Tigers are in our Future

Greetings from Kathmandu, Nepal

So, yesterday the news filtered down that one American has been removed from his Everest expedition for having an ‘inappropriate’ flag in his expedition gear. As of now, just the single expedition member was escorted down to Kathmandu instead of the entire expedition permit being revoked…a surprise.

So, it still remains serious up there and I guess the military is doing what they said they would do to maintain ‘order’.

Tomorrow we head to Chitwan to ride elephants and do some tiger spotting...let’s hope we spot them first. To our sponsors; we are paying for this little side trip on our own. Oh and the photo above will give you an idea of what the coaches look like.

Take care and be safe out there.

Namaste,

T&K

Heli Ride Out

Hey all,

So here’ s the scene...we’re hanging out in our tea-house room waiting to hear about our flight out of Lukla with no clue when we would be able to fly out when there is a knock at the door and the lady from the tea house says we can leave NOW on the rescue heli if we hurry! The rescue heli? Yippie!! As it turned out, Fishtail Heli Service evidently had some open seats in the bird since the owner of the tea-house was headed down to kathmandu and they wanted to fill it up. Turn out the tea-house owner also owns the helicopter…very nice! So, we crammed everything in our bags and took off for the heli pad, and then off to Kathmandu! The flight was 52 minutes long and it was amazing! Hopefully we can post some pictures of the flight soon.

Okay, so even on our way home, the epic continues. We are trying to change our tickets to depart out of hear soon...its doesn’t look like it’s going to be easy, so if we fail we’re going to look at elephants in the Chitwan nation park...go figure.

Will know soon enough? Ok, take care, be safe and will be in touch...

T&K

Namche, Nepal Himalaya

Hey all,

Well, do not know where to begin as it would take pages to catch everyone up on the last month up here in the thin air. But here goes…

The last DFTE has us leaving Tangboche headed for Pheriche where the HRA clinic is located. There we sorted gear and equipment in prep for EBC.
From there it was off to Loboche then Gorak Shep for our final acclimatization climb.

We arrived at EBC to a lonely site…we were one of the first expeditions to arrive in base camp to begin setting up. Words cannot do justice to the views and surrounding peaks that filled the scene; just awesome! The next few days were spent setting up the medical base camp and getting equipment going for the season. Rather quickly more and more expeditions began showing up and the EBC area started to grow rapidly!

Weather remained awesome..out of the three weeks we were there we had only had 4 days of snow...the rest of the days and nights were beautiful.

Katabatic had a successful season completing all of our goals and then some. Our task included: Setting up the solar system to power the medical equipment; assessing the medical equipment and recommending further equipment for the following seasons and the best and funnest (is that a word?) training the climbing sherpas in rescue techniques while on the Big E. We trained them with the SKED and spine splint. Set up scenarios for lowering and crossing the ladders in the Khumbu Ice fall...patient packaging and assessment while in the care of the sherpas. There were several in the group that had taken Kristins wilderness medicine course here in January and to say the least...they were already dialed-in! Willy Bengas, Mark Tucker, Dave Hahn (to name just a few) helped organize the training; these are some of the most recognized climbing guides in the world and it was a pleasure working with these gurus! Anyway, during our down time we explored the Khumbu Ice fall and I had a chance to Ice climb with one of the climbers who is scheduled to summit the Everest…cool!

I know this is a bit of a ramble because so much has been going on since our last dispatch…please stay tuned as when we return we will post an interactive slide show on our website...it will explain it all in more detail and include lots of awesome pics!

Ok, here is the deal with all the political mess surrounding the Olympic torch and Everest this season: As you know the Chinese Gov closed the North side of Everest to climbing this season and asked the Nepali Government to do the same for the South Side (Nepal side), but they did not close the climbing but they did enact several restrictions: no summit attempts until after May-10 along with several other restrictions regarding when and to what elevation climbers could go...also, there is no email dispatches and/or pictures, videos and SAT phone calls from base camp until after May-10. All this information was obtained the day we departed from EBC from the Nepali military official who held a base camp meeting for all expeditions and medical clinic staff. The Nepali Government is very serious about these regulations and everyone is on pins and needles and self-policing each other until the restrictions have been lifted. Hence to our sponsors: we apologize for not being able to send any pictures of our time at base camp. You will have access after May-10 when folks start climbing for the summit. Please be very cautious when printing this dispatch to your sites as we do not want to cause any expedition to lose their climbing permit. As stated above, as of April-15 the above restrictions were read to us by the Nepali officals...we are NOT the messengers for the climbing community, just folks who were there were introduced to these restrictions that are subject to change.

