I have been receiving all kinds of questions via my blog, Facebook, Instagram, and email. I will attempt to answer them now.

Food: When we are in base camp, Madison Mountaineering is five stars. We have a cook tent, and we have had burgers, pizza, steaks, salmon, seared tuna, chicken wings, pastas, bbq pork chops, veggies, salads, and so on….And it’s been amazing. The same meals go for camp 2, just on a bit smaller scale.

Breakfast are no different; fried eggs, omelette , French toast, pancakes, oatmeal, sausage, and bacon oh the mountains of bacon! The best part is I can eat like the fat kid in Willy Wonka and I’ve still lost at least 10 pounds already! This is my hiking food for one rotation up the mountain, picture below.

At camp 1, 3, & 4 we eat instant eggs or oatmeal for breakfast. Lunch we normally eat bars, gels, gummies, candy bars, and trail mix items. Dinner we have the dehydrated meals where you open the pouch and pour boiling hot water in, let it sit for 15 minutes and presto! Pad Thai, chicken n dumplings, sweet and sour chicken, Mac and cheese, and so on. The dehy meals are great because they barely weigh anything, but the drawback is, they are known to really give you the “winds!”

Drinks: Each day the guides and Sherpa work very hard to boil stream water or melt snow for drinking. The water is drinkable but there is always plenty of things floating around in it. It’s best to just shut your eyes and pretend it’s a bottle of Fiji water. I duck tape my water bottles so I don’t have to look at it!

Now, for probably the most asked question! I’ve talked about the pee bottle in the tent but I have not talked about the Wag Bag or Blue bag as they are known. So once we leave Base Camp and our luxury bathrooms ( a pop up tent with a make shift port-a-jon) you need to carry your wag bag with you. This is a kitchen size garbage bag with a scoop of what I think is kitty litter inside it. You also get an industrial 1 gallon zip lock bag to put the other bag inside after you use it.

Because we practice “leave no trace,” which means we carry our waste off the mountain, all waste, human waste. We have to carry the wag bags with us, for when the mood strikes. Luckily the Sherpas carry a five gallon bucket with a toilet seat and a phone booth size tent to camp 1 & 2. You just lift the lid, line it with your garbage bag and do your business. After you pull the bag, tie it up and place it in the 1 gallon zip lock. Then you bury it in the snow till the next use. We are expected to use it three times before getting another wag bag. Once the bag has hit it’s max capacity we pack it up and carry it out. Luckily on this trip the Sherpas have been taking it down for us, but in most trips I’m carrying it or hiding it in my climbing partners pack! 🤣🤣

After camp 2 you try and find a non windy spot. Lay your bag out on the ground and get into the same position your dog does on the front lawn. It’s not pretty, but efficient. Sorry this isn’t dinner conversation but it seems to be the most frequently asked question and frankly I want to answer and move on. Haha

So a bit of a recap…been on this journey almost a month. Arrived at basecamp 17 days ago. We have to do 3 rotations up the mountain to acclimatize, which we have completed the 1st, reaching camp two (21,300 ft). Our next one will be in 2-3 days, hoping to reach camp 3 (24,500 ft). Then the third we will go for the summit sometime between May 18th and the 30th. Pending on gear, climbers, and weather. That being said we continue to live at basecamp (17,500 ft) and practice our skills and acclimatize.

Today we finished our ice school. This was to refresh us and get us prepared for the icefall, Lhotse Face, any crevasses, and the summit push. We honed our repelling skills, rope/anchor/crampon skills, and general safety practices. I had a blast like always on the ice courses our guides set up and today was no different. They kicked it up a notch and made the course bigger and steeper. Everyone did great and of course I took the dare to top out on the mini Matterhorn, as we called it.

Two days ago we had two brits join our team as a tag along/private expedition. The guide is Kenton Cool, A very well known, experienced climber/guide and his client Michael from London. They have fit right into the team and been a lot of fun getting to know. They will be on there own schedule but meeting up with us at the different camps. Just wanted to introduce them. Here is a pic of Michael and I at Basecamp.

My last post I had nothing to write about since we had a full rest day, so as I looked through my pictures I found a lot of random shots and entertained myself by writing a story to match the pictures. Saturday we practiced on the ice again. Mostly on how to jumar ( using an ascender to pull yourself up a rope). We use ropes on the Lhotse face which is about 4500 ft of sheer ice, 35-55 degrees straight up. Camp three is about 60% up this part of the mountain. The rest of the day was practicing repelling down, to prepare for descending.

This is one of the more dangerous parts of the climb. Many climbers have slipped and not stopped till they hit the bottom of the 4500 ft slope.

