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