April 2nd, 2024–
Team 2 at the Everest Viewpoint above Namche (Phunuru Sherpa)
The weather has been good the last couple days and our Sherpas at Everest BC are almost finished with building our Camp. They report that the Icefall doctors working on the route in the Khumbu Icefall have now reached above the Football Field and will have the route open to Camp 1 soon.
Lower down, our two teams are moving higher. Ang Jangbu reports that yesterday Team 1 departed Phortse and took the high trail on the west side of the valley up to Pangboche. This is a spectacular and infrequently used trek route, with great view across the valley to Tengboche and Ama Dablam. Today they are moving on up to Pheriche (about 14,300 ft).
Three days behind Team 1, Phunuru and the Team 2 had a nice acclimatization hike up to the Everest viewpoint, and then they moved up to Khunde, following in the steps of Team 1. Now they are moving to Phortse, the local home of many of the IMG Sherpas (including Jangbu and Phunuru). Alls well at Mt Everest!
Team 1 departs Phortse on the way to Pangboche (Ang Jangbu)
On the way to Pheriche with Everest and Lhotse peeking into view (Eric Simonson)