Excitement in the Air!

The team is still resting in Namche today.  They plan to head back up to EBC tomorrow (Saturday) and finish preparations for moving higher up.  They are feeling strong and ready (and a tad bored) :) although nothing like what some other people are experiencing.  Dave told me about talking to a guy from Utah who has been there since March 23rd.  I can't even imagine, I thought 5 weeks was long.  That would be so mentally draining on a climber (and his family at home) but I guess this is common for a lot of teams.  

When companies are putting together expedition groups they don't know exactly what they are going to get as far as clients.  Most people are coming alone and being put together with a team of strangers. They have to make sure everyone has a fair shot and plenty of time to acclimatize, so they make the itinerary nice and long. Everest doesn't require any sort of documentation as to what experience you have, what mountains you have done, what kind of climber you are etc.  Maybe some of these individual companies require some of that info but I'm not sure.  In contrast, when the guys were climbing Denali, they had to basically send their life story and a full climbing history of each climber before they would give a permit.  One of the many differences climbing internationally. 

Luckily our team is very experienced and has a good handle on what this takes.  They are also extremely lucky to have friends/past climbing partners to go with- it's a luxury I don't think they take for granted. Each of these guys knows how to handle altitude, what they personally need to do to stay hydrated, rested, energized, mentally focused, how they needed to train etc.  Of course, something can always throw you for a loop but this is not their first rodeo.

Most of the time when I tell people that Dave is climbing Everest they say- Seriously, have you SEEN the movie Everest??  Or- don't you know people die up there, does he have a death wish!?? Or- I can't BELIEVE you let him do this!  All of these super helpful outbursts are probably well meaning, but most people have no idea what this is actually all about.  What has helped me through is knowledge- researching and talking to people who have actually been there (not basing my info on a movie about one group of people 20+ years ago.)  Knowledge is power, the unknown is scary. Knowing that they are smart, experienced, well prepared... and based on last year that I know they will make that decision to turn around if they need to.  Even if they are only 300 feet from the summit. So thank you everyone for telling me what a nice wife I am (I hear it daily- luckily only about half of the time in a really condescending tone)... but I hope you would all do the same for your spouse.  I wasn't always supportive of this hobby and I can tell you it was miserable going through the preparation and duration of those expeditions.  When I actually decided to get on board and get involved in the story when he climbed Denali, my perspective changed. Because when you have a superhuman driven husband who has a very attainable goal and dream- you step up and sacrifice if you must, and you support it.  Wouldn't you want the same?

Wow, that took a turn! Just something that has been on my mind the past 18 months.

So now let's focus on hope, positivity and good things to come!  Their expedition company, Seven Summits plans to start sending teams up for a summit bid in the next few days. So it could be any day now if all goes according to plan.

-Tiffany