The return from Camp 1
April 24th, 2008 at 11:22 am |
Sir Ranulph Fiennes and Team Marie Curie have stepped back into Base Camp after their first night at Camp 1.
The team left Base Camp at 5am on Sunday April 20 and began the difficult climb up through the Khumbu Icefall towards Camp 1.
The challenging job of fixing the ropes en route to the summit, and preparing the four camps in-between Base Camp and the summit, falls to the Sherpas. So far the route is fixed as far as Camp 1.
Despite the altitude, Sir Ranulph was in good spirits when he returned with the team at lunchtime. He said: “I found it very hard work indeed, I’m going to find the bits higher up harder work still.
“I found also that the Icefall had changed from the previous week. It is moving around. Big blocks of ice, bungalow-size, have closed down onto gaps through which we were able to move previously.”
The Ice Doctors go into the Icefall daily to check that the ladders are safe, and re-position those that have fallen into the crevasses as the glacier shifts.
Sir Ranulph added: “There is always the rumble of avalanches – luckily not on the Icefall but on the cliffs to both sides.
“The altitude, together with the sun, really makes me tired. Back in the UK I normally go for a two hour hilly run every other day. Don’t have a problem with that. Here, just moving from tent to tent even at the Base Camp altitude has a real impact on everybody.”
Team Marie Curie now has a few rest days before their next trip. Sir Ranulph Fiennes said: “We have at least got up to Camp 1, so it is some sort of progress. Getting to Camp 2 is not so easy because the Sherpas haven’t completed laying out the ropes over the obstacles and so on, never mind putting up the tents. But that will be the next stage.”
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April 24th, 2008 at 11:36 am
Ran,
We are thinking of you every day, and hoping all goes well for you.
Love from us all,
Rosalie
April 24th, 2008 at 11:53 am
Words for the team from an avid armchair supporter just don’t seem enough.
You are all an inspiration and I wish for success and a safe return.
Heather
April 24th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
Dear Ran, good luck keep going wishing you love from devon xxx fran
April 24th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
Sir Ranulph
Keep going, you are attempting an incredible challenge for Marie Curie, having been into the Himalayas at 17,000ft, which was challenging for me and you are much higher, I appreciate how tough this challenge will be, thinking of you and the team,keep going and remaining strong as always
Best wishes
Tim (Nailsworth, Gloucestershire)
April 24th, 2008 at 12:53 pm
I am checking this site everyday for your updates,I wish you all the very best from bonnie scotland!.
April 24th, 2008 at 10:43 pm
hard work and difficult going going never stopped Sir Ran.
i hope you realise how inspirational you are to us all.
onwards and upwards! all the best!
April 25th, 2008 at 9:05 am
Ran
You are an inspiration to most of my friends & I. We won’t achieve anything like you have in our lives, but aspire to do all that we can.
All the very best from us in Scotland.
May 19th, 2008 at 6:51 pm
How many people have climbed Everest now, is it such a big deal?
I’ve been to Everest Base camp and although didn’t get any further because I didn’t plan to and didn’t have the money/support for the license/kit and those all important Sherpa’s (who seem to do everything from rope and bridge the route to putting up the tents and doing the cooking etc on camp) thought it was a little touristy and really far from an adventure, how do you take inspiration from a journey that has now been done a few hundred times before anyway maybe these people need to get out a little more….I could understand perhaps taking inspiration from someone disabled doing it etc but Sir Ranulph Fiennes has done it before hasn’t he? The achievement is a totally personal one anyway, a very selfish life if you ask me, unless he’s taken his family etc along on all his various exploits and not left them at home worrying about him…..