- Home
- Expeditions
- Nov 07, 2017
-
-
Email -
Facebook -
Pinterest -
Twitter
-
Everest Base Camp Trek Begins Under Clear Skies
Yak bells clang and Tibetan chanting plays behind me while I sit writing our Namche Bazaar updates in the sunshine this Saturday morning. The Everest Base Camp team made it above 12,000 feet on day two of our climb through the Himalaya. We’re perched 3,000 feet above the Bhote Khosi gorge, and the views from this mountain mecca are vertical extremes in all directions. Time to enjoy the scene and reflect on the last couple days.
It’s a busy season here in the Solu Khumbu; no doubt due to pristine weather this time of year. We flew into the airstrip at Lukla two days ago, with skies so clear we watched the chain of Himalayan giants from Langtang to Gauri Shankar to the Solu Khumbu the entire way in. Our co-pilot seemed to enjoy our rowdy enthusiasm, pointing out prominent peaks along the way and eventually inviting Jean and company into the cockpit for some photo-ops!
![](https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2FHimalayan_peaks_from_cockpit_-Jean_Roalsvig_2048.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=300&s=bf2a038cd8ee26e65f7fb0b42014ea7c 300w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2FHimalayan_peaks_from_cockpit_-Jean_Roalsvig_2048.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=500&s=f35c69509a6d421c4c475518855af985 500w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2FHimalayan_peaks_from_cockpit_-Jean_Roalsvig_2048.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=700&s=1460e1a7f7eba774158ee74c0897e237 700w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2FHimalayan_peaks_from_cockpit_-Jean_Roalsvig_2048.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=800&s=85bc940b32da318a570bbd478d303e8f 800w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2FHimalayan_peaks_from_cockpit_-Jean_Roalsvig_2048.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1000&s=c51b6309daf6b5349b10493bb7f3c69b 1000w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2FHimalayan_peaks_from_cockpit_-Jean_Roalsvig_2048.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1200&s=3c409d0e130f98b028488b7703c10d9d 1200w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2FHimalayan_peaks_from_cockpit_-Jean_Roalsvig_2048.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1400&s=653686799ede301cf9503eb76fac064e 1400w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2FHimalayan_peaks_from_cockpit_-Jean_Roalsvig_2048.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1600&s=4a2b7ea850fc945a32cdc4fe588b2f48 1600w)
Himalayan peaks from the cockpit. Jean Roalsvig photo
A smooth landing followed by a meet-up with our Sherpa team saw us away on the trail to our first night in Phakding. As will likely be the theme of the trip, our New York trio plus dad tucked right in on the shoulder of lead Sherpa Mani and set an impressively steady pace up the trail. Jason and Ana kept our good juju going steady, leading the trekkers encircling mani stones and prayer wheels. Ricardo, our Brazilian, got the short straw in Kathmandu with a bad lunch somewhere in his wanderings, and suffered through the first day’s walk a little worse for wear. We tucked him in early with a few magic pills. By the following morning he was rosy cheeked again, and it was a full team laughing and awestruck by the views on our wander through the Sherpa villages of upper Solu. Yak and mule traffic outnumbered human traffic on our climb into Namche village, so it was a pile of dust-covered laundry we handed over to our sweet tea house staff this morning. John, Lisa, and I darted out to recover over a local Nepali ice here at the village “pub.”
![](https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2FSherpa_ladies_singing_and_dancing_in_Namche_celebrating_Losar_holiday_and_full_moon-MaraLarson_2048.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=300&s=04fd3bcdb160e382e6d45b13db0d7e97 300w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2FSherpa_ladies_singing_and_dancing_in_Namche_celebrating_Losar_holiday_and_full_moon-MaraLarson_2048.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=500&s=b19fca97dc3f353b1e0783db3b892be9 500w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2FSherpa_ladies_singing_and_dancing_in_Namche_celebrating_Losar_holiday_and_full_moon-MaraLarson_2048.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=700&s=73e22bf4d5fac776775003b3fb4fab3b 700w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2FSherpa_ladies_singing_and_dancing_in_Namche_celebrating_Losar_holiday_and_full_moon-MaraLarson_2048.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=800&s=a11cc3d961a629b70c72c1e62a4d7b86 800w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2FSherpa_ladies_singing_and_dancing_in_Namche_celebrating_Losar_holiday_and_full_moon-MaraLarson_2048.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1000&s=f20c99c89d413f4e05740e340cace56e 1000w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2FSherpa_ladies_singing_and_dancing_in_Namche_celebrating_Losar_holiday_and_full_moon-MaraLarson_2048.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1200&s=7e6efa4d191ea87ca6ed324aeb05b987 1200w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2FSherpa_ladies_singing_and_dancing_in_Namche_celebrating_Losar_holiday_and_full_moon-MaraLarson_2048.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1400&s=005fdabee6d808518f5e864f9c9510b6 1400w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2FSherpa_ladies_singing_and_dancing_in_Namche_celebrating_Losar_holiday_and_full_moon-MaraLarson_2048.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1600&s=acd12d9d93cce039cafe3aca14b03c90 1600w)
Sherpa ladies singing and dancing in Namche, celebrating Losar holiday and the full moon. Mara Larson photo
![](https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2FMandala_artist_at_work_-Jean_Roalsvig_2048.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=300&s=d466180b81a152757d2f5db54ef2dd87 300w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2FMandala_artist_at_work_-Jean_Roalsvig_2048.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=500&s=dbffde5a8892e9ae9368f4dd85519376 500w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2FMandala_artist_at_work_-Jean_Roalsvig_2048.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=700&s=b2186c5ff83b59a7c1a9ebae9f1667c8 700w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2FMandala_artist_at_work_-Jean_Roalsvig_2048.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=800&s=5ac58fd80040cdae110bb13469994aa7 800w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2FMandala_artist_at_work_-Jean_Roalsvig_2048.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1000&s=5ae84e1d1cef21f0012ad50ad46b3080 1000w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2FMandala_artist_at_work_-Jean_Roalsvig_2048.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1200&s=09b356314656c5b2c9c84157cb165938 1200w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2FMandala_artist_at_work_-Jean_Roalsvig_2048.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1400&s=2283a895d42e2278af6a64500256f246 1400w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2FMandala_artist_at_work_-Jean_Roalsvig_2048.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1600&s=2f197d85f325e5d00126a2117e957ad3 1512w)
Mandala artist at work. Jean Roalsvig photo
The team’s en route now for their acclimatization hike to the Everest View Hotel. Bernie’s Go-Pro’ing the climb for future Mountain Madness website spots. Mike is chilling out and enjoying the views, now that his long-lost luggage in Delhi was helicoptered up here yesterday. Knut is maintaining his usual casual stroll as if we’re still just out for a Sunday walk back at sea level. We’re all spoiled with the third straight day of blue sky mornings.
More updates from Deboche and beyond!
~ MM Guide Mara Larson