I slept as poorly as I have since I got to Nepal last night.  Yesterday afternoon I spent some time practicing repelling, jumarring (which is using a device called and ascender which has a ratchet that allows a rope to move in only one direction.  It is used for “ascending” – climbers are nothing if not creative uhn? – going up vertical ice) and going across the horizontal ladders over the crevasses higher up.  It was good practice.  Unfortunately, I felt so well I forgot it was only my first full day at this altitude.   I also didn’t take a jacket and it clouded up.  I was just “jugging” (that is the repetitive maneuver of stepping up and then sliding your ascender up before stepping up again) my little heart out before I realized I was trying to hock up a lung from the cold air I was breathing in prodigious gulps.  I ended up with a cold induced coughing fit that nothing would touch.  I started with tesalon pills, moved on to codeine and spent a miserable night.  From the look of some of my team mates they didn’t get much sleep either.  Finally about daybreak I found some hot water and made a tent over my head.  It took about an hour and a half in my improvised steam hut for the coughing to subside.  It is amazing how one act of stupidity can start a chain reaction that will cut your trip short.

After breakfast I went to the Himalayan Rescue Association tent to sign up for there “all in” medical service and have them check me out.  This is an amazing group of doctors led by Luanne Freer (who gave my wife the bad news that women don’t loose as much as men on Everest – I don’t remember all the comments about life being unfair but I’m sure you get the drift) and Erick Johnson.  For $100 they provide unlimited consultation throughout the climb.  Considering that they see more high altitude problems in a morning than many docs see in a lifetime it is a fantastic bargain.  After Erick reminded me that I knew better he assured me I was doing the right things and would be fine.  I will not pant: I will not pant; I will not pant.  In the night I was worried I would be sent down.  It is worth 10 times the $100 for the peace of mind they give.  I do think they have a web site.  I believe it is basecampmd.com.  In the off season they provide care to the people of the Khumbu.  You see the best and the worst here and they are definitely the best.  Buy a tee-shirt unless you live near me you’ll be the only one on your block!  Just to tell you what they have to deal with the guy in front of me had gotten Altitude sickness in the night.   After all the OTC meds he had taken diamox (actually the only good thing) then codeine then valium.  The only thing more amazing than doing that was standing outside the medical tent telling everybody.

Today was our puja.  I couldn’t help but remember the last meeting around a puja pole for me was in 2006 to memorialize Phinjo Sherpa – one of our team who had been killed in the ice fall.  I think because I had always been respectful of the Sherpas religious practices while not hiding my own beliefs they wanted me to share a Bible scripture as well.  It was a very moving time and not one I ever want to repeat.

This year’s good weather has allowed us to put in CI and CII already.  Fixing lines on the Lhotse face will begin tomorrow to CIII.  That should take several days.  Plans have already been laid to fix above that to CIV.  It is entirely possible that by the 1st of May fixed lines could be in place all the way to the South Summit leaving only the last section that will be fixed by the first team to make an attempt on the summit.  This is 10 to 14 days earlier than in years past.  That is a function of good weather and the teams finally agreeing it was in everyone’s interest to work together on this.  In years past, because of the manpower and financial commitment many teams hung back waiting for the big commercial expeditions who have the greater time constraints to just do it for everybody.

We could conceivably have people on the summit the first week of May if this weather holds.  Of course we might never get a summit weather window too.  Rare but it has happened.  My job is to avoid the stupid climber tricks and be ready to go when my chance comes.  We will move to CI for two nights late this week and then CII for 2 to 4 more nights.  I may attempt to touch CIII before retreating to BC.  Most are making multiple trips because of the unpleasantness of the higher camps.  I personally would rather spend a little more time up there and cut out some of the ice fall trips.  We will see.  I am part of a team and there are a lot of considerations including acclimatization rate.  In any case it was good to hear steel on ice again.