Mt. Everest Expedition - Dispatch #4

Dear Friends,

We are still at our advanced base camp. The first few days after our return were necessary for us to rest and recuperate after having spent quite some time at high altitude. Now we feel rested enough to tackle the summit and we are waiting for good news from our weatherman, Charly. At the moment, the winds on the summit are very high and the jet stream is supposed to continue for the next few days. Charly has forecast wind speeds between 110km/h on Monday and 150km/h for Wednesday, which means we have to be patient.

Yesterday we went down to the Chinese Base Camp and it was really nice to see our friends, who had come down from their advanced base camp to regenerate. Mount Everest’s advanced base camp lies at 6,400m and it is hardly possible to regenerate at this altitude.

Ralf and I are spending our time with reading and listening to music, and every once in a while we climb up to the moraine from where we can see the North Face very well. At the moment, there is a lot of snow in the Colouir, however, I am sure the jet stream will blow it away in the next few days. With temperatures of around -32 to -35° on the summit, it is still too cold for the ice and snow to conglomerate.

Once again, patience is on our agenda, however, we are sure that less windy days will follow soon. We are still hopeful! 🙂

Before we start for our summit push, we will be in touch again, however, until then we are sending you warm regards from the north side of Mount Everest.

Gerlinde and Ralf