Ok, that’s the story thus far. We are here in Namche for another two days, then we start our trek back to Lukla to fly back to Kathmandu. We will spend another week in Kathmandu touching base with the HRA headquarters there and hopefully going to the Chitwan national park to ride an elephant! Then back to Colorado for a few days then off to the Bahamas to teach a few courses to the EMS service on Eleuthra island (and of course work in a few days of paddling and Bone fishing).

Again, check out www.EverestER.org for filed dispatches and current happenings as they are allowed. One more thing, check out this months OUTSIDE magazine, Kristin made the 50 best jobs article. From what we understand via email, its pretty cool!

Hope all is well and look forward to seeing you folks real soon. For you North Cackka lackky folks...we will see you the last week in May as we are headed back for a wedding and a little surfing and climbing!!!

Oh and will someone in the Divide area please tell Joe to email us and let us know how our house and cat are doing!

Be safe and 'till then,

T&K

Mission Accomplished

This morning we said a fond farewell to the Everest Basecamp team after having completed our mission to assess their needs and completed training for products we’ve tested in our polar practice. We’re excited about getting Luanne Freer, the founder of Everest ER into partnership with some of our contacts to equip them even better for future seasons. So now after some additional prep work, we’re trekking out.

Frostbite is Serious Business

As basecamp fills, so does our clinic, having treated 16 so far for maladies ranging from pneumonia and hypoxia to urinary and respiratory infections and the ubiquitous gastrointestinal disturbances. No serious altitude issues yet, as it seems our climbing community and support staff have successfully acclimatized on the way up.




We did see a couple of bad cases of frostbite in trekking peak climbers on one of our stops on the way up. Climbers caught on a very cold night took much longer to summit than anticipated and two sustained what appeared to be full thickness frostbite to their fingers. The climbers were referred to the HRA clinic in Pheriche where they were started on ibuprofen and injuries were dressed with aloe dressings. Frostbite is serious business here and it can come fast.

What's a Puja?

Basecamp is filling up fast; this morning we awoke to see several puja ceremonies in process. A puja ceremony is basically when the Buddhist asks permission of the Earth for the team to climb and have a safe journey. We were invited to attend IMGs camp where we were reunited with old friends from past years. Their team looked impressive in their uniform-red coats and black hats. So we’re all prepared, but there is still some confusion as to whether permits will be issued to climbers.

We Finally Made It

Our team arrived at base camp April 3rd all safe and sound. Our busy bunch of over-achievers had the medical tent erected by the end of the day and we saw our first patient shortly thereafter. Our solar panels are busy charging our equipment and Anna and Steve are organizing all of the meds and suppliers.

We saw a climbing team out practicing their skills on the ice this morning and our friends the icefall doctors are working hard carrying ladders into the icefall and setting their route to Camp 1. Basecamp is slowly filling up and the climbing season is on its way. We wish all a safe season.

Happy April Fools Day

Greetings All,

We've had a good stay in Pheriche, getting our clinic supplies inventoried and up the trail to EBC with porters and yaks. We enjoyed a celebratory dinner (meeting the HRA Pheriche staff celebrating Tayloe and Kristins' 6th anniversary) at the Himalaya Lodge in Pheriche. Yesterday we went along with one of the Pheriche doctors on a follow-up house call on a yeak. The yak had been attached by a snow leopard and developed a very large abcess under the attack wound. Yesterday was the post-op checkup and the yak is doing well.

