BC nervousness

We are waiting but most climbers aren't.

12 May - BC 5150m - rough weather

We awoke to some wind and snow from the north, no view of the mountain and most people went back to sleep until well after 8am. The luxury of doing not much. The sherpas radioed in that ABC was the same, windy and snowy and not particularly pleasant.

The skies look really ugly, there has been a variety of clouds over the day, and most definitely some high winds. The mountain has finally come into view. Earlier it was really loaded with new snow, now there is still plenty of snow but some has been stripped off. The mountain still looks horribly forbidding.

My thoughts

The weather is as forecast, no problem, and of course the wind will stop blowing and there will be some sort of summit window sometime soon. The transformation is usually predicted but never-the-less surprising. However with the info from our weather forecasts, I don't like the beginning of the upcoming window. It just looks too much like it is stormy conditions; the howling SW wind might stop, but then it should snow, and by some counts quite heavily. Snowfall, on this geographic and weather boundary, is notoriously difficult to predict - but the weather system coming in is not a normal pattern. That is why I am wary and a little nervous.

The climbing team

Usually I avoid commenting so that nobody can read too much into some simple comments, but our team really are in good condition. Nobody has a cough and everyone's oxygen saturation using our finger pulse oximeter is high, and everyone (except moi) has been exercising every day, staying in condition. Probably we are waiting here at BC for at least a few more days until we know that all our supplies are in place for a summit push.

The sherpas

The seven of them are waiting a little less patiently at ABC. They still have one load of oxygen to carry from 7650m up to 8210m, and a light load to carry from North Col to 7650m, so two days work. Definitely during the next weather window they will do this, but perhaps later in the window rather than earlier? I am watching the weather carefully.

BC update

The large Chinese is now an empty shell, only a little has been dismantled so far but when the wind stops I am guessing the neat lines of tents will be rapidly stripped. So far the truck-mounted mobile phone tower, has yet to leave, although when I asked, was told it might go today. There is a smaller, lower capacity repeater, but i am guessing that the 3G services, including receiving and sending videos by phone will stop.

DCXP

Duncan mentioned that both laptops are now out of action at ABC, and with an altitude-bulged screen so is his almost brand new PDA. I will send mine up, in the meantime there might not be so many dispatches. We are expecting at least some of the team down at BC today for a well-deserved rest.

Everest at around 4pm, Nepal time, cloud streaming off; obviously the wind on the summit has not yet stopped - Jamie