From Kongde to Namche Bazaar

Today we went to Kongde which is at 13,500 feet. It took us 6 1/2 hours to make it to the top. The views from here are incredible. We could see Everest, Lhotse, Nutse, Ama Dablam, and Taweche. Tomorrow we will go down to the town of Thame and from there to Namche Bazaar where we will spend the night. Everyone is doing well.

From Lukla to Phakding

After a 40 minutes flight to Lukla we began the acclimatization process by hiking in the Khumbu valley. Lukla's airport consists of a short landing strip which makes for an abrupt stop when landing. The town is located at 2850m. Today we made it to the village of Phakding. We will continue the trekking and conditioning for the next few days and then fly back to Kathmandu to begin our journey through the North side.

Back in Kathmandu

After meeting my fellow climber Bill Fisher at the LA airport we had very nice flights to Bangkok and then Kathmandu, where we arrived yesterday. We were greeted by my good friend Geljen Sherpa and his son. Geljen will be part of the climbing team with us. Hard to believe it's been three years since my last visit to this incredible place! Hot,sooty and congested, it is nevertheless a wonderful place to visit.
Today we met with Lopsang, another climbing Sherpa, and completed our equipment purchases.
The schedule, for now, is as follows:
1) March 30: fly to Lukla and begin the acclimatization process by hiking in the Khumbu valley,the usual approach for Everest South Side climbs. We'll be hiking up to Kongde over the next 5-6 days.
2) April 5: return to Kathmandu
3) April 7: leave for Tibet by jeep on the way to Everest North base camp. Overnight in the Tibetan border town of Zhangmu.
4) April 10: arrive at Everest Base Camp after hikes and overnights at Nyalam and Tingri.
That's it for now...I'll keep updating as possible. Best regards, Julio

The Team

Our team consists of six climbers with WRET (World Records Expeditions and Treks, based in Kathmandu).

The climbers are Bill Fisher (from California), Julio Bird (Wisconsin/Puerto Rico), and Hoshino Kohei (from Japan) and our Sherpa are Lhakpa Gelu (17-18 summits), Lopsang (2 summits) and Geljen (1 summit). Lhakpa Gelu is also well known for his record speed in ascending Everest, thus the company name.

I summited via the South Col in 2002 with Lhakpa Gelu. In 2007 we attempted to summit via the North side with Lhakpa's older brother, Lama Jangbu. We had to turn around at the Second Step due to depleted O2 stores, a logistical issue we intend to correct for this go-around. During our first attempt two of our climbers, Lopsang and Con Severis, succeeded.