(Multiple gaps in audio…)

From Bill’s wife Sharon-  “A lot of the audio that Bill sent was not clear. Bill and Mingma called me earlier tonight to get the weather report. At first he said his plan was to try for the summit on the 20th, but after hearing the weather report, the audio said it would be the 19th. He said he was exhausted when arriving at Advanced Base Camp. Said it is a LONG way from Intermediate Base Camp to Advanced Base Camp.”

Follow Bill’s progress in 3D. View the tracking map to see the journey so far and instructions on how to see Bill’s track.

Follow Bill’s progress in 3D. View the tracking map to see the journey so far and instructions on how to see Bill’s track.

Follow Bill’s progress in 3D. View the tracking map to see the journey so far and instructions on how to see Bill’s track.

Follow Bill’s progress in 3D. View the tracking map to see the journey so far and instructions on how to see Bill’s track.

Audio transcript:

Namaste everyone, its Bill calling from Tingri, Tibet,

I’m in Tingri rather than Milam because Tingri is a lot closer to Chinese base camp. It’s higher altitude but I’m acclimatized so there was no reason to stop in Milam. I’m glad to be here, I probably got a 3 hour drive or so up to Chinese base camp. I’ve been spot tracking the route since I left Katmandu so you can check that out on ‘track Bills progress’, if you’re interested. It was a good ride up, the ?? they leave Katmandu, they leave the city and you proceed up into the mountains several hours I guess maybe 4 hours to the border. The roads are horrible in the mountain they’re all washed out with dirt and rocks, all bumpy but I got to the border just fine and inside the customs while I was at the border of Nepal and Tibet they discovered my videos, my CDs for the DVD player, the movies, and I had about 10 of them and much to my surprise they told me I couldn’t bring them into Tibet, its forbidden, some new law or rule that I wasn’t aware of, I was really bummed about that because they’re great to have at base camp when you’re bored. So they took all of those but they missed the most valuable one because it was inside the DVD player, fortunately from Josh’s football banquet. I got one DVD that I salvaged from all of that and I guess I’ll just have to watch it over and over.

So we moved over into Tibet and the roads are much better in Tibet than in Nepal, much much clearer. And in Tibet after you cross the border you drive up into the ? into the mountains and eventually emerge on the Tibetan plateau and it was a really nice ride from there once you get out of the mountains. The mountains are beautiful it’s deep gorges and rivers below and waterfalls but once you get onto the Tibetan plateau it’s like a big open highway and open country, it was really quite nice. Well we got here, I would guess about 4 o clock in Tingri, maybe later. Three little girls that couldn’t be more than their early teens took my bags on their back and carried them up the stairs to my room. Then I had dinner all by myself in the dining room, the same girls served it but it was cooked by a gentlemen. It was a good dinner. In the room I had no water whatsoever, it was actually a nice room, two good sized beds, a pretty nice room but there was no water and light was only available for an hour so I went to bed and unfortunately I didn’t get a very good night’s sleep. The reason for that is that the room faces toward the street and downtown Tingri, I’m going to send a photo if I can show you what downtown Tingri looks like. But the window faces towards the street and the dogs, and there are lots of dogs in Tingri, lots of dogs, they barked all night, all night and into the morning. So I got some sleep but not what I was hoping for because of all the racket outside my window. I got up this morning and went out and of course they’re all sleeping now. I felt like going dog hunting but neither one in particular seemed to howl the loudest and longest. But I ended up feeding them a candy bar, I felt sorry for them, they were pretty straggly and malnourished.

So just having a cup of coffee right now and probably in another half hour were going to pile, the driver and I, will pile into the land rover? and in another few hours well be at base camp, I’m really excited about that. I don’t know what the conditions there, but since I’m arriving there early today my plan is to rest the day at Chinese base camp and start moving up tomorrow to intermediate base camp. So that’s my story for today, doing good. I hope everybody at home is doing well and I will report in tomorrow and maybe I’ll send in a picture?? if i can make it work at base camp. Alright, talk to you soon. Bye….

Namaste Everyone:

Early tomorrow morning, I depart by land rover for Tibet. I have my own car and driver, which will make this an enjoyable trip.

I am so ready to begin climbing again. The 3-day rest in Kathmandu was great for my acclimatization and for the tough climb ahead. I can hardly wait to get back to the North side.

