Snowboard Everest Autumn 2003

Stephen Koch and Jimmy Chin will attempt to snowboard Everest this Autumn. They plan to climb Everest via the Hornbein route and then descend via the Hornbein. They will travel from Kathmandu to Lhasa then to Everest base camp on the North (Chinese).  Eric Henderson is the base camp manager.

Dispatch Six: Dukpa Chechi: On Saturday we awoke to 15cm of fresh wet and heavy monsoon snow. Ginger milk chai in hand, the five of us layered up to face a monsoon snow storm. It was a holy holiday in Nepal, which made it a perfect time to hang our prayer flags and perform a puja to the mother goddess, Everest. We hung the flags in the four cardinal directions, and offered food, drink, and smoke to the Goddess. The snow was falling in large flakes, yet the ceremony was filled with warmth and good vibes. Lakpa lead the blessings, while the rest of us were caught in our own thoughts of this sacred place.

After a few hours of weathering the storm we found shelter back in our cozy lair and spent the rest of the morning reading and passing the time indoors. After a warm lunch the weather broke and the three of us headed out for a hike to 20,000ft. The views were amazing and our bodies told us we were finally acclimating to life  at 18,500ft.

The following day, Stephen  lead a charge to the glacier for a morning of ice climbing on the giant ice tours. We found great climbing and bouldering. The dry glacier below ABC, has miles of amazing blue ice tours that form an endless labyrinth to explore and climb in.

After a great day on the Glacier Stephen, Jimmy, and Kami sat down to another episode of the Everest Iron Chef. Over the past few weeks Lakpa and I have been dueling in the kitchen. We have a one day on one day off rotation. In a friendly game of one upmanship, we tried to out do each other everyday by showing off every camp culinary trick we know. &. pizza, cinnamon rolls, biscuits and gravy, tuna casserole, French toast, Thai curries and  Stephens favorite, 18 bean stew. Stephen and Jimmy are enjoying the dueling chefs.

The weather will dictate our plans for the week. 

Dispatches

Pictures copyright Stephen Koch' Autumn Everest 2003 expedition

  Altitude pre-
   acclimatization

   Ascenders

   Atlas snowshoes

   Black Diamond

   Botas

   Brunton

   Carabiners

   CaVa Climbing Shoes
   Clearance

   Clif Bar

   CMI

   Crampons

   Edelweiss ropes
   Eureka Tents

   Featured

   FoxRiver

   Garmin

   Granite Gear

   Harnesses
   Headlamps
   Helmets

   HighGear
   Ice Axes

   Kavu Eyewear

   Katadyn

   Kong

   Lekisport

   Lowepro

   Motorola

   Nalgene

   New England Ropes

   Nikwax

   Omega

   Outdoor Designs

   Pelican

   PowerBar

   Princeton Tec

   Prescription Glacier

   Glasses

   Primus

   Rope Bags

   Seattle Sports

   Serius
   Sleeping Bags

   Stubai

   Suunto

   Tents

   Trekking Poles
   Ushba
   and more here