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Expedition Dispatches
Satellite phone updates from the 1998 American Everest Expedition
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Wally Berg |
A Visit from Tashi Tenzing
Tuesday, April 14, 1998 — Base Camp (17,500')
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Hi Mountain Zone, it's Wally calling you from base camp, the afternoon of the 14th. Well, as usual, I can be wrong about the weather. Myself and others (Dave Mencin,) we were watching the high cirrus clouds and the high winds in the west that we've been reporting to you yesterday. We were certain that the weather was going deteriorate, and we would probably see some snow and bad weather today, and in fact, that did not happen. The wind continued to remain high above base camp. In particular, the Sherpas, on their carry to Camp I and Camp II today, reported quite windy conditions. Of course, we don't set up tents up there yet, we just cache gear, so there is no concern yet. And really, for moving on the lower part of the mountain, the wind is not a negative at all; it's not really a problem.
One great thing that happened today, for me personally, and really for the entire team is an old friend showed up. Tashi Tenzing is Tenzing Norgay's grandson and has been a good friend of mine for a number of years, primarily through efforts we've shared together here on Everest over the years. In particular, Tashi Tenzing, last year was around and had a good season; he went to the summit two days prior to me on May 27th. We ran into him actually in Bangkok on the way to Kathmandu together — Tashi lives in Australia now — and he is in Nepal with a group of Australian trekkers, who he is trekking around the Khumbu with, and he brought them to base camp today. It was great to catch up with an old friend and see him in a familiar setting where we spent a lot of time together and to meet the wonderful folks he is trekking with. Tashi Tenzing has once again made an appearance at Everest base camp. He's been quite a player in recent years and it was good to see him.
We'll have our Sherpas doing the third carry tomorrow before they take a rest day on Thursday. I'll keep you posted on how that goes. They're looking strong. They have moved a tremendous amount of gear up there. We have so many guys working this year that we're able to push our stuff up quite quickly, and they are reporting, as I told you the other day, a good route through the icefall this year. Still a lot of wind up there, but as we stock the camps, things are looking very good. I'll continue to keep you posted.
— Wally Berg, Expedition Leader
