More than a year of planning, training, collecting new gear, mentally preparing ~ and now it's finally time to leave for Nepal! We are so excited, anxious, and ready to get this monumental adventure started, ...and thrilled to have you along for the journey! Many of you have asked why it takes so long to climb Mt. Everest and the itinerary below will give you just a bit of an overview of the days ahead for us. Weather is a huge variable on Mt. Everest and after allowing our bodies the necessary time to acclimatize to the progressively higher altitudes, we will patiently wait for good conditions. The jet stream that normally scours the upper reaches of the mountain with 100+ mile per hour winds for most of the year, will be pushed North sometime in May, and we need to be ready for the very brief period of time that this occurs.Fortunately we have a great team with whom we will spend our many days on the mountain:
Leadership:
Scott Woolums - One of the most experienced, full-time, professional guides currently working in the USA, Scott has 27 years of experience in leading remote, high altitude expeditions around the world. He has summitted Everest 4 times, via both the north and south sides and is an AMGA Certified Alpine Guide. We have shared with Scott boxes of Chilean red wine, late nights playing monopoly, close quarters in a small tent, and the summit of Vinson Massif in Antarctica.
Bill Allen - Bill is one of the owners of Mountain Trip and we are privileged to have him leading our Everest expedition along with Scott. He has guided extensively in Nepal and around the world, including 22 Denali climbs, a dozen Aconcagua ascents, six Carstensz Pyramid trips, and several Vinson expeditions. Bill lives in Ophir, Colorado and sneaks out of the office to also work as a heli-ski guide.
Climbing Team:
Ania Lichota - Born in Poland and currently living in London working for UBS as a director in international banking. We met Ania in Russia climbing Mt. Elbrus and have now climbed three of the Seven Summits with her. ...and we have shared many nights in a tent together enjoying her good humor!
Cindy Abbott - A health sciences professor at Cal State Fullerton and living nearby in Irvine with her husband Larry, who will be cheering Cindy on from home.
Vivian Rigney - Born in Ireland and has lived and worked for global companies in Germany, France, the UK, South Africa, and Finland. He is an executive coach currently living in New York and will help balance this heavily estrogen weighted team!
Paul & Denise - That's us. Most of you know our story but if not you can get the mushy details on the About Paul & Denise page of our Everybody to Everest website.
This schedule below WILL definitely change, but this is the plan for now. In addition to checking here on our blog for the latest, Mountain Trip has an expedition blog for you avid information junkies who want even more details on what we're up to: http://mteverest2010.blogspot.com/ This same link also appears on the upper right hand page of our blog under the list of "Links to Check Out". While you're looking up there, make sure to enter your email address in the box to subscribe to our blog. You'll only receive an email when a new post has been made.
Day 0 4/04 Depart LAX Thai Airways via Bangkok
Day 1 4/06 Arrival in Kathmandu – Team Meeting
Day 2 4/07 Kathmandu - Visit Temples
Day 3 4/08 Fly to Lukla: 9,350’ - Start Trek to Base
Day 4 4/09 Trek to Namche Bazaar: 11,300’
Day 5 4/10 Namche Bazaar - Acclimatization
Day 6 4/11 Trek to Tengboche: 12,887’
Day 7 4/12 Trek to Dingboche: 14,250’
Day 8 4/13 Dingboche - Acclimatization
Day 9 4/14 Dingboche - Acclimatization
Day 10 4/15 Trek to Lobouche: 16,175’
Day 11 4/16 Lobouche - Acclimatization
Day 12 4/17 Trek to Gorak Shep: 17,000’
Day 13 4/18 Trek to Everest BC: 17,575’
Day 14 4/19 Everest BC
Day 15 4/20 Everest BC
Day 16 4/21 Everest BC
Day 17 4/22 Climb to C1: 20,000’
Day 18 4/23 Carry to C2: 21,500’ and return to C1
Day 19 4/24 Climb to C2:
Day 20 4/25 C2 Acclimatization
Day 21 4/26 C2 Acclimatization
Day 22 4/27 Descend to BC & Arrival of Everybody to Everest Trekking Group
Day 23 4/28 BC - Acclimatization
Day 24 4/29 BC - Acclimatization
Day 25 4/30 Climb to C2
Day 26 5/01 C2 - Acclimatization
Day 27 5/02 C2 - Acclimatization
Day 28 5/03 Climb to C3 - Lhotse Face: 24,000’
Day 29 5/04 C2 - Acclimatization
Day 30 5/05 Descend to BC
Day 31 5/06 BC - Acclimatization
Day 32 5/07 Descend to Dingboche
Day 33 5/08 Dingboche - Acclimatization
Day 34 5/09 Dingboche - Acclimatization
Day 35 5/10 Trek to Louboche
Day 36 5/11 BC - Rest
Day 37 5/12 Climb to C2
Day 38 5/13 C2 - Acclimatization / Rest
Day 39 5/14 Climb to C3 - Lhotse Face
Day 40 5/15 Climb to C4 - South Col: 26,000
Day 41 5/16 First Summit Day
Day 42 5/17 Extra Summit Day
Day 43–53 5/18–5/28 Extra Summit Days
Day 54 5/29 Descend to Camp 2
Day 55 5/30 Descend to BC
Day 56 5/31 Trek to Pangboche
Day 57 6/01 Trek to Namche
Day 58 6/02 Trek to Lukla
Day 59 6/03 Fly back to Kathmandu
Day 60 6/04 Fly to Bangkok
Day 61 6/05 Fly to Koh Samui, Thailand
Day 62-64 6/06-6/08 Four Seasons Resort
Day 64 6/8 Fly back to LAX
