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May
02
Hi kids,
We called for the weather reports first thing this morning.
The forecast was bad for a further 4 days at least! We couldn't
believe it. There was no way we could wait at Camp 2 for
that length of time - we would waste away to matchstick men!
Pemba sat thinking about what we had heard then spoke aloud
saying what we all knew we must do 'I think its better we
go down.' In one way, it was a relief to be getting away
from the storm, the boredom and the altitude. I knew we had
a 3-4 hour climb ahead of us in high winds, and that we would
have to return (another 7-8 hours) in a couple of days -
still, it was the only decision for us. We packed up our
gear and were ready to move within an hour. As we headed
down, the winds whipped us, but we moved through as quickly
as we could. By the time we reached the bottom of the ice
fall, the winds had calmed and the sun had come out. In the
distance, we could see Dawa and Sheila waving bottles of
Coca Cola! What a sight, we rushed towards them and thirstily
drank back the coke. It was a relief to have the ordeal of
Camp 2 over.
Freddy delighted to return to Base Camp
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May 01
Hi kids,
I woke at 7am this morning, to the sound of the tent flapping
violently in the wind. It was a constant, frightening, harsh
thrashing and I lay still, hoping it would ease. After a
few minutes, I leaned over and opened one of the zips slightly.
I looked up towards the Lhotse face and Camp 3, but it looked
cloudy, dark and threatening. I shuddered as I snuggled back
into the warmth of my sleeping bag. This wasn't a nice place
to be in a storm.
At 8.30am, we got up and had breakfast in the kitchen tent.
Looking out on the route, we could see several climbers heading
down. Camp 2 was quickly becoming bleak and empty. After
breakfast, Pemba brought the radio to us and it was a break
to be able to listen to some world news. In the afternoon,
as the temperatures dropped, it was back to our tents and
sleeping bags to try and keep warm.
As usual, we spoke to Sheila and Adrian in the evening. There
was no good news about the weather; we were beginning to
lose hope.
Freddy contacts Adrian and Sheila by radio
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April 30
Hi kids,
I was one of the first up again today. Its weird, I feel
so tired all the time up here. I sleep for about 12 hours
a night and during the day sleep another 3-4 hours! Pat says
its just my body getting used to the high altitude (about
7,000m), but its still kinda strange.
We spent some time sorting out gear in the afternoon. I tried
on Clare's high altitude boots to see if they would fit (no
luck!) - I thought they
would keep me nice and warm. I packed
my warm mitts, sunglasses, waterproof gear and climbing gear.
A wave of excitement passed over
me as I thought about the day ahead.
At 6pm, we went to contact Adrian and Sheila at Base Camp
on the radio. They had the weather forecast for us; as
Adrian called it out, there was silence in our tent. Pemba,
Pat
and Clare looked from one to the other. The winds were
forecast for 80-90 mph - much too dangerous to plan any
move up the
mountain. Whatís worse, the forecast was for up
to 4 days of bad weather! Everyone was taken aback. As
we said
goodnight to Adrian and Sheila, we knew we were unexpectedly
looking at spending several nights at Camp 2. There was
no choice - either go down and have to make the long climb
from
Base Camp back to Camp 2 in a few days or stick it out,
hoping our health and strength wouldn't fade.
Pat and Pemba both agreed it was worth waiting a couple of
days. I was relieved - I would hate the thought of going
through the ice-fall so soon after my fall!
Freddy
trying on Clare's high altitude boots
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April 29
Hi kids,
I woke up feeling really hungry - I'd hardly eaten anything
yesterday and lay in my sleeping bag wondering what Tenzing
would have made for breakfast. I could just make out the
sound of stoves in the kitchen tent and decided to go and
investigate.
Tenzing was just turning on the radio when I got in. He turned
towards me, surprised and said 'You ok, Freddy - I heard
about your fall?' 'Yup, I'm fine now, thanks Tenzing, but
I did get a fright.' He sat me down and we drank hot tea
together. By 8am, I could hear the others starting to move.
