Makalu Team in Hillary BC!

from stu in the usa office
April 19, 2010

Our team is settled into Hillary BC at 4900m after aother great day of trekking and everyone is feeling well on the team. Fabrizio called in this morning to let us know that they are now just a 5 hour walk to Makalu BC tomorrow where they can settle into their new home for the next month!

They have continued to have some rain each day but mostly after they have arrived at camp so the trekking has been very enjoyable. Fabrizio added that our cook, Ram, has been doing an especially great job and they are eating very well! In the afternoon Fabrizio took an acclimatization walk up to visit the BC of a team attempting a new route on the south. He said the mountain is enormous from up close and sounded very excited to get onto some climbing in few days!

Our weather forecasting from www.meteotest.ch suggests continued afternoon rain likely for another few days and then hopefully a period of drier days. Winds are quite high on the summit still in the 50 km/hr range so we'll be looking for more moderate winds in the weeks ahead!

More news as we have it!

stu

Makalu update April 15th - Rainy Days!

from stu in the usa office
April 15th, 2010

Fabrizio called in at the end of a big day of trekking to Khongma (3560m) to let us know that all is well. Today's leg is one of the bigger days on the trek with a gain of 1400m but Fabrizio said everyone was feeling great.

Despite 2 days of rain since the last dispatch they have had enough clearings to see the magnificent glimpses of the mountains surrounding them and are appreciating the flora a fauna of the valley. They will begin to break out of the low regions soon and hopefully enjoy some sun and views!

Fabrizio plans an audio dispatch either tomorrow of saturday so tune in for more!

stu