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Team Doc Janis Tupesis and base camp manager
Christine Kane phoned home Wednesday morning U.S. time –
or at least phoned a reporter stateside to give a voice update
on TE03.
The best news was that Gary Guller and Gary
Scott are happily ensconced at Camp 2, with Scott readying
a day-trip up to Camp 3 today. Base camp folks say that Gary
Guller then plans to return w/ Gary Scott for a night at Camp
3, and the two will then return to base camp for rest and
regrouping on April 26. All of the expeditions on Everest's
south side are planning a team-leader meeting on the 26th
to discuss fixing ropes on the South Col and above and other
safety issues, so the TE03 climbers hope to be back down to
attend.
Janis reports that weather may turn lousy
again in the next two days, which could briefly delay the
team. Both Janis and Christine noted
that recent high winds have added a twist to the hot days
and frigid nights at base camp; Christine said that windy
conditions several days ago had folks huddling in their tents
to try to keep warm instead of basking in the daily heatwaves.
Janis reports that Gary Guller is climbing
well. He notes that Gary’s first trip through the Khumbu
Icefall (which Guller reported last week had involved traversing
some 25-30 ladders strung over crevasses as well as the usual
hair-raising ups-and-downs over ice chunks the size of houses
and more) was "at a quick pace for him,'' taking about
half the time of his first trip in 2001. "He’s feeling
strong,’’ Janis said.
Summit team member Chris Watkins of Thunder
Bay, Canada, left base camp for home on Tuesday. Chris had
struggled during the trek with altitude-related physical problems,
and Christine and Janis say he decided it would be best to
head down for good after visiting TE03's base camp this past
week.
Chris’s dedication to the team and its
message was nothing short of remarkable. While in Katmandu
recovering from altitude-related illness, he single handedly
arranged a welcome-back reception and news conference
for the Challenge Trek team with the U.S. Embassy’s deputy
ambassador and consul. (And, as good Canadian luck would have
it, even selected a reception site close enough to the ridiculously
lavish National Geographic India reality TV show party that
TE03 members were able to scarf free drinks and eats!) Because
of Chris’s efforts, TE03’s meeting with U.S. diplomats
was featured in every major Nepali newspaper, as well as the
country’s main morning TV newscasts. Christine and Janis
say he’ll be sorely missed.
Vince Bousselaire of Golden, Co., the fourth member of the
summit team, remains at lower altitude in Pheriche. Janis
says he’ll be there for the next four or five days, resting
up and regaining strength before trying to regroup with the
team at base camp.
While spirits are high, base camp communications remain in
the ditch. The team’s beleaguered Honda generator, miraculously
raised from the dead multiple times by Mingma Sherpa, Nikomar
Margar and other mechanical whizzes during the challenge trek
to base camp, is so dead and gone that all of the team’s
computers are out of batteries – and thus out of commission
for emails and dispatches. Christine reports that TE03's logistical
genius in Katmandu, Loben Sherpa, sent in a temporary reinforcement
on a recent helicopter flight: a car battery. Trouble was,
to get it on the flight, it had to be, um, mislabeled as 'oxygen.’
So the base camp team spent much time after the helo arrived
sorting through the goodies sent from Katmandu, passing by
the 'oxygen’ package (and wondering, why did they send
THAT?), and while wondering where the heck th eir temporary
juice might've ended up. Someone finally opened the mislabeled
package yesterday afternoon, and base camp is now expecting
another Sherpa mechanical miracle: Christine predicts that
the battery and solar panels could be jury-rigged to provide
a temporary electricity source within the next day or so.
It won’t replace the still sorely mourned generator,
but would keep things limping along for a while.
Christine says that TE03 is not alone in its electricity
woes. She estimates that fully 50 percent of the expeditions
are now sans power at base camp (along w/ the megapublicized
base camp cyber cafe), thanks to the high demands and harsh
conditions at base camp (those of us who found ourselves sleeping
with our electronic equipment at base camp to keep it from
succumbing to low nighttime temps can testify that it is NOT
a machine-friendly environment).
Those few camps with generators still working apparently
aren’t winning any popularity contests when they crank
up their engines either. "You hear one or two going,
and you want to throw rock at them!’’ said a base
camp manager who spoke on condition on anonymity. - Lee Hancock
To contact the TE '03 Summit Team: info@teameverest03.org
THANKS to Chad Pritchett and Dolores
Kane for their $1000 "GENERATOR" Sponsorship. This
generous donation will ensure smooth communications throughout
the expedition!
The Coalition of Texans with Disabilities is dedicated to
ensuring that people with disabilities enjoy equal opportunities
to live, work, play, and participate fully in the community
of their choice. CTD has consistently delivered important
results for persons with disabilities for the past 24 years,
and needs your support to fight the discrimination that faces
individuals with disabilities in almost every aspect of their
lives.
CURRENT INITIATIVES: Specialized Telecommunications
Assistance Program (STAP)
CTD provides outreach efforts, which allow Texans who have
trouble using a regular telephone (due to vision, hearing,
mobility, or cognitive disorders) to receive specialized telecommunications
equipment at no cost to them, regardless of the actual cost
of the equipment. In the last four years, CTD has helped thousands
of Texans obtain free communication devices that increase
their independence and participation in life.
Contact Dennis Borel at 512/478-3366 M-F (other times at
512/431-1656) or dborel@cotwd.org
for info about Team Everest'03 or CTD.
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Hello
from Camp Two! We survived the man-eating crevasses and
swaying ladder bridges through the Khumbu Ice Fall and arrived
to Camp 1 without a hitch despite the snow and wind. After
a night of acclimatization, we forged on to Camp Two. The
hike from Camp 1 to Camp 2 was slow and treacherous due to
the scorching sun reflecting from the surrounding peak, as
well as the dangerous crevasses, many of which were hidden
by last night's snowfall. Even though we couldn't see them,
we knew they were there and therefore had to be much more
cautious with each step. 
He
made it safely, stayed a few hours and returned to Camp 2
to sleep for the night. I'll head back up to Camp 3 with Gary
S. in the next day or two and we both will spend 1-2 nights
acclimatizing there - Keep all fingers crossed for good weather.
Wind speed at these heights can reach 90 miles per hour and
temperatures well below zero. - Gary Guller
Because
the weather was warm and sunny at Base Camp today, we washed
clothes, took showers (for the first time in five days!) and
aired out sleeping bags and tents. It is amazing how life
is controlled by the weather here!! - Christine Kane
A
quick hello and thanks to all of Janis Tupesis' colleagues
at the University of Chicago Hospital! Christine Kane sends
a shout out to all the students and staff at TSD, as well
as her awesome family and friends - Keep the emails coming
up, You guys rock! Chad, the news about the generator was
just too much! 
Greetings
from a cold and snowy Base Camp!
After
speaking to Gary G. on the radio, it was good to hear that
they had just finished a delicious lunch of RaRa noodles,
tuna and canned peaches for dessert! All is well and they
are ready for some acclimatization!
we
need your to help bring the message of TE '03 to the top of
the world!