NEPAL TIME: 
|  Manaslu (8163m) and Dhaulagiri (8167m) |
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Avalanche Danger Minimal Wednesday, March 25, 1999 — 8:57pm (PST)
 Hear Ed's Call from NepalClick for [RealAudio] [Windows Media](Requires FREE RealPlayer or Windows Media) |
Hey, it's Ed Viesturs calling, I'm in Kathmandu. It's March 25 at about 11:30 in the morning. Veikka [Gustafsson] and I both arrived here yesterday at about two in the afternoon. We're just hanging out here, slowly packing our gear, going through what we need to buy here in town. We'll be in Kathmandu probably for the next two to three days. According to everybody here it's been a really dry winter, there's been no rain and so for climbing it will probably make it a little more technical — a lot of ice will be exposed, but it seems to us it may be a little bit safer since the avalanche danger will be minimal.
Today we had our meeting with our agency who apprised us of what's going on, when we'll be leaving. They are now getting a permit for a helicopter which will be flying to, very close to, Manaslu Base Camp. And then from there it's a two, or three, or four day trek, but we'll have more details on that later. We'll be joining a German expedition on a permit to climb Manaslu, but once we get to the mountain itself we'll basically be on our own.
So, we're excited. Things are looking well; things are on schedule. The phone's working quite well, I had tried to make a call last night, but I wasn't able to get a signal, but now I have a really good signal. So we'll update you more, probably tomorrow or the next day and we'll talk to you soon. Thanks.
— Ed Viesturs, Mountain Zone Correspondent
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