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Chilean
Women Everest 2001 Expedition
First
South American Women Expedition to Mount Everest
Four
Chilean women started an expedition to Mount Everest.
They are Vivianne Cuq (leader), Cristina Prieto,
Patricia Soto y Andrea Munoz. They are joined by three
high-altitude cameramen: Christian Cuq, Philippe Reuter
and Francisco Medina. The rest of expedition includes
one doctor, one producer and one professional cameraman
from Chilean National Television. Total: 10 persons,
all Chilean, except Philippe Reuter, who is from
France, but lives in Chile.
Dispatch
April 29th, 2001: Hello
again everybody, I've just received a message from
Viviane in Camp 3 (at 7400m) who has asked me to
please let it be known that they are having a
spectacular day.
At
the present they are cooking lunch outside - a
Mountain House powder based meal ? It is pre-prepared
food to which one need just add the required amount of
boiling water, wait a few minutes and the dish is
ready. They have got a selection of more than 12
dishes (including Lasagna, Turkey Tetrazinni) This
food has the added advantage that by preparing it this
way saves fuel and it avoids those inconvenient
relationships with the fact that water boils at less
than 70 degrees centigrade. What is more it doesn't
include preservatives or additives, which makes it
healthier.
Returning
to Camp 3, I have been asked to say that all the tents
are well secured with rope attached to ice screws,
under the protection of solid seracs. This has allowed
them this morning to construct not only a good
bathroom hewn into the ice with a sea view, but also a
place where they can have lunch in the open air and
that is where they are now, enjoying the view. For
now, it is only our Sherpas and those of another two
expeditions who have climbed to the South Col at
nearly 8000 meters. This is the site of Camp IV and
the fixed rope passes to within a meter of where they
are.
According
to today's weather reports, in the vicinity of Camp IV
the wind was calmer now that the Jet Stream is moving
out of the area. However, it's all relative and the
winds at 8000 meters were blowing at 25 ? 30 knots
today, which makes it difficult to complete any task
successfully at that altitude. One has to remember
though that if Jet Stream was in the area the winds
could quite easily be 5 times stronger.
The
night went well. Some slept more than others, some
felt the cold more than others, but in general
everyone managed to rest quite well. If the weather
tomorrow continues in the same vein as today, they
will continue their climb towards the South Col, after
which they will descend to Camp II or III, depending
on how strong they are feeling.
At
the moment, the only contact with the team is by radio
or carrier pigeon, in this case in the form of a
Sherpa, who when descending brings letters and notes
from the team so that I, in turn, can put the messages
onto the computer and from there dispatch them into
the digital ether.
Our
second NERA telephone is in Camp II. On their return
they will use this to
try and make a phone call, seeing as it is impossible
to connect via email, not
only for the reasons mentioned yesterday, but also
because they only have 12 volt batteries there, and
not 220 W ones. These telephones are marvelous ? the
only drawback being the cost per minute, but having
said that I would love such a phone at home.
At
Base Camp, I can tell you that this morning we were
again woken by a Nepalese army helicopter. This
was for the benefit of the Indian army expedition.
This is because Nepal, as a small country wedged
between India and China must maintain good
relationships with India, the large power in the
region.
This
only becomes a problem when you consider the altitude
we are at, the difficulties involved in flying
helicopters at this height and the fact that the
Indian camp, and it's landing strip, is in the middle
of Base Camp. Every time it lands and, more
importantly, takes off, you find yourself praying that
the pilot is well trained, the mechanics are competent
and that everything works ok.
Each
of the 20 expeditions' campsites, each one with tents,
kitchen, dining tent, accommodation, bathrooms,
communication centers, showers, viewpoints etc are
pretty much deserted. This is because many groups,
like ours, are preparing the high camps or because
some groups have taken advantage of the good weather
to rest, descending to one of the attractive parts of
the valley. Also the weather has reminded us that
today and yesterday are the first days where we have
been able to benefit from spring sunshine. You can see
more birds flying around and more trekking parties.
You recognize these parties because they turn up well
covered up. They stop in a prominent place in the camp
and one of them, presumably the guide, points with his
finger, followed by a vast array of camera lenses.
They usually stay for a couple of hours, breaking
their visit with a timid attempt at conversation with
someone who resembles a mountaineer, only to disappear
as quickly as they arrived.
Something
else that accompanies the arrival of the higher
temperatures, although I don't know whether it's
for the best or not, is that the ice below our feet
doesn't stop making noises, particularly at night.
This means that one can easily imagine that suddenly
something will open beneath our feet and swallow us
up. This sensation, which at midday passes without
notice, can lead to nightmares at night, with its
dreams and darkness.
OK,
Maila, the cook has come to get me so that I can eat
lunch, which before long will be frozen on the
table.
For
full dispatches in Spanish see there site here.
