A short note
- 27 Sep 06, 05:01 AM
Just to note that the majority of the team are heading back up the mountain today. I am feeling quite nervous, as I was not well last time, but if I do not go I will always wonder what would have happened. I am doing the slightly easier trip to camp one by breaking my journey at Lake camp. I will be in touch when I get back down. Please continue to visit our website at xtreme-everest.co.uk for further news updates also.
Our Illustrious Leader
- 27 Sep 06, 04:57 AM
Today we are heading back up the mountain. Five days of snow produced by the sort of storm that comes long every five to ten years took us to the nadir of our expectations yesterday. Today dawned brighter but many of the big teams are moving out – nobody has yet reached even to camp 3.
Frozen Pee and other questions
- 23 Sep 06, 03:33 PM
Dear Sylvia and Roger,
I have just returned from a couple of nights at Camp 1. ‘Dangerous storms’ are forecast at high altitude so we are all back in Base Camp and now have time to catch up on the blog. My ascent from Zhangmu (2371m) to Camp 1 (6400m) in 36 hours must be some sort of record and was only possible because I was partially acclimatised.
Enforced R and R
- 22 Sep 06, 11:22 AM
Hello from Cho OYu Base Camp again
Since I last blogged the whole team have been up to Camp one, some with a stop off at Lake Camp, and then back down to Cho Oyu base camp again. Six members of the team made it as far as camp two, which sits at over 7000m. The team is now sitting at base camp taking some enforced rest as there is a storm predicted for the next three days.
Once the storm has passed, we will head back up the mountain and try to move on up. The team members that managed to get to camp two described a very long day's climb from camp one to camp two. Once at camp two the views were magnificent, but the moment the sun went down it was bitterly cold, making it difficult to contemplate doing anything until the sun came up again in the morning. Hugh Montgomery has described his personal experinces on the Xtreme Everest Website.
A sad and unplanned trip to lower altitudes
- 19 Sep 06, 05:00 AM
Would sir like a massage as well?
I have just had a beard trim in the small town of Zhangmu (2371m) on the Tibetan/Nepalese border by an attractive Tibetan woman, and this was the somewhat ambiguous offer that she has made to me.
36 hours ago we were at Cho Oyu Base Camp (5600m) packing for a further acclimatisation climb, when a call came over the VHF radio saying a climber from another group had collapsed and could we help. Jon Morgan, Chamonix guide, anaesthetist and old climbing friend and I set off at speed to help. Climbing over the moraine and glacier to 5900m (the same height as the summit of Kilimanjiro) was hard work but we managed it in just under half the guidebook time. The climber appeared to have had a stroke. After we had stabilised him with oxygen, intravenous steroids and aspirin the Sherpas organised a stretcher evacuation to Base Camp. The speed and efficiency with which they work was a sight to behold, almost like a steam train as they took it in turns to lift and lower the casualty over the treacherous terrain.
Continue reading "A sad and unplanned trip to lower altitudes"
Medicine at 5600m
- 17 Sep 06, 06:58 AM
It is Saturday, September 17th, and there are only four of us at base camp at the moment. This is because 11 members of the team went up to interim camp yesterday to stay the night, and then ascended to camp one today. They are now on their way back to us. Four more members of the team have gone up to interim base camp tonight to carry out the same acclimaisation ritual. The reson the whole team did not go up together yesterday is that we had a casualty from another team to look after and evacuate.
Cho Oyu base camp
- 17 Sep 06, 06:55 AM
Hello from Advanced Base Camp. We are currently sleeping at about 5600m. I am quite breathless when I move around, but this may be due to a cold I seem to be developing. We have been asked more questions, particularly in response to Chris' pee bottle incident. I shall allow him to respond to them. We have ben asked again about why we are not doing the research in decompresion chambers. I shall refer the individual to my previous response to this question, adding only that the chamber results do not appear to reflect results from experiments carried out at altitude.
Mountain sickness: A case of acute cerebral oedema or brain swelling at 4950m
- 10 Sep 06, 12:15 PM
Our first serious challenge came from one of the other groups on the mountain. A 58year old Japanese climber and a superfit triathlete, had ascended too quickly. He had developed severe shortness of breath and became ataxic (unable to walk unaided) and was semi-comatose when we were asked to help.
Hi, my name is Chris Imray. In the UK, I am a surgeon at University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, and have a particular interest in stroke prevention in patients with narrow neck vessels (carotid artery disease) but I also have an interest in the blood supply to the brain at high altitude.
