Over the last couple of days, our plans to advance to higher camps have been thwarted by the strong, high winds that have been blasting the mountain. We decided to relax and refresh rather than fight Mother Nature on this one. Our plan of attack is now to depart to camp One as soon as possible and head on up to the higher camps 2, 3 and 4 over the next five days or so.

I plan to keep Christine at BC posted via walkie-talkies about the team's progress and she will relay these dispatches on. I'll send images from high on Everest via Sherpa descending to BC, which Christine will also send. We'll continue to video document the team's progress on the mountain.

As we are writing this dispatch (Sunday), the wind continues pounding the tents and throwing up snow in and around BC and in the Ice Fall. When we make plans to begin moving up the mountain and the weather prevents us from doing so, we have to invent things to keep ourselves busy.

We take care of business, so to speak, moving tents that have suffered wind damage or glacier shifting and reinforcing our "luxurious" blue toilet tent (safely hitting the target, the blue barrel, is a continuous test of one's balancing skills).

We also make delicious concoctions out of not so delicious dried food packets for our team. One of our better creations was a blueberry cheesecake with graham cracker crust shared among 14 team members, including the cooks, Sherpa and kitchen boys.

What a great time to give a special thanks to our Sherpa, especially young Nima Sherpa, our cook's tireless assistant who keeps the warm liquids flowing on these cold, windy days. Nima has mastered our personal drinks of choice, which we greatly appreciate.

Thanks also to TSD for use of the video camera and to the wonderful support team back in Austin - Dennis, Chris, Jodi, Joni, Dan, Brian, Andy Cockrum and Reid Nixon of Firelight Pictures. Without you, the message of TE '03 would not be where it is today.

I ask again for your continued support for the Coalition of Texans with Disabilities. They are good folks who have changed the way I view myself and others; their work has improved the quality of my life. By supporting such an organization, we are helping to ensure equal rights and freedoms for all people.

Talk to you again soon,
Gary Guller, TE '03

A note from Chris Watkins who is currently in Australia:
Even though I had had a life threatening HAPE and HACE, I elected to return to Everest and was able to climb on Everest's Khumbu Ice Fall during the 50th anniversary. This fulfilled a personal dream to at least climb on part of Everest this year. I had to leave BC because the HACE had stared to reappear after climbing on the Ice Fall, but I have no regrets in again climbing up through the Himalayas to rejoin the team and to actually climb a bit.

Now in Australia, I am proud to have carried the Team Everest '03 message "Freedom to Explore" to the top of the highest mountain, Mount Kosciusko, located in the Australian Alps of New South Wales and one of the seven summits (the highest mountain on each continent). I dedicate this climb to the effort of all TE '03 members.