PREACCLIMATE.com

I received a call from Brian on Saturday. He sounded fantastic and is doing that much better. Over the past week he spent 2 nights at both Camp 1 (19,500 ft) and Camp 2 (21,000 ft). En route Brain thoroughly enjoyed the challenge of the Khumbu Ice Fall.  He described it as an adult obstacle course of ropes and ladders. To my relief, there are various reports that the Ice Fall is quite mild this season and relatively safe. He only expects to make 3 or 4 trips through the Ice Fall. Things higher on the mountain are unusually quiet this year.  Despite Brain’s enthusiasm and eagerness, the ropes are fixed only until Camp 2. The climbers should know more about higher access within the next couple of days. Pending the outcome, Brian may go back to C2 and stay at 21,000 ft for a few days or descend to Namche and enjoy the internet and bakery. Not surprisingly he’s making friends with other members of the expedition; 5 of whom are also climbing Lhotse. He may be teaming up with a Romanian guy to share resources at the upper camps. As I said before, he really sounded great. Hopefully we’ll have more to share here shortly. Take care and thanks for following along!     

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Brian was able to make a quick call Saturday night.  He sounded great and apologized for not calling sooner but it has been nearly impossible due to the stringent communication restrictions.   In good health and high spirits, Brain safely arrived at Base Camp on April 18th.  Over the next couple of days he will ascend to Camp 1 then later in the week reach Camp 2.  He will then descend back to BC where he hopes to give us an update in about a week.  Although the call was under 3 minutes, I did let him know that the Cavs won their first playoff game.   Thanks so much for your support.  More to come….

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After safely landing in Lukla, I traveled for about 4 hours on Monday until jet lag got the best of me. I stopped in the last town before Namche, just up valley from Monjo. Seeing as I passed out for about 14 hours I can say it was the best sleep I’ve had in quite a while. It was great!
I just cruised up to Namche Bazar in about 2 hours. All is well and my belly is full! The bakery was better than I remembered: apple pie, donuts and cinnamon rolls will surely fuel the rest of my day. I’m hoping to make it to Tengboche this afternoon for a Puja and plan to stay there for the night. So far, no problems with health or AMS and my hopes are high as ever!!! The permit is good to go. I’m still looking at the 18th or 19th for an arrival at Base Camp. Hopefully I’ll come across another internet connection before then. Everyone’s support is much appreciated!

Cheers,
Brian

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I find myself in the Katmandu domestic airport waiting for my flight to Lukla. My transition in KTM could not have gone any better as I will have stayed in the city for no more than 10 hours. Special thanks are extended to the staff at Asian Trekking for making that possible. All of my bags filled with gear, and more importantly–Stovetop and Girl Scout Cookies, arrived safely in KTM. They are now checked onto my domestic flight, which I could not be more excited about. In order to swiftly travel back to altitude I am leaving KTM without my climbing permit, which is supposed to arrive at BC a few days after I make it in. At this point, such a detail doesn’t worry me, but I figure it’s worth noting. Regardless, the most important thing for me at this time is to get up to BC and continue with my acclimatization.

I managed to get a few hours of sleep in last night. All in all I’m feeling like jet lag was not a factor, or at least not yet. Justin and I stored equipment in KTM last year and it was interesting to go through all of that to say the least. Not sure why we left a 3lb block of cheese in the barrel. Hey, after a year it didn’t taste that bad, haha! I did end up only having to pack and rearrange equipment for about 2 hours, which probably beats my previous record by two days.
I’m planning on doing another posting in Namche in one or two days.

Namaste,
Brian

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The Nepalese government is appeasing the Chinese by preventing foreigners from utilizing satellite phones above BC, until they have completed their mission of taking the torch to the summit.  So, between each successive trip above BC I will be making Satellite dispatch calls to report on my progress and give more up to date estimates of my climbing itinerary.  Thank for following along.

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It is nearly impossible to calculate an exact climbing itinerary due to several variables completely out of my control. Beyond extremely variable weather, I will have to adjust my climbing plans to the restrictions placed on the mountain due to the Tibetan side Olympic torch carrying. I’m remaining optimistic that the restrictions will be in the climbers favor, and will allow us to travel above Camp 2 (21000 ft) before May 10. The need to remain flexible with this uncontrollable variable is of upmost importance, and reinforces my confidence in choosing to climb solo. Even last year with a small two man team on the NE ridge of Everest, Justin and I each came down with respective illnesses slowing the other at different times.

The key to my strategy above base camp is to remain flexible and listen to my body. If my pre-acclimatization findings on Aconcagua hold true again, I believe I will be able to limit my trips through the objectively dangerous Khumbu Icefall. This essentially translates into moving between BC and Camp 1 as few times as possible. My hypothetical acclimatization schedule can be seen in the below graph.

