Resting at BC, Summit Rotation Begins
All CTSS climbers have now returned to Basecamp from the second rotation and ropes are fixed to the summit!
With the acclimatization rotations completed our teams will rest in basecamp and wait for a good weather window for their summit bids. It is an exciting time in basecamp full of anticipation as climbers recover, feel stronger, and watch the forecasts for their moment.
This morning the teams went through an oxygen clinic to dial in their systems and spent part of the morning packing food and gear for the summit bid.
In the afternoon we hosted the first annual CTSS Table Tennis Championships followed by music in the big dome for a pre-summit celebration. Our teams have worked incredibly hard to prepare over the last 5 weeks in Nepal, it was a well earned afternoon of relaxation and fun.
CTSS would like to congratulate everyone in Basecamp for all the hard work, preparation, and attention detail each climber has exhibited to get to this point. Well done team!
Mike and the rest of the Guides are watching the forecasts and whats happening on the mountain closely in order to select summit windows with the best chance of success.
With a good forecast for the next few days the first round of summit climbers are planning to head up tomorrow morning to begin their bid to stand on top of Everest. We'll be following along closely as they work their way through the camps and set up on the South Col over the next 3-4 days.
More than any other point in the climb, this period is why we invest so heavily in basecamp infrastructure. Having the ability to wait patiently, comfortably, and remain healthy until it's your chance for the summit gives a massive advantage. Good luck!
Cheers,
CTSS Team
Acclimatisation Nears Completion
Perfect weather today, probably the best day we've had this season!
Many of our climbers tagged Camp 3 on the Lhotse Face today including Clayton, Gabby & Jane, Pascale and their Guides. Everyone is moving well and making great time in clear conditions and no wind. They will spend another night at Camp 2 before descending to Base Camp to rest before their summit bids with the exception of Sean & Guide Casey who tagged the bergschrund and then descended all the way to Base Camp in good style.
Manal & Guide Anup have now moved up to Camp 2 on her final rotation.
Meanwhile Meghan, Mark, Jessica, John, Walt and Margaret are all resting either at EBC, or lower, ahead of their summit push. We are getting close now! We will be watching the weather like hawks looking for the best windows. We hope the ropes will be fixed to the summit on the 9th which signals the green light for summit days.
Carb loading with Bacon Lettuce Tomato Foccacias with Tuffle Aioli and hand cut hot chips.
Summit - that way!
Unsettled weather on the way to C2, C3
Expedition Leader Mike gave us a quick round up of the weather on Everest
"It has been snowy here the last 48hours with minor accumulation, but the wind has picked up a bit today and blown the wet air to bring in drier conditions again. The wind is supposed to die off in the next few hours and reports from Camp 2 and Camp 3 are low wind. We expect this dry pattern with lower winds should stay for at least several days."
Some of our climbers are at Camp 2 looking to hit Camp 3 in coming days on their last and final acclimatisation rotation (Clayton, Pascale, Jane & Gabby, Casey & Sean) Walt and John K successfully tagged Camp 3 in good time yesterday and are taking a rest day at Camp 2 today before dropping back down to EBC tomorrow.
Manal and Guide Anup head up to Camp 1 on their final rotation tonight with the goal of tagging Camp 3.
The rest of our climbers (Jessica, Mark, Meghan and Margaret) have all finished their acclimatisation rotations and are now resting at Base Camp in preparation for their summit bids. Hot showers, Chef Jensen's hearty fare & R&R in the Big House are just a handful of critical ingredients to help refresh their energy stores and strengths ahead of the summit bid.
Chef Jensen with fresh friands
CTSS Base Camp from the icefall
Gabby in the icefall
Celebrating EIB with Manal who is attempting to become the first Egyptian woman to summit Everest
First Rotation Wrapping Up
CTSS teams are moving forward as a few clouds and some snow have rolled in. This light pulse of clouds and precip is expected to stick around a few days, but isn't predicted to produce anything significant.
Ruchika and their guide are at C2 looking to tag C3 tomorrow before returning to basecamp.
We've got a ton of climbers back in EBC over the last 24 hours descending down from Camps 1 and 2 where they spend their first rotation. These folks will take a few days to rest a recouperate before turning their eye towards a second rotation, the final prep before their summit bid.
We've also got the first round of climbers heading up for their second rotation today. Walt and John are at C1 heading up to C2 while Tomi, Clayton, and Pasang head towards C1 tomorrow. Tendi, Passang, Jane, Gabby, Ashish and Pascal are all on deck to head up the following day and our Western guided team under the leadership of Casey Grom are looking to follow a day later.
Those recuperating at basecamp between rotations have had quite the feast waiting for them each evening. CTSS Chefs Jensen and Kumar have outdone themselves yet again with butter chicken, vegetable quiche and green salad, lamb au jus just to name a few - oh, and Japanese night as well!
