Great news!!!! I still am trying to believe it. I summitted Mount Everest at around 8:15am the 23rd of May. It was certainly one of the most difficult challenges of my life. It was definitely the most technical and dangerous climb I have ever done. Fortunately, I am suffering only a little frostbite in one finger ( I may lose the tip only) and some peripheral edema that I am mostly over. Everything considered, I am very lucky.

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Good news. We are on our way to the summit very soon, tomorrow at 3am is the plan. The weather forecast is promising. It is just a question of team planning and final weather analysis. The Jet Stream is moving north and the window is opening. The final dynamics are unfolding and we will all know within a week or do how we will do. It is both scary and thrilling.

The summit of Everest has only about 25% air pressure (likewise 25% oxygen) as exists at sea level. At Camp 4 (26,000’) we will probably be there for only hours before leaving to climb around 9pm to the summit. Summit day is usually 18 hours. The hope is to arrive at the summit at sunrise.

My next post will be when we're back to BC around the 25^th, weather deciding.

This is it. My turn to practice what I preach and 'go for it' !

Today 5 of us hiked, by way of Pumo Ri to Kala Patthar. It is a 4 ½ hour hike over scree and boulders to a summit pinnacle with spectacular views of the Khumbu Valley, Khumbu Glacier, Base Camp and Everest itself. It is effectively a panoramic view of the entire area.

We are still on standby mode at BC. Every night we can hear the cracking and screeching sounds of the moving glacier under our tents. Avalanches, especially very early morning come crashing down, mostly it seems from Nupste, but also in all directions. Some break the silence for moments, other create great clouds of snow and mist and thunder that mushroom over a wide area as they crash down onto the Khumbu Glacier. Fortunately, none reach our encampment.

We are still here at BC waiting for our weather window to make our summit bid. Tuesday and Wednesday, both night and day, there were very high winds at BC, probably 50-60 mph in the gusts. The winds coming off the top of Everest were of course much higher. We were mostly confined to our tents. Yesterday, Thursday we found a nice 50’ wall on the glacier and practiced front-pointing up it to get us moving and out of the tents. After so many weeks of being so active, hiking into here, climbing Lobuche, 2 rotations up to C3, etc, it is really tough having to wait out so long at BC. We are all anxious to get climbing.

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Stuck but ready to climb Everest. We are well fed, rested, but nowhere to go until the weather high on the mountain improves. Winds and a low pressure system are preventing us from starting our attack for the summit. Late this week is a maybe.

Already it is 6 weeks since leaving home, we are more than primed to get the job done. A few more weeks are a small price to pay for such a great opportunity.

Today we hiked up to Pumori Base Camp to get are legs moving. Great views of Everest. We could see the high winds coming off its summit. Patience is golden in the mountains.

Will keep you updated.

Alas, we are heading home to comfortable Base Camp. The “Dream Team” !!! Jason, Eben & myself, left at 4:30am down the Western Cwm blazing fresh tracts in about 6” of new snow. In the early light of dawn, with the white duskiness and new white snow, the visibility was deceiving, and identifying the cracks and crevasses was tricky. Eben did a masterly job of finding the way and uncovering the dangerous snow bridges.

More below, including an essay from Louis Carstens ...

Storms during the night, but at 4:30 this morning it started to clear, we ate breakfast and hiked up to the Lhotse Bergschrund, descended into it and climbed it’s 90 degree pitch, crossed a narrow snowy ledge and then continued to climb the very steep rock solid blue ice of the Lhotse Face to C3. It is 3000 feet of rock hard old glacier ice that your crampons can barely bite into. Sometimes, you need to stab the steel points of your crampons several times before you feel secure enough to make your foot transition. It is very exciting climbing. This is what we are here for.

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At 2am this morning we had planned to get up and climb the Lhotse face to C3. It had snowed lightly all night, but at 2am there was lightning and thunder with high winds pounding our tents. It is now 3pm in the afternoon and the winds and snow have continued all day. We have been marooned in our tents on a sea of ice by the fickleness of the weather.

Last Friday the 30^th April, we left BC at 3am and climbed in light winds and snow again up the shifting Ice Fall on our 2^nd rotation. This time we all made it in under 6 ½ hours. Saturday we moved up here to C2 at the foot of Lhotse.

Great to get back to BC yesterday.  Ate well.  Slept well. Unfortunately, it is colder and cloudier than usual. Nevertheless, our Sherpa cook is great. And I can email and update the site with some terrific new photos taken with a helmet-mounted camera I finally figured out how to use. The shots really give you a full sense of the Ice Fall and perspective we get climbing the ladders and ropes. Hope you all enjoy.  Also please note, we have very limited bandwidth here, so I cannot respond to the many messages sent to me on my site – DaretoReach.ca -  until after getting back. Thanks so much for your support. Ted.

