Hello Everyone,

With eagle eyes on the expert forecast, we’ve made the decision to pull the whole team down to Base Camp today. Our 1st wave (Being IFMGA, Personal Sherpa and Private Team Fahad & Ossy) are on their way back down as I type and will be rolling in shortly.

As you may know, there is a significant cyclonic storm about 450km from the Odisha Coast in East India called Cyclone Fani (pronounced Foni) which has been moving North. While it’s meant to weaken, the effects of that storm mean we are likely to see significant snowfall and high winds on the mountain. We are erring on the conservative side and will have the entire team wait it out for few days in the safety of Base Camp until that storm has passed and things have settled.

This also means the fixing of the ropes (which are currently up past the Yellow Band approaching the South Col) is likely to be delayed too.

Not to worry – there’s room in the schedule for events like this and it’s quite normal to be pushed back a little during the course of an Everest expedition.

Once we have seen that weather pattern move on, we’ll reassess and move teams up when it is safe to do so on a short 2nd rotation before their summit bids. Remember patience is very much a part of this Everest game…

Plus, extra time creating precious red blood cells and watching the snow fall through the windows of the Big Dome whilst kicking back on the lounges with hot chocolate/or cappuccino in hand doesn’t sound too bad does it?

Cheers
Caroline