Big news coming in from the upper mountain today! Ropes have been fixed to the South Col, which means our teams have started moving oxygen up the mountain to be ready for summit bids. Traditionally, Everest sees the most summits in mid-May, and we are fast approaching that timeline. We will keep you posted as climbers, guides, and our teams make plans for their summit climbs.
We have one private climber, Andrea G, along with guide Robert, who is finishing their rotation. They will drop back to Everest Base Camp tomorrow.
One of our private teams, the Bouka Family, wrapped their first rotation today. They shared this beautiful video highlighting the climb through Khumbu Icefall to Camp 1, capturing the essence of the glacier in every scene.
The team shared, “It was during our first acclimatization rotation that we truly discovered what the Khumbu Icefall is all about.A chaotic maze of ice, only visible through the beam of our headlamps. This iconic section is crossed at night to reduce the risk of falling ice blocks—and maybe it’s better not to see the full scale of this moving frozen ocean… The atmosphere is surreal: a mix of eerie silence, cracking ice, and the sound of our crampons on ice or swaying ladders.”
All of our other teams and climbers are back at Base Camp after successful rotations. A few climbers are dropping back all the way to Lukla and Kathmandu to “touch grass,” which is a strategy that entails flying to much lower elevations either between rotations or just ahead of a summit bid to get some extra rest and recovery. Their bodies will undoubtedly enjoy this little break from the high-altitude environments at and above Everest Base Camp.
We got a peek at life above Base Camp from Sam and Emma Schwerin, who completed their second rotation with their guides Tendi Sherpa and Fred Alldredge. This team spent one night at Camp 1 and three nights at Camp 2, where they did an acclimatization hike to 22,228 feet and had plenty of time to play Uno!
