He Made It! - Sent June 5

Hello Adventurers,
This is my last message (until the next trip). Thanks for reading.

First:
1. As a member of the board of directors for the Ann Arbor Jazz and Blues Festival, we are organizing a few BIG parties for the 30th anniversary of this event. Save these dates: Friday, Saturday and Sunday, September 13, 14 and 15. The outdoor stages are at Gallup Park in Ann Arbor on Saturday and Sunday. VIP tickets are available. It will be GREAT music, sunshine and "a real good time." Bring the family! www.a2.blues.jazzfest.org

2. My next talk with slides and video from Sean's expedition will be Friday, August 23 at 7PM at 120 Eighth Street in Ann Arbor (at the corner of Eighth and Washington). Trek on over (734-369-3107).

Everest Adventure Journal Part 2: (6 of 6) HE MADE IT!

May 16, 2002
I raced to the satellite phone to call home. "Sean's on the summit of Mt. Everest right now!" I said to my mother. It was about midnight in Ann Arbor. The connection was great, but we didn't talk long. The minutes were expensive. It turned out about 65 people from the South side and another 30 from the North side made it to the summit that day, May 16, 2002, a record number.

I sat at National Geographic's camp the rest of the afternoon, drinking tea outside their yellow North Face radio tent. For a while a camera man was filming Jamling, who was giving the weather report and wind speeds to Pete Athans, Peter Hillary's climbing guide, on the other end of the radio at camp 2. They were still on their way up. About 3:00 that afternoon, Sean finally called. He was back safely at camp 4 and would sleep there that night. He said it was extremely windy. We didn't hear anything more until the next morning. Again the waiting was torture. Coming down can be more dangerous than going up. It was hard not to worry and wonder. The next day the Sherpas called from camp 2. It looked like they would be down, all the way to base camp, in one day. Usually climbers stay at camp 2 to avoid the risks of crossing the icefall in the mid afternoon sun. At the pace they were moving, we predicted they'd be at base camp by 3 or 4. I couldn't wait to see Sean.

Soon Sean called from the top of the icefall. Pemba and Seth put on crampons and planned to climb high into the ice despite the $10,000 fine if they were caught. Then Wongchu organized a thermos of hot orange Tang, prayer scarves to honor the climbers and cans of coke and beer. Robin and I followed Wongchu and Jamling. Jamling was meeting Tashi, his nephew, who was descending at Sean's speed. There were several other Sherpas with us too.

I was surprised how far into the icefall Robin and I climbed! Up and down over ice, across ice, through slush. It was very warm that day and the ice was wet. I had fun taking pictures and video. I was in my New Balance tennis shoes. (I am hoping they will sponsor my next trip!) The climbers, of course, wore huge climbing boots with spiky crampons attached. Soon we could see Sean, Gombu and Kami coming down through the icy landscape in the distance. Robin and I were very proud to have gotten as far as we did. The icefall was incredibly interesting -- like being on a different planet, in another world, only blue ice as deep and as far as the eye could see.

The climbers came closer and closer. Sean was nearly running down. Pemba had taken his pack so he must have felt light as a feather. Finally, we saw the whites of their eyes, healthy and strong. They made it! We hugged and drank beer. There was a big celebration there on the ice. Tashi had come down at that point and Martine too, the French woman. She was crying. It seemed she had to turn around just above camp 4. She was amazing! From there with tea cups and beer cans in our hands, we all trekked back through the ice together, jumping 4 feet across a swift moving icy stream to get back to base camp.

At one point, I shook Sean's hand. "Congratulations!" I said, "We did it!" I saw tears welling in his blue eyes. The reality of what he has done will take time to sink in. Back at base camp, there was a party in our dinning tent. The cook made a real chocolate cake with frosting and the works. A twig in the center held a piece of paper saying, "Congratulations for successful summit!" It was very special and yummy too. One of the guests was Pemba Doma, the third Nepali woman to summit Mt. Everest.

