DISPATCHES

Emme

	click for dispatch photos

Greetings from the members of the K2000 expedition. Another boring day for us. One of our Epigas cylinders exploded destroying the duffel it was being carried in. One of our industrious porters managed to repair the bag, but the gas was a loss.

The other big misfortune today was that one of our ketchup bottles exploded. Now at home I would just go to the store and buy another. Out here, we cry over spilt milk and lick the bottle.

Most of us now are currently residing at intermediate camp at approximately 15,000ft. A couple of us are still hacking our lungs out. A few of us are recovering from the runs. Today one of our doctors stuck a needle into someone's knee, hopefully to ease and reduce the pain that climber was suffering. Other than that, we are all in great spirits.

Tomorrow four of us will move to Advanced Base Camp and start to reside there. We just met today our Chinese partners as they are starting to ferry loads up the hill. Our competitors, the Japanese, are camped right across the river from us. We are eyeing each other very closely, each trying to maintain the upper hand. That is all for today. More to follow tomorrow.

— Siegfried Emme, MountainZone.com Correspondent

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