On Sunday 4 of us decided to take a hike back down the mountain to the last outpost called Gorak Shep. It’s between 3-4 miles and only about 600 ft in elevation change. We made quick work of it and stopped and had a beer and sprite mixed, called a rattler. After which we motored back up the mountain.

We have a lot of down time these days as the true hero’s, the Sherpas work on fixing ropes above camp 3 and dragging supplies up to it. We all sat around playing cards, and then watched Trainspotting on the projector. Tomorrow I will fill you in on more little secrets of high altitude mountaineering.

Day two at camp 2 was chill. We woke for an early breakfast and our tent was covered in frost on the inside. My tent mate went to get up and bumped the tent and it literally started snowing on me, which was a “nice” wake up call. Pre-sun was frigid but my endless supply of Starbucks vías quickly warmed me up.

After breakfast we headed out for an acclimatization hike to 22,000 ft. The location was super cool. The guides called it the Ice Zen Amphitheater. It’s a glacier that has broke off in a huge half circle. Conan and I decided to leave our mark by building a rock sculpture. I think we nailed it!

The weather came in quick and it got cold and snowy. So I wrapped up in my sleeping bag and started making a fun movie trailer of the climb. I posted it last night for a bit of fun.

Morning came early at 4 am. We got a quick meal and started the long decent back to basecamp from camp 2. We wanted to get down through the icefall as quickly as possible. So we kept our boots moving and skipped all our rest and snack breaks. This paid off as, My climbing partner Voychek and I got down to base just as a huge icefall/avalanche broke free from the right side about halfway down the icefall. Luckily it stopped about 100 meters from a line of 20 climbers, ( several of which was our team). No one was hurt but got our pulses racing.

It feels great to be back in Base Camp! We have about 5 days of recovery and more training. On a sad note one of our fellow climbers got even sicker from altitude (AMS and Cerebral Edema ) and was choppered to Kathmandu. He is currently in the hospital recovering and will be ok, but his trip is over. I climbed with Richard in Indonesia, he is a strong climber and a good friend. The sickness was out of his control, and his presence will be greatly missed on the remainder of our climb.

On Monday the 22nd after the whole team slept we woke to take a small acclimatization hike about 25% of the way to camp 2. Everyone was still pretty tired and two teammates where suffering from AMS ( altitude mountain sickness). The two sick climbers stayed in camp and we set out across the snow field I have named The White Sahara.

This is a large glaciated valley with huge crevasse some hundreds of feet deep. All of them have some form of snow bridge that we have to navigate carefully as to not disappear down into the depths. This is why we use fixed lines (ropes) that we attach to our harnesses, so if we do fall through the snow the rope will catch us and keep us from falling into the abyss.

Luckily this system worked today and caught a fellow climber when the edge of the crevasse broke free as he made a wrong step and he fell some 15 to 20 feet before the rope attached to his harness stopped his fall. As he dangled 60 feet above the crevasse’s floor, two of our guides and two Sherpas made quick work making a pulley system and pulled him back to safety. We all were relieved he came out of the fall with minor injuries. We headed back to camp 1, where we all ate our dehydrated meals in a bag and went to bed early.

Today we woke at five to bitter cold temps -25 C and prepared to move to camp 2 in the western khumb. Unfortunately our to fellow climbers with AMS did not improve and they headed back to Base Camp to recover. We all wish them a speedy recovery and hope they can join us again on the second rotation back up to camp 3.

The rest of us set out across the crevasse field to camp 2. This time we moved with our full packs. We covered over 6 miles and 1,400 ft in elevation. Again we had to descend into these crevasses and climb vertically up the other sides. Once we passed most of these canyons of pure ice we had a 4 mile hike uphill to camp 2. The sun was out and even though the ambient temperature was well below freezing we were roasting as if we were walking across the Sahara, hence the name, The White Sahara.

The remaining climbers all made it to camp 2 in less than 6 hours. It was hot and hard but didn’t compare to the ice fall. Most of the team now rest in there tents as they wait for supper. The camp is set up just below the Lhotse face. A huge slopping face of the mountain that is 4500 vertical feet at a 55 degree angle. Frankly it’s amazing and terrifying!

(The SAT phone came through and we were able to retrieve this message from Chad to post to his blog)

It has taken me a full day to understand what we just did and 10 hours of sleep to recover enough to tell it. The Ice Fall is a huge glacier breaking apart as it slides down the mountain. We traversed through this labyrinth of terror constantly climbing. The entire team made the climb, the first of us arrived at 6 and a half hours and the last just shy of 11 hours. Although it’s not a race I was proud to be the first into camp 1. That being said I barely had the strength to lift my spoon to my mouth for lunch.

