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Trail Covered with Snow
Base Camp - Tuesday, April 25, 2000
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Tejas

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Hello Mountain Zone, this is Vernon Tejas with Alpine Ascents Mount Everest 2000. How is everyone? We're getting snowed upon quite deeply, and we are having difficulties with communications as well, so it is great to finally get through to you guys.

Yesterday morning we woke up to lots and lots of snow, and blowing and whiteout conditions. Of course it was our time to come down, so we decided to pack up quite early and hit the trail. 'What trail?', you might ask. It was all blown over and covered with fresh snow, and it was very difficult to find our way. I've got two ski poles and with their help, probing on each side, and my feet walking on the hardpack surface underneath the fresh snow, we were able to maintain the trail all the way down to the upper Icefall of the Khumbu Glacier.

It was somewhat nerve-racking and very tough on the eyes. But, fortunately, the whole team pulled together, and we made our way surely and securely through the crevasses and on down to Base Camp. The Icefall, of course, changed somewhat with the new snowfall, things were falling over, and we made haste where we could. Finally got back down to Base Camp and it's been snowing ever since. So we are happy to be down here rather than high on the mountain, trapped.

One of the things you might notice is our oxygen saturation, which is at 71, is at a low point for being up so high. It wasn't what we expected, but certainly it means we're working at about 25 percent less of what's typical. Also, our pulse rate, as a group, is up to 88. So what you see is our body is trying to compensate by pumping more blood around, even though it doesn't have as much oxygen in it. So we still end up with a net of close to what we'd normally have at sea level. The temperatures, which have been reasonable, and that's probably too warm for up high, is maybe one of the big reasons we're getting so much snowfall. But we're safely ensconced in Base Camp now and we plan to stay here until it stops snowing. The Sherpas have decided they're not going to go up tomorrow because there is too much snow in the Icefall, and making it for a dangerous and difficult passage.

So stay tuned kids, we're down here acclimatizing in thick air and we're enjoying it and hopefully you're enjoying yours as well. Talk to you soon. That's ciao for now; all from Nepal; bye to you all, from the high Himal.

— Vern Tejas, Alpine Ascents Guide and MountainZone.com Correspondent

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