Hi this is TA calling in from Kathmandu, atop the hotel Nirvana Garden.  Listening to the sounds of banging and children sing, it is the festival of lights here so store fronts and homes are adorned in orange Christmas like lights and strings of orange flowers.  There are beautiful mandalas in store fronts with candles and tonight there will be fireworks and many other things related to lights going on.  So it’s an exciting night to be in Kathmandu.  I’m very excited to actually be in Kathmandu, we waited much of the morning, almost to midday, to get our flight out of Lukla.  Slightly scary to actually being flying out of Lukla given the recent disaster there, but the pilots did a fine job and got us through some light cloud.  Got a few images of the snow capped peaks and then we landed.  Because of the festival traffic wasn’t too bad in Kathmandu, Cliff and I settled in for wonderful showers and then dinner at our favorite middle eastern restaurant with of course some Everest beer.

Heard about the rest of our team, it sounds like snow conditions on the summit ridge where very deep and very poor and unsafe to continue.  So they have called off their summit bids and are busy cleaning the mountain, bringing things down, and will be slowly making their way down to the Kathmandu valley.  So it has indeed been a very difficult fall in the Khumbu Valley part of the Himalayas as there have been no summits yet on Ama Dablam, Pumori or I don’t even believe on Everest.  I did today meet Jason, who was my guide on Acacongua, so it was fun catching up and I hope to catch up with Sean Richard from my Everest climb so it has definitely been a small world kind of autumn here in Nepal.

Going to see about maybe coming back to Canada a little bit early, though not really counting on that given how busy it is here this tourist season.  Thick air, warm air, and yummy food is all been very nice and helping ease the disappointed.  Hope you are doing well, greeting again from Kathmandu, and goodnight.

TA

Help the fight against breast cancer.  TA’s climb of Mount Pumori is a fundraiser for the Canadian Brest Cancer Foundation.  100% of money raised during this climb goes to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.  Please give. 

To donate online click here, to download a donation form click here.

Hi this is TA calling in from Lukla, Phil and I made it here today at about 3 o’clock in the afternoon after another 6 hours of walking.  It was pretty hot and bothered this morning, the trail was full of trekkers and pack animals and things.  We stopped in at Pharping for a wonderful feed of potatoes which lifted our caloric intake and our spirits, which helped us, get here this afternoon.  It sounds like we’re on an 11 o’clock flight tomorrow morning.  We are hoping that the weather holds so that the plane can get in and out, so we can get into Kathmandu, and get onto what ever is coming next.

Often times our thoughts went up the hill, wondering how the rest of our team is doing, or as I call them ‘our boys’.  We made sure that we went around all the Mani stones on the correct side trying to send good thoughts their way and good wishes.  We are hoping that tonight if team one is on their summit bid that all goes well and safely.

Indeed thoughts did go forward today, at lunch we met a wonderful family form Australia and took a peek at their map to see how much elevation we needed to gain and I saw a little line that was the trek to Makalu base camp, which I realized was another way of getting into Everest, which got me excited.  It was a way that I kept myself occupied as we climbed the last big hill up here to Lukla.

So we are doing fine, getting ready to have some dinner, another good sleep down at elevation, and hopefully get to Kathmandu tomorrow.  Thanks so much for following along and we will catch you tomorrow.

TA

Help support TA’s climb for awareness.  TA’s climb of Mount Pumori is a fundraiser for the Canadian Brest Cancer Foundation.  The money raised during this climb goes to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.  If you have given already, thank you and please tell your friends and family to give also.  We need your support. 

To dontae online click here, or to downlaod a donation form click here.

Hi this is TA calling in from Namche bazaar.  I spent much of yesterday looking back over my left shoulder; stopping to look back at Pumori and silently tracing the route to the summit with my eyes and wondering what the mountain would hold for the rest of my team above camp one.  Once we descended the Dugla hill we saw Pumori no more.  Today was a day of looking both forward and back   On with bla was our constant companion until we finally rounded the corner into Namche.  We stopped to glance back at Everest frequently and the entire Khumbu valley we had just come down, and looked forward to places and experiences down valley.  It is always a fine balance of finding the present moment between memories of the past and expectations of the future.  I suspect tomorrow may be a day of looking ahead.

Once I leave base camp and come to lower environments I can actually perceive how harsh life up there actually was.  As temperatures warm up and beds get more comfy, appetite returns and walking is mostly down hill, life and the ability to philosophize becomes much easier.  Today I met a Buddhist friend, Stephen, from St. John’s on the trail above Namche, he is staying in the room next door, small world.  I also met Kevin Adams a good friend of Tim’s who brought his school group to trek to base camp.  He brought pictures of their fallen friend to place in his favorite spots in the Khumbu valley, small world.  I had a latte and did a little bit of email down in Namche, small world.  I got a North Face jacket for Andrew so he could stop wearing his mom Dianne’s, small world.  So I’m here in Namche, thousands of kilometers from home, feeling great fondness and love for all who bless my life, and for the privilege of walking and climbing in such an amazing place.

Hopefully team one moved to camp one today, and team two to advanced base camp.  Whenever people learn that we were climbing Pumori their heads turn almost as much as when they see my multi-tone hair.  Two older Sherpa women couldn’t contain their laughter when I walked by them today in town, after my shower it was quite quaff and looking quite good.  One last day of trekking should deposit Cliff and I in Lukla tomorrow with all body parts cross for our flight to Kathmandu the next day, and communication that wont come via satellites.  As I’m sitting here overlooking Namche, there is the most amazing light on the snow covered peaks, that you can see from here and I realize that I’m speaking on the phone and not out of breath for the first time in weeks.

Have a great night, catch you tomorrow.

TA

Help support TA’s climb for awareness.  TA’s climb of Mount Pumori is a fundraiser for the Canadian Brest Cancer Foundation.  The money raised during this climb goes to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.  If you have given already, thank you and please tell your friends and family to give also.  We need your support. 

Click here to donate online, or click here for a downloadable donation form.

Hi this is TA calling Pangboche.  My Buddhist teachers and mentors would probably agree that it’s the goal to have the kind of mindfulness in daily living that I have in high altitude environment.  I must admit that it is nice to have a break from paying close attention to hydration, layering, and making sure I hit my pee bottle.  My Buddhist slogan for the day was ‘don’t wallow in self pity’ which, I am pleased to report that I did not.  The goodbyes at base camp where a little tough, but nothing like two days ago when I headed up to advanced base camp alone, knowing that my dream of summiting Pumori was over for now.

