It’s not entirely conventional to return to Kathmandu mid-way through an expedition to climb Mt Everest, probably more due to cost and logistics than anything else but I’ve never been one to particularly follow convention. I feel we have had a good successful run in basecamp upto now completing our rotation upto Camp 3 but it’s a hard existence in basecamp, its extremely cold, food and nutrition is debatable and its demoralising so to get the opportunity to get away during the rest period is an opportunity I didn’t want to miss, it gives me the chance to rest, recuperate and recharge and, for me, is the best option rather than deteriorating for a week or more in base camp and then attempting the biggest challenge of my life.
Summit day on Mt Everest has been likened to doing a marathon whilst breathing through a straw so I have to be in the best physical and mental condition I have ever been in in my life if I’m to succeed and if that means breaking from convention and slipping back to Kathmandu for a few days then so be it.
Our appetites are in overdrive coming off the mountain and we eat as much as we can at breakfast and lunch and I’m still re-hydrating after the rotation so bottles of water are being downed at a steady rate still, electrolytes chucked in every other one and happy and confident that food poisoning probably isn’t going to visit me whilst I’m here as it had done a couple of times in basecamp already - not a place you want to be spending a lot of time in the communal toilet if you can help it!
We await to hear from Elite how long our rest will be but expect it to be 4 to 5 days so we have plenty of time to make the most of the hotel, it’s restaurants, spa and pool (no need to not enjoy the luxuries if we can) before we head back up for the main climb and summit push - the weather window looks to be appearing for around the 10th/11th May and the rope fixers are slightly behind but should still have the fixed lines up to meet these dates and if we can get right up behind them it looks good for us for an early summit.
For now we sit tight, relax and wait for the call from Elite to prepare and go back up.
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