Everest 2014 Update: Team meeting and Dinner When I decided to do this trip I specifically wanted to do it with a world class full scale climbing expedition. So that’s what I signed up for. But it didn’t become real until I arrived for our first full team briefing. The excitement was amazing as Ang Dorjee introduced himself to me and we spoke briefly. we all grabbed a glass of Carlson and took a seat after a few minutes of one-on-one introductions and socializing. Dean Staples is the head guide for this trip and he ran the briefing. Between the sherpas, guides and climbers on the team there are a combined number of Everest summits exceeding 35. And we each introduced ourselves it became clear that I was on exactly the team I wanted to be on. We have one guy on the base camp team with me who completed the 7 summits 2 years ago when he summits Everest with Dean Staples. We have a Ukrainian climber who is attempting to finish his 7 summits by summit ing Everest on this expedition. Dean has summited everest 9 times along with numerous other 8,000 meter peaks. And the list goes on and on. We have a young climber from Hong Kong who will be filming a music video. Another of the base camp team is the girlfriend of our Ukrainian climber. We have a young lady from Iceland giving it a shot. And so many others involved. After we all introduced ourselves, Dean went through the logistics of the next week or so and then through the run down of the summit bid for the climbers, rules of the mountain, behavior etc. Then the team doctor, Sophia went through the details re taking care of eyes, using a buff, avoiding snow blindness, altitude issues, etc. We then got the surprise of the evening in that it turns out that the film crew working on the Hollywood adaptation of Into Thin Air will be climbing with our team. So that’s kind of cool – and not completely unexpected since Guy Cotter, CEO of adventure consultants is the technical advisor for the film. Chiefly this is because Adventure Consultants co-founder Rob Hall plays a major role in the story and as many people are aware, died on Everest that year after placing a well publicized satellite call to his wife, Jan, from high up on the mountain where he was stuck in a storm/rescue operation. Many people lost their lives up there in that storm and this is the subject of the book and film. Beck Weathers of DFW also plays a pivotal role and wrote a book about his experience that season titled Left For Dead. The film crew invited all of us to participate in any filming activity and/or to stop by their tent any time. And Dean made the statement to the climbers to “not worry, be assured that this is not another reality show” in mockery of the Discovery series being filmed for yet another season over at Russell Brice’s HIMEX camp. After some additional mingling and distribution of hand sanitizer, toilet paper and gift packs from the guide company the base camp team went to dinner in Thamel and the climbers took the time to eat at a smaller place to discuss their portion of the expedition a bit further. Dinner was very nice on the candle lit patio. Having the opportunity to chat with all of the other folks who I will be spending the next couple of weeks with was great. Such interesting people each with a different story about how they got here. And one couple who will celebrate their 10th wedding anniversary on April 8th just before we reach base camp. I can’t wait to get started.
Posted on: Wed, 02 Apr 2014 10:28:27 +0000
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