Wednesday 20 April 2011

Everest Puja

Photo: Greg Healey Collection

The team are currently hiding in their heated mess tent watching '300' as the snow falls. This is our first bout of bad weather preceded by some stunning lenticular clouds. Strong winds this morning made our Puja or mountain blessing a lively experience. A pair of Lamas came up from the Rongbuk Monastery for our two hour ceremony which ended with a flour fight, plenty of Everest whiskey and a really positive vibe for the challenge ahead.

The whole team are acclimatising well with the majority having reached 5500m up the frozen river just behind our camp. The Adventure Peaks Lhakpa Ri team also joined us yesterday and will be sharing our expedition as far as the North Col. Base camp rumour is that the ropes are fixed to the North Col but this is yet to be confirmed. Over the next couple of days we all hope to break the 6000m barrier before making our first trek up to ABC. www.adventurepeaks.com