable ones were the likes of Scott Fischer, who passed away on Everest during that nasty debacle in 1996. Very interesting memorials and chortens that have been built for climbers. Good to go through and have a moment if reality, and pause for reflection.

Then we cruised up the valley which was a super mellow finish for an hour into Lobouche. We got views of Cholatse and the backside of Nuptse. It’s pretty awe inspiring to say the least.

We all were feeling strong today, and ended up getting here in just under 3hrs

Sadly, this morning, Susan Reiter – John’s wife, took a helicopter flight back to Lukla and ultimately on to Kathmandu and on home. She wasn’t feeling very well, and was starting to struggle with the altitude. Topped off with feeling like she was getting the flu yesterday and they decided it would be best if she got a flight out today. It’s really too bad that she won’t make it with us into base camp, which was her goal, but it was great having her along for the ride as far as she made it.

Now, after a ‘bonus hike’ up to about 17,000ft, we’re having a coffee and about to indulge in our now regular card game, chum.

We are here for two nights before we head up to basecamp on Saturday! The closer we get to BC, the more excited we are. Not only to get going on the climb, but to have better food, cleaner living conditions, and overall a more pleasant & relaxing environment, relatively speaking. It’ll be nice to set up shop in my tent, spread out, and not worry about packing up every morning. I’m sure well do plenty of day hikes out of basecamp, but at least we won’t have to pack up ahead of time. It’ll be nice.

No celebrity climber sightings today, but I’m optimistic that basecamp will be an interesting sight.

Looking forward to that stove downstairs when it gets going and warms the place up before we go to bed. The people in the Khumbu Valley are very resourceful, and green! The stoves are all powered by yak dung! Surprisingly, it doesn’t smell at all. Even outside it just smells like there is a fire going, but not like it’s a crap fire.

That’s it for now.

Hope all is well back home.

Wow, what a day & a few anti-biotics will do for one’s spirits. Mostly back on the mend, which makes a big difference for the morale, and performance.

We got to sleep in again, and have breakfast about 7:30 this morning. French Toast again. Can’t go wrong here. We also got lucky enough to get the roast chicken dinner again last night, which was just as amazing. Unfortunately, they’re all out and tonight we’ll have to find some other tasty meal to gorge on.

I know I’m feeling well when I’m back to ordering two meals each time we eat. Fried rice and then hash browns with eggs for lunch. I’m back in the game! I think I’m down 7-8lbs though, so I guess it was a killer weight loss program I signed up for.

We headed out on a harder acclimatization hike today, mostly to see how the group would do and push us just a bit. We cruised up the valley, about half way to where we went yesterday, crossed the river, then started traversing the hill opposite Dingboche. It was quite a nice stroll up the hill, and ended the last few hundred feet by scrambling up some big boulders topping out at about 16,500ft. We were on a sub-ridge of Ama Dablam, which was pretty impressive to get even closer than we had before.

We almost literally flew down the hill, and were actually running at several points on the way down. Scott wasn’t super keen on hiking back up the valley to get to the log bridge we had originally crossed the river, so I tagged along with him and we headed straight down the hill to find the “most crossable” section of the river. Of course, John, Trudy and Manoj quickly decided that they didn’t want to walk back up hill as well and followed suit. John made a bet that the last person, or the wettest one back had to buy latte’s for the other. Game on John, game on. We bolted down the hill, and fortunately, I spotted a “bridge” which was simply two, maybe two and a half logs tied together laid across the river. Naturally, I had to go first, as I wasn’t about to be buying lattes, and with a bit of shaky logs and quick steps, I made it across. Now that the rest of the group knew that the bridge was sturdy enough for at least one person, everyone else made it across one by one.

Once we got to within eyeshot of the lodge, I noticed out of the corner of my eye that John started picking up the pace a bit, and before we knew it, we were both in an all out sprint back. I beat him by a gnat’s eyelash. Victory is mine.

Took advantage of the hot, endless shower again, and now I’m just sipping on the sweet taste of success, aka a free latte.

Tomorrow we are leaving the comforts of the Snow Lion lodge and are heading up valley to Lobouche, which is around 16,000ft I think. I guess it’s going to be one of the harder days of the trek so far. We’ll see how it goes. Then we’ll be there for two days before we head straight to basecamp. Looks like right now we should be at base camp on Saturday!

Today was just another day like many we’ll have which are labeled “rest days” and are slightly more like active recovery days. We slept in till about 7:00am today, had breakfast (I had the French Toast again, which was awesome), and French press coffee. Not too shabby here at the Snow Lion Inn at 14,500ft. Last night we had an awesome roast chicken & veggie meal. So far, the best meal I’ve had of the trip. It was amazing!

This morning I felt like I’d recovered fully from my bout with the runs, but fate would have something else in store. About an hour out the village, I desperately had to dash for the closest rock that hid me from the trail. At this point, there is unfortunately little doubt that I should start taking Cipro to get rid of what’s been ailing me for the past few days. Hoping that kicks in quick and gets rid of my special time in these super amazing bathrooms. For what it’s worth, the best bathrooms have a toilet where you have to fill the tank yourself and a bucket beside the toilet for the paper. The not so good ones are simply holes in the ground. If you’re lucky, there are a pile of leaves & pine needles for you to push into the hole after you’re done. Surprisingly, those ones are quite nice, all things considered. No smell.

We cruised up to Chunkung which was a village about 2hrs away and up at about 15,700ft. Good little hike today.

Of course, we were done in time to make it back for lunch, tea, and a hot shower. You never quite appreciate taking a hot shower as much as when you simply can’t. The place we are at has a gas water heater, which is exceptionally rare, but very welcome. 350 Rupees for a shower (or about $4 USD) is the best money you can spend. Wash off the grime, and then do a bit of laundry so that things don’t get too out of control.

We got some amazing views of Ama Dablam, Island Peak and the back side of Lhotse (Low-tsee)which is an 8000 meter peak right next to Everest.

Now, just back at the Snow Lion, enjoying some super tasty ginger & lemon tea, and relaxing before we have dinner and call it a night.