Cheers,
CTSS Team
Excellent Weather, Excellent Climbing on Everest
April 27th 2022
Great news - The ropes are getting closer and should be fixed to the South Col by tomorrow which is ahead of schedule. Weather has been excellent for climbing with only light wind.
Private IFMGA Sherpa team Jessica H and Guide Kami are currently climbing on the Lhotse Face and aim to tag Camp 3 today. They are reporting perfect weather.
Private IFMGA Sherpa team Meghan B and Guide Naren, as well as Mark W & Margaret K (Everest/Lhotse Speed Ascenders) with their Guide Pega all tagged the bottom of the Lhotse Face today on their acclimatization rotation and will go for Camp 3 tomorrow.
Ruchika S and Guide Pemba are well and truly on target to hit her goal of Camp 3 this rotation and is currently safely at Camp 1. Private Western Guided Climber; Girish A with Guide Tomi Ceppi, & Private IFMGA Sherpa team Manal R with Guide Anup are shortly behind and expected in Camp 1 very soon.
On the downward direction; Private IFMGA Sherpa team Pascale S and Guide Asish are now descending back to Base Camp today having reached Camp 2 as planned on their acclimatization rotation.
Private Tendi Sherpa Guided Climbers Jane and Gabby with Tendi and Guide Passang arrived back early this morning and are now enjoying a very relaxing morning back at Base.
Meanwhile Casey's Western Guided Team, along with Private Western Guided Climber John K and Guide Walt, all rolled in yesterday and enjoyed a homemade Cabonara whipped up by Chef Jensen for their arrival back to EBC yesterday and well deserved hot showers.
All is progressing smoothly on the mountain and we are setting our sights on our final acclimatization rotation in coming days! We bid farewell to our 3 Peaks teams and trekkers who leave Kathmandu today.
Cheers
CTSS Team
Trekking and 3 Peaks Wrap Up, Everest Teams Move Higher
3 Peaks Climb and EBC+Gokyo Trek Wrapping Up
CTSS's 3 Peaks Expedition had a successful climb of Island peak with 100% on the summit!
They have descended down the valley and are now resting comfortably back in Kathmandu. Congratulations to the team on an fantastically successful expedition climbing Lobuche, Pokalde, and Island Peak.
All our EBC and Gokyo Trekking teams are now back in Kathmandu as well. Arriving yesterday they wrapped up the trek with a well-earned celebration dinner. Strong work to our 2022 Trekking Team and congratulations on a great expedition!
We wish our 3 peaks and EBC Trekkers safe and smooth travels as they start heading back to their home countries over the next few days. It has been our pleasure to explore and climb throughout the Khumbu valley with this spectacular group of people.
Everest Climbers
Back on Everest the first wave of climbers have moved up and settled into C2 (~21,400ft, 6,550m)for the night after spending 2 nights at C1 (~19,500ft, 5,945m). The second wave of climbers have all made is safely through the icefall and are spending their first night at C1.
CTSS Camp 2 climber John climbed up to C2 yesterday and is now back in basecamp to celebrate reaching his goal. Our Camp 2 and Camp 3 climbs are a fantastic way to prepare for future summit attempts by learning the ins and outs of Himalayan climbing, basecamp life, and climbing the lower section of the route in advance. John will soon be heading back down the valley towards Kathmandu and home - Nice work!
A few of our private climbers and our Camp 3 expedition will head to C1 on the 27th as our third and final wave of the first rotation.
Meanwhile, Speed ascent climber Clayton has made his way up the valley and successfully summited Lobuche East with his guide Passang in a blistering pace of 3 hours - extraordinarily strong work. They will join the rest of the team in EBC tomorrow.
Cheers,
CTSS Team
First Rotation to C1, Island Peak and Namche
Tons happening in Nepal the last few days! The weather has been good with a bit of wind up high but generally stable and clear.
Everest Team
The first wave of CTSS climbers have climbed through the Khumbu Icefall to Camp 1 today including our Western Guided Team and Private Expedition climbers. The rest of our teams will head to Camp 1 to join them tomorrow. The plan is to spend a couple of nights at Camp 1 (~19,500ft, 5944m) with the potential of climbing up to C2 for a lunch before returning to C1. The climbers will descend back to Basecamp in a few days to "sleep low" and give their bodies time to build back up for the next rotation.
At basecamp the team continues to enjoy amazing food prepared by our in-house chef including French Toast and peaches for breakfast, fresh brownies at tea time and home made Shepards Pie for lunch. Eating well is key to staying healthy at high altitude and I'd say they're doing pretty well!