I slept SO well that night. The next morning, Robin and I visited National Geographic's camp to say good-bye to Jamling. Gombu gave me one of the oxygen bottles Sean had used at camp 4. I had hoped to take one home. Sean, Gombu, Kami, Wongchu, Jamling, and Tashi all signed it. Now it sits in my Ann Arbor office by the window. I will treasure it. Also a short string of prayer flags from base camp is flying from the front porch. I was surprised to learn that so many people had turned around. Even in the big commercial expeditions which had 7 and 8 climbers, only 2 or 3 reached the top. None of the women on the women's team made it. Only one Hungarian reached the summit and he had to use oxygen. Peter Hillary finally summited after several attempts so National Geographic could finally go home and sleep. The National Geographic movie will come out next spring 2003 in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Sir Edmond Hillary and Tensing Norgay's climb in 1953.

The weather was pretty cloudy the whole way back to Lukla. We felt lucky Sean summited on the one and only good day so far. The hot stoves were filled with yak dung in the dinning rooms of the lodges where we stayed. The heat felt GOOD. On the way, we passed Peter Legate's memorial and were reminded that not everyone was celebrating. Later we learned another man died of altitude sickness in his tent at camp 4, making two deaths this year.

The rhododendrons were in full bloom. I had never seen them quite like that. We walked through forests of red, pink yellow and white flowered trees. It was very beautiful. We passed a few of the Everest Marathon runners who were heading up to Gorak Shep. This is a full marathon, 26.2 miles, running up and down these amazing Himalayan Mountains. It starts above 17,000 feet and ends in Namche at 11,000 feet. About 30 to 50 runners come each year. The fastest finisher is double the record marathon time on flat land at sea level.

That night in Lukla we celebrated Sean's victory with popcorn and beer and a few loud card games at Pemba's uncle's house. The next morning we were up early, packed and anxiously waiting for our flight back to Kathmandu. The wait became hours when finally it was announced that all the flights were canceled that day due to bad weather. This was the worst news. We were so ready for a shower, clean clothes and good food but would have to wait one more day. It happened to be Buddha's birthday, a holiday in the mountains. There was a gathering under a tent in Lukla where monks danced in costumes and wore big elaborately painted masks, acting out mythical stories. The chang (the local brew) was free flowing.

Our flight the next morning was only delayed one hour. We were so happy to be going back to Kathmandu, to the luxuries of the modern world. I will be back in September which made leaving easier. We had pizza in Kathmandu that night. Everyone looked different, clean hair, clean clothes. Our friends from base camp were different people. The women wore make up and Martine wore a tank top in contrast to her big, yellow down jacket.

While sitting at the pizza place a man at the table behind ours accidentally bumped Sean. It turned out he had also just returned from climbing Mt. Everest. The man summited on the same day as Sean, but had climbed from the Tibet side, the North side. He said he reached the top about 9:30 AM and remembered someone standing on the summit looking down at him with two thumbs up. He said, "At that point, I knew I would make it!"

Sean said, "That was me -- at the top with thumbs up!"

A few days later we had a big celebration at the Rum Doodle restaurant, 26 people in total. It was so nice. The Rum Doodle is an historic climbing restaurant, with climbing rope for railings on the stairs and expedition plaques in the shape of feet all over the walls. All expeditions create a board to put on the wall. We made one for Sean's "CancerClimber Expedition" and everyone signed it. Now every time I go to Nepal, I'll have to go see it. After dinner Sean became a member of the Everest Summiter's Club. He signed one of the big boards behind the bar. These are covered with signatures of other Everest summiters, including Sir Edmond Hillary. The entire bar applauded Sean, and he wore a big smile. He received a membership card and now can dine at the Rum Doodle for FREE for the rest of his life. There were five free dinners that night at our table: Gombu, Kami, Apa, Sean and Wongchu.

Thank you for reading. It was an Adventure! If you are interested in joining an Everest base camp support team in the future, Of Global Interest can help. My trips are customized tours. Sean has proven, anything is possible. Start dreaming. We'll make it happen!
Happy trails.

Sincerely,
Heather O'Neal
Of Global Interest LLC Adventure Travel
Ann Arbor, Michigan
(734) 369-3107
www.ofglobalinterest.com

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