Our teams are on schedule and moving well! We are now almost a week into the expedition and the rhythm of expedition life is settling in. As our teams keep working their way towards EBC the team is growing more acclimated and becoming familiar with daily life in the Khumbu Valley.

Our Western Guided Team stayed around Pheriche today, taking a hike above the town to help with acclimation. All of their “Climb high, sleep low” process of acclimation will soon be put to the test on Lobuche East. Lobuche is a beautiful peak just down the valley from Everest with excellent climbing. This team will arrive in Lobuche basecamp tomorrow, knock off the dust of the trail, and get into climbing mode heading for Lobuche’s Summit over the next few days. Internet communication isn’t great at Lobuche Basecamp, so we’ll be keeping in touch with satellite communications until they reach Everest basecamp in 5-6 days.

The Private Expedition team headed to the famous Tengboche Monastery today to receive a traditional blessing. They had a beautiful, warm ceremony with the monks before hiking above the Monastery for extra acclimatization. This team will be moving up to Periche tomorrow, just a few days behind the Western Team.

CTSS’ Private Sherpa and IFMGA Sherpa Guided Team took a rest and acclimation day as well in Namche, hiking to Everest View Hotel before returning to their lodging in Namche for the evening.

All of the move, rest, move, included in our trek is a time-tested strategy for success. The climbers are currently pushing their bodies to begin the long-term physiological changes that allow them to climb above 8000m in a month or so. These expeditions are all about playing the long game; stress than rest, stress than rest. It’s like a savings account or investment, the more you tactically spend and save energy from your “bank” early on, the more “interest” has built for you to use when the big moment comes.

Good luck teams!

Cheers,

CTSS Team