I woke early to pack my big duffle for the porter who will carry me to Lukla.  I had one last base camp breakfast, crammed my pack full of things I needed to carry, hugged everyone goodbye and headed out over the dreadful glacial moraine that separates base camp for Gorakshep.  Cliff leveled by a sinus infection decided to join me in my walk out.  It’s been delightful sharing the trail and his company.  Miles, where punctuated with reflections on the expedition, silence, and noting changes in our environment.  The air got thicker and warmer with each metre lost, we pasted trekkers on their way up bundle in parkas and scarves, I was quite happy only wearing my light WOKie wear.  Stopped in Farouche for lunch and was thrilled that the inn keeper remembered both me and my name. I spent about a week there on various visits in 2007 during Everest.

As we dropped below Farouche the miracle of trees appeared, leaves with greens, yellows, and reds, my senses are awakening to the sights and sounds of down valley life and it to me.  After two weeks of being sequestered with my team in base camp, it was quite easy to forget that I had pink hair.  We actually didn’t pass many westerners today, but the Nepalese all staired with a gentle curiosity.  We arrived in Pangboche and fortunately found a room back at the Sherpa resort where we had stayed before receiving a blessing from Lama Geshi a few weeks back.  Cliff has just returned from a shower that he reported as Nirvana, so I may follow his lead, though I don’t really have any clean clothes to replace the ones I’m wearing so I may wait until Namche tomorrow, where I can find a new shirt anyway.

Catch you from Namche tomorrow

TA

TA’s climb of Mount Pumori is a fundraiser for the Canadian Brest Cancer Foundation.  This is a very worthwhile cause helping the fight against breast cancer.  All of the money raised during this climb goes to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.  If you have given already, thank you and please tell your friends and family to give also.  We need your support.

click here to donate online, or click here for a downloadable donation form. 

Hi this is TA calling in from Pumori base camp.  I had hoped to call this in from camp one but when I arrived there the ledge was quite small and I needed to descend to beat the afternoon winds.  Today is October 24^th, those that know me well know that I like to mark the 24^th of each month, because why just have one big birthday when you can have one big one and 11 mini ones.  Today, Pumori gave me an amazing birthday, the weather could not have been better and I reached my summit for this climb.

As I hiked over the mangled rocks on my way down and reflected on my day, I realized we don’t always get the summit we want, but perhaps we get the summit we need.  Today by climbing solo I got the summit I needed.  In some ways Everest knocked my confidence down a few notches and I was wanting to participate in this Pumori expedition to bring it back up.

I started out this morning without a goal, I knew I wanted to go uphill, take some pictures and savor the day.  The route to camp one has shifted somewhat, resulting in an unrelenting steep climb all the way to camp one.  It was new to me to be entirely on my own in the mountains and it was a great opportunity to put all my learning and experience to the test as I negotiated the variety of terrain underfoot.  The higher I climbed the more interesting the terrain got, and some required me to put all my skills to use.  As well the higher I climbed the more committed I became to reaching camp one.  I wanted to see the amazing tent platforms, and amazing they where.  I became the first in our group outside the Sherpa’s to see camp one, I’m eager to post the pictures once I reach the internet.

Speaking of the Sherpa’s they are so fabulous and strong.  The climb I did today they have been doing on a daily basis their strength, resolves, and helpfulness is legendary.  Today Jangbu was coming down after carrying rope to the Sherpa’s pushing the route to camp two.  He offered at advanced base camp to carry my loaded backpack down.  I wanted to carry it as a way to complete the experience, I carried it up, I wanted to carry it down.  Yet Jangbu asked four times if it was possible to take my bag, I relented in a small way and allowed him to take my boots down as they where perched precariously on the outside of my pack.  I was on the move for nearly 8 hours today and felt strong throughout, until I was about 10 minutes away from base camp when the fatigue finally caught up.

I carried the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation flag to camp one today, as well I took a string of prayer flags up to fly from the summit like the climb logo that I designed.  With the intention of remembering all those who have been affected by breast cancer.  Hugo has offered to carry both the flag and the prayer flags to the summit for me.  I hope and pray that the weather and conditions come together to allow as many of my teammates to reach the summit and safe return.  With each step I took today, and during the entire expedition, and each step that my teammates take over the next week, each step is dedicated to a future without breast cancer.  I hope you will consider supporting the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation in honor of this climb.

So the mountain gave me a mighty gift today, the summit push is one day further delayed so there is absolutely no way I could have stayed and tried to summit and still make the 3M retreat.  Today drained my sadness with each step upward, tomorrow I start trekking downhill with fine memories of both today and the entire expedition

God speed to my teammates, good night, and I will catch you from the trek down

TA

Support Pumori: Climb for Awareness.  100% of the money raised during this climb goes to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.  If you have given already, thank you and please tell your friends and family to give also.  We need your support. 

To donate online click here, to download a donation form click here.

Hi this is TA calling in from advanced base camp on Mount Pumori.  I had a pretty good hike up here at first it was a bit challenging because it was hard to breathe through all the tears.  Sometimes I think the Himalayas just like to make me cry.  I’d actually been doing fine until one of my teammates asked if there was anything they could take to the summit for me.  As you can see, it just undid me.  I’ve carried up the breast cancer foundation flag up to here and if I go up to camp one tomorrow I will carry it up there.  Then I will pass the torch over to my teammates and hopefully they will be able to take it the rest of the way.

It’s 2 o’clock and I’ve already lost the sun so its going to be a chilly night up here.  Its kinda like playing house because I can have all the ridges rests all the sun rests that I want because I’m the only one up here.  I had a wonderful noodle soup for lunch and will get some kinda meal ready to eat for dinner.  See what the morning brings in terms of energy, focus, and desire, either going up or down or both.  I’m hanging in there.  I’m admiring the view, and let me tell you the view from advanced base camp can’t be beat.  Looking over at Everest, and Nuptse and the Lhotse and the Lhotse face and the ice fall, it’s a real privilege to be up here. I will talk to you tomorrow

TA

Support Pumori: Climb for Awareness.  100% of the money raised during this climb goes to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.  If you have given already, thank you and please tell your friends and family to give also.  We need your support

click here to donate online or click here for a downloadable donation form. . 

Hi this is TA calling in from Pumori base camp, all tucked snuggly in my sleeping bag, its chilly here tonight as it has been.  I’m calling a little bit later because I wanted to have the full update to send out.  Our Sherpa’s worked throughout the day to put the route in from camp one to camp two today.  They got the route up under the first pillar but in terms of me being able to make a summit attempt that was not far enough progress.  So my summit hopes are gone for this particular climb.  I’m doing ok with that, I’ve reached some clarity around making it to the 3m teaching fellowship retreat, and realizing it’s really an Everest of teaching.  This mountain isn’t going anywhere so I can always come back to it.

