Sunday, May 7, 2017

We hear from Anders at C2

Anders was able to get a short Sat. phone call out to us.  He's doing pretty well--he has a bit of head congestion (that will probably stay until he returns to more normal altitudes) but otherwise feels fine--he has an excellent appetite, which is a great sign.

Their trip yesterday was long and demanding--he said about 8 miles to C2 and close to 4,000 feet of vertical--but they made it faster than last time--a clear sign of their acclimatization progress.  he said his team was pretty "beat up" but that they all have more than enough in the tank to take a shot at the summit.

Weather-wise, it was over 100 degrees in their tent this morning and very warm with the sun beating down on the Western Cwm.  It was very warm outside of their tent as well.  However, just before dinner the sun is down and Anders is in his full body down suit.

They are awaiting a report on rope fixing progress and what they should do going forward.  Anders guess (which i agree with) is that they are likely to take another rest day at C2, which would push back their schedule by one day (earliest summit attempt would be on their 11th and the night of the 10th for us on the East coast).

The weather, especially the wind, continued to be challenging yesterday and the sherpa rope fixing team decided to delay further fixing above the South Col for another day.  If they were able to make some progress today, then there is a chance that the ropes would be fixed to the Summit by end of the day tomorrow.  We'll know more shortly.

In any event, Anders said that there weren't too many folks at C2 geared up for a summit push, which is good news.  Most of the rest of the Madison team is down at Namche, breathing in the thicker oxygen while they rest for their summit rotation.  We read that there is a Himex team at C2, which is good news, as they are the ones responsible for fixing the ropes to the summit.

More news when we hear it....

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