Himalaya 2010: Kathmandu Busy, Base Camps Showing Signs of Life

As I mentioned yesterday, the annual descent on Kathmandu has begun, with climbers and trekkers beginning their pilgrimages to the various mountains that have been calling their name over the past few months. Word from KTM is that the city it is busy and bustling at the moment, as our usual cast of adventurers make last minute preparations before heading out to the mountains. \

One team that has been in and out of Kathmandu, and on their mountain of choice, is Edurne Pasaban's Annapurna Squad. For the moment, they remain the only team on the mountain, and have already established themselves up to C2. In fact, the team has been fixing ropes to C3 the past few days, and have been living in Camp 2 since Wednesday, which puts them well along in their acclimatization process. The group is hoping to make an early summit then move over to Tibet to take a stab at Shisha Pangma, grabbing the last two 8000 meter peaks on Edurne's schedule.

ExWeb is reporting that another woman in pursuit of the 8000 meter peaks, Miss Oh Eun-Sun of South Korea, is set to arrive in Annapurna BC this week, after acclimatizing on Tharpu Chuli. Anna is the only mountain left to add to her resume as well.

Meanwhile, the Shared Summits Team is in Nepal and preparing to take on Makalu, the 5th highest peak in the world? The team consists of Chris Warner and Marty Schmidt, who will be attempting a new route on the mountain along the South Face.

The Adventure Dynamics Team is made up of a group of climbers from South Africa who are taking on Everest from the North Side. The team leaves in a little less than a week for Kathmandu, and are in the last minute stages of planning.

Similarly, the Peak Freaks have begun sending updates from their Everest team, with climbers arriving in Kathmandu. The dispatch from today notes that bad weather is once again delaying flights into Lukla and Phablu, another village nearby. Seems like a rocky start to the season, but not unusual for this time of the year, and the mountaineers are in no rush to get to Base Camp at this point anyway.

Hold on to your hats, by next week this time, things will really be getting interesting.

The Gear Junkie Heads To The Himalaya

Syndicated outdoor writer Stephen Regenold, also known as the Gear Junkie, is headed to the Himalaya as part of the Hanesbrands Climb With Us Expedition. He's heading to Kathmandu this weekend and will begin blogging from Nepal next week, although he's post his first entry, a pre-expedition update, today as part of his Daily Dose Blog.

In that story, GJ discusses the trek to Everest Base Camp, which he'll be starting next week. He notes that it is roughly 40 miles from Lukla, the starting point of the trek, to BC, where he'll be spending the next few months hanging out with the Hanesbrand team of climbers while they make the long trip to the summit of the mountain. Regenold will chronicle the climb, sharing each phase with us back home.

The expedition, led by climber Jamie Clarke, will be testing out some revolutionary new mountaineering products while in the Himalaya, including the Champion Super Suit we've all been hearing so much about. The suit uses aerogel to make it incredibly thin and lightweight, but also super warm. The results of the expedition could potentially have a far reaching impact on the future of gear used on Everest.

Expect to hear a lot more from the Gear Junkie in the days ahead. The team is eyeing a summit bid sometime in May, but of course that is a fluid target at this point. How the suit performs will no doubt be of interest to the mountaineering community too.