By mid-morning the day begins to turn nice with clearing clouds and the sun peeking through. At 15,200' the sun is strong and a few of us move outside for some morning reading. The weather forecast calls for continued improvement with full sunshine for the next few days. Our team spirit improves with this news since the good weather corresponds with our schedule for climbing.
The major activity today is practicing with ascenders, traversing techniques and rappelling in situations similar to what we'll encounter on the mountain. There's a large boulder near base camp that's about 20' tall and perfect for this activity. Anchors and ropes are set up and we proceed to climb all over this rock in succession. It feels good to be climbing and to clean out the cobwebs that have formed since the last time each of us has worn a harness.
It's a stunning setting to be having fun together and doing a little work. What a great day!
Before dinner a few of us hike down to the lodge for a beer. I found this place during one of my solo walks and lead the group. It's a nice evening and the walk does us all a bit of good as well as fostering team spirit.
By evening, the sky clears completely, and it begins to get cold. We have a celebrity climber in base camp who joins us for dinner. Anna Pfaff is a professional climber sponsored by The North Face, and has been climbing in this region for a month. She attempted a solo climb of Ama Dablam the day before but the new snow and high winds created unsafe conditions so she turned back at Camp 3. Dinner and tea afterwards are filled with climbing stories, and while some of us try to participate, we're outgunned by Anna, Andy and Phunuru when it comes to tales of high adventure. The day ends with a magnificent sunset and everyone drifts off to their tents and the warmth of sleeping bags inside.
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