With any luck, I will only have to travel up through the Khumbu Icefall three times, but four is more likely. These trips I will be carrying 30-40 lbs because of my continuing decision to climb without high altitude Sherpa support. So my first trip might look like this if I am in fact able to travel to Camp 3 before May 10.

April 22nd – Travel from BC (17500 ft) to Camp 1 (19000 ft)
April 23rd – Rest at Camp 1 or climb to Camp 2 (21000 ft) and return to Camp 1
April 24th – Move to Camp 2
April 25th – Rest at Camp 2
April 26th – Climb as high as possible hopefully touching at least 23000 ft.
April 27th – Return very early to Base Camp

I will then return to BC for 2-3 days of rest and return directly to Camp 2. As I move higher on the mountain, my itinerary will become increasingly more flexible and so I will refrain from estimating the dates. Throughout this acclimatization process my plan is to “touch” successive camps before staying in them. By doing so, I limit my exposure to the dangerous altitudes while ensuring a safer schedule. Before my final summit push, I will return to a lower trekking village, so that my body can recover to a greater extent. My estimated summit attempt is between May 15th and the 22nd depending on weather conditions.

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My goal is to travel as quickly from Portland, OR to the trailhead in Lukla, Nepal so that I can maintain as much of my acclimatization as possible. This is of course easier said than done with elections taking place in Nepal, and China’s current influence on the Nepalese Ministry of Tourism (more on that later). As with all other expeditions, it is critical that all my equipment make it to Base Camp, which has certainly ended more than one expedition. Not only will my equipment have to travel through 5 airports, Porters and Yaks will carry it for at least 5 days.

I will be departing Portland, today, on April 11 and arriving in Katmandu late on April 13th. Then, I have about 12 hours to organize equipment, adjust to the time change, and fly onto Lukla. I have had the opportunity to do the Everest BC trek twice now, but never in less than nine days. My goal is to arrive in no more than 5 days, which I think is quite feasible this time around. Throughout this hike, health is of upmost importance. Not only is altitude sickness a constant threat, but our western immune systems are more susceptible to bugs in this rural area. In 2003, I happened to weigh myself at an American Medical Research Facility before coming down with some extreme food poisoning. I lost more than 10 lbs in less that 12 hours.

Here is a hypothetical itinerary that may be a bit difficult b/c of the distances involved but nonetheless I’m optimistic (See Map Below).

April 14th – Fly to Lukla – Trek to Namche Bazar (3440 m)
April 15th – Trek to Pangboche (3990 m).
April 16th – Trek to Dughla (4620 m)
April 17th – Trek to Lobuche (4930 m, not shown)
April 18th – Trek to Everest/Lhotse Base Camp (5364 m)
April 19th - 21st - Organize Equipment
April 21st or 22nd – Climb to Camp 1 (5900 m)

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Before starting on the adventure to climb Lhotse, I’d like to summarize my hypoxic training over the past 8 weeks. My goal has been to increase my exposure to increasing altitudes while limiting the negative impacts of the training. Basically, I have been slowly tweaking my sleeping and training altitudes based on my performance during normal daily exercise, overall rest quality, and by monitoring my oxygen saturation percentage (SpO2). Although, I have found myself more fatigued on some days than others, I think I have accomplished this goal by slowly increasing altitudes and closely monitoring my response to the altitudes.

As with truly climbing to altitudes, I have maintained flexibility in my “at-home” acclimatization. On average, I would say I missed one night a week due to travel or training, which I do not feel negatively impacted my acclimatization. In fact, I think these rests were beneficial allowing my body greater recovery.

I slept in both Hypoxico’s Deluxe and Portable model tents over the past 8 weeks, and found them to have their individual advantages. My sleeping elevations slowly increased throughout the period, but were also shaped by my exercise or intermittent hypoxic training (IHT) during the day (see image of balance training at altitude). Again, flexibility and monitoring my energy level and rest quality were critical to determining my sleeping elevation at night. Anyone who has had the fortune, or lack thereof, to sleep at high elevations understands the potential debilitating effects of sleeping too high too early. In this respect, sleeping in a hypoxic tent is no different than truly sleeping at altitude.

During the day, I utilized a training mask to either exercise at altitude or do IHT. To generalize, I slowly phased from doing more IHT at the beginning of my 8 weeks, to exercising more towards the end. As a result of my long period of training I am now able to comfortably exercise at extreme elevations while maintaining oxygen SpO2 levels above 90%. These readings give me give me great confidence in my ability to approach Lhotse with a more aggressive acclimatization itinerary.

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