EBC Rest Day
I dreamt they were coming to arrest me, the jack booted soldiers marching in step. I need hardly tell you that I woke with a start, shaking down crystals of ice from the tent fabric, and peering bleerily at the watch. Four am. I had been woken by the crunch of boots on ice as our Sherpas gathered round the Lhapsur (Buddhist altar) and quietly cast rice in the direction of the Icefall. Four am and all is well; our Sherpas are on their way to Camp 1 at last. Tomorrow they will make another carry of tents and food and later we will begin our first cycle of acclimatisation. I drifted off to a contented sleep. Two hours later the day began with the gentle noise of the base waking to another morning of perfect weather. A hum, not unlike a city waking up, hung in the air. Distant voices, the clearing light, the tip of Pumori lit like a candle, the spindrift on the west shoulder of Everest a pencil thin glowing lining. This is the best part of the day, all is before us. Soon the warming sun will evaporate away the ice from the tent, the coughs from the cold dry air and and there will be breakfast and optimism. Then to the business in hand. we must prepare loads for Camps 1 and 2. Normally these camps are pretty much established by 10 April and here we are at 17. The other chore we must complete today is the handing in of all our communications equipment to the army. Two days ago the Nepalese army called a meeting of the team leaders and sirdars here to inform us of the new, revised temporary regulations for Everest. The government has asked us to do nothing to disturb their friendly relations with their large northern neighbour. To enforce this we are requested to hand in our communications equipment to the army camp, whence we may make supervised calls by telephones, but internet will be banned till 10 May; the arbitrary date for a certain torch's ascent of the mountain. So, it looks like this will be the last internet news for 3 weeks. Meanwhile we will be hoping to complete two full cycles of acclimatisation, sleeping as high as possible on the mountain and then descending to the lower valleys to recuperate before a summit attempt As I type, the tent bustles with the wind, I hear snatches of conversation, lids banging from the kitchen, the sounds of a camp preparing itself for the climb. In other words that most coveted of base camp days, a Rest Day.