Everest North Side Expedition:  Adventure Peaks

 Current Tibet Date/Time

Report 21st April: All the team except Dave have returned back to BC to enjoy a few well earned rest days. The team experienced another wild stormy night at ABC before descending.

The team will rest at BC for about 4 to 5 days before journeying back to ABC to push higher up the mountain.

Its an essential part of acclimatisation that the team keep going high &, dropping back down to BC, before going for the summit they will have to endure that 22km walk from BC to ABC at least 2 more times.

April 20th: Conan & Patricia has intended to go to the North Col to spent the night but weather conditions and fresh snow prevented this. Whalid & Peter descended back safely to ABC after a wild night at North Col in which the wind caused 1 of our tents poles to bend (they have now been straightened).

Dave had a meeting with other teams yesterday regarding the fixing of the fixed lines past the North Col, all teams Sherpas will begin fixing the lines in the hope that weather permitting by mid next week the lines will be fixed to 8200 meters. Our Sherpas are constantly carrying loads up to establish each camp.

19th April: Peter and Whalid moved back to the north Col to spend the night at 7000 meters, whilst the others rested at ABC.

18th April : We have since then moved up to Advanced Base Camp, and some team members have reached the North Col. We were all hoping that the cold of Base Camp would abate the farther up the mountain, but strangely it is getting colder and colder. We are, however, persevering ably.

Our trip up to ABC, ~21,000, included a night at interim camp. The population of interim camp, a truly miserably place equipped with its own cess pool, was distinctly in favor of the yaks. While Peter and Walid were about to call it a night they noticed a yak tied just a few feet away from their tent. During the night that lovely beast of burden decided to scratch its head on Walid's side of the tent. Being asleep in a high altitude daze, Walid thought that he was being attacked by the infamous yeti and dove directly into Peter's arms. He was trapped between two equally hairy beasts, and despite the efforts of the team he is still in need of therapy. We have established ourselves very comfortably at ABC, with all the amenities of modern life, thought I can't get the New York Times to deliver. ABC has become a verifiable metropolis as more and more teams arrive, but our camp location is very pleasant. The fixed lines leading to the North Col 7010m have been laboriously installed by the Russian and Chinese teams, and have facilitated our movement up the mountain.(Some equipment was supplied by Adventure Peaks for this fixing) After arriving at ABC we spent two days acclimatising by walking to the base of the fixed lines, and on the third & forth days we pushed on to the top of the North Col. On day three, near the top of the Col Conan, Peter, and Walid, in that order, were slowly marching upward. Walid looked up at Peter, just 10 or 20 vertical meters ahead of him, and chuckled at his pace of 1 step every ten seconds or more. 'I'll catch up in a moment' he thought. Half an hour later the distance between them remained the same, and both were doing everything possible not to sob like small children. The three weekend mountaineers persevered and had a moment of splendid camaraderie at the Col. On day four lead by Conan again, David and Patricia enjoyed the painful experience. Phil still to complete acclimatisation will be getting to the col in the next few days. In all four tents have been established at the col due to an enormous effort by Purbar, Ringin, Conan, David & Patricia. Enough equipment and supplies are in place at the col to push on to camp 7800m weather permitting.

The dynamic between team members can often times be the funniest thing during an expedition. The first thing to notice on our expedition is that we have six people divided by a common language. Each of us speaks English with a different accent and we regularly have no idea what the other is saying. One mans bog role is a another's toilet paper. And while Dave utilizes the famously subtle English wit, Walid hasn't a clue whether he is joking or serious. We often revel in the blank stares of misunderstanding, but laugh heartily afterwards.

Dispatches