So at the moment the plan is I’m going to go up to ABC tomorrow, advanced base camp, and if I’m feeling good and happy I will make camp and enjoy the view.  Then if I’m feeling good the next day I will go ahead and push up to camp one, so that I can have the experience of sleeping up there because the tents are in some pretty amazing spots, pretty close to the ridge and the views will be amazing.  Then I will come on down and hopefully head for a village down from here, the next day to give me the most number of try’s at getting out of Lukla.  If I’m too tired I have room in my schedule to stay here and pack and then have 3 days to walk down to Lukla, and still have 3 attempts to get out.  The weather will hopefully be ok, it’s been pretty good so hopefully it won’t be too much of an issue getting out of Lukla.  To wait any longer to try and make it summit bid would mean that I would be operating with only one opportunity to get out of Lukla.  That would make it pretty challenging if anything went wrong to catch my international flight which would mean that I would miss the retreat and so on and so forth.

Yesterday in the uncertainty and the in the bardo it was tough; today the clarity was much easier or easier anyway.  So I spent the day watching climbing TV and just staring at the ceiling and enjoying my teammates.  It will be interesting to be up on the mountain on my own the next two evenings if that’s how it works out.  Then start trekking down into the thicker air and the new colors and all that kinda stuff.  So that is the scoop from here, thanks for all your support and I will check in tomorrow hopefully from advanced base camp

Have a good day

TA

Support Pumori: Climb for Awareness.  TA is climbing Pumori in honour of her mother Denise, a breast cancer survivor and 100% of the money raised goes to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.  If you have given already, thank you and please tell your friends and family to give also.  We need your support

To donate online click here, to download a printable donation form click here.. 

Hi this is TA calling in from Pumori base camp.  This is teams ones third rest day, a couple members of both team one and team two headed up to Kalla Pattar for a chance to climb that little trekking peak.  A couple others went the way I did yesterday for a little bit of a walk, and most of us have been lying around reading a book.  I started the glass castle this morning at 6, and basically read it from cover to cover and now I’m done with the only book I brought. 

The Sherpas have also taken a day off, a well deserved rest day today.  So no news yet on how its going to go to put the route in.  They are going to go up tomorrow to start putting I  the fixed lines from camp one to camp two, and are actually going to stay on the mountain.  So far they have been doing a commute from base camp all the way up to where they have been working, anywhere between 4 and 5 hours of climbing up and down each day.  2 and ½ up and 2 down so pretty amazing, they will start moving their base of operations up the mountain.  They tend to like the food better down here and the company, but because time is short for not only me but for the rest of team, they need to stay up on the mountain and see if they can get the route ready to go fairly quickly.

Sunny blue sky day here today, a little bit of wind, but basically a lazy, hazy autumn day here in Nepal.  So not much to report, I’ll keep you posted tomorrow with more once we know how the route is going.  Thanks and have a great day.

TA

Support Pumori: Climb for Awareness.  TA is climbing Pumori in honour of her mother Denise, a breast cancer survivor and 100% of the money raised goes to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.  If you have given already, thank you and please tell your friends and family to give also.  We need your support.

click here to donate online or click here for a downloadable donation form.

Hi this is TA calling in from Pumori base camp.  I’m just back from another TA walk, I went over to Pumori base camp on the other route, part of the way to camp one on that route.  It was a very reflective walk, on the way I past above where I built the inuksuk for Michael Smith in 2007, and thought a lot about Michaels sprit and wondered how his family was coping with their lose.  As I walked along several avalanches careened down the ice gullies of Nupse as I contoured around the rock strewn hills.  I followed along the Khumbu glacier almost all the way to Everest base camp, about 500 feet above where you would traditionally walk  

Our team two came back down from advanced base camp warn and haggard the memories of their epic decent last night in the first hours of darkness where sharp as the sharpest knife.  The passage of time had yet to dull its edge.  Even with just two days time my intimate experience of the climb to camp one has eased.  It sounds as though the next time we make the climb to camp one will be on our summit push.  I’m not sure if I will get a summit push on the mountain, as the mountain is playing a little hard to get with the route.  The Sherpa’s had to place camp one right at the top of the ridge and they have had two solid days of chopping to level four tent platforms for the rest of us.  Tomorrow they will begin to fix lines to camp two.

I always knew there was a possibility that I would run out of time given that I need to leave the mountain 5 days earlier then my teammates to get back to North America in time for my 3M teaching fellowship retreat.  It’s not a done deal yet but time is quickly passing by, given the late start due to the plane crash.  As I walked today I realized that I would be sad to miss a chance to try for the summit, but I’ve had a good expedition filled with good learning and I will be reflecting on that for quite some time.

I didn’t feel that great on my walk today and marveled at how some days I feel so strong and healthy and other day’s nausea and fatigue reign.  Perhaps the antibiotics are wreaking havoc with my belly; in any case I walked slowly and enjoyed immersing myself in the peaks that surrounded me.  Occasionally I looked down and marveled at how simple footsteps can wear a tread and many footprints can wear a path.  At tea time today we talked about how Himalayan peaks require patience, the ability to sit and wait, the ability to sit and acclimatize, to wait for the route.  So at the moment Pumori is teaching me much about patience and impermanence.  

I will keep you posted as to how it goes over the next few days.  It sounds as though I need to leave base camp on either the 26^th or 27^th  to have a reasonable walk down in order to get a plane out of Lukla, to catch my plane in Kathmandu on the 31^st.  In the mean time the Sherpa’s are working very hard trying to get the route in place for me, and for the rest of the team.  So that summit bids can happen and the mountain can get cleaned before the yaks come on November 1^st for the rest of the team.

We are cold, here at base camp these days.  Been pretty chilly here last night it probably got down to -12 or -15 and all of our warmest things now are of course up the mountain at advanced base camp so we huddle around the heater in the mess tents.  The last two days have been wonderfully sunny and we have enjoyed watching the action on climber TV.  As people on team one get some rest and some start to get a little bit of restlessness, I’m sure people with be off to Kalla Pattar or Everest base camp tomorrow.

I’ve been thinking a little bit about John Dewey and about experience.  He has some wonderful words about experience: “Some experiences are educative and some are miseducative.”  I’ve been pondering if some experiences can be educative in the short run and miseducative in the long run, or miseducative in the short run and educative in the long run.

So ill leave you with that, take care and I will talk to you tomorrow.

TA

Hi this is TA calling in from Pumori base camp.  We have had a most wonderful rest day, the sun has come back out and we have spent much of the day watching climbing television.  This means we have been watching our comrades on team two make their way up through the rock slide up to advanced base camp and now they are on the steep ice and snow, we can see them only as little black dots.  We watched the Sherpa’s go up very early this morning to try to establish tent platforms for camp one.  Sounds like we are on a rest day again tomorrow, and then maybe go for one more push up to camp one, camp two day trip, back to camp one to sleep, move to camp two, and then try to summit from camp two and not do a forth trip up.  Of course all this depends on how the route setting is going.

It’s been lovely to have a rest day.  People have been washing clothes, showering; I’m actually seated beside the showering tent, which is a most amazing thing. It’s a dark blue tent that has an inner dived so there is a wet side and a dry side and in the sun it heat ups rather nicely.  Cold water is hauled in from a near by lake by some of our amazing staff, is warmed up and placed in a little shower bag and there are stones placed in the inside to keep it from getting muddy.  It’s the most wonderful experience to have a shower here at the foot of Mount Pumori.  Then there is our dinning room tent which is a big orange and blue dome, and our kitchen tent and our food storage tent which is right beside that.  I look over and see our alter with the prayer flags flying in the wind.  Then our various member tents of orange and silver, brown, and green things like that.

There was some friendly rivalry between team one and team two last night around the dinner table.  Team two seemed a little quite though this morning as they were setting off on their very big day of climbing, first to advanced base camp and then trying to move up the fixed lines as far as they could, maybe all they way to camp one before descending to advanced base camp for their first night on the mountain.

I’m feeling pretty good, not nearly as sore today, had a good rest, feeling pretty energized.  I decided to go ahead and treat my cough with the antibiotics; we have two days here in case they caused any difficulties so I decided to pull out all the stops.  That’s life here at Pumori base camp in a nutshell.  We are going to lose the sun soon which means we are going to have to pout on our big fluffy wooly clothing again.  Right now its about +7C and its been going down to -8, -9, -10 at night.

That’s it from here, hope you are having a good Sunday, wherever you are in the world and I will talk to you tomorrow.

TA

As TA climb Mount Pumori she is attempting to raise one dollar per metre of the mountain ($7161) for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.  TA is climbing Pumori in honour of her mother Denise, a breast cancer survivor and 100% of the money raised goes to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.  If you have given already, thank you and please tell your friends and family to give also.  We need your support. 

Click here to donate online or click here for a downloadable donation form.

Hi this is TA calling in from Pumori base camp.  I’m calling in my update a little later then usual because we had quite a day and I needed a little time to get rehydrated and a little recovery time so that I would sound half intelligible.

We woke to cloudy skies with a little bit of snow on the tent and some wind, and chiller temperatures then we’ve had.  We usually been awakened by a sun kiss on our tents to know its warm and lets us know its time to get up, but instead today we had to dress and prepare for our big days climb in the chilly weather.  Headed out around 7:30 to make our way up to camp 1, the first 150 metres or so of the route was free climbing and then we got on to the fixed lines.

I had hoped to avoid having a ‘turtle migration’, which is code for taking a dump, but unfortunately my body wouldn’t listen.  So I got off the fixed line and crawled into a serac, which was actually the warmest place of the entire day.  It’s a pretty completed thing to go to the bathroom with your harness on, you have to take parts of it off and unfortunately sometimes you get a little messy.  So it wasn’t the best start to my day but I got everything all cleaned up and got back on the fixed line at the end and continued up.  We have lots of little knots to pass with our safety carabineers and our jumars and up we go.

Found it pretty chilly on the hands today, my gloves just weren’t cutting it so every 5 or 10 steps I had to sort of pull my fingers in for the first part of the day.  Felt better when the wind dropped, and then I could move along at a pretty good pace.  I was pleased with the efficiency of my knot and anchor changes, and my overall climbing technique.  It was a pretty hard slog we all came back pretty darn pooped, dehydrated, underfed, all that kinda stuff.  We got back to advanced base camp around 2 or 2:30, powered in a little bit of water and then scooted down for about another hour over that wonderful rock palace scree slope.  Back here to base camp were we where greeted with hot drinks and some snacks.

I hadn’t had enough to drink during the day so I’m still nursing a bit of a dehydration headache.  I did manage to breath through my buff all day which was a big success.  I sometimes find them rather suffocating so I did have nice warm moist air going into my lungs most of the day.  Still coughing pretty good at times, I’m contemplating whether or not to treat the cough with antibiotics or to just keep on; it’s a bit of a borderline call.  Had a lovely dinner, had some visitors over from another expedition that is starting in 5 or 6 days, their members are still trekking in.

Temperatures are defiantly dropping here at base camp and by the end of dinner our mess tent is covered in frost and people are appreciating their big fluffy clothing.  Much of my big fluffy clothing is up at advanced base camp after the big carry the other day.  I have enough here at base camp to stay warm, it’s always nice to take a hot water bottle to bed and warm up the sleeping sack.

Today we figure that we’ve climbed to about 6100 or 6150 metres.  We might actually move camp one a little lower then where we actually climbed today, because what we got there is pretty narrow.  It’s about half the size of a commercial dinning room table.  It’s pretty hard to put four tents there so we will see.  Team two is heading up tomorrow, they are going to aim to go all the way to camp one and then come back down to advanced base camp to sleep.  Team one, of which I am a member, get a rest day tomorrow HORRAY! and if the Sherpa’s manage to get camp one in, the day after next we will try to go all the way from base camp to camp one and then make a day trip towards camp two.  So many heavy sloggy days ahead, hopefully we can find the energy, and the will, and the heart, and the strength, to just keep putting one foot in front of the other.

That’s about it for today, a much more newsier update then if I called at the usual time, when I was having trouble putting a sentence together…lol..  So a big day here on our Pumori climb thanks for tuning in and we will talk to you tomorrow.

TA

Hi this is TA calling in from advanced base camp on Mount Pumori at 5700 metres.  I’m happily ensconced in my sleeping bag with everybody else’s gear, it seems like there could be a disadvantage in choosing the palatial palace.  Advanced base camp is a repository for everyone’s sleeping gear and climbing gear so that we don’t have to carry it back and forth between base camp.

Yesterday and today were night and day, I had a fantastic climb up today, had energy, and fortunately we were able to climb at our own pace so I left camp first and was able to take little micro rests.  I actually got up here in about the same amount of time carrying a 40 pound load as I did the other day when we were without a load, so I as pretty darn pleased with that.