3 Peaks
The CTSS 3 Peaks team trekked from Pokalde to Island peak Basecamp over the last two days. Today they're heading out of Basecamp for their final summit of our spring 2022 3 Peaks expedition, Island Peak. Best of luck to the climbing team!
Trekkers and Lobuche Climbers
Our EBC/Gokyo trekking team and Lobuche climbers have completed their descent to Namche after visiting Gokyo. They'll be flying back to Kathmandu soon to wrap up an amazing expedition.
Cheers,
CTSS Team
Training Days and Lattes at Everest
Training Days and Lattes
The teams have been keeping busy up at EBC - between their intensive training skills in the lower part of the Khumbu icefall, preparing for their first rotation and then the all important ritual of refuelling with Chef Jensens' epic cooking! (Last night was a gourmet butter chicken followed by a espresso chocolate marquis with toasted toffee almonds for desert!!)
Meanwhile barista Chena Lama's hot on his heels and has been busily churning out his now famous "Mocha Madness" - the highest mocha on the planet, but arguably the best too - in the Big House Cafe!
It's not all mochas and chocolate pudding, we promise there's some hard work being done too.
Our Western Guided Team aim to head out on their first rotation 23rd of April up to Camp 1 with our Private climbers close on their heels and departing camp to join them on the 24th or 25th.
Our 3 Peaks team called in this morning from the summit of Pokalde, everyone moving strongly and in great style. Well done team. They are now descending to Base Camp and we'll look forward to hearing their updates before they head over to their 3rd and final objective - Island Peak.
Our Lobuche Climbers/Gokyo trekkers did the hard yards yesterday from JongLa over Cho La Pass to Gokyo Lake. They had some nice weather in the morning but it quickly socked in and gave them reason to feel a bit grumpy in cold temperatures and steady snow. They were happy to get cosy and warm in the teahouse! Tomorrow they begin their descent toward Namche.
It's beautiful weather today up at Base Camp and the climbers are out there busily earning their dinner and soaking up the sun.
Cheers
CTSS Team
Puja & Pokalde
A very auspicious day for us here at Everest base camp with our “Puja” (blessing ceremony) taking place.
A Puja is a Tibetan Buddhist ritual, the purpose of which is to ask the mountain deity for safe passage and of course to celebrate.
Regardless of your religious affiliation, being part of and witnessing a Puja is a wonderful cultural moment and a precious opportunity to be fully present in our common goal and humbled by the mountains that stand before us. It is also a great opportunity for our full team to come together and bond before heading higher.
We concluded with a traditional Sherpa dance, locking arms and forming a semi circle in front of the Puja alter. We ‘Mikaru’ (or ‘foreigner’ which roughly translates to ‘white eyes’) tried to emulate the Sherpa as best we could!
The culmination of the ceremony is raising the Puja pole in the centre of the alter and stringing prayer flags over our camp, building a zone of protection for the team. When the flags blow in the wind it is thought by the Sherpa that they send out prayers. This has become a common part of any Everest and Lhotse expedition and the Sherpa, who draw no distinction between their daily lives and their Tibetan Buddhism, appreciate and welcome us in this ritual.
With the Puja complete we are now ready to begin our climbing on Everest/Lhotse in earnest.
Tthe teams spent the rest of the day acclimatizing, training in the lower Khumbu icefall and have become preparing and packing for our second high altitude rotation (our first was our Lobuche climb, and this one will be our first on Everest)
Meanwhile, our 3 Peaks Climbers bid EBC farewell as they now split off and head off to tackle their next objective Pokalde and our trekkers are heading off to Gokyo, first stop JongLha.
Cheers
CTSS Team
Waving goodbye to Lobuche
Our last wave of climbers summited Lobuche this morning and are all safely back to Lobuche Base Camp. Our pre-aclimated Speed Ascent climbers who flew into Pheriche will make their ascent tomorrow morning and then we will pack down our Lobuche Base Camps and High Camps for the season. Congratulations to everyone for such a fantastic, safe, successful and strong effort on Lobuche.
Meanwhile up at Everest Base Camp, our Western Guided Team Climbers took a rest day today and did some light training as they look toward starting their first rotation in coming days.
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Our Private Guided Climbers enjoyed their first full day settling into their new home. Their warm welcome to camp started with Chef Jensen preparing a hearty, delicious breakfast of French Toast and braised peaches with a salted caramel sauce followed by cappuccinos (care of barista Cena Lama) and fresh, warm brownies in the Big House. A pretty good start and a good energy load this morning!
Over the next few days the teams will prepare for their rotations to begin and we will wave farewell to our trekkers as they head over to Gokyo and back down valley.
Our 3 Peaks team will also split off to climb Pokalde and Island Peak.
Everything moving smoothly up high in the Himalaya.
CTSS Team
