BLOG: Kay Mitchell 20th May 2007
Water Carriers
The Caudwell Xtreme Everest Base Camp Lab staff have been constantly amazed at the hard work of our cook team. In particular, we have been amazed at how much water they have to carry each day. Sukra, Pasang, Shyam, Mingma, and Palde appear to take it in turns to collect water from a stream about a ten minute walk away from the cook tent. This involves filling 70 litre barrels and carrying them using a harness on the head. 15 barrels are needed each day, three guys are on water duty which means they carry five barrels a day!
The EBC lab staff decided to try to take over water carrying duties this morning. Mark Wilson, Mark Edsell, Jildou, Nikki, Gwen, Liesl, Graham, Ryan and myself all had a go. It was extremely hard work, and the cook boys thought it was hilarious! The route required us to navigate slippery ice and streams. I fell in at one point. We managed to carry 380 litres of the total 1050 litres needed a day. The water is used for cooking, drinking, showers, washing clothes, and washing up. I don?t think that we take their hard work for granted, but it has increased our respect for them!
Today, the base camp staff completed their penultimate set of bloods and bioimpedence studies. Thank goodness. I HATE needles. I am such a wimp. Fortunately, I do not appear to have lost any weight since last week. We only have one more week of trekker testing to go, and then it is time to do the bike ourselves for the last time. Suddenly, the end is in sight, and it is all a bit scary.
| By: diana harvey | When: 23rd May 2007 00:12 | Hi Jules! Prof. Lowe's wife is alive and well. Love from Mother |
| By: diana harvey | When: 21st May 2007 23:29 | Jules, do you want to drop a note to a. shaw? Mo |
| By: Jamie | When: 21st May 2007 19:19 | Dear Kay Safely back in London and just thought I'd drop you a line to say thanks so much for everything you did for us (me) at base camp. We had a great time and it was wonderful to see you. Still in awe of how organised everything is and how smoothly everything runs from Kathmandu right up to base camp. We got down uneventfully in the end with all our clothes on so no real ground breaking news from me. Jim Downs wedding was on Sat and I shamed myself with my low alcohol tolerance, but had a great night. Hope you are all still on as good form as when we left you, my love to you all esp to you Callan and Jules xxxx |
| By: Neels Kriek | When: 21st May 2007 18:44 | Dear Kay thanks for the great time we had (as Group I) at EBC - please pass my VERY best wishes and regards to Mike G and the WHOLE Summit team. Also on behalf of BOC allow me to wish the team the ultimate success, safety in their final 'push' and happy returns to all of you at EBC and their loved ones acrosss the globe. It was a pleasure and honor to be part of Extreme Everest. |
| By: anand ahuja | When: 21st May 2007 18:02 | Dear Kay, thank you once again for keeping us informed. Good luck to climbers for a succesful final ascent to the summit and for them all to get back safely. Anand |
| By: bobby gouldstone | When: 21st May 2007 15:29 | hello to all how are you all doing up there just thought i would drop a note to say hello and that i was home at last... i also wanted to ask if you could tell mac not to delete my photos from his laptop as my camra has stoped working and i cant down load any of my photos, which is a bundle of laughs. send my regards to all, and a safe return for the climbers and sherpas. love bobby |
| By: Tina Mackenney | When: 21st May 2007 04:43 | Hi Kay! It's so interesting to read about your amazing Cook Team and the water carrying. They are obviously very dedicated people. I've been wondering how it was possible to have enough water for clothes washing & showers etc. besides everything else! Please may we have some news of Trek K? Love to Mac & Lisa. Very best wishes to you. Tina |
| By: Mary Rawson | When: 20th May 2007 23:58 | Hi Kay Great blog - we also were impressed by the hard work carried out by all the teams of Sherpa's, both at EBC and on the way up. I've got a fantastic photo of Ben, one our our trek group, portering one of the heavy