Ladder practice

Today, Tuesday, John and I hit the icefall again for more training. This time the focus was getting comfortable crossing ladders as there will be many of these spanning crevasses and steep sections of the icefall. We practiced going up and down, low angle and then high angle, as well as flat to the ground.  There are a number of techniques to master with ladders making use of ascenders, carabiners, ropes, proper foot placement, etc.  We again rappelled from the tops of "icebergs".  My Dad and Mom got me into Boy Scouts early on which provided my first exposure to rappelling and I've enjoyed that ever since. God blessed me with good balance so this was all 100% fun for me. I'm very excited to get out in the real stuff.  Fun as it will be, it can take 5-12 hours to get through the icefall and to Camp 1 based on the main climbing group that has already done it. It will be work. But fun work. 

So far, knock on wood, I am healthy. I would guess 1/2 to 2/3rds of the team has some illness from a cold to respiratory infection to our poor chef who tore some rib muscles from persistent coughing. They even have a name for this, the Khumbu Cough, after this region of Nepal. I'm a bit of a germaphobe - ask Lauri or my coworkers (Vicki 😉) - so maybe that has paid off here. As far as sleep, it is improving. Last night was my best by far with 5 hours. Boy that felt good!