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April 04
Hi Kids
I woke at 6am this morning - it was bright but cold. I kept thinking of things
I needed to pack for our morning ice climbing and each time I thought of something,
I had to sit up, turn on my head torch and add it
to the list in my diary! So far I had; a rope, crampons, a harness, an ice axe,
a helmet, sunglasses, sun cream, a warm jacket, water proof gloves and jacket
and water (and of course my secret supply of honey!).
I hauled my rucksack into the tent and began to tick things off as I added them
to it. When I had finished packing, I went and fed Sooty and chatted to him for
a while. I told him I was going ice climbing and would be back at lunch time
to feed him. I brushed his shiny black coat and then patted him as I went to
wake the others.
By 8am, we were sitting down to a big breakfast and headed off with the sherpas
at 9am. We walked along the edge of the icefall and suddenly entered a sort of
wonderland. Instead of being surrounded by rubble, we were surrounded by towers
of ice formations - everything was fresh, white and beautiful. I looked up and
gasped at the clear blue sky - it was like a fairytale.
I felt a jump of excitement as I pulled on my harness and the rest of my gear.
I watched in admiration as the others climbed a steep 40 foot ice wall. Then
Pemba came over to me and showed me a beginners section. He held me safe with
my rope while I climbed up and up - what a feeling! I tried 3 different routes
altogether and everyone seemed really impressed with me. I was thrilled and couldn't
believe it when Clare said it was 2pm and we should start heading back.
I was tired after all the exercise and went for a nap in the afternoon.
What a day!!
Freddy's photo of the wonderland of the icefall
Freddy training at ice climbing
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April 03
Hi
Kids,
Early this morning, the trekkers got up and ready to leave. Everyone
was quiet as we sat around the mess tent. There was emptiness in the air, although
some tried to make jokes. When everyone had finished eating, we went outside
and took some photos. Mike gave me a fruit cake, Deirdre gave me some dried apricots
and Gerry gave me some shortbread biscuits - yummy! I felt my eyes fill with
tears as they left and we waved goodbye. I didn't want the others to see. I was
excited about being here, but hated saying goodbye.
I decided to go for a shower - my cold was almost gone and I needed some warm
clean clothes. Dawa boiled some water for me and I set off with my jug and bucket.
It was great making suds with lovely hot water!
I picked out a new red woolly jumper to wear.
Pat has promised me that I can go ice climbing with them in the
morning - yippee! I've only done that once before, but it was brilliant.
Freddy sees trekkers off
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April 02
Hi Kids,
It was strange sleeping at Base Camp Wyeth last night at 17,600 feet.
I felt cold and as I lay there in my sleeping bag, trying to keep warm I could
hear huge chunks of ice cracking far below. It felt strange but familiar. In
the morning, I lay in bed, waiting for the sun to warm up the tent - I remembered
that used to happen last year, but although it got bright, there was no heat
in the sun. I opened my gear bag and pulled out one of my nice new jumpers, given
to me by one of our sponsors
Con Moriarty from Spórt Corrán Tuathail in Killarney. Red is one
of my favourite colours and I have 3 new red jumpers now! I was looking forward
to meeting with the trekkers again and showing them around our new camp site
and my tent.
After breakfast I relaxed for a while, and then we headed part way out along
the track to meet with the trekking team.
We had a light lunch and then everyone gave a hand to set up the tents for the
trekkers. We huddled into the mess tent for dinner and had a good ole sing song
together in the evening. There were hugs and kisses as everybody headed to bed.
From tomorrow, we would be left on our own at Base Camp. It was a weird (and
a sad) thought.
Freddy chooses from his new jumpers
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April 01
Hi Kids,
I slept soundly last night. My nose was still runny, but my headache had gone.
I was really excited because today was the day we were due to head in to Base
Camp Wyeth. I dressed, packed my bags and fed Sooty before breakfast. I felt
hungry and had a big bowl of porridge and some scrambled eggs. I told Pat that
I felt strong enough to trek today and proudly set off with himself, Clare, John
and Niall (who is in charge of communications). We waved goodbye to the trekkers,
who will follow in a day later. Sooty was waiting for the rest of the yaks.
It was a hard morning getting to Base Camp and I had to stop a few times to rest.
Soon it came into view and we began to look out for the Irish tricolour. Suddenly
John saw it ñ ëHey lads, itís over there!
í he yelled.
We made our way as quickly as we could across the rubble to our new home, getting
breathless at the effort.
Dawa, our Base Camp manager, came out to meet us. He knew us all from last year
and gave us a great welcome. He took my gear bag and showed me to my tent. "Come
on Freddy, I have a surprise for you", he grinned. He brought me back to
the mess tent and fed us all homemade soup and fried eggs and chips - yummy!
It felt great to be back at Base Camp. I met some of the sherpas from last year
who will be climbing with us - Pemba, Chhemi, Jangbu, Lama and Lhakpa. It was
like catching up with good old friends and I was
on air.
Freddy meets Dawa on arrival at Base Camp
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