For the last few days since my arrival in Kathmandu, I have been second-guessing my decision to return to Kathmandu, rather than wait for the lines to be fixed on the South side. Should I have stayed South and tried to summit the South side first? What if the weather and route improved and an early South side summit became possible? Was I premature in my decision to flip to the North? Now, I think my instincts were correct and my decision to flip was correct. The lines have not been fixed to the summit on the South side. I heard that, just yesterday, loads were carried to the South Col, but I don’t think our camp has been established. Bad weather has been forecast for the South side, which may delay things further. I am so glad I made the decision to switch to the North. In just 3 days, I will be moving up to Advance Base Camp on the North side. Hopefully, the Chinese will have fixed the lines to the top so, weather permitting, I can keep moving steadily up to the summit. If the season extends into late May and/or early June, perhaps I can come back to the South side and complete the double. It’s all in the hands of the Lord.

During the trip to Chinese Base Camp, I will be signaling my location with my Spot tracking device. You can follow the journey on my website using the “Track Bill’s progress” link. I will also be filing regular audio reports and sending photos with my pocket computer and satellite telephone.

Sadly, Allan flies home today. Also, I spoke yesterday with Bud Allen at Base Camp. He is coming down and heading home because of an illness in the family. All my friends are leaving! I will miss them so much. However, I wish them safe travels home, and I will pray for their loved ones who are ill.

Because Allan is leaving, I will have no computer to send written reports. Most of the rest of my reports will be audio. I’ll try my best to speak slowly and clearly. If you have trouble listening to the audio, please speak up and we’ll see if the transmission can be improved. Maybe someone in the family will transcribe the reports.

See you in Tibet!

Bill

Namaste Family & Friends:

This morning, Allan and I flew from Lukla to Kathmandu. The airport at Lukla is rated the most dangerous in the world. Tthe runway is short and is uphill on the way in and downhill over a cliff on the way out. As usual, the flight was exciting. We were the last airplane to leave Lukla in the morning because weather closed down the airport, as is typical of this airport.

It’s great to be breathing the thick, albeit polluted, air of Kathmandu.  It is also nice to be sleeping in a real bed and ordering off a menu. Tonight, Allan and I plan to have dinner at the Everest Steak House. We’ll also order a nice bottle of wine, the first alcohol in a very long time.

Dawa Steven, of Asian Trekking, arrived at Lukla in the morning on his way to Base Camp. We had tea and then Allan interviewed Dawa for the film.

Here’s my current plan: I will stay in Kathmandu until May 12, which is my entry date for Tibet per the VISA application. On May 12, I will be transported by land rover to Chinese Base Camp in Tibet, with one stop on the way, probably at Nyalum. I plan to arrive at Chinese Base camp on May 13 and promptly begin my ascent of the North side of Everest. From what I have heard, the Chinese have made good progress in fixing the lines to the summit. Since I am already acclimatized from the South side, I hope to move up briskly, weather permitting. I am really excited about returning to the North side. If my ascent of the North side goes as planned, I plan to return to Nepal and move back up to Base Camp South for a summit attempt on the South side.

This morning, I asked Dawa Steven to assess the situation on the South side to see if anything has changed on the South side from what I reported to you in an earlier post. If things are the same, with the delays in line fixing, I will follow the plan outlined in the preceding paragraph. If things have improved, and an early summit on the South side is now possible, I will move back up to Base Camp South and follow the original plan for a South/North double summit. In this event, my return to Kathmandu will be treated as a lower than usual pre-summit rest before the big push up.

Bottom line: the dream is still alive. I don’t give up easily. I’ll keep you posted.

My spirits are sky high and I feel optimistic and great.

God Bless all of you,

Bill

Big news yesterday. Russell Brice, of Himalayan Experience, decided to cancel his Everest expedition. I understand he based his decision on the dangerous condition of the mountain, particularly the Khumbu Icefall and the Lhotse Face and above. His Sherpa team made an emotional plea for this action based on their experience in moving through the Icefall and up the Lhotse Face. One of my own team members reported experiencing a hail of rocks coming down on him as he moved up the Lhotse Face a few days ago.

