At The Intersection of Yak Dun and Slick Ice

Khumbu Ice Fall Practice Day – EBC

April 15/16

ENOUGH RESTING SLACKERS! Time to work ?. We had a BLAST skills training in the foothills of the Ice Fall the last 2 days. Seriously, so much fun! Much like the courses set up by Mua’ adib in Ouray, our guides set up multiple obstacle courses to refresh any rusty skills and receive Everest specific technique from the BEST, our guides! Everyone slayed it!

On the way back in from a few hours of training, we weaves our way back up to our high camp perch. We came to an intersection and happened to run into 2 people. 1 of which is a friend from Denver! I LOVE THIS CRAZY UNIVERSE! I knew Dana was coming to basecamp, but different dates. And with covid rules in place, we are discouraged from running around fraternizing with others… we met at the intersection of Yak Dun and Slick Ice (self named). Had a girl squeal, a quick hug (with buffs on) and went our separate ways.

After lunch (always amazed how I can stuff my pie hole every meal and still lose weight! God bless high altitude!). Wave 2 rolled in the afternoon, so the energy around camp picked up a notch!

However, with Covid a constant concern for all of Base Camp, and the world, we will all do our best to stay in our Wave groups. Also, CTSS is keeping watch and patrolling for any visitors to camp. This camp is impressive and we get buzzed by drones constantly, but we are asking all non-CTSS climbers to stay out of our footprint to prevent spread of any illness, should it come this way.

EBC runs about 1 mile long by 1/3 mile wide. We are ON TOP of this glacier, which moves 3 ft/day. Therefor, the crew has to adjust all the tents, dining tents, kitchen, etc weekly. Hot water, power, meals are all scheduled by group, giving the staff ability to accommodate smoothly and with consistency. Well, as much consistency as possible… power and Wi-Fi are a LUXURY and solar powered, so cannot complain of spotty. We should be grateful for what we get in that department!

Mua’ Adib brought the game Cribbage (SP?). This is quickly becoming a pre-dinner event nightly

After dinner, we filled up our empty bottles with “Tahtoh Poni” (hot water) and separated to our own tents. The stars are stunning, but that means clear clear skies, which means going to be a COLD NIGHT! I crawled into my -20 F bag, hot water bottles at my feet, and thought about my momma. I talk about my father a lot, and the impact he had in my life. He taught me a passion for the outdoors, engineering and great compassion. But my mom… my mom, she taught me STRENGTH. Above all else, she taught me to rely on myself, to work hard for what I want, and how to find my voice. She never ever let me give up on myself. It is because of both of them that I am the woman I am today. It is because of the strength she taught me, I am freezing my ass off on the edge of Nepal, preparing to climb the highest mountain in the world. Ha! (I remind her of this often, “it’s your fault mom I am doing this. If only you had raised me with less confidence, you wouldn’t have to worry about me getting through the Explorers Grand Slam)

I usually dedicate each climb to my father or my grandfather, who have passed. But this one is for my mother, my queen!

New Nicknames:

Kate is adorably “Snicker Pie” – her default nickname is “Spider Woman”, because as a world renowned rock climber, she defies all gravity, and can scale any rock structure within minutes. However, on this little trip, she did enjoy a Khumbu Valley delicacy “snicker pie”. They take a snickers bar, roll it some sort of dough and deep fry that baby! To us, she is our sweet and amazing Snicker Pie!