Hello Everyone,
The last few days since arriving back to EBC after our rotation on Lobuche we have been relaxing a little but have also gone on several hikes. We went a little ways up into the Icefall two times for some practice and stretching our legs and lungs before heading out to Mera peak for our second rotation. We also hiked across from Basecamp yesterday to a good view point near Pumori. Today we are waiting for the sun to peak out so we can do showers in the tent. It’s much nicer to take a shower in the shower tent when the sun is also heating the space inside. It’s pretty cloudy today at Basecamp but the forecast is for it to begin clearing this afternoon and hopefully by tomorrow morning when we are planning to fly to Khare a village below Mera peak. We are planning one night in a tea house and then will move up to high camp on Mera for one night, followed by 3 nights below the summit for our acclimatization. With the route through the icefall closed later than normal I want to skip the crowds moving up to do rotations on the mountain as all teams have been waiting for the route to open. It looks like progress is happening now fairly quickly as the fixing team has now fixed the lines up to camp 3. Once we arrive back from Mera the hope is the lines have been fixed to the summit and other teams are beginning to summit. Once back we will rest several days while looking at the weather and plans of other teams before making our plan for a summit attempt of Everest. Our team is doing well and excited, (well mostly to squeeze a shower in today) but also for our acclimatization on Mera and then onto climbing Everest.
Thanks for following along,
Ben Jones
