Climbing day on Lobuche
April 11
Our calculated leaders decided to move Lobuche climb to today AND IN THE WARMTH OF THE DAYLIGHT!! Thank you baby Jesus! No 2 am wake up. A couple others are cycling though the sniffles, but everyone in great spirits and ready to practice crampon work on Lobuche. According to Casey and Narin, there is usually snow starting at high camp and you start out in mountaineering boots right out of camp. Not this year! The ground is bone dry.
Side note: it is my opinion that those who do not believe in climate change obviously have not traveled the extreme areas of this planet to actually SEE the changes occurring. It is dramatic. Ok, back to our story
We made our way up the steep terrain in regulate hiking boots, harness and helmets. We carried our technical boots in our backpacks. We finally reached the edge of the glacier, switched out boots, grabbed a snack, reloaded sunscreen and began fixed line mixed climbing. There was still so much exposed rock. So, off we went. Many of us had not climbed on rock with crampons. We adapted quickly, but it was taking much more time to allow every teammember to get through each section. Narin scouted ahead to check out the conditions toward the summit. We are the first wave of climbers coming through so no prior intel available. He is a freaking mountain goat! The ropes were not stable and would need some mending. We were close to the top of Lobuche, but the winds were picking up and the call was made to turn around back to High Camp. We just did not have enough time with such a big group. Would have been nice to summit another 20K+ peak, but smarter to keep the end game as the priority, Everest! The point of Lobuche was to take the place of a Khumbu ice fall rotation and practice moving through ice as a team. We were happy with our day and headed down to high camp for one more night. Many were tired and climbed right into their tents. It was COLD, but as I mustered the courage to get up to visit the ladies room, the mountain tops were blush pink, kissed by the setting sun, and whisky clouds rolled quickly through. Several of us braved the cold to marvel in one of the rewards of what we have put our bodies and minds through. It is hard to capture on film or describe by words how truly inspiring and majestic the Himalayas are. Good night my team. Good night Lobuche.
New nickname:
Casey is now Mua’ Dib:
Named after Prince Paul Atreides in the cult classic movie, Dune! We started chatting about this movie on our trek and Casey connected deeply with the “rider of the spice”. He lead a people to freedom by taking control of the spice. Casey is our mua’ dib . And yes, we plan on riding giant earth worms to the top of Everest, and wear body suits enabling us to drink our own urine( ??). If you haven’t seen Dune, put that on your Netflix binge list
About the author : Kim