Mr. Brice leads a very large expedition on the mountain and his leadership and experience in Everest expeditions, both North and South, is well known. His departure is a blow to the line fixing (currently fixed to Camp 3 on the Lhotse Face) as he has a large team of experienced Sherpas who will now be moving down.

However, the other teams on the mountain are strong and well equipped to pick up the slack. As far as I know, no other team is moving down and they plan to continue line fixing on the mountain. Everyone is hoping for more snowfall so conditions on the mountain are safer. Additional snow will hold the rocks in place and allow the lines to be fixed to the summit.

At the very least, all of these developments spell some significant delay in fixing the lines to the summit. My best guess is that the lines will be fixed to the summit around May 18-20.

Here’s my dilemma. My goal is a double summit from both the South and North sides of the mountain. Failing that, I would prefer to summit from the North side in Tibet since I have already summitted from the South side in Nepal. In order to accomplish a double, I would need to summit on the South side by May 15-18. This does not now seem possible. If I stay here and wait for better conditions, I would likely find myself summitting for a second time on the South side and missing the opportunity to summit on the North side.

For these reasons, I have decided to flip my expedition to the North side. I will depart Base Camp on May 7 and move down to the village of Lobuche. On May 8, I will take a helicopter to Lukla and from Lukla I will fly to Kathmandu. I will stay in Kathmandu until May 12. On May 12, I will be transported by land rover across the border into Tibet. I will stay in the village of Nyalam on May 12 and drive to Chinese Base Camp on May 13. I plan to rest in Chinese Base Camp on May 13-14, trek to Intermediate Base Camp on May 15 and then trek to Advance Base Camp on May 16 where I will join the North side team. If I am fortunate enough to summit early on the North side, I will consider a return to the South side for a South side summit.

Unfortunately, my dear friend Allan will not be able to join me on the North side expedition because of a serious medical condition on the part of a family member.  I will dearly miss Allan as well as my other dear friend and climbing partner, Bud Allan. Bud is currently resting in Pheriche (missing all of the drama at Base Camp). He will probably return to Base Camp tomorrow and resume his South side climb.

Allan has been very busy shooting film and taking photographs at Base Camp. I believe his documentary will offer a perspective on Everest never seen before in filmmaking.

I am feeling really good. I am especially excited about my move to the North side of the mountain, although I wish Allan was coming with me.

My apologies for the length of this report. I wanted to give you a full accounting of my thinking and strategy in making this change of plans.

My next report will be from Kathmandu. Incidentally, the stay in Kathmandu will be excellent for my acclimatization.

Bill

ps: I will turn on my Spot tracking device so you can track my progress to Chinese Base Camp on the North

First, I begin with good news. The Nepalese man who was blown into the crevasse by the Nuptse avalanche survived the event and is recovering in Kathmandu. The information I was given about his death was incorrect. I apologize for my prior report, which I am happy to correct in this happy update.

The news about line fixing is not so happy. Because of the paucity of snow on the mountain, there is a serious risk of rock fall on the steep sections of the mountain, beginning with the Lhotse Face. There have been many injuries to climbers from the rock falls, including broken bones as reported earlier. To mitigate this risk, the lines up the Lhotse Face to Camp 3 were moved, not really to correct a mistake, but to make the move safer. This is good and is a credit to the line fixers. However, the rock fall issue remains very serious and could result in serious delays in fixing the lines above Camp 3 to the summit. What we badly need at this point is lots of snow to fall in the coming days and weeks so the rocks are held in place by the snow and ice.

The North side teams are reporting heavy winds (as usual) so the progress of line fixing is delayed there too. Bottom line: my plans for a double summit are in serious jeopardy. Please pray for snow.

Yesterday, I walked down to Gorakshep with Bud and Nick. We had lunch and then Bud and Nick headed down to Pheriche where they will rest for a few days. I climbed Kala Patar (18,200 feet), which is near Gorakshep. Because it was late in the day and the weather was sketchy, I had the whole mountain pretty much to myself. When I arrived on the summit, it started to snow pretty hard. I descended the mountain and then trekked back up to Base Camp. It snowed pretty hard last night. Yeaaaa.

I plan to rest here indefinitely and monitor the weather and line fixing situation. Once that sorts out, I will make a summit plan and advise you accordingly.

Bill

Bud Allen-my good friend from Columbus Georgia. Bud is going down today to Pheriche for a rest. I plan to stay here with Allan.