We would wind our way through deep crevasses, some just wide enough to slip through, and over 4 story size blocks of ice only to descend just 20 feet later. All of this under the cover of darkness since we left at 2 am.

Most of the team had a personal Sherpa who carried 75% of their pack weight and guided them through the ice fall. I did not pay for this luxury and schlepped my 42 lb pack up the whole ice fall. For the most part I climbed on my own. Our lead guide would stop periodically to check on me. Outside of one brutal day on Mt Denali this was my hardest, most physical demanding day of my life.

We officially gained 2,400 vertical feet in elevation but I’m guessing with all the up and down of the ice fall it was more like 4,500 ft. As the helicopter flies it’s less than two miles but the shortest distance on our Garmin gps was 17 miles. If this isn’t accurate it at least felt like it.

Once in Camp 1 my fellow climbers and I all looked shell shocked. We had all fought our own battles today, against the mountain, altitude, and our mental toughness. I for one am excited to have done it and terrified that we go back down and up two more times as part of the acclimatization process. I will post pictures in a couple days when we return to basecamp to recover.

Hi, this is Tracy. I wanted to give everyone a quick update. Chad wanted me to tell you that all 11 climbers on his team made it to camp 1.

Chad made a comment that it was in the top 5 hardest days of his life. After 2 snickers bars he passed out in his tent for 10 hours, but feels much better today. From the sound of it, every one is extremely taxed from yesterday’s climb.

Today they will do a 3 hour higher hike, then sleep again at camp 1 before heading out to camp 2 tomorrow. I have limited info coming through on the SAT phone so Chad will continue where he left off in 3-4 days once he gets back to base camp.

Hi everyone one, looks like the dirty little secrets I offered up yesterday were a success. I doubled the traffic to my blog! Haha. I guess I will fill you in on the real dirt when we get to high camp and life gets really tough.

Today we set out for a 3 hour hike through the Khumbu Ice Fall. We only went about 20% ( 18,200 ft in elevation) on to the glacier, to get a taste of what we will be climbing through at 2 am tonight. We go at night, because the temperature drops and things freeze more solid and avalanche risk drops in half. Since we have been in base camp we have averaged around 10 avalanches a day. Most of them off in the distance and a few on the edge of the ice fall. But there’s no getting use to the loud crack and rumble you hear when one breaks loose. We feel our route through the ice fall is pretty well protected.

We leave Base Camp (17,500 ft) at 2 am and hike through the Ice Fall to camp 1 (19,900 ft). We will set camp and stay for two nights. On the second day we will have an active rest day, which means go on a two – three hour hike to help with acclimatization. On the third day we will push up to camp two at (21,300 ft). Both of the camps will be higher than I’ve ever slept before. My previous was high camp of Aconcagua at 19,200 ft 😬😬. After two nights at camp 2 we will climb back down to base camp for 4-5 days to recover. Will check in after I get through the ice fall. Thanks for following!

We stepped it up today and had a larger obstacle course. The team pushed harder and improved a lot from the first day. The ice walls we had to scale and repel were around 10 meters high or 33ft. This practice was really good to get our rope skills dialed in and to really get our lungs working.

A lot of people have commented on me being in a T-shirt. The truth is that when your in the sun working hard it feels like 40 degrees but when you check the temp it is still below or well below freezing. It is very important to manage sweating (basically not to)and when I’m working hard I can really heat up. The average temp at base camp has been 0 F or -18 C. The last two nights have gotten clear and 5-8 degrees colder. My water bottle and Pee bottle both froze last night in the tent. I will have to start sleeping with them in my sleeping bag.

For those who don’t know, getting out of your tent at night is really cold and dangerous to go to the bathroom, so all climbers use a pee bottle inside the tent. Women have a funnel device and men, well we just do the usual. The trick is not to drink too much before bed so you don’t fill your bottle. It also gets a lot trickier in the small tents with 2-3 climbers inside. It’s just common practice to roll away from your fellow climber when you hear him/her unzip their sleeping bag and get in position. Oh the joys of high altitude mountaineering!!!

Some other fun facts on the mountain are:

1. Snoring. Because of the weather everyone is a bit stuffy or out of breath from the altitude so everyone snores. We all bring heavy duty ear plugs or in my instance I put my head phones in and crank Frank Senatra’s greatest hits. I am normally asleep by the second song “Chicago”.

2. HAF. High Altitude Flatulence. (If you are shy or disturbed by bodily function, mountain climbing is not for you!) The digestive track really starts acting funny when you get over the 10 to 12,000 ft. At night as we all climb in our tents the era of the big brass bands are reborn. Our camp could compete with any brass band in New Orleans 🤣😵🤢. But it’s just how it goes up here!