We woke to clear skies and our first glimpse of Everest and Lhotse ( Lhotse is the sister peak and the 4th highest mountain in the world). We are still a four day hike from basecamp and 20 plus miles away but the mountains still look huge.

The air was brisk but quickly warmed to a great trekking temp. We quickly hiked above the tree line and got an amazing view of Ama Dablam. She is a beautiful technical mountain with very exposed camps. I might be already planning a trip back 😜. Ama is 22,349 feet.

After getting lunch at a tea house along the way we headed to the High Lama of the Khumbu Valley where we participated in a blessing ceremony. It was a great experience and powerful. I have a full video that I will incorporate into my GoPro video at the end of the trip.

After the blessing we hiked up to Dingboche which is the highest full time occupied town at 14,553 ft. The conditions are worsening when it comes to the comforts of life, internet, power, flushing toilets. It’s getting real now.

As we packed up for the trek today our host at the tea house gave us a Nepalese blessing, to bless our trip. After another group photo we started the trek to Debuche. We gained about 1500 ft in elevation along the way and hiked about 5 miles. It started out with a light rain but quickly turned to snow the higher we got. The hike was pretty easy just not that great of weather. The team moved well and everyone is in good spirits.

We stopped at the monastery in Tengboche. They don’t allow photos to be taken inside the main monastery, but I was able to get a pic out front. 😜 Unfortunately the weather limited our views. So we stopped off at the bakery and got a coffee and a piece of apple pie. It was amazing.

We have been staying at tea houses each night. These are buildings with thin walls and thinner windows. None of the rooms have heat so the temp is the same as outside. In Namche we had the luxury of a hot shower but you would have to dry off like the Tasmanian Devil as you start freezing the minute the water is turned off. But all-in-all I will take it since the next 5 weeks will be in tents once we hit base camp.

The morning started out beautiful, but as it goes in the mountains, it quickly got ugly. The first half of the day was frigid rain. We all hung out in the restaurant drinking coffee and sharing climbing stories. We had planned a acclimatization hike up to a monastery and a Everest view point, but it rained pretty hard so they canceled the trek.

Several of us walked into town and Richard and I (Richard is a guy I climbed Carstensz with in Indonesia) hit up the Worlds highest Irish Pub for a Guinness and some pool. We then headed over to the Hungry Yak for a yak burger and fries. While we where there they put on a movie about George Mallory ( the British explorer and his partner Irvine who died trying to summit Everest for the first time in 1924). It was called The Wildest Dream. Really good documentary just FYI.

Needless to say, we were not roughing it today. After the movie we all kinda scattered and did our own thing. I went and packed a bag and did a nice little hike as it had stopped raining. I just wanted a little alone time I think and reflect on the courage and pure determination George Mallory must have had, trying to be the first to summit this magnificent beast. When they found his body in 1999 he was wearing a tweed jacket. It’s just mind blowing the grit the early mountaineers had.

Later we all met up and had another great dinner. Tomorrow, rain or shine we push ahead to 12,000 feet. As we leave Namche tomorrow the comforts fade away and the trip really starts! I can’t wait, in the next day or so I will get to finally lay eyes on her for the first time! Everest, here I come!

Today we hiked about 2,200 ft of elevation up to the town of Namche Bazaar. The weather was perfect and the views were amazing. The hiking took close to 7 hours, but was relatively easy. We are going to stay two nights in Namche to let our bodies get use to the 10,500 ft of elevation. I currently don’t feel the altitude, but better safe than sorry.

During our trek we zig zagged across the river on large suspension bridges. Like the one below. Several were hundreds of feet high, was super cool!

We had a great meal at our tea house and they even surprised us with a cake at the end. The rooms are very simple and have no heat. I think the current temp is a few degrees below freezing but it’s nice to enjoy a mattress. The whole team climbed very strong today and I think the rest of the trek to base camp will go smoothly. Below is Garrett Madison with our cake.

Was a great day. I’m stuffed from dinner and cake and still pretty jet lagged. Heading off to bed.

Today I woke at 2 am to catch our shuttle bus to Ramechhap, where we boarded a 12 seat twin otter to fly into the worlds most dangerous airport, Lukla. The air strip is on the side of a mountain and actually slopes down hill. What makes it so scary is its only 1500 feet long and then drops off the mountain side

Ramechhap was not on the itinerary but Kathmandu has shut down the domestic run way for repairs. So the closest airstrip was in Ramechhap just 5 hours away. On a road you often see in YouTube clips with 1,000 ft vertical drop offs to your left and rock cliffs to your right. The road is about 12 feet wide but has traffic coming both ways, forcing both vehicles against the cliff and the cliffs edge when passing. Let’s just say, now that I survived, it was awesome!

We had a great 20 minute flight to Lukla and watching the landing was crazy. The team grabbed breakfast as we waited for the other two plans to arrive with our gear. Once gear was sorted and accounted for we began the trek to base camp. We will hike up slowly over the next week or so letting our bodies adjust to the altitude. This is called acclimatization, which is extremely import in preventing cerebral or pulmonary edema.

