Before the Problems - Sent July 31

Hello Adventurers,
First:
If you might be interested in joining a trip to Spain and/or Peru in May 2003, let me know. I am perfecting itineraries and booking flights very soon.

Also, on Sunday, August 25 some friends and I will meet for dinner at the Everest Express Nepali restaurant in Farmington, MI at 6:30 PM. 23331 Orchard Lake Road. Let me know if you can come.

Now back to the story. . .

Everest Adventure Journal Part 2: (3 of 6) BEFORE THE PROBLEMS - May 12, 2002

It was soon after Sean arrived at camp 2 that I started feeling bad, nauseous, yuck. I thought I would throw up at every move. I crawled into my tent and hid, hoping it was something I ate and not altitude sickness -- no headache, just nausea. No way I could eat. Nothing sounded good, and for the next 24 hours, I didn't eat anything. I spent most of the time in my sleeping bag, broiling in the sauna of my tent during the sunny hours and freezing during the hours the sun was shining in Michigan. I didn't join Seth and Robin for dinner. I just hibernated in the tent.

I overheard Seth's conversation with Sean at around 6 that night. Everything was still good. I said good-bye to Gombu who would leave at 5:30 the next morning to meet Sean at camp 2 on Sean's second acclimatization night. Gombu would stay at camp 2 while Sean went with Kami to camp 3 on the third night. Then Gombu, saving energy and avoiding the dangers of camp 3 (on the edge of an ice cliff and exposed to high wind), would stay at camp 2 and meet Sean and Kami the next day at camp 4 for the early morning push to the summit, the three of them together, on May 15th. This was the plan.

The next morning, breakfast didn't sound like a good idea, so I stayed in bed. Now my stomach felt better, but I had a slight and persistent headache. Again I overheard Seth on the radio with Sean. Still at camp 2, Sean now had nausea and a headache. I could relate and was glad I was at base camp and not in Sean's shoes at camp 2 (20,000 feet). Sean was getting worried, but at least he'd be sleeping at camp 2 a second night. Hopefully he would feel better the next morning.

Not much happened the rest of that day. A few avalanches caught our attention. I crept in and out of the tent and had two bites of chapati (bread) with yak cheese at lunch time. Robin was becoming stir crazy and went for a walk around base camp. I wanted to go with her but couldn't pull myself away from my sleeping bag. When she came back, she reported the place was pretty quiet. Now almost all of the climbers were on the mountain. The Hungarian team had left that morning.

From my journal: It's sunny and snowing right now.

May 13, 2002
The All Woman's team sponsored by Ford is planning to leave base camp tomorrow morning. They were on Good Morning America and several articles were published nationally about them. We met some of the members of the team. These five women have 18 climbing Sherpas to help them get to the top. Their camp is huge. Ford is sponsoring them to the tune of one million dollars(!).

Sean likes to point out that though these climbers are all women, their expedition has been organized by all men. Sean at least hired me and my small woman-owned trekking company from Ann Arbor, Michigan. He, too, talked to Ford and other sponsors of the woman's team. When they learned of Sean, they announced they had a cancer survivor among them. One of the women survived breast cancer. She is 58. Sean said to me, "There is no way I will let her beat me to the top." Many sponsors Sean contacted liked the fact that he had survived cancer but thought an all-woman's team was even better. They ditched Sean and went with the ladies.

I was feeling miserable until about 5 PM tonight. I ate some dinner, a small pizza. We are lucky we can order from a menu every night. All the other teams have set meals because their cooks have to feed so many people. They eat curried vegetables with rice and lentil soup (dhal bhat), the standard fare for the Sherpas.

May 14, 2002
I heard five big avalanches before my feet were warm, and finally I was asleep. It was cold last night, maybe 20 below! Then this morning it was absolutely beautiful! About five inches of fluffy snow covered the place. Now most of it has melted. In this chair along the rocky path in front of the dinning tent facing the icefall, I have spent the entire day writing in my journal. Robin and Seth are reading thick books. Earlier, Robin rearranged her side of the tent, did laundry, blew more air into her Therm-a-rest mattress and even made a small toy sailboat that Pemba modified which now floats in the icy pond in front of where I sit.

This pond in the middle of our camp started out as a snow covered ice rink and now, a few weeks later, it has shrunk into a slushy pool with one big chunk of ice still standing in the center. At times Pemba sits on one of the metal fold up chairs on top of that flat piece of ice. He has turned the formation into an imaginary ship. With snow he made smoke stacks. At the helm a single yellow prayer flag tied to a bamboo stick flies in the wind. Pemba most recently added a rocky bridge so he now doesn't have to wade through the ice water in his flip-flops every time. Robin was also spotted in the captain's chair reading her book an hour ago. This is how we keep ourselves entertained. We call Pemba's ship the aircraft carrier. It looks great.

An orientation to our camp from where I sit: To my right is our tent, mine and Robin's, directly behind me is the dinning tent, to my left is Seth's green Cabela's tent, then Sean's tent, Pemba's tent, Gombu, then Kami, then Pemba the cook's tents and straight across from me is the kitchen hut made of stones with a plastic tarp for a roof and next to that is the storage tent. Eight tents in all plus the kitchen. Then in the distance on the other side of the ice pond at about 2 o'clock from where I sit, is a small shower tent and beyond that, the dreaded toilet tent. Thank goodness for the toilet tent. There are too many wayward Sherpas around base camp to find any privacy behind a rock -- especially for girls.

It's snowing. Brrr!

Jamling Norgay, son of Tensing Norgay, the first Sherpa to climb Everest with Sir Edmond Hillary, came to visit us this afternoon. His tent is just beyond Seth's in National Geographic's camp. Jamling is one of the stars of the National Geographic movie they are making. He is a VERY nice man. I met him two years ago when he came to speak at State Theater in Ann Arbor, Michigan. At that time I was just starting my company. I never could have dreamed I'd be HERE at base camp with HIM this year -- AND with an Of Global Interest Everest climber! Sean is up there, climbing Mt. Everest right now! Sincerely,
Heather O'Neal
Of Global Interest LLC Adventure Travel
Ann Arbor, Michigan
(734) 369-3107
www.ofglobalinterest.com

Back to the journal index