The view of Everest across the way is amazing.  A little leticular cloud over the summit, some high cirrus clouds so who knows with a change in the weather we may get more blue skies.  Been melting snow for some drinking water and had some soup for dinner around 1 and will start to melt some more snow to make dinner round 2 and a hot water bottle to take to bed.  Tomorrow we will venture higher on the mountain.  The Sherpa’s put in the fixed lines and the route into camp one today.

So all is well, you can probably hear the effects fot eh dry air on my vocal chords, but today is a much better day, thanks so much for all your wonderful thoughts.  Appreciate the text messages from folks

I will talk to you tomorrow

TA

Hi this is TA calling in from Pumori base camp, under sunny blue skies, we are about to lose that sun and then the temperature will plummet. Today was perhaps one of the toughest days yet for me as well as one of the funest, such is the paradox of high altitude mountaineering.  Starting out the hike to our rock face for our practice session, I felt as though someone had stolen one of my lungs, I was instantly panting and struggling to find a rhythm, for going up hill and each step brought a bunch of coughs.  A few others that shared the day too had the same struggle.  I persevered and we arrived at the precipice that would be our training ground for the day.  At points where I almost coughed to the point of vomiting I looked over to Everest, and had a large sense of déjà view and wondered if I would ever unlock the secret of staying healthy in the Himalayas.

I did my best to stay present in today and just focus on this climb and not wonder ‘if’.  We practiced jumaring or rope ascension, passing anchors and repelling, before enjoying a warm spell for lunch.  After lunch I felt as if all my energy had been stolen from my body and I took a long time getting my harness back on.  I did one ascension and repel then rested as my turn for the double jumar ascension drill.  I thought I would do the shorter of the two but was then called over to do the longer stepper one.  Something deeper within me took over and I powered up the line with good technique stopping only to pant veraciously at the effort.  I past the crux and felt great to be standing at the top all be it severely out of breath.  I continue to treat my cough with warm humid air and I hope it decides to leave soon.  In the mean time I’m doing my best to stay positive, despite the sore throat, hoarseness, and fatigue it seems to be causing.

I heard from Paula today that the fundraising part of the climb is going well and nearing $4900.  I hope it can keep pace with me as I give this climb my all and venture to sleep at advanced base camp tomorrow at 5700 metres.  Our wonderful Sherpa’s have fixed the lines almost to camp one, they are within 150 metres so rapid progress, health allowing should be made over the next week.  I would appreciate your thoughts and or prayers for the healing of this cough, and please send infusions of energy my way.  Thanks for your support, special hellos today to Takunda and Zander.

Thanks for following along and I will catch you all tomorrow.

TA

TA is attempting to raise one dollar per metre of Pumori ($7161) during her climb.  TA is climbing Pumori in honour of her mother Denise, a breast cancer survivor and 100% of the money raised goes to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.  Click here or click here for a downloadable donation form.

Hi this is TA calling in from Pumori base camp.  It’s Christmas in the Khumbu, the yaks arrived about midday today, there’s been much merriment and excitement, the unpacking of presents and playing with toys, resetting of tents.  Everyone is now in their own individual base camp tent, and in the late afternoon we were able to start tinkering with things that go clink and clank otherwise known as climbing hardware.  Practicing with our ascenders and our repel devices and tying French prusiks and getting ready for our rock training day tomorrow where we actually get into the vertical environment.  Lots of fun all round, lots of merriment, people running around in warmer clothing and in different clothing, it’s almost hard to recognize each other since we had seen each other for 10 days in one set of cloths.  I’m happily ensconced in my orange puffy and my climb of awareness toque and my down booties.

So life is good here in the Khumbu, still got a little bit of a couch and this morning just felt a little wiped out, but I think that day of rest has helped.  Hopefully everyone continues to heal, it seems like everyday someone new has a bit of a cough or a sniffle, but we are all hoping to get it out of the way so that when we start heading up, most likely the day after tomorrow, that we are healthy enough to really start cruising up this mountain

Hope your having a great day and I will talk to you again soon.

TA

Remember October is Breast Cancer awareness month; TA’s climb of Pumori is a fundraiser for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.  100% of the funds raised by TA during her climb will go to support breast cancer research and breast cancer survivors.  TA hopes to raise one dollar per metre of Pumori ($7161) during her climb, but we need your help.  Please donate. click here to donate online or click here to downloadable donation form.

Hi this is TA calling in from Pumori base camp.  We are just down from our first big climb up to advanced base camp, our Australian team members would say were ‘bloody knackered’.  About a 4 and ½ or 5 hour experience, we got to meat the rock gully that we will get to climb each time that we go up.  Some pretty louse stuff, which is actually probably the most dangerous part of our climb getting up to advanced base camp.  Those of us with colds, and coughs, and runny noses struggled a bit to make our way up to our new elevation height for this trip of about 5700 metres for advanced base camp.  The views over to Everest and Lhotse were positively amazing.  We strained our eyes trying to find any evidence about what the two Everest teams that are climbing this fall are doing.  Trying to see if they had tents on the South Col, because we could see the summit pyramid, much of the Lhotse face, the Geneva Spur and the yellow band, so it was a pretty amazing view.

There is four tents at ABC, we replaced one of them today to be able to send a smaller tent up to camp one as our belongings arrive.  We’ve had a Yak watch much of the day, the Yaks are akin to Santa Claus for us at the moment but unfortunately no sightings yet of Santa Claus or the Yaks or our belongings.  We are a little bit stymied because that has all of our climbing gear.  Our Sherpa’s are all set to go and set up camp one as soon as their climbing gear arrives on those very same Yaks.  A couple of them went down valley today to see if they could find out where they might be.  So tomorrows plan depends a little bit on weather or not the Yaks roll in, maybe a rest day, maybe a training day, maybe some of both.  We are resting now after our big day, we will have a little dinner in a little bit, rehydrating, and trying to breathe death to give our poor bodies which are existing on less then half as much oxygen as sea level, a little bit of support.

I want to say hello to the WOKies today, as I was hiking was walking up to almost the height of Kilimanjaro, 185 metres short, I was thinking of us and what an amazing trip we had in Africa, and what a  big push that was.  So hello to all of you, hope you are doing well.  Thanks to all who are following along, thanks for all the good wishes, you are helping us all get up this very big and very steep mountain, and we are all thanking you for that.  So keep us in mind as we go higher and higher or as we rest tomorrow.

Thanks

TA 

Hi this is TA calling in from Pumori base camp.  Happy Canadian thanksgiving to all: I’m thankful for all my friends and family who support me so well in both life and adventure.  I’m thankful for a good nights sleep last night that made everything seem much brighter today.  I’m thankful for a hard working Sherpa staff who have placed tents at advanced base camp, and who provide us with the most delicious meals here at base camp.  I’m thankful for a new tent platform that doesn’t have the entire Himalayan range poking up through it.  I’m thankful for a hot shower, rest this morning and an inspiring solo hike this afternoon, that revealed both the Khumbu Ice Fall and some inner strength and resolve.  I’m thankful for the wonderful trekkers who have joined us for the first part of this adventure and who are now trekking back to Kathmandu.  I’m thankful for the arrival of our last two teammates Hugo and Grant with the climbing permits.  I’m thankful for my teammates and hope that we continue to build a strong team that will see us to the safely to the summit and return.  Finally, I’m thankful in advance for the arrival of our gear duffels, whenever in the next while they do arrive so that it can quickly go from Thanksgiving to Christmas.

Everything is going well here at base camp.  The Sherpa’s actually put the tents at advanced base camp today so we will complete our carry from yesterday tomorrow morning and get all of that up into advanced base camp.  Soon after our gear arrives we will be able to do some of our rock training, and snow training and that will enable us to start spending some nights at advanced base camp and start the placement of camp one and eventually camp two.  Colds are still going around, working hard on mine to try to get rid of it, lots of humidity treatments and took my walk very very gently today so hopefully get rid of it on the sooner side, so we can stay healthy and keep moving up the mountain.

That’s about it for this Thanksgiving Monday from Pumori base came, we’ll talk to you tomorrow, thanks.

TA

Hi this is TA calling in from North 27 degrees, 59 minutes, 40 seconds ; East 86 degrees, 50 minutes, 15 seconds, our second day at base camp here on Peak Freaks Mount Pumori expedition.

Today we had our Puja ceremony, the Lama came up from Pangboche to bless the mountain and our equipment and us as climbers.  I found it a very emotional ceremony as it was the same Lama that had come to do our Puja at Everest.  It’s a serious kind of affair, and really brings home what we are about to do.  With burning Juniper and chanting, the prayer flags looked absolutely beautiful against the mass of Pumori when the pole was raised and the prayer flags began to flutter in the wind.

After lunch we did a carry half way to our advanced base camp and marked the route with cairns to make it easier to find our way in the dark.  Tomorrow I guess we are going to try to do a carry all the way to ABC.  The good news is that our gear is on its way up.  It landed in Lukla yesterday so hopefully on Tuesday we will have warmer things since it has been unseasonably cold up here, its pretty chilly, I’m tucked into my sleeping bag again as I make this call.

I want to say a big hello to Patrick’s daughter Hunter and my niece Rayne, because I know they are both following along.  I’m hoping that my acclimatization catches up, I’ve been dealing with a little bit of a headache and I seem to have caught the team cold that we have been passing around.  We are all hoping that we pass it around early and get it done with so that it doesn’t interfere later in the climb.

That’s all the news for today, take good care and we will take to you tomorrow

TA

Hi this is TA calling in from Mount Pumori base camp 5284 metres.  I’m sitting here in my tent, in my ultimate layer otherwise known as my sleeping bag because the sun has gone behind the clouds and when that happens the temperature drops.  Outside my vestibule I see a wonderful glacial lake that’s part of our water supply as well as the most commanding view of Mount Pumori.  If I look out the back of my tent I see Everest’s summit pyramid in all of its glory.  It’s the most amount of the summit pyramid that I’ve ever seen from any of the places that I’ve been privileged to see it.

It was about a 3 and ½  to 4 hour trip in here to our base camp. It’s pretty exciting to be here, to see all the hard work the Sherpa’s have been doing to get our base camp set up.  We had our wonderful first meal in our mess tent.  We’ve begun to see how much rock dancing we are going to need to do over the glacial moraines.  To move some of our supplies over to our advanced base camp will mean learning to flow and balance over those rocks over the next few days.  We hear the Lama is coming in tonight for a Puja ceremony tomorrow.

At the moment I have an Irish flag as well as a Cork flag flying from my tent in honor of Kate my tent mate.  She did a great job of getting in here today with us as did all the other trekkers.  Hope everyone out there is having a great day thanks so much for your support.  I want to say thanks to Earl my communications king, also to Marian who’s helping out with communications, to Deb and Will for helping out with the website, to Paula for being my Breast Cancer Foundation liaison.  A BIG welcome home to my mom and dad who are arriving back home from their big trip in China.  And Hi to Leo and Takunda as well.  So everyone is doing well we are all excited and thrilled to be here at base camp.  Let the climbing begin

Talk to you tomorrow.

TA

Please take a minute to donate to Pumori climb for Awareness in support of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.  Click here to donate online or click here to downlaod a printable donation form. 

Hi this is TA calling in from Lobuche 4930 metres above sea level.  We all had a great walk up here today; it took us about 4 hours and 30 minutes.  We arrived and promptly all devoured lunch, so appetites are good all round, just a few little headaches.  It is sobering as always to go through the climber’s memorial park on the top of the hill.  We got our first glimpse of Pumori today and more then a few expletives were said.  So we are all doing pretty well, looking forward to getting into base camp tomorrow.  We hope that our gear actually got out of Kathmandu today.  I’m running low on batteries so I’ll sign off for now but talk to you again soon.

Thanks

TA

Hi this is TA calling in from Dingboche again, standing in one yak pen overlooking four yaks enjoying their dinner.  I was thinking today how each mountain teaches me lessons, and so far this one is teaching me trust.  To trust myself once again; trust that I will drop into a good climbing rhythm, that I’ve trained well, and that I’ve made good gear decisions.

Being back in the Dingboche or Farouche area brings back many memories of my Everest climb and spending so much time here sick and trying to recover.  It’s such a joy to be feeling strong and pretty healthy here thus far.  The last time I was here I set myself a test on the same trekking peak we climbed today for acclimatization, to see how my reserve was.  It was tough climb that day where I had to will most steps from deep within my being, and today on the contrary I dropped into the perfect rhythm, complemented by the ear worm of “Hey Delia” and climbed the ridge without stopping once.  We spent about an hour and an half or an hour and a quarter up at about 5070 metres and then headed back down to Dingboche. 

As we enter the part of the climb or the trek where life gets much more challenging I thought of my moms healing journey from breast cancer.  How she must have felt at times, when she couldn’t just take another step, or how my friend Deb had to keep going in the face of instance hardship and doubt.  I know all of the hardship that I face here I chose, but know that those who face breast cancer are impelled on a journey without their consent.

So I’m thankful to all who have supported the fundraising aspect of my Pumori climb for Awareness, where 100% of the funds raised go to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation Atlantic.  I’m hope’n that some more folks will come on board with donations.

