Autumn 2003: International Mountain Guides 8000 meter Coverage

Dispatch Two

Current Expedition Time

Dispatch Two August 25, 2003: The team has all successfully made it to Kathmandu and is ready to leave tomorrow morning for Lhasa. Yesterday, the members joined their Sherpas in the puja (blessing) ceremony at the Boudnath monastery. Here is a photo of the team up on the roof with the Rimpoche (head monk).

The Sherpas will also leave tomorrow, overland via Zhangmu, but we have heard that the road is blocked in several places near the Nepal/Tibet border by mudslides. This will necessitate the hiring porters to ferry several hundred of loads past the mudslides. It will be a bit of a headache for the Sherpas to arrange, but is fairly normal for Nepal this time of year and we have had to do it a number of times over the years. This is especially true for the autumn expeditions which go in at the end of the monsoon, after it has been raining for several months and the roads are in bad shape. The monsoon should start to die down in the next couple weeks, and the climbers will be shooting for the lull that comes at the end of the monsoon for summit bids.

—Eric Simonson,
  International Mountain Guides Director

EverestNews.com coverage will include dispatches from the IMG Cho Oyu Expedition along with exclusive dispatches from Nancy Norris as she warms up for Everest 2004, when she hopes to attempt to become the oldest American woman (at age 60!)to summit Everest.

Eric Simonson, veteran expedition leader, Everest Summiter, author and motivational speaker. To book Eric