Our team at the start of the trek! We are a diverse group representing; Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Egypt, Oman, Poland, Canada, Scotland, and USA. Two of the woman from Lebanon are attempting to be the first from their country to summit Everest. Everyone has a fascinating story of how they got here. Part of the joy and experience of big mountain expeditions is meeting new friends and sharing an amazing experience together.

Arrived in Kathmandu without a hitch! My bags where the first off the conveyor belt, which is always a relief! I was then picked up and shuttled to the famous Yak and Yeti hotel. I arrived about noon local time and most of the team was already gathered out on the lawn doing a gear check. This is where you explode your packs and make sure you have every vital piece of gear you will need for this expedition. We separated all our gear so that we could have one bag sent to base camp (mostly technical gear that we won’t need till we push through the kumbu ice fall. The other pack we will take on the 10 day trek from Lukla to BC (basecamp).

After we finished gear check I needed some refreshments! Headed to the bar to try the local lager, Everest. It had a bit of a bite, which I figured was foreshadowing the trip ahead, haha.

I relaxed for a couple hours and then met the team out for dinner. We all went to a roof top restaurant in the middle of Kathmandu, called Mezze. This was when we were able to talk and get to know our fellow climbers. We had a great dinner but all of us where falling asleep sitting up as the jet lag kicked in. We retreated to the hotel and passed out. After two full days of travel I could have slept on hot coals in the middle of a Metallica concert!

I will talk more about our team as I get to know them. As of right now we are 5 women and 7 men. Five are from different countries in the Middle East, one from Poland, 3 from Canada, and 3 of us from the US. Everyone has lots of experience and I look forward to climbing with them.

Eight months of planning and training and its finally here. It’s go time! Woke at 4 am to finish some last minute packing and business emails.

Tracy took me to Liberia airport in Costa Rica with all my gear and then I flew to LA. My brother found out last week I had a 9 hour layover, so he decided to hop on a plane and fly out from Chicago to treat me to a birthday dinner and see me off. Was a great surprise/gift! (Especial since he then jumped back on a plane and flew back just 5 hours after arriving). Thanks Steve, really meant a lot!

I caught my next flight to Guangzhou, China at 11:50 pm. A “quick” flight, just over 15 hours. Once I arrive in China I have a 4 hour layover before I catch my final 5 hour flight into Katmandú, Nepal. Hope they have a Starbucks!! I’m going to need it.

This place is not easy to get to I left my condo in Costa Rica at 7 am March 31st and with any luck will arrive at 11am April second. I will meet up with my team and we will organize gear and get ready to take our 12 seater plane into Lukla. If you haven’t heard about Lukla airport I suggest you google it, pretty insane, mom you can skip that part 😜. From there we have a 10 day hike through the kumbu valley to Everest base camp. We have a lot of miles to cover and we go slow to acclimatize

Can’t wait to check out Nepal and add another stamp to the old passport. Dreading the jet lag but hey, adventure has a price!

Preparing for a Himalayan Expedition or any High altitude Expedition takes careful planning. Luckily for me I hire a professional guide company (Madison Mountaineering) to help me with a lot of it. They handle group gear, logistics, guides, and local knowledge/experience. Such as food, tents, ropes, stoves, and so one.

I am responsible for my personal gear, (clothing, snacks, technical gear, meds, etc.) Everything I have, needs to fit into two large duffel bags, and preferably weigh less than 100 pounds. This is not easy considering you have to be ready for 40 degree days and -40 degree days and have enough stuff to survive two months on what you pack. Most of the time you only bring one set of clothes for the entire trip, as I am going to be gone for two months I am bringing a second set of clothes so when the first set practically rots off in a month I can put on the second set. haha, only kinda joking, I was told that there are ways to take a shower at basecamp for a price. I know after 21 days without a shower on Denali I was willing to sell my unborn child for a shower, guess we will have to wait and see.

Out of my 100 pounds, 25 pounds is just candy and snacks. You burn between 6000 – 8000 calories a day while climbing, mostly from you body just trying to keep itself warm. I ate nearly 40 snickers on Denali (spring of 2017) sounds like heaven but I have not had one since, this time I have a large variety of candy bars and other teeth rotting treats. A funny saying that most climbers will say is: lunch begins when you set your breakfast spoon down and it ends when you pick your dinner spoon up. Meaning that you need to be eating all day long to try and keep your body fueled. I lost roughly 20 pounds on each trip when I climbed Aconcagua and Denali, the longest being 21 days. This will be close to 60 days in the mountains, I can only hope my belt has enough holes in it.

Well it all fit and still left room for my tooth brush. I am at 99.5 pounds between the two bags and I have a small carry on pack for my travel clothes. Just going through the 8 page gear list was exhausting, but it sure gets me excited! 6 more days and I am on my way!

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton