Tues 10^th April 2012 Everest Base Camp 5300m

Rest day

Now what happened on this day? Kind of nothing, we get woken at 7am with the hot flannel and hot tea. Breakfast at 8am.

It’s a day for  repacking kit as we are reunited with our Everest Kit Bags which were sent on up ahead of us. These bags have all our technical gear and climbing clothing.

I spend the whole morning taking equipment out of cardboard boxes, plastic packaging and price tags so’s I don’t look too much like the novice climbing knob I really am.

We are scattered around various small frozen lakes on great banks of shale. Clearly a huge amount of effort has been put in to level the areas for our tents including making retainer walls.

Each year all the permanent equipment (White Pod, Tents, Kitchen, Loos etc) has to be brought in from the nearest village a couple of miles away. Everything else, the consumables has to be carried up some 35 miles and some 9,000 ft, by foot. There are tons and tons of food, fuel and equipment that has to be brought up this way every year. A huge logistical task.

The mess tents have even more of a selection of teas, cereals, confectionary than the last place. Kids would love it..... A veritable ‘Candy Shop’.

Tonight we watch ‘Quantum of Solace’ after supper and then it’s back to that freezing tent, stumbling over rocks using a head torch to try and find your own tent.