Tomorrow Friday morning at 2:30am we head back up the mountain (Ice Fall) for 1 night at C1, Saturday C2, Sunday we will push up the Lhotse Face (23,500’) to C3, Monday climb higher toward C4 but return to C2 to sleep. Expect to drop back down to BC Tuesday. This will be our last rotation before our summit bid. Hopefully we will be sufficiently acclimatized after this rotation to get to the summit.

We are all well rested after 4 days rest at BC and excited to go back up.

The days are ticking down now after almost 5 weeks leaving home.

Attached are a few photos from BC yesterday before dinner, at dinner, and a shot of the moon over Everest from the day before.

Really a big hello to everyone who is following. Although it is tough, I think we all know that this is one of the most profound and exciting challenges of our lives. This is living outside of our comfort zones. Jason qualifies it as 5 zip codes over! CHEERS.

This morning we climbed about half way up to C3 and approximately 1/5 up the Lhotse Face. It was awesome. Crossing the bergschrund (crevasse where the steep face of a glacier meets a more moderate slope) we crossed by ladder and up almost a 90^o ice wall, traversed a very narrow ledge, then climbed a 60⁰ + slope for a short distance. We then climbed and rappelled down some pretty technical sections. There will be a lot more technical stuff higher up to come.

We have the afternoon off. Tomorrow we leave at 5am to descent to Base Camp. Everyone is looking forward to our 4 days off at BC to shower, email and get ourselves stronger in the 17,500’ thicker air.

Don't forget to check-out some of my helmet-cam pictures by clicking here.

Sunny and cold day. Water bottles froze inside our tents last nite. This morning we hiked up near the Lhotse Face for a bit more acclimatization. Can see the Sherpa Rope Doctors putting in anchors and rope high up the Lhotse Face. It is pretty mean looking up through all the seracs. We won’t do the climb up the Lhotse Face to C3 until our next rotation. Yesterday afternoon I went out onto the glacier with Louis and I found an old steel oxygen bottle and a can of “Sliced Roast Lamb with minted gravy” 7 ½ oz net, Tyne Brand. This year it is very dry here so a lot more artefacts are being exposed out of the ice from many years past.

At 7 this morning we moved out of C1 for C2 up the Western Cym. The Khumbu Glacier starts high up the Lhotse Face, falls very steeply down to the foot of the mountain, and then flows downhill – called the Western Cym – in the valley between Everest (29,035’), Lhotse (27,939’) and Nupse (25,800’). It continues at the bottom of the valley taking an abrupt right and drops sharply to become the Khumbu Ice Fall. Likewise, at the bottom it turns 90 degrees left (Everest Base Camp) and flows for miles down the Khumbu Valley. Getting caught in the Western Cym late morning can literally bake you because the sun reflects off the ice and the surroundings peaks. The Western Cym is laced with crevasses of all sizes. They run in different directions, some only a foot wide, others you cross by ladders or descend into.

The 3 hour hike was not so long, but in the thin air, it was not easy. At C2 we are literally at the foot of Everest. At night, with the moon out, it is a magical setting. The moonlight radiates off Everest, Lhotse and Nupse and creates a magnificence that’s truly incredible.

Don't forget to check-out some of my new pictures by clicking here. I'm really stoked about my new helmet cam which takes some fantastic shots!

There were high winds last night, probably 50 mph (80Km) almost all night. This morning we did a hike up the Western Cym to about half way to C2 (extra acclimatization) and then returned to C1 to sleep. The crevasses here are huge. You have to cross over these deep cracks either by jumping over them or by ladders. Some you descend into and climb up the other side. Some are hundreds of feet deep. You have to cross aluminum ladders strut by strut in your crampons and only look down to place your crampon points, avoiding looking into the depths of the abyss. It can be intimidating.

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Son of a gun, it’s my birthday. Thank you all for your comments and feedback throughout my site. It's difficult for me to post replies directly as the internet connection from base camp is limited ... but do know that I appreciate your support greatly!

 This morning I unzipped my tent door and saw such a magnificent view of glacier, towering mountains and the awesome Everest Ice Fall. It was sunny and getting warm fast. What a great way to turn 63! Albeit, I miss family today, yet this is such a wonderful birthday present to be part of such an incredible challenge. And an anniversary of sorts that 40 years ago I stood alone close to the same spot I woke up this morning. Talk about life making a circle.

As an ongoing subject of interest, I will be highlighting certain individuals on this trip. Read on below ...

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