Edta wrote today. She also sent a few pictures of the Mallory Memorial that she visited.

Visiting Mallory

Mallory’s Memorial

“Today is the third day since we came back from ABC to BC. I am still enjoying relaxing time and great food at BC. However, this is probably the most difficult time of the whole expedition – waiting… The waiting game continues. Our Sherpas are carrying loads from the North Cole to Camp 2 and tomorrow to camp 3 at 8,300m. It is windy up there right now, however they are determined to set up supplies for the summit push so they can come down for final rest and relaxation to BC before the summit push.
It is the hardest time for us the climbers to wait at the base camp as there is not much to do here (I got plenty of books to read etc). However, with all that free time and waiting, the anxiety is increasing… This is the moment when people start doubting their strength and capabilities to climb to the summit. So far, our group is pretty relaxed and laid back, I don’t feel much of the tension. Of course, Phil is focused on his weather reports and planning for the next rotation which will likely be the summit push. There is a lot on his mind, including the worry about the Sherpas carrying loads to 8,300m.
The mood is generally good, besides all that time on our hands, so many sleeping hours. The appetites are big, the coughs are going away. The only thing is to stay strong mentally! Is is not easy as we got so much time on our hands. The life in the base camp is very basic -eat, sleep, walk, read, etc… The terrain is very rugged, dust, persistent wind, cold in the evenings.  However, comparing to ABC, it is pretty good! 🙂
So, I need to be very focused to stay strong and motivated. So far it works. However, we don’t know how many waiting days we still have ahead of us – a week, 10 days or more… We are all in the hands of Chomolungma, the Mother Goddess and also in the hands of our Sherpas who work so hard to make this climb possible.

Regarding the recent incident on the south side, even I don’t know all the details and I wasn’t a witness, I am standing by our Sherpas. They make these summits possible by working so hard and they need to be respected.  All climbers have to respect the rules. If you are a fully sponsored climber, you too, you have to respect rope fixers, like us, regular people, who work for years to make our dreams come true. I have heard about some other issues in the past – steeling oxygen which is very serious on the mountain – like attempting to kill someone. This is something that will not be forgotten, especially by Sherpas.”