A high school picture of Melis. I think she said I could put this up here. Or maybe she said: "Don't you dare!" I can't remember.Melis is up at high camp right now. It was windy today. I'm not sure what tomorrow will bring for their crew as far as going for it or not, bit I'll keep you posted.
New School Melis
Mike and Leighan are leaving 14 this evening. They took a very civil approach to descending the mountain. Many people opt for the fabled "Death March" (high camp straight down to base camp in a single push). Mike's crew rolled into 14 yesterday evening, set up camp and slept and rested last night and the majority of today. 14 camp is a very cool place to hang out, especially if you are not on any sort of agenda. The medical research camp, founded and set up by Dr. Peter Hacket, is there. The medical camp is now staffed by climbing rangers and their volunteers. Generally, each patrol has a doctor or another medical professional experienced in high altitude related illness. That is a great place for guides to learn more about high altitude medicine and the treatment of cold injuries.
Heart Break Hill video. The final push into base camp. Don't forget to raise your sled brake! Due to crevasses in the runway, they have moved the airstrip up glacier about 1/4 mile. This happens almost every season. So, heartbreak hill just got a little longer. They should be out tomorrow, as long as it's flyable. They have about 15 lbs. of good beef and several bottles of good Argentinian wine waiting for them for their end of trip last meal.
I just looked at this website that tracks progress of people traveling with one of those new "Spot" devices. Mike Collins, on Pat's trip, has one and it appears that they are at 11K. The map program on the website is kind of junk, but it's good enough to see which camp they are at.
rfg