Ready to go back up inRotation 2
April 27
We had 2 full days of recovery, then today a few hours in the foothills of the ice fall for advanced skills fine tuning.
Recovery days consist of a glorious bucket shower, needed laundry (sometimes with you in the bucket shower), major calorie intake, sleeping, catching up with friends/family (Wi-Fi at EBC), warming your core back up, and… MOVIES!!!!
San Miguel commandeered the small movie projector from the large CTSS shared white dome. Between him and I, we had enough cables to McGyver connections to our devices. Since the other groups are now in their 1st rotation, camp is pretty quiet. We have it all to ourselves. The different groups have been hanging out in separate bubbles (covid precautions), so the DREAM TEAM took this opportunity to snag the projector, share movies (downloaded on personal devices) daily, sip cocoa, and continue our bubble bonding!
On the upper mountain, you typically stay in the same base layers, never taking them off. You are in a tight little tent, with others, or climbing to the next spot. You don’t have full length mirrors or room/time to observe changes your body is going through. So, it catches you by surprise when you have a couple moments to realize your pants are hanging off you, or your skin is DRY and flaking off all over, or your muscle tone has decreased (which is weird, right? Because we are pushing and pulling ourselves up and down a mountain. But, it happens. I’m just sort of a weird skinny. Ha!)
A few people have boot adjustments to make, or plantar fasciitis to tend to. Others (ME, TOTALLY ME) needed to practice their pee funnel and bottle (mission accomplished BTW)! It feels a bit warmer during the day at EBC. That is delightful after a 3 day upper mountain storm! It renews my energy quickly and I feel ready to go for Rotation 2! Don’t get me wrong, I will thoroughly enjoy the days of recovery at EBC, but relieving to know mentally I am ready to go right back up. Most of the team feels the same way.
I was able to make a brief call to my sister and mom, over wi-fi. It was so nice to hear their voices and conversation was pretty normal, like any other day. I think they’re pretty used to my adventures and not much phases them anymore. My mom was more interested in telling me about a few adorable dogs, up for adoption, she is looking at, than the terrain through Khumbu Ice Fall. Then again, maybe it’s her way of NOT talking about the dangers of this expedition and gives her something to focus on other than her daughter climbing Everest. She has always been so supportive, and shows no fear for me. But inside, she must be holding her breath until I return… So, focusing on rescuing a dog in need, and putting her energy into that sounds reasonable!
In general: the Dream Team and our guides are healthy, stupid happy, feeling strong (pulse ox, temp, pulse taken daily and recorded) and full steam ahead! We all THANK our friends, families, new friends on social media, and CTSS for all the positive thoughts and prayers. None of us got here by ourselves. It takes a village to get one person up that mountain and that is not lost on a single one of us!
I am truly grateful to be here fulfilling this dream and reaching my goals!
(And to Lisa Miller: My sister from another mister, one of my best friends and supporters… HAPPY BIRTHDAY BEAUTIFUL!!! Cannot wait to celebrate both our BDay’s when I return! LOVE YOU!!!)
About the author : Kim
