It is a bright, beautiful day. I have been told that I am scheduled on a 7:00 AM flight on Tara Air. Apparently they have replaced Yetti Air. Buddha Air no longer flies here. I suppose I should find it ironic that a boy from Georgia is flying “Tara” Air. But, frankly I am feeling [...]

My helicopter is late. He should have been here 15 minutes ago. Of course in Nepal as long as he arrives in a month with out and “r” in it he is right on time. After a while I hear the wopping of the rotors. I pull all my duffel bags out in the overnight [...]

Everyone has been supportive of my decision. It is a weird dynamic at play among a group of climbers in a situation like this. You can not make a stronger statement than to pull out of an expedition. Granted there are people who show up every year at BC, take one look at the ice [...]

I heard disturbing piece of news today which has brought the whole ice fall thing back to the forefront of my thinking. I have vacillated at times about the extent of the danger posed. I have told myself on more than one occasion that the most dangerous section with the giant overhanging ice is only [...]

Base Camp May 7. It’s shower day. Every four or five days I take an Everest shower whether I need one or not! Getting a shower at BC is a pretty unique experience since there is no running water that isn’t a few degrees above freezing. In our case we have worked out a pretty [...]

Base Camp. It was numbing cold last night but the day has dawned bright and sunny and within an hour the tent is stiflingly hot. That is something I will never get over is the wild variation in temperatures here. At night in my tent it is well below zero and any water bottle not [...]

Note: We have been without power and internet. A lot has happened and I will try and catch up all the missing days over the next few days. Thanks for understanding. Base Camp. We got back to base camp to discover a lot of things are falling apart. First my “lizard” rock that I like [...]

Some years ago a friend of mine emailed me an article out of a Canadian climbing magazine. He knew I had climbed Vinson in Antarctica and thought I would find this account interesting. I did. This guy experienced and epic climb. At one point he was in his tent, in his sleeping bag and was [...]

Himalayan Mushroom Treatment. We decided to come down to Pheriche for a few days to recuperate at lower altitude. It is hard to emphasize what a difference 3,000 feet in elevation and a different view and food can do for you. It is at least a hard six hour hike and toward the end I [...]

Base Camp is melting. Last night was very cold but the days are getting longer and warmer and camp is melting away. It is often easy to forget that this layers of filthy rock dust is just that – a layer of dust on top of ice. There are some butt bruises around here to [...]