Dave Hahn

A cloudy day, but strangely, not too windy. Not so strange, I suppose, as we know what is going on. The jet-stream went south. That would be wonderful, but it belongs up north. Consequently, the calm is not fooling anybody. We all know that the big river in the sky has to run us over again before it gets where it belongs. The hope is that the jet's return trip will be quick and that it won't lollygag when it comes to passing Everest. Get it up north where it belongs and let us see what kind of a calm we get before the monsoon puts an end to the climbing season.

"Most folks at ABC were playing a form of chicken, waiting for someone else to break the trail..."

All teams are in a holding pattern now. There was some activity out of ABC this morning. Craig John went up toward the Col to stretch his legs and see if our camp is still there. He was out a bit early though, just one guy ahead of him and Craig was dismayed that the guy wasn't clearing the ropes very well. It is tough duty, pulling the fixed ropes up and free of windpacked hard snow. That is why most folks at ABC were playing a form of chicken, waiting for someone else to break the trail. If one waits too long, however, one misses the lull in the wind.

Most teams wanted to get folks up to the Col to check the destruction there. The last report was that a number of North Col tents had been crushed or carried away. Same for Camp V up the North Ridge, many hopes are riding on that scattering of tents. If all is well, it is just a matter of waiting for good days and cruising up on your team's past labors. But if a camp or two is wiped away at this late date... well, the yaks are are on the move again.

I just had a pleasant afternoon with our Liaison Officer and interpreter. All in all, they figure when June 1 rolls in, they'd rather be in Beijing. I pushed for a late exit though, changing our itinerary (we were once flying to Bangkok on the 1st) so that we don't even leave basecamp until June 4th. But a number of teams, the majority of them, actually, don't change travel plans. So we are starting to hear of teams that will summit, or not, in just the next week (not, if the forecasts are close to correct) and will be yakking down the valley just the same. We can't quite see things that way... too much expense, too much mystery as to when there will be another expedition, too much sweat gone into this one, too many courses of antibiotics to let go of this season without playing it for all it is worth.

When the weather does break, there is going to be a rush on the upper mountain that we want no part of. The Second Step, to mention just one obstacle, is no place for socializing. It is frightening to think of the style of climbing adopted when a team has no more time for that first and only attempt on the summit. So, we won't be there for that first blitz.

Our hopes ride, once again, on Panuru and "the boys." When those other teams seize the days for the summit push, our Sherpa team will hopefully be laying in the heavy stuff required at our high camp. We have to face up to the fact that they will recuperate from that push twice as fast as any of us and so they will still be hot for our summit tries a few days later. Panuru, Danuru, Pinzo and Lhakpa left basecamp this morning. They have been taking advantage of the climbing ban imposed by the wind and have been resting down low. Now they will return to ABC where Jim, Craig and Pasang are holding down the fort. When the weather breaks, they will be on scene to make the big difference. We will miss their singing and laughing at BC, where everyone else is prone to way too much seriousness, calendar inspection and fitness fretting.

— Dave Hahn, International Mountain Guides' Expedition Leader

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