The sun was coming out and it looked like a great day. We
sat in the kitchen and ate porridge, fried eggs and toast.
The others teased me about yesterday. We decided to go for
a short walk in the afternoon just to get a little exercise,
but the main aim while we are up here is to rest and eat.
Tomorrow we will need to sort everything for moving to Camp
3 - not just food, sleeping bags and down suits, but oxygen,
gas and tents. Hard work for the sherpas and for us - but
still exciting!
Freddy and Tenzing about to have a cup of tea
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April
28
Hi kids,
We were up at 4am this morning and ready to leave just before
5am. Pemba and Pat wanted to do some filming on the way,
so we knew this would take a bit of time. It was cold starting
out and I was shivering all over. I wished I had worn another
jumper, but it was too late now.
As I walked along, I was thinking of home - imagine it's
nearly summer-time at home, I thought; long evenings, cutting
grass, ice-creams, shorts and tee-shirts... It's strange,
its easy to lose touch with what's happening at home when
you're away for so long.
I was lost in my own little world, when suddenly I stepped
off the track and found myself hanging one foot over the
edge of a crevasse. My heart stopped. I reached out to
grab the rope behind me, but missed and with the sudden
movement,
lost my footing. 'HELP!' I roared, terrified out of my
wits 'Freddy, hang on' shouted Clare from behind me. I
could feel
myself slowly slipping down the rope and really thought ëthis
is ití. I looked up and saw Pat and Pemba above
me. Pemba was flaking out a rope and Pat kept talking to
me making
sure I wasn't injured. As my paw slipped a little further
I looked down into the abyss below. I froze - I couldn't
even see the bottom of the crevasse. I looked up again
to see if Pemba had the rope ready. He was just about to
start
passing it down to me. I breathed a sigh of relief 'clip
into this, Freddy, and you'll be safe in a few minutes'.
I reached out to grab the rope and quickly clipped in.
I breathed a sigh of relief and clung on for dear life.
It
was really cold down there and I was glad to be getting
out so quickly. Between the three of them, they were strong
enough
to haul me out and within a couple of minutes I was standing
on safe ground again.
'Freddy, you have to concentrate all the time, its too
dangerous to day-dream up here.' Pat said sternly. I could
feel my
eyes fill with tears. Pemba poured me some hot juice and
Clare wrapped a wooly jumper around me. 'Hop in my pack,
Freddy until we get to Camp 1. Once you're warm and have
got over the fright, you can carry on again. I did as she
said, still sobbing to myself. As I settled into her pack,
I began to warm up; I found a couple of jelly snakes and
chewed on these! My eyes began to get heavy and I was off
to never-neverland. They never even woke me until I got
to Camp 2 and boy was I glad.
Freddy slipping into a crevasse
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April 27
Hi kids,
Today was the first sunny morning in weeks so there was a
mad rush
for the shower after breakfast! Everyone was dying
to be clean, but when it's snowing outside, its really
hard to brave it!
Later in the morning, Tim had to leave - he was heading back
along the trail and then to Kathmandu to meet with another
bunch of trekkers. We said our goodbyes, knowing that we
would be seeing him in a couple of weeks again.
A lot of the afternoon was spent trying to get our satellite
dish working
so that we could send my diaries and the expedition
updates back to Ireland, but we just couldn't solve the problem
so there will probably be delays for the next few days (sorry
kids!).
After dinner, I got my gear ready for the trip to Camp 2.
This time I knew
that
the others were right about carrying as little as possible,
so I only brought my climbing gear
and a set of dry clothes (again I hid my diary
in Pat's
pack!) I decided to go for a bit of a nap too; it will
be a long
hard day tomorrow and I want to be as rested as possible.
Freddy says goodbye to Tim
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April
26
Hi Kids,
What a day! Soon after I got up, it started snowing and continued
all day. It was really cold too and so we had a pretty boring
day, sitting in the mess tent. Hardly anyone called to our
tent because it was too dangerous to walk around Base Camp.