Allan Smith-my good friend and filmmaker. He is not climbing on the South side. Allan is doing a lot of filming and is managing the communication tent. He is having so much fun.

Paul Thelen-from Germany. He injured his ribs in a fall at Base Camp and is recovering nicely.

Dr. Schaaf-from Germany. He speaks very little at the meals, probably because his English is not that good.

Naim (“Nick”) Logic-from Bosnia-Herzegovina. He has dual citizenship in Bosnai and America. He lives in Arizona and is a very personable team member. He loves our movie nights.

Vit Morava-from the Czech Republic. He is Jan’s brother and is a very nice and sociable person.

Jan Morava-from Canada. He is extremely sociable and has a great sense of humor. His English is very good.

Carsten Pederson-from Denmark. Carsten is very outgoing and is fun to have as a team member. He went back to Kathmandu before we arrived because of a respiratory problem, but is now back at Base Camp and seems to be doing great. He plans to climb through the Khumbu Icefall to Camp 1 and then go home.

Jacob-from Denmark. He is a very young and strong climber and is not pictured in the photo because he was on the mountain when the photo was taken. He and Ted are climbing Lhotse. The rest of us are climbing Everest.

Gio Torladze-from the Republic of Georgia. Gio is a member of the Georgia Parliament and has very strong political views. The political discussions at dinner are always interesting.

Sanjay-from Nepal. He is a young long distance runner.

Ted Atkins-from France. Ted is a very experienced mountaineer. He has a Scottish accent a very engaging personality and keeps the discussion going at dinners. He designed the “Top Out” oxygen mask we will be using on the mountain.

There are 6 climbers from India. They have their own dining tent and keep pretty much to themselves, so I don’t have any information on these team members other than names-Loveraj Singh Dharmshaktu, Meghlai Mahato, Rajendra Singh Pal, Nandini Choiraj, Binita Soren and Mr. Kapil.

Miscellaneous Update

Everyone is doing fine. Physically and mentally I feel great. My appetite is excellent and I am sleeping sound and long in my tent every night. I have no symptoms of altitude sickness. Praise the Lord.

The food at Base Camp has been good. Lots of potatoes, pasta, momos, chicken, steak, noodles, fresh vegetables and salad. Last night, the cook baked a great cake with white frosting. We best enjoy this now since we won’t be feasting this way while we are climbing.

We have movie night almost every night in which we watch the movies I brought. My DVD player has been working great. So far, we have seen Dr. Strangelove (an old classic), Fargo, Casino, Ice Station Zebra, and Never Cry Wolf. Only a few of us attend movie night.

The lines up the Lhotse Face were not fixed properly and there have been injuries from rock falls, including two climbers who suffered broken arms yesterday. These lines are being re-fixed, which means delays in the line fixing, which is bad for me. My summit schedule for the South side will be delayed.

Unknown to me, some of my audio reports did not go through, including my report on the huge avalanche in the Western Cwm, just above Camp 1. This avalanche occurred while I was at Camp 2. It came down from Nuptse mountain and covered the whole Western Cwm. Many tents were destroyed at Camp 1, including all but 2 of our tents. Initially, there were reports of no deaths or serious injuries from the avalanche. It was reported that one man was blown into a crevasse but was rescued. I learned yesterday that he died at the hospital in Kathmandu. This brings to 4 the number of fatalities on Everest this year. The Nepalese Ministry of Tourism is very concerned about the number of deaths on the mountain so early in the season. The MOT is not issuing more climbing permits for this year. There are also rumors that the MOT will be significantly reducing the number of permits that are issued next year.

Once the question of line fixing has been resolved and I have an idea as to when the lines will be fixed to the summit, I will set a new schedule for my next moves and will let you know.

I think I have the problem of audio reports solved, so I hope there will be no more delays and missing reports. Don’t forget to check Allan’s blog (8summitsfilm.com) since he is sending reports and photos concerning my expedition. He just filed a humorous blog about his “Move Day.” If you register your e-mail address on Allan’s blog, you will receive e-mail alerts when he files a report, just like my blog.

I want to welcome to the world my new grand niece–Freya Elizabeth. Congratulations Becky and Shane –Mom and Dad, as well as the whole family.

I will report again in the next few days.

Bill