25th day of the
Brazilian Expedition to the Top of the World.
Base Camp (5,400m).
Another expedition arrives to climb Lhotse.
There is nothing
like resting on Sunday, after the good progress we had
on the Ice Fall yesterday. And also we would not
advance much today, because the job of improvising
bridges with aluminum ladders over the crevasses was
very slow. Progress is around 100 to 200m each day,
over a very irregular terrain. When the SPCC
personnel came down, we went to them and the reply to
our insistent question was that it will take 2 to 3
days to get to the location of Camp 1.
Another
expedition arrived today to Base Camp, joining ours
and the Japanese, whose chief is Katayama (3 climbers
for Everest). This third expedition, also Japanese,
has the objective to climb Lhotse, excellent news for
us. Its chief is Takahasi, and is integrated by 6
climbers and 5 Sherpas (high altitude carriers).
I'd like to tell
everybody that the mood in our expedition couldn't be
better. Our team is perfectly geared, sharing a big
feeling of friendship and teamwork among us
Brazilians, and also with our 6 Sherpas (3 high
altitude carriers and 3 of the kitchen team). We are
well acclimatized, without the slightest headache. We
all have good health, without the slightest problem,
and our will to install the superior camps is
immense.
Today I send a
picture of us at Base Camp, beside our dinning tent,
which we also use to store our equipment and food.
Kneeling down are me, Paulo and Bonga. Alir and
Irivan are standing up.
In the other
picture there is a view we had this morning of the Ice
Fall and our tents at Base. Every day has been like
this, it dawns with a blue sky, and then after lunch
the sun is covered by clouds and then it snows a
little. And everyday we feel the weather is improving...
Namaste!