Today, we move up to Chukkung, allowing our bodies to acclimatize to the advancing altitudes. Tomorrow we'll tackle the KongmaLa pass, following our own advice to climb-high-sleep-low (we'll climb up to 5,800m then climb down a bit to sleep at 5,100m or around 15,000-ft). This is easier on the body.

We hope to arrive at EBC on April 3 and resume dispatches the following weeks.

Stay Safe,

Everest ER Team

Namaste at 13,000-ft from Tengboche Monastery

Greetings All,

The team is feeling fit, acclimatizing well and keeping a speedy pace up some pretty sizable hills. Today we arrive at Tengboche, home of an old but very well active monastery...just in time to sit with the monks during their daily prayers.

In the morning we'll be off to Pheriche where we'll convene with the HRA team and use 3-4 days to inventory all of our stored equipment and supplies that we have stored in that clinic for the past year. We expect not to be able to make any dispatches for the next 10 days at lease, so no worries family and friends, know that we're well and happy.

Everest ER Team

12,810-ft and Climbing

Greetings all from 12,810-ft in Tengboche, Nepal;

Today we trekked from Namche Bazar to Tengboche. Pretty brutal uphill climb gaining 1,000 feet then dropping about the same and then another 1,000 more up, up, up again.

Once again, the scenery is unreal as the peaks are starting to surround us and close in on us. We will stay the night here and head to Pheriche in the morning. Then we will spend several days in Pheriche at the HRA medical clinic organizing our medical equipment and gear…we do a lot of this organization. From here it’s on to the Everest.

We are getting dispatches out on the website, so check it out…for that matter, check it out. Luanne has been posting pictures as we go along on our journey. The site is www.EverestER.org.

While in Namche (really we stayed in Zorak, just above Namche) we climbed several rock routes in the area…I think there are some pictures of the climbs on the website? We had a blast, but climbing at 11,800 feet on super cold rough rock did us in...awesome none-the-less.

Yesterday we did an acclimatization hike over to Kumjung and got our first view of Everest...Holy you know what! Again, cannot even begin to describe the awe of it all...plumes of snow blowing off the summit miles long. Also, got a full view of Ama Deblam...the ‘Matterhorn’ of the Himalaya’s and the rest of the peaks in the Everest region are just awesome!

Still no definitive word yet on the status of the climbing this season on Everest. We have passed several expeditions heading up and its all the same...we will see when we get there...what a trip. A lot of folks are on pins and needles due to this crisis. Only time will tell the outcome.

This will probably be the last dispatch that I can get out from the edge until we are settle in base camp and even then it may be just the Everest ER website issuing dispatches, so keep checking back.

As always, Kristin says hello to all.

Hope all is well back your way...take care and be safe.

Namaste!

T&K

From Lukla to Namche

Greetings all from 4000 meters in the Kumbu Valley;

I cannot even attempt to describe this place….huge peaks everywhere…it’s beautiful.

We flew into Lukla without incident the day before yesterday and trekked to Phatding for the night...pretty mellow hike in that took about 3-hours. Check out the photos of the Lukla airstrip…oh yeah, there’s potential for a lot of wild fun here.

So early this morning we trekked to Namche, where we are now. Google Namche and check it out.

The trek into Namche was pretty brutal trek for the last few hours as it is straight up hill…it was about a 5-hour trek and all in all, it was amazing.

Now we’ll wait a few days in Namche for the Everest permit situation to solidify. It’s all still in the air about the current situation on the mountain at this point. No climbing permits have been issued and we are taking our time enroute as not to arrive too early to find out we have to wait a little longer. Our climbing sherpas' family lives here we can stay with them.

This afternoon we’ll do a little climbing in the Valley right under this awesome view of Ama Dablem...Google this too!

Once we get moving in a few more days, our next stop will be the Pheriche clinic run also by the HRA. The rest of our medical and base camp gear is there. We will spent several days there acclimatizing and getting gear ready for the Everest...unsure when we will depart for there as of yet.

Hope all is well and be safe.

Namaste!

T & K

The Roads are Riskier than the Mountain

Hello to everyone;

Did I mention the driving situation here? Good Lord!! It’s amazing that a death or two per MINUTE does not occur…the way people drive here blows my mind! For those of you who know what I am talking about…you get it. For those who don't, there is no way that I can adequately explain it…pure madness!

Anyway, the climbing season on Everest is still way up in the air…no pun intended. We all met with the president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association today and the situation is a bit of a mess. The Nepal government has issued Trekking permits for the first time in history for anyone trekking, working, climbing and so on in the Himalaya this season. So this is generating a lot of headaches and running around to get everything squared-away on the last afternoon here in Kathmandu. Luckily, this sherpa (the President of the mountaineering association) is our logistics and base camp manager so it has made the effort a little easier for our team. If you didn’t know, the base camp clinic has been in operation since 2003 and Luanne is pretty dialed-in with all the top officals...thank god for this!

Our group leaves tomorrow to fly to Lukla and until further word comes up the hill will hold up somewhere enroute to base camp. So today, we gathered, checked and packed equipment and staged it for the out-bound flight for tomorrow.
In the meantime, we have been visiting the stupas and temples around the city...what a trip! The culture is unbelievable and an eye opener for me as I have never ventured to this part of the world...its been great to have Kristin fresh off a trip from here last month as I would be totally lost.

So, as in past DSP's you can see a revolving theme and that theme is pretty routine for us magnets of drama…we’ll see what the future brings. Email will become more difficult as we venture into the big hills, so stay tuned...it can only get better!

Hope all is well. Be safe and until then....namaste!

Tayloe & Kristin

Heads UP

Greetings all;

Awoke this morning to lots of water being thrown from high places! Today is the Napali holiday of Holi. A celebration of water and color. It’s looks sort of like some kind of crazy national water balloon fight and you’re in it whether you’re armed or not. And faces were painted and painted for you, whether you wanted it done or not using dye powder…it’s a wild and crazy scene!

Praying for world peace is the theme for the holiday and good God do we ever need that…so bring on the water balloons!

So after awhile, we took shelter on the roof of the hotel to hide from the constant barrage of water projectiles. It was a great vantage point to dry out and watch while charging the solar system for the trek into base camp.

As of today, everyone in our group has arrived to Kathmandu and it looks like we will depart for Lukla on the 25th. The next few days will be spent dialing-in gear for the expedition. The Docs for this years expedition include an ER doc from Denver (go figure), and an emergency Doc from Australia and the camp director, Dr. Luanne Freer, from Montana.

Word has also come down the line that Everest will remain open for the climbing season. The only stipulation is that no expedition can make a summit bid until after May 10th...but let’s see since the news seems to change from day to day...so stay tuned.

Hope all is well. Take care and be safe!

Tayloe & Kristin

Holy Himalaya Hotel

Hello to everyone from Kathmandu, Nepal at the grand Holy Himalaya Hotel;

Well, we made it! Despite the weather, traffic, luggage and plane drama.

We started out the day worried as we awoke to ice and snow on Monday morning and so we headed to the airport far too early...the flight was on time and all was well. However, as we taxied on the runway almost ready to fly...well, plane broke and we went back to gate...go figure! After a short meeting with the fix-it dude it appeared all was okay and so we were on our way. But the delay made our first connecting flight a challenge…we made it to the gate in Salt Lake City with about 10 minutes to spare. Then we enjoyed a leisurely 5-hour layover at LAX...joy, let me tell you. Then we grabbed onto a 20-hour flight over to Bangkok which took a little longer than expected due to some headwinds. Then, another 5-hour layover in Bangkok and then a short hop over to Kathmandu.

By the time we arrived I already had convinced myself that at least two pieces of equipment and/or luggage would be lost...not because of bad karma, its just the way it is with air travel, ya know. But to my utter surprise everything made it...awesome! So, after a short discussion regarding our visas we were on the way.

We met a representative from the HRA (Himalayan Rescue Association) at the airport and he drove us and our mounds of gear to the hotel....good God Almighty, I would not drive in this place even if I had my Yota stormchaser with extra steel on the bumpers...it’s crazy driving here!

So far we have had limited time to take in the culture, so we’re waiting for the sun to pop-up and have a look-see around.

Dealing with equipment and visas tomorrow and gathering some more stuff for the trip into Everest. We will be here in Kathmandu for three more days and then we fly into Lukla to begin the trek in. No word on the current state of affairs over in the Everest region...we will learn more about the political situation today. Here in Kathmandu there semms to be a lot more armed dudes guarding stuff...noted as we were driving in from the airport...but all seems safe and sound in general.

Ok, power goes out in a few so I will write more later.

Hope all is well...be safe and will update further soon...

Tayloe & Kristin

Start of a New Epic Drama

Greetings all,

To our sponsors: Thank you so very much for your support! We could not have provided so much support on our end without you. Check out your logo on the banner going to base camp...its posted on the website and here on this blog. We will hopefully have pictures and stories for you when we return.

We are packed and are (somewhat) ready to depart for Everest.

For those of you who may not have been keeping up with the blog; Kristin and I are headed to Everest Base Camp to support the base camp clinic this climbing season. Katabatic has been a sponsor of the clinic from its inception by providing recommendations for high altitude medicine and equipment for the clinic.

We will be in Nepal for approximately 2-months trekking to base camp and setting up the clinic where we will stay and provide medical and rescue services for about half after which, we’ll continue on to other clinics in the area.

We will have very limited communications while there so we most likely will not be able to reply to emails but will send dispatches and posts to the blog when we can.

If you have been keeping up with the world news you may have heard of all the epic troubles in China/Tibet. China has closed the North side of Everest to any climbing expeditions this season due to the unrest. China has asked the country of Nepal to do the same; so far the only reaction from Nepal has been to limit any Everest summit attempts until after May 10th. This is an issue as teams will need to be on the mountain and cranking up to the high camps while acclimatizing before or around this date. We are proceeding as planned and hope to find out more upon arrival. We have been told we will be allowed to trek into base camp to set up the clinic in preparation for the climbing season. Stay tuned? Have you noticed that most of our undertakings recently have involved a bit of an EPIC drama? I’m a magnet…go figure!

Speaking of my being a drama magnet…there are winter storm warnings being posted here in our Colorado area for tomorrow and Monday and since we depart Monday morning we are a little stressed because our connection times are pretty slim through to Bangkok…fingers crossed.

I’ll send out another dispatch when we land. Take care and be safe out there.

'Till Then,

Tayloe & Kristin

Upside Down

Yeah, SharkLids worked great, even upside-down here at the bottom of the planet as demonstrated by my right-side-up pal, Thai Verzon, another medical mountaineer that was working with me. He's taking his picture while looking into the reflective sphere that marks the geographic South Pole. Not only did the SharkLids cut the glare, but they didn't budge in the cold winds, which is pretty cool for a quickie, survival sunglass.

Hope all is well...will chat more later when my brain stops shaking from the cold.

Keep warm,

Tayloe

Tayloe with SharkLids in Antarctica

19 January 2008
Temp: 42F Winds: calm

Greetings All,

Well, no one died and we are off the plateau and back at McMurdo station. Thank God! Its been one long season down here for me even though its only been a little under three months. Here is a picture of the seismic recording boxes that we buried at each site.

Lets see, where did I leave you guys? I think we were headed for our little camping trip up on the high altitude plateau. Upon arrival we had two basecamp structures set up and awaiting us so all we had to do was walk in, turn on the heat and try to breath! We spent four days acclimatizing and letting the air get use to us. We arrived just in time for Christmas Eve and Christmas day...Santa did not bring his sorry tail down here this year...something about it being to cold for the reindeer…WIMPS!

Shortly after arrival we received our first big plane cargo mission...unfortunately they sort of sent the wrong stuff and we were really low on good food; I am done with dehydrated backpacker food forever! The field corps arrived almost a week after us and began their acclimatization phase. Due to bad weather back at McMurdo and S. Pole we only had 3-4 flights arrive with our gear and supplies, none-the-less we were able to put up 4 structures, a 16,000 foot skiway and get our cargo (that did arrive) ready to spend the winter up there. All in all a successful season with what we had to work with…go figure.

