Everest Base Camp sprawls across the Khumbu glacier in Nepal
At 17,575 feet, Everest Base Camp is perhaps the Himalayas’ most transitory town. The conditions are inhospitable even during summit season, which has the best weather of the year. Below freezing temperatures, wind, snow, and not a green shrub or plant or blade of grass on the surface of the thick ice. Hundreds of people live on the glacier for two months as they attempt to climb Everest. The city is a colorful amalgam of tents, prayer flags, and swaddled humans. All supplies–food, gear, refrigerators, generators, chairs, ladders, and more!–must be carried in by yaks or porters. All garbage and waste must be carried out. In between the bustle of supply chains, summit teams plan their acclimatization. Groups gradually climb to Camp 1, Camp 2, Camp 3 as they familiarize clients with the route and get their bodies accustomed to the thin air. At Everest Base Camp, the air has half the oxygen content as at sea level–and it only gets thinner as teams ascend higher. Summit attempts will begin as early as this weekend, depending on when teams are ready and when the wind abates. Here’s links to a short video tour plus some photos….
With my Sherpa staff at Everest Base Camp--Kaji, Dawa, Nanga, Mani, and Nuru