Continue reading "Mountain sickness: A case of acute cerebral oedema or brain swelling at 4950m"
Questions & Answers
- 10 Sep 06, 12:13 PM
Hello again
You may have noticed that a few more members of the team are contributing to the blog now. The expedition team are settling down now, which gives people more time to contribute. We are also starting to hear from people at home that they are enjoying the updates. Thank you for all your encouragement. It really makes a difference to know that there is so much support out there for what we are trying to achieve. We have had a number of questions over the last few days, and I apologise for not getting to them earlier. We continue to have communication issues which makes downloading emails and connecting to an up to date version of the blog difficult. We are hoping to improve communications greatly in time for Everest.
Introducing Mike Grocott
- 10 Sep 06, 05:43 AM
Hi my name is Mike Grocott and I am the expedition leader of the Xtreme-everest Cho Oyu 2006 expedition and also the director of Xtreme Everest. Two weeks in and it is hard to imagine things going better. We have had the usual complement of mild AMS (acute mountain sickness) and coughs and colds but despite this we have achieved all our base camp science goals ahead of time and the team are working (and playing) very well together.
Xtreme Exhaustion
- 9 Sep 06, 10:33 AM
Saturday morning- and exercise testing continues. Fortunately, this mornings test was gentler for me than that of yesterday....
Yesterday started well: I awoke due to be turned into a cyborg, with arterial line inserted for cardiac output monitoring, nasogastric tube (a tube through the nose into the stomach) to monitor oxygen supply to the gut), pads to muscle to monitor its oxygenation,ánd to skull to monitor that to the brain. However, after fasting from midnight, it turned out that the company had packed the wrong lead for the cardiac output measures! With testing deferred, I went for a walk with Mark Wilso, heading east across the glacial valley, wading through (very cold!) glacial streams and rivers to reach an abandoned village. From there, up an escarpment, and a walk along a ridge some 300m above us (at about 5280m). A wealth of delicate small flowers to be seen, as well as some wildlife- a giant colourful catepiller, and two of the biggest hares we have ever clapped eyes on.
Chinese Base Camp again
- 8 Sep 06, 09:36 AM
Hello again.
It is now 09.45 on Friday 8th November. I had to write this because I have completely lost track of the days. I am in the power tent with Mike Stroud, the Van Tulleken twins and Maryam Khosravi, experimenting on Jon Morgan. We are carrying out a two hour protocol looking at the metabolic response to meals, and the gastric emptying study. This has involved taking 15 minute breath and blood samples, and monitoring Jon's breathing through breath by breath gas analysis, and heart rate through a heart rate monitor. Jon had to eat an isotope labelled meal at the start of the experiment. It tasted and looked nicer than it sounds. Whilst it would be nice to say that the point of the experiment was to keep the twins out of trouble, in fact it is to determine whether the cause of weight loss at altitude is related to either an increase in metabolic rate or a change in gastrointestinal function that might cause loss of appetite.
Chinese Base Camp
- 7 Sep 06, 05:01 PM
The team have now been at Chinese Base Camp for three days, I think. Some of the team have had problems with coughs and colds, and there has been some trouble with the altitude. However, the team's health is now improving generally. This is good news as we are off up the mountain in just over 48 hours. I must apologise for the lack of blogging for about three days. When we first arrived at Chinese Base Camp, it took a while for the comms to be sorted.
Mac's intro
- 7 Sep 06, 04:55 PM
Hello,
My name is Mac and I'm the Expedition Manager for the Xtreme Everest Expedition. I'm writing to you from our Base Camp in Tibet which is approximately 5000 meters (16,250') above sea-level.
Organsing all aspects of the expedition equipment is my main role within the team. This includes arranging equipment sponsorship (we currently have nearly 50 companies on board), deciding what equipment we will need, problem solving, the movement of equipment from the UK to expedition location, assisting with the marketing and PR of the expedition and acting as Base Camp Manager.
Xegar
- 5 Sep 06, 03:54 PM
The big news today……the team have reached their Base Camp.
Shegar turned out to be an enjoyable acclimatisation stop- a small collection of dwellings and shops clustered around a crossroads. Set in the midst of a fertile alluvial plain, the area is cupped in a bowl of rising hills, each composed of sedimentary rock. Yesterday, some of us scrambled up some 300m in search of fossils- which, to our surprise, we found. Amenites seem the staple find, but by son will find a trilobite in his stocking this Christmas.
Lhasa and Shigatse
- 1 Sep 06, 02:29 PM
The team had another day of acclimatising in Lhasa. The Expedition Leader, Expedition Manager, and one of the Researchers spent most of the day trying to obtain liquid nitrogen to freeze the blood samples to be taken on the mountain. They also tried to source planks of wood to make laboratory benches in the lab tent at base camp. I spent a good proportion of the morning on the internet updating the Xtreme Everest website, sending photos and generally keeping in touch with the UK. In the afternoon, I went in search of a 'pee bottle'. High up on the mountain there are no toilet facilities, and it is too cold to take any clothing off outside your tent, so using a bottle is the only answer. It is much harder for girls than boys as you can imagine!
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