In the afternoon, there was a group of yaks arrived with
food supplies and I dashed out to have this photo taken with
them! They stayed overnight at our camp and it was almost
impossible to tell the difference between them and rocks
once they were covered by snow and it had got dark! I asked
Dawa if Sooty could stay in our mess tent where it was a
bit warmer because I felt so sorry for him when I saw his
big sad snowy face! He said he could just this once as a
special favour.
We were supposed to be going to Camp 2 tomorrow but because
of the bad weather and because Pat has a chest infection,
we have decided
to postpone things for a day. I'm looking
forward to getting moving
again now.
Freddy and Sooty say hello to a visiting yak
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April
25
Hi kids,
I was excited getting up today. Three of the Base Camp team
(Tim, Sheila and Adrian) were due to arrive and I was really
looking forward to meeting them. I got up early and wanted
to head down along the track to meet them but Pat said it
was better not to because I had to rest before our next trip
to Camp 2. Instead, I decided to walk to the edge of Base
Camp; that way I could direct them in to our Camp. I headed
off, wondering to myself if they would have brought me any
presents!
It wasn't long before I caught sight of Tim; he seemed to
be on his own.
I headed down along the trail to meet him
and as I got closer, I saw Sheila not far behind. She waved
madly at me and I began to run in their direction. We gave
each other hugs and kisses and they began to tell me stories
from their trek up. They said Adrian was a little behind
with another trekker; we decided to head back to the mess
tent as it was beginning to snow and had got quite cold.
That day, there ended up being a big crowd at our Base Camp,
including Adrian, Daragh, Sheila, Tim, another guide called
Mike and ourselves. We sat around and chatted and after lunch
the others unpacked their rucksacks to take out a surprise
for me! I sat on the edge of my seat,
full of curiosity and
they gave me hints about what was in the packet. After several
guesses, I had to give up - the answer was broken Cadbury's
creme eggs!! Gill, in the expedition office, had sent them
- thanks a mil Gill (yummy, even when broken!)
Freddy with
Sheila and Tim
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April
24
Hi kids,
It was great being back at Base Camp again. I loved being
able to relax in my own tent, with my little belongings in
their own places around my sleeping bag. I stayed in bed
until 9am, then hunger got the better of me and I just had
to get up!
There had been a team of trekkers from the UK come in to
stay with us for the night and one of them, a guy called
Phil, from Bolton, told me he was traveling with a bear belonging
to a friend of his; he said that this bear has travelled
all around the world.
I couldn't wait to meet him to see where he had been to.
'What's his name?' I asked curiously. 'I don't know', he
replied, his face getting redder. 'Strange', I thought, but
didn't say anything. He went to his tent
to get him and when
he returned, I had a proper chat with him (in bear talk!).
First I asked him if these trekkers were looking after him
well - seeing as they didn't know his name. He told me that
his friends call
him 'Beany bear'; he was enjoying the trekking,
but was spending a lot
of time in Phil's pack because they
were afraid he would get cold. He was really quiet, but I
took him around to show him my tent, then we went to feed
Sooty. He told me a bit about his travels and then I told
him about my expedition to Everest. He was amazed at my stories
so
far and said he would love to stay on and climb with us.
I thought this sounded like a great plan. We chatted about
whether he should just
hide in my tent and hope Phil and
the trekkers wouldn't miss him or whether we should go and
ask Pat. Beany wanted to hide, but I thought Pat might get
mad! Together we went to his tent to have a chat. Pat was
surprised by our request and said that although he would
love to have Beany along, he just didn't have the experience
and that it would be too dangerous. Beany was really disappointed,
but knew it was for the best.
We went to the mess tent for a cup of tea and I gave Beany
some jelly snakes to take with him on the rest of his trek.
Before long, it was time for them to leave; we got this photo
with Beany's friend, Phil just beforehand.
Freddy, Beany, Phil, Clare and Pat
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