2004 Newsletters
Team Reaches Advanced Base Camp
Oct 13th, 2004
A feature on the Climbing Blind expedition is now scheduled to be the closer tonight on NBC Nightly News, at 6:55 p.m. Eastern Time, as of today's 3 p.m. production meeting. Breaking news can always pre-empt, but this is your notice in case it goes. Dispatch just received from Erik: "Today was a tough day on the mountain. Yesterday we pushed up to Advanced Base Camp (ABC), gaining about 1,500 feet. It was our plan all along to go to ABC in 4 days. Tashi was usually wasted at the end of each day, but we wanted to get him into ABC so as not to divide the team. Splitting up stoves, tents, fuel, or man-power can be a nightmare. Plus, we thought it would be a great achievement for every team member to make it to 21,000 feet. Yesterday all the kids were moving very well, except for Tashi, who was moving very slow, and feeling nauseated. Jeff, our expedition doctor, wisely surmised that he wasn't suffering from altitude, but just the usual exhaustion that comes from long days in the mountains. Jeff, Stephen, and Gavin all stuck by Tashi and made it into camp around 4 PM. It was a great feeling when the whole team arrived safely at ABC. Last night, however, a serious situation arose. Kyla, who was laughing and singing when she arrived, later developed a severe headache, the worst she ever had, and the beginning signs of acute mountain sickness and possibly cerebral edema. Jeff sat with her, checking her alertness, asking her name, having her to count to 30. With high altitude medicine she made it through the night, but this morning we knew she had to get down quickly. Sonam Bongso had a less severe headache, while Tashi was weak and throwing up, so we decided to send all three down with their guides. The morning turned into a chaotic scramble to pack bags and organize gear for the way down. Stephen, Stephanie, and Michael Brown all volunteered to make the descent with the kids. It did not help that the entire day was windy and cold, bordering on snow. As we write this the kids are still on the move - trying to get as low as they can. I know they are in good hands, but up here at ABC it's hard not to be nervous and worried. We'll all be taking deep breaths until we get the radio call tonight telling us they are safe at base camp. As for the rest of us at ABC, we are facing a couple days of bad weather. We've tapped alot of our resources in getting half of the kids down, so the summit of Lhakpa Ri may be out of the question; but that was never the singular point of the expedition. We still plan to bring Tendsin, Kienzen, Dachung, Sabriye, and Paul across the glacier to a beautiful col at 22,000 feet. From there, those of us who are blind get a glimpse of that beautiful, vast openness that only the high mountains can provide. This morning, as the 3 kids left, I brought everyone together and quickly told them that they should be proud of themselves for reaching this altitude as one team. In times of struggle, or when people don't believe in them, I told them, ?Think of this moment all standing together at 21,000 feet!? In some respects, this is hugely disappointing, but it reflects the reality of the mountains and difficulty of what the team was trying to accomplish. I know Erik is thinking that when you dream big, failure is always a possibility, but it is up to everyone to turn this failure into a positive step in the direction of one's life goals, make it only a temporary failure enroute to overall success. These kids, and the team, had the courage to dare to fail. In the end, they didn't quite reach their targeted objective, but everyone still stood together at 21,000 feet, which I believe is higher than any blind person other than Erik has ever stood. What an accomplishment! You can follow the climb on www.climbingbling.org .NBC Nightly News Tonight
The Team Reached ABC Intact, But ...
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