Berg Adventures 2013 Everest Expedition Dispatch
April 28, 2013 – Back at 21,500ft
Yesterday, at 3:30 in the morning we put on our crampons and started our march back to 21,500ft Camp II. We knew we had a long day ahead of us ‘cause we had to climb a little over 4.000 feet in one day. Through the Icefall, there were lots of climbers walking to Camp I. So it was busy a few times we had to wait, a few times we had to climb around climbers, but all in all it went pretty well.
Steve in inclement weather high in the western cwm,
near camp II
We reached Camp I feeling pretty good. There we had an early lunch, at 9 o’clock; we reached there at 8:45am, socialized with a few of the other climbers and then moved on. Into the Western Cwm, we encountered high winds, sometimes gusting to 50 miles an hour or felt like that which created blowing snow and white out conditions. Our march to Camp II into the Western Cwm took a little longer than we wanted and we ended up getting there a little after 2 in the afternoon.
So today and the next day we’re resting as we’re currently waiting for the fixed lines to be completed to Camp III and then our goal, to be at Camp III at 24,500ft, and sleep the night without oxygen at 24,500ft which is just below the fatal death zone.
So, that’s our goal, we’ll go up to Camp III, sleep the night and come back down and rest. Then go all the way back down to Base Camp. At that point in time we’re going to rest and recuperate because we will then be ready for our summit push.