We are off to Lobuche tomorrow getting closer to base camp all the time.

Thanks so much for your support.

TA

Please take a minute to donate to Pumori climb for Awareness in support of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.  Click here to donate online or click here for a downloadable donation form.

Hi this is TA calling in from Dingboche at 4400 metres.  Its been a day of highs and lows, we’ve just learned of a plane crash in Lukla.  The details are sketchy but it sounds like most lives were lost.  Our hearts are heavy for the families who have lost loved ones.  We were flying into that same airport several days ago weather has been foggy and has been hampering those kinda flights.  Our climbing gear was on the plane behind the one that crashed and was turned back to Kathmandu.  Tim is looking to charter a helicopter to get the gear moving up toward us.  It takes four days once it flies so we may be a base camp for a few days without gear.  We will continue the expedition but we may be a little cold without some of our fluffy clothes.  We are hoping this is the third bad thing to have happened in the last few days so that our luck will change and our expedition can continue on without anymore hitches.

The day began at the opposite end of the spectrum, I almost phoned in and updated at lunch because the blessing ceremony was so moving for me this morning.  Lama Geshi greeted us all by taking our hands and touching foreheads.  Looking into his eyes I saw a depth that defies words as his smile was simply radiant brilliance.  He signed a card for each of us to take to the summit and then printed blessing and threw blessed rice.  We presented him with a Khata, which he then draped over our shoulders and then tied it around our necks and then blessed us.  He seemed to get a kick out of my pink hair cackling wholeheartedly every time we locked eyes.

Buddhist friends had told me the power of meeting an enlighten being but today I wasent prepared for how moved I would be to meet Lama Geshi.  In a heart beat I think I could have abandon the climb and taken him in as my teacher.  Having had my meditation practice in the doldrums for the summer I felt as though I instantly got it.  I saw the purpose of the path in a new and much deeper way.  Lama Geshi presented us with a wishing prayer request to all sentient being that he wrote: 

Give up all intention to harm other from your heart

and do your best to benefit them all

if each and everyone feels an universal responsibility to do so

we will enjoy the feast of peace.

Our lodge keeper, knowing that we were about to receive a blessing this AM played the classic Ohm Ma-ka-Na Ohm CD that is heard so often in Kathmandu.  After the blessing that mantra came ceasingly and wonderfully into my mind for the rest of the day.

We are here for two nights and have an acclimatization hike tomorrow, and hopefully I can give you more detail about what is unfolding as our expedition plans then.

Thanks so much for your support and I will talk to you tomorrow.

TA

Hi this is TA calling in from Pangboche at 3985 metres. We are in the land of yaks, our guest house is surrounded by oodles of yak pens, and we experienced our first yak jam today, at one of the suspension bridges.   We have passed into the part of the terrain where they start using yak patties, they gather up the yak poop and pat them into patties and place them on the stone walls so they can dry.  Then they pour kerosene over them and burn them in the stove, which we are appreciating tonight because its pretty chilly. 

We started with a warm spell today, clear skies, folks actually caught a glimpse of Everest  before it clouded over by getting up early.  By about midday we started to lose the heat and it started to chill up so we are all dressed really warmly tonight.  Had a wonderful time passing through the rhododendron forest, some deciduous forest with autumn colored leaves and that wonderful smell of autumn.

We are all happy to be here in Pangboche, we are separated from our trekkers for the night they are in Deboche.  We are here early so that we can go to our blessing tomorrow with Lama Geshe.  At the moment, folks are enjoying the sounds of Bob Marley in the dinning room.  We’ve all rehydrated with some warm tea, were going to have some pizza, and momo’s, and finger chips for our dinner, to replenish our energy supplies.  Tomorrow we will head on up to Dingboche.

I realized the other day that I didn’t tell you the story of meeting up with the climbing Sherpa from my 2007 expedition, hes guiding some trekkers and we figured out that we knew each other.  At the time we where doing our knots, I was showing someone a triple bowline and he’d never seen that, so here I was teaching a four time Everest Summiter a new climbing knots he didn’t know.  It was a wonderful little connection with him and had me feeling a little bit confident that evening.  Just thought I would share that story.  Things are going well, people are feeling good, and we will continue upward tomorrow.

Thanks for following along and we will talk to you from Dingboche.

TA

Namaste from Namche,

We had a fine day trekking up to Khune and Kumjung today.  We sauntered
uphill at a lovely pace and stopped to watch the Everest Skydivers take off
from the Sangboche airstrip.  Some of our group even helped with the rescue
of one of the parachutists when they crashed when they landed short of the
field.  They jumped from 29,500 feet (higher than Everest) and awe was ever
present in the crowd.

We had a yummy lunch of dal bhat at Ang Nima's place.  After the meal, his
wife offered chang all round (homemade rice wine) and I thought, "When in
Sherpa land, do as the Sherpa," and downed two cups.  Only Tim had more I
think.  They presented us with katas (ceremonial scarves) and sent us on our
tipsy way towards  Khumjung and the Everest Bakery (formerly the world’s
highest bakery).  Those that had saved room enjoyed a treat and we hiked
back via the Everest View hotel.  There was no view since some think clouds
had descended so we will hopefully catch our first glimpse of Everest
tomorrow.

Please forgive the typos.  Internet costs 15 cents a minute and I am trying to
type fast.

Altitude continues to be a good teacher on the subject of impermanence-most
of the group is doing just fine with it just far-a few minor headaches
that's all.  I'm feeling well and strong thus far and pretty excited about
that.

Tomorrow we head for Pangboche and will participate in our puja soon.  I
look forward to meeting Lama Geshe and hope I can get a nugget for my
Budhhist practice from him.

We've been passing a group of trekkers trekking with young children.  It's
so exciting to watch the kids exploring this mountainous world and Nepali
culture.  When the kids get tired (aged 3-9), they ride in specially adapted
porter baskets.  Starting the next generation of adventurers young.

Thanks for all of your support.  Call you from Pangboche.

TA

Hi this is TA calling in from high above Namche Bazar.  We’ve had a great day moving up here to 3440 metres or so, a gain of about 600 metres.  Darkness is just beginning to come to the sky, there is a slight orange down the valley and the lights are slowly beginning to come on in Namche Bazar, and we are getting a view of our first few peaks in the valley.

I had a great day, I hit a groove.  It was wonderful to hit a groove, no headaches today, and I really feel like I’m in Nepal going up the valleys.  We’ve being moving very well today, which gets me very excited for climbing.

