It was a solid day of preparation for moving up the mountain! After bidding farewell to Anna, a Swedish trekker who joined our group for the past several days, we prepared for a climbing day tomorrow. We spent our time in camp organizing gear, clothing, food, snacks and equipment in preparation for our journey up through camp one and even higher on the mountain. With good weather, we will be at it early, moving up through the icefall and onto the glacier to the environs of camp 1 at over 20,000 feet.
We were extremely fortunate today to get a training session lead by the very man who has developed our oxygen systems. Like the majority of climbers on Mt. Everest, we will be using supplemental oxygen to reach the summit. Even with this supplemental oxygen, our climbers will struggle to catch their breath under even light exertion not to mention the efforts required on summit day. Ted Atkins has designed and developed the TopOut oxygen delivery system and was in basecamp today training us on the specific operation of his system. The Sherpas and climbers are now more ready to face the oxygen deprived altitude of the higher camps with a greater safety margin.
With good weather and fortune, tomorrow’s update will come from higher up the mountain!