Everest 2003: Glenn Edwards
 Dispatch Four

Dispatch Four: April 4, 2003: Today we trekked from the village of Namche Bazar to Tengboche (3850m). The walk took us 6 hours at a relaxing pace. Despite the relaxed pace we are beginning to feel the effects of altitude, the final hill leading up to Tengboche gains over 700 vertical meters and requires many rest stops to catch your breath. As we slowly gain altitude we are also increasing our hemoglobin (red blood cells). The increase in red blood cells will allow us to continue further up in altitude. It is important not to trek too quickly in the mountains, trekking quickly can bring on Pulmonary and/or Cerebral eodema, which can be potentially deadly if not monitored. The trail is very busy with trekkers, expeditions, yaks and porters bound for Everest Base Camp. It is going to a busy place. Here is a picture of Steve and I posed with the summit of Mount Everest between us.

April 5, 2003: We woke up this morning to a light dusting of snow, if it is snowing at the lower elevation it will also be snowing up higher in the hills and mountains. Some of the local Sherpa have told us that the winds are higher than normal on the summit of Everest this year. Hopefully they will subside over the next 6 weeks as we prepare to summit by mid May.

Today, we were blessed by Nuns in a village just below Tengboche and by two lamas in the village of Pangboche. These ceremonies are very important to our Sherpa and to be honest, we will take as much good karma as we can get. Climbing Everest is as much as religious experience as a physical challenge

April 8, 2003: I write this update from the village of Loboche (4950m), only a 5 hour walk from Everest Base Camp. The effects of altitude are very obvious now, with getting out of breath at every hill (and trust me there are no shortages of hills here). We expect to be at Base Camp on the 10th , after an acclimatizing hike up Kala Patar (5500m). All is well and I will update as soon as we arrive at Base Camp.

Dispatches

"My father and I are living our dream to put the first Canadian on the summit of Mount Everest without supplementary oxygen and we are not stopping there." Glenn Edwards