I decided to stay one more day in Dingboche, so I’ll definitely walk back up to Base Camp tomorrow, 5/15. The weather is giving everyone fits. The usually calm, clear weather window which appears in May hasn’t arrived yet. The problem is that the Icefall deteriorates as May goes on, so everyone wants to get up and down as early as possible.
Of course there’s weather and there’s weather. While the winds have been too strong for anyone to climb, they might fall off enough for some of us more experienced climbers to attempt the summit. The teams of inexperienced clients are in a tighter spot, as the guides don’t want to push for the top in anything less than great weather. This makes perfect mountaineering sense, but what if the perfect weather doesn’t materialize?
Today (5/14) is the first really sunny day we’ve had in about a week. It’s quite windy down here and it’s clear that it’s windy up high. Yesterday I hiked over the hill to Pheriche, a small village that’s home to the Himalayan Rescue Association (HRA) clinic, which has done a lot to help prevent deaths due to altitude illness. I’ll likely go back after lunch today just to get some exercise.
My cough is showing improvement, though we’ll see how it goes tomorrow on the hike. The bad weather has definitely helped me, as I doubt I could have summited in the last several days due to the cough.
I’m sitting in the lodge’s sunroom, watching porters carrying trekkers’ loads up the trail into Dingboche. Ama Dablam (a famous mountain) towers above, completely clear for the first time in the past five days. I’m getting psyched again to go up, realizing that I fly back to the USA in just over three weeks. Still a lot to do–like climb the bloody mountain.
PS. Just downloaded an email that says the forecast is improving. That’s great news for all.