May 2, 2008 - 8:47am — MountEverest2008
Apple Pie and NASA
Base Camp
Hello! As with most nights, I am writing from my tent. As it is base camp, I have my own tent and my little pad is actually pretty comfortable. The temperature really dropped, I'm guessing maybe it's 5 or 10F on the other side of the nylon wall that separates me from the night air. Inside though, it's not bad. The tent does a remarkable job of keeping body heat inside, so the longer you stay in the tent, the balmier it gets. That said, I am currently wearing two pairs of socks, jeans + insulated pants, a long sleave cotton shirt + a wool sweater + a down jacket + a primaloft jacket on my top, and a nice wool hat on my head. Some glove liners keep my fingers reasonably warm while still allowing me to type on what I consider one super tough Toughbook computer. Tonight though, I decided to break out the little thermos I lugged up here. Beside me, I have a full liter of piping hot lemonade... and man is it hitting the spot. And (it gets better), as soon as my update is set online, I will starting watching one of two movies... "The Last Boy Scout" or "Eraser". So, if anyone felt sorry for me before, please don't. Life at base camp is currently good. And getting better...
Today I learned that at Everest base camp, there is actually a little bakery. Emphasis on little, this place seems to specialize in apple pies. The specifics of how long it takes to bake and how many they produce daily is still to be determined- however I can say from a first hand taste test, the product is delicious.
Also, I think in March I blogged about the similarities between astronauts and mountaineers. One may have raised an eyebrow, assuming the connection was a stretch. To the skeptical, I say ha! Today, we were visited by a leader of a study by NASA, in conjuction with Harvard Medical School and Brown University. The jist is that they are looking at the personal and group dynamics of Everest climbers, extracting learnings, and then leveraging this knowledge to what they consider a similar environment - astronauts living on a space station for an extended period of time. The idea being that both environments are extreme and the psychological aspects of human interaction in such an environment may have correlation with the team's ability to achieve it's objectives. Pretty cool, huh?!
Finally, if yesterday I and a few teammates got heavily dusted, this evening our entire base camp got a similar coating... this time from good ole fashioned snowfall. Our home has a new fresh look, though tomorrow's morning sun will most certainly melt the dusting away.
Tomorrow's another rest day. We will rest, but also look upward and hope our colleagues on the north side safely and quickly achieve their objective.