Weather was awesome the entire field season up there. Temps averaged -32 F with winds around 5 knots, which is a wind chill of around -45F. It was cold but not that bad? We had clear skies every day and only had a few days when the wind whipped up to 15 knots...now that was COLD!

No altitude illness to report this season. However, it was a strange acclimatization phase. We all had shortness of breath for the entire season and our sleep patterns were off most nights...i.e. we did not sleep much at all. I am sure it was due to the altitude, cold and sun phases but I have not experienced that at any other high altitude camp that I have worked in the past...will have to look into that when I get home.

Lets see; only one science project was done at our camp this season: a group flew in for 2-days to set up a remote GPS recording station, well, we actually set it up for them as they did not have time to acclimatize and I did not want them sick, so we did the work. Plus, we wanted them in and out quick!

So, in short, that was the season. A lot of drama to start with and some cargo issues out in the field, but all in all okay.

As for next season? We now have part of our large camp built and we will be able to drop in and continue to set up a few more structures and get ready for science. We will have two Twin Otter aircraft up there for the season next year flying around doing radar mapping of a range of mountains buried under the ice, so its going to be a busy one. We still need to build our acclimatization camp located at 9,500 feet a little down the road from this camp, so it will be a cold early season next year.

For now? I have to go back into the field for a few days next week and then I will be wrapping up things for the season. I am hoping to be off this ice sheet by the 29th of January and surfing by the 30th in New Zealand. Krisitin arrives back in the country from Nepal around 2 Feb. so it would be nice to pick her up at the airport.

Well folks...thats probably it for the 2007-2008 DSP reports. Hope everyone is well and happy and looking forward to catching-up back in the states. By the way, Happy New Year!

On a side note, we leave for Everest March 17th, so if you are coming out skiing with us in Colorado, you had better hurry up!

Take care and be safe out there!

Tayloe

Everest Base Camp Medical Clinic

Here is a video link to YouTube where you can see the medical clinic at Everest Base Camp in action.

Stay safe,

Mike and Kristin

VIDEO CREDITS: From BBC/Indus Films production Everest ER (Sept 2006) about the nonprofit medical clinic at Mt Everest Base Camp, Nepal. For more info and to purchase this 52 min documentary, visit www.BaseCampMD.com

Getting Ready for Everest

Dear Friends,

While Mike is still in Antarctica, I'm preparing to head out to Everest Medical Base Camp (photo above). Yes, it's very small. You can see some video of the clinic on YouTube from the BaseCampMD.com website.

As you know, we of Katabatic Consulting have been involved in-country and abroad where they have donated their special environment medical consulting expertise for the less fortunate or disaster stricken. We have been asked to bring our expertise to these locations for hands on medical, education, and consulting needs.

This season we are headed to Everest Base Camp "EBC" Medical Clinic for the 2008 climbing season to assist Dr. Luanne Freer with some of the medical logistics involved in providing free medical services for the climbing Sherpas on Mt. Everest.

The Himalayan Rescue Association (HRA) is a voluntary non-profit organization originally formed in 1973 in Nepal with an objective to reduce altitude and other casualties in the Nepal Himalaya. In 2003, the Everest Base Camp Medical Clinic joined established clinics in Pheriche and Manang to further the mission up high. The Himalayan Rescue Association, USA is a nonprofit, headquartered in the US to specifically benefit the HRA's newest clinic. The EBC medical clinic treats all who become ill or injured at the Everest Base Camp, caring for the many climbers and Nepali support staff during the popular spring climbing season. All of our physicians volunteer not only their time and services, but their travel costs to Nepal. Donations help us to renew outdated and worn medical equipment, purchase new medications, advance clinic capabilities, and subsidize low cost or free health care for the Sherpa people. For further information on the base camp, visit www.basecampmd.com.

Kristin heads out to Everest in January and is joined by Mike in March. Please visit our website to learn more about our involvement and to donate…we need your support. www.katabaticconsulting.com.

Thank you for your support,

Kristin & Tayloe