The Team

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