I was really thinking today about how altitude really teaches me about impermanence.  That you cant actually hold on to your acclimatization.  You had it your last trip and then when you go home you lose your acclimatization and you have to work to get it back wholly again.  So it teaches me not to try to force acclimatization, even though when your walking uphill, and your breathing hard, especially on the stairs in Namche, you wont let go of wanting that acclimatization and just being patient and allowing it to happen as your body adjusts.

Hope you’ve had a wonderful day we are all thinking about you and I will have more tomorrow.

TA

Remember, TA’s climb of Pumori is also a fund raiser for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.  TA is attempting to raise one dollar per metre of Pumori ($7161) during her climb.  TA is climbing Pumori in honour of her mother Denise, a breast cancer survivor and 100% of the money raised goes to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. 

So please take a minute and donate.  Click here to donate online or click here for a downloadable donation form.

Thanks for the support

Hi this is TA calling in from Monjo, we completed our first day of trekking.  Almost didn’t get to trek today at all because the Lukla airport was shut down for a small period of time, so we had all our fingers and toes crossed as we sat on the runway.

Got to do the exciting flight through the clouds, they actually looked alot like castles to me today.  It was amazing as the pilots wound their way down through the opening in the cloud cover to find the runway at Lukla airport.  It is always an exciting landing at the short take off and landing strip, which is about as long as an aircraft carrier and cantered upwards to slow planes down because they are landing in such a short distance.

It’s wonderful to be back on the trail.  I’m so excited to be walking away from all the horns and hooting of Kathmandu, everyone is pleasantly tired tonight.  I spent some of the day today with a bit of an altitude headache which I could breathe away.  So I’m glad that it passed and tomorrow we face the big Namche hill.

Thanks for tuning in as we start our trek towards Everest and of course Pumori and all the villages up towards them.

Thanks and have a great day 

TA

Just a reminder on this the eve of the “Run for a Cure”, TA’s climb of Pumori is also a fund raiser for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.  TA is attempting to raise one dollar per metre of Pumori ($7161) during her climb.  TA is climbing Pumori in honour of her mother Denise, a breast cancer survivor and 100% of the money raised goes to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. 

So please take a minute and donate.  Click here to donate online or click here for a downloadable donation form.

Thanks for the support

Howdy to All,

I’m battered.  In a good way.  Perhaps battered and fried.  In the best tradition of St. John’s fish and chips.  All of my senses have been filled to overflowing with the sights, sounds, smells, and textures of Kathamndu.  We had a city tour this morning and many images from the city are replaying in my mind.

We started at the Monkey Temple.  As I passed under the gate, I looked skyward where thousands of Tibetan prayer flags waved at the sky.  The squares of blue, green, white, yellow, and red danced on the breeze and showered us standing below, with prayers for the good of humanity.  I glanced across and caught sight of an old monk standing on a balcony of a monastery.  His weathered skin draped from his face like his saffron and maroon robes hung from his body.  I could see him looking though the world and wished to sit and talk with him.

On a stupa to his left swung a monkey, like Tarzan, from a strand of detached flags.  He almost seemed to be playing as he pushed off the side of the stupa and swung out wide until the arch brought him crashing back to the whitewashed face.  We climbed the back stairs to Swayambhunath (the true name for the Stupa) and passed many women with young children begging for money to feed their children.  Atop the stairs, we were treated a commanding view of the Kathmandu Valley but no mountains were spotted through the clouds.

Our guide introduced us to the five Buddhas that adorn the sides of the Stupa, one each for each of the directions and one for the future–each draped in a robe of one of the prayer flag colours.  I circumambulated the stupa three times spinning the prayer wheels asking for everyone’s safe return from the mountain.  As I climbed down the stair, I caught sight of one youngster “tobogganing” down the concrete ledge on the side of the stairs on a crushed pop bottle.  Kids will be kids the world over.

Leaving the peace of the stupa behind, we descended into the chaos of a festival laden Kathamndu.  We bused over to Durbar Square and braved the throng of humanity.  Because of the Dashian festival, children are off school and many are off work.  The square was filled with both tourists and locals.  We were introduced to the three Hindu deities and how to recognize their temples.  We caught a rare glimpse of the Living Goddess Kumari and then walked north back towards Thamel.

It is here that the streets narrowed and every type of conveyance shared the road.  We squeezed through bumpers, narrowly avoided both speeding and stopped motorcycles, and got quite chummy with umbrellas.  I started filling rapidly and knew I would soon need some time out from such intense sensory input.  Fortunately about the time I was maxing out, we turned the corner and entered the relative calm of Thamel.  I never in my life thought I would describe Thamel as calm.

A bit of time in the New Orleans’s Café garden and I’m raring to go once again.  The climbers’ duffels are all off in storage for tomorrow morning’s flight-they will go direct to base camp.  Climbers will carry their own trekking gear in.  So all gear decisions have been made, anxiety about gear is almost nil, so now it’s time to turn such worries to acclimatization and staying healthy.  The team has all arrived and seems in good spirits.  We’ll have a team dinner tonight and head for the mountains tomorrow if the weather cooperates. 

I’ll be switching to audio updates from here on in (except for perhaps Namche) so remember than my spoken voice is different than my written one.  I won’t be able to respond to individual messages of encouragement but they will be read to me over the phone-so please do send encouragement on regular intervals.

As we walked along today, Tim, one of my teammates, said my pink hair was easy to spot amid the chaos of the street.  I also heard “Namaste-Nice Hair” as a greeting today and the room keepers at the hotel gathered to check out the famous hair when we returned from the tour.  I sometimes forget that I have pink hair but I don’t forget that I am here climbing to raise awareness and funds for breast cancer research.

The following are some statistics about breast cancer in Canada and some of the ways that the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation-Atlantic is using the money they raise to work towards a future free from breast cancer.  One hundred percent of the money raised by Pumori: Climb for Awareness goes to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation-Atlantic to help fund projects like the ones below.  I thank you if you have already supported this cause and invite you to if you haven’t had the time or opportunity to do so yet.  As you can see, the foundation is doing some very necessary and valuable work in our community.  Click here to make a contribution.

Thanks for coming along on this journey-catch you from the mountains.

TA

Breast Cancer Stats:
•    In 2008, it is estimated that 360 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in Newfoundland and Labrador and 100 will die of the disease.
•    Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in Newfoundland women.
•    1 in 9 Atlantic Canadian women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime (by age 90).
•    Men get it too. An estimated 170 Canadian men will be diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008.
•    On average, 431 Canadian women will be diagnosed with breast cancer every week.
•    On average, 102 Canadian women will die of breast cancer every week.
•    52% of all new breast cancer cases occur in women ages 50-69.
Working Together to Save Lives:
•    Early detection is a person’s best defense against breast cance