Rick Satava, Jr. Tuesday, May 11 Everest Base Camp, Nepal

From Everest Base Camp at 17,500ft. Today will be our team's second FULL day here,and I'm actually feeling pretty good. I think it really helps when you've been to this altitude before. I can definitely tell that there is less oxygen here, since I don't have the constant headache and lethargy that I did last year. So far most of my time has been spent setting up camp and the rest of the activities that need to be organized for our stay here. Medical research is starting and we've had two video conferences so far. Climbers should be heading for higher camps in the Khumbu Icefall in a couple of days and we hope to test the Vital Signs Monitors and some other technologies higher on the mountain. Our 1999 American Nuptse climbing permit will allow us to go to camp 2, below the Lhotse face.

Once again I find myself on this moonscape and as I look around I am struck by the incredible contrast this place puts to other places. Snow and rock,and ice. Some small sparrow-like birds and crows - that's about it. Sometimes you have to come to an isolated place like this to appreciate the little things like...sliced bread, music, showers. The surrounding views are incredible. Big peaks in all directions, the dramatic Khumbu Icefall, and the rest of the Khumbu Glacier. That's what I see everyday, and yet it never gets old: Avalanches and rockfall in the night wake me from my already light sleep. Setting up camp on a glacier, as it is slowly disintegrating. These sorts of things keep it interesting.

We've only been here a few days but routines are starting to get settled in and people are starting to become more comfortable, (as much as that is possible in a place like this). Group morale is high and everyone seems to be getting along great. The food also seems to be agreeing with most members (we just don't ask the Sherpa cooks what is in the food), and I don't think anyone has had any significant weight loss.,

Take care,
-Rick Jr.,