We decided to spend another day here.  It was snowing like crazy this morning and although it would have been a pleasant walk up to Lobuche in the snow the footing would have been treacherous.  Parts of the trail are very rocky and the snow was just wet enough to have made it pretty slippery.  Several of the team members were not happy.  If it bothered me that much I would have gone on by myself.  I have made this trip twice now alone.  There isn’t a lot of reason to hurry back.  In the little information we have been able to get – the weather affects sat phones and radio – there doesn’t appear there will be a summit window now for 7 to 8 days.  So let’s see: a cold tent at 17,500 and camp food or a much less cold room in a tea house at 14,500 ordering from a menu?  Even my hypoxic brain can process that one. 

Lest anyone get the impression this is a Holiday Inn let me describe my tea house rating system.  The “four star” tea houses have a western style commode for all the residents to share with the “five star” having TWO.  The “three star” have a shared bathroom with a hole in the floor for a toilet– subtract ½ star for the ones who padlock it during the day.  They want you to use the outhouse during the day, like people in Nepal only go in the dark.  The “two star” have an actual floor and you would rather stay in a tent than a “one star”.   We are staying in a “five star” tea house.  Actually it may be the best in the Khumbu.  Of course the walls are plywood decorated with the lumber yard logos and you can hear people snoring three rooms away but at least it isn’t like living in a yellow shopping bag.

The heart of each tea house is the common dining area.  They are all almost identical.  There is a bench around the outside wall for diners to sit.  Tables are pushed up to them and all serving is done from the center of the room.  In the very center of the room is a stove for heat.  At this altitude they burn dried yak dung.  It has a very distinctive aroma and will burn your eyes if the stove is not drafting well.  But I’m sure that is just the sweet smell of success to yak dung distributors.  The dining room is the only heated place in the Khumbu so that is where people congregate and since there is not much privacy you meet all kind of people.  As I sit here typing this there are people from Singapore, Bulgaria, England, Denmark, Germany, India, Spain, France (they’re griping because the menu is in English – just kidding), Scotland and the US.  Of course Nepal is well represented too.  So if you want quiet – my preferred state – you can go to your room and be cold.  Or you can be warm and have a headache.

On a sad note a Sherpa has died at BC and another is in very serious condition.  Apparently, they drank some homemade alcohol they spiked with something.  I heard methanol but that doesn’t make any sense to me – wood alcohol maybe.  I can’t understand why they would do that but it is tragic all the same.  There has been some speculation that what is an extremely dangerous practice at low altitude could be fatal at 17,500.  Alcohol abuse is a real problem in Nepal and most expeditions ban it after the Puja.  We have heard rumors of another altitude related death but I think that may be in error.  I sure hope so.  The body was supposed to be carried down today but that might be difficult in the weather conditions.

A team of three climbers and six Sherpas made an ill advised dash for the summit night before last.  At C4 they wisely decided the wind and snow was too bad and abandoned their attempt.  Yesterday morning, as we listened to the radio, their plight became much more serious when they could not find the fixed lines to C3 in the deep snow.  To down climb that route in wind and snow on O2 without fixed lines would have been extremely difficult.  After about 45 minutes they finally found the beginning of the route to C3.  It appeared that shortly after that one of the climbers took a fall.  I am sure it would have been fatal if he had not been clipped in.  All of that is speculation but what we do know is it took him all day to get to the relative safety of C2.  A descent that can be done in a few hours was turned into an epic.  We think the injured climber is staying at C2 until weather improves for the final descent through the ice fall.  Either way they have used their oxygen tank allotment and probably will not get another shot.

We will probably head up tomorrow.  If there is a summit window on the 20th I need to be heading up through the ice fall about the 16th.  “No hurry chicken curry”.