A Few Problems - Sent June 2

Everest Story Continued. . .
First:
My house (the Of Global Interest Adventure Travel Headquarters, the Eighth Street Trekkers' Lodge Bed and Breakfast, the Himalayan Bazaar in my Garage and the Everything's Art Gallery) will be part of the Old West Side Homes Tour this year, September 22, 1 to 5 PM. Tour eight homes in Ann Arbor's Old West Side neighborhood. If you want to volunteer you'll get a free ticket.

Everest Adventure Journal Part 2: (4 of 6) A FEW PROBLEMS

May 14, 2002
Last night, I tossed and turned in two pairs of socks with toe warmers in each, Polypropylene pants, a turtle neck, a fleece sweater and another sweatshirt with a fleece neck gaiter and fleece hat, all inside a fleece sleeping bag liner and a minus 17 degree Celsius down sleeping bag which was cranked tightly around my shoulders and head. Brrr! I was still cold. I couldn't stop thinking about Sean feeling sick at camp 3. How miserable he must be!

This afternoon around 3 PM we heard from him again, still at camp 3. He is NOT feeling well. He radioed from his tent which he said was very hot. He can't wait for the sun to go down. From base camp to the summit of this mountain, it's all snow and ice. During the day the intense rays of high altitude sun make it a HOT landscape, much like the ski resorts out west where sometimes it's possible to ski in a bikini. Poor Sean! It's such a helpless situation. There's not much we can do from here. An hour ago we left our comfortable metal fold-up chairs and were talking to Sean on Brown University's radio. Their antenna is about 10 feet tall versus the 6 inch antennas on our handheld radios. Brown University's camp is a distance from ours, but Seth is in the habit of talking to Sean on their radio. Michelle, the University coordinator, has become a good friend. Seth heads over there a few times each day.

There is a crevasse in the communications of our team. Sean, Michelle and Seth are having one conversation on Brown's radio while Kami, Gombu and Pemba are having another in Sherpa language on National Geographic's radio. National Geographic also has a ten foot antenna, and their camp is only 50 feet from ours. Wongchu's company arranged the Sherpa filming crews and base camp operations for National Geographic, so this is the radio WE are supposed to be using. Having two totally separate conversations on two separate frequencies is not going to work.

I am trying to coordinate ONE conversation on National Geographic's radio. Since Seth has been using Brown's radio and is comfortable there, he is not interested in changing places. I understand. Sean is not feeling well, and they want to talk and talk which might be awkward in a new location and especially where a few "movie stars" are running around. Gombu, Sean's climbing Sherpa, relays short messages while Sean and Seth talk and talk. According to Gombu, Sean is fine. Gombu says he is strong and doing well. He says Sean is ready to proceed to the summit tomorrow night. Seth came to me today saying, "Gombu doesn't know anything about altitude sickness." The trust between the Americans and the Sherpas is fading. Without communication, there is NO trust. Our team is falling apart or divided at least. Sean, Seth and Michelle seem to be fearing the worst while the Sherpas appear to have everything under control. It is very confusing!

"I threw up green bile," Sean said today over Brown's radio. Seth undoubtedly is worried about his brother, suffering and basically dying of oxygen deprivation at 23,621 feet! Sean hired ME to coordinate things in Nepal. What can I do? Things are tense, I admit, a little scary. The fact I want to change radio frequencies is making the problem worse. "Everyone has to talk together on National Geographic's radio, all at the same time," I keep saying. "That's the only way we will know what's going on up there." (I'm learning a lot!)

Later
Where is Wongchu?! The man who organized the details of this expedition, the owner of the company in Kathmandu that I hired to make Sean's summit day happen, he is not here. I have been anxious, wondering, wondering about Sean, wondering what I can do, wondering how to proceed.

Now Sean is feeling worse. He is on oxygen and will stay at camp three another night, a DANGEROUS place for many reasons. Running out of oxygen is also a concern. There are only so many bottles up there, and they need several for summit day -- if that day ever comes.

Just now I'm back from National Geographic's camp. I raced over there demanding to know where Wongchu is. Jamling, the sweetest person, gave me a hug. He saw I was distraught. We called Wongchu's office in Kathmandu on their satellite phone. It seems Wongchu left for Lukla the day before yesterday. Based on my discussion with Wongchu back in Kathmandu, it will take him at least 4 or 5 days to get here. Lukla is at 9,190 feet and base camp is at 17,585 feet, eight to ten days away for people like you and me. Since "Sherpa time" is much faster than tourist time, I conclude Wongchu will be at base camp in two days at the very earliest.

Much Later
It was hard watching a movie in the Twinkie tent tonight while thinking about Sean feeling so miserable at camp 3. Things are really uncertain. I am in my sleeping bag now trying not to wake up Robin. My headlamp is on inside here. I went to bed about 9:30 and have been awake for hours. I can't sleep. Hour after hour is going by so slowly. My feet are still cold. It sounds like I am in a bubble bath with bubbles popping all around. The sound is so faint and strange, I just now poked my head out of the sleeping bag. It is snowing! It's the snow flakes hitting and collecting on the tent. It sounds exactly like a bubble bath.

Earlier this evening Sean and Seth talked on Brown's radio for a long time. Pemba, Robin and I listened in on the small radio. Michelle and Seth's end of the conversation was loud and clear but Sean, at 23,621 feet, was garbled with static. Pemba discovered that holding the radio antenna against the metal poles of the dining tent allowed a little more comprehension. Their conversation was long. Sean was begging someone -- anyone -- to tell him to come down to base camp. But no one said a word. This is his project, his dream, his call. We will support his decision but cannot make it for him. Everyone was quiet. Michelle said, "We will all be different after this experience though now we don't know in what way." Then she said, "Sean, you will know what to do. Wait until you are sure. You will know." Sean asked, "What should I do with the summit flag and all the cancer patients' names if I come down?" No one had an answer. It was clear Sean was afraid.

I don't think I'll get any sleep tonight. Sean will be making a major decision tomorrow morning. If he doesn't leave for camp 4 tomorrow he will have to turn around and forget the whole thing. There isn't enough oxygen for a second attempt. Each bottle is $475. One tank lasts about five hours and weighs almost 15 pounds. It is precious stuff!

May 15, 2002, morning
I didn't sleep at all. So many thoughts are still racing through my mind. There is nothing I can do. I feel completely helpless. My feet were so cold again last night. I wrote in my sleeping bag until the headlight battery burned out! Then I couldn't sleep fearing I'd wake up having to go to the bathroom. There was no way I'd get to the toilet tent in the dark. Robin miraculously slept through all my tossing and turning.

Sincerely,
Heather O'Neal
Of Global Interest LLC Adventure Travel
Ann Arbor, Michigan
(734) 369-3107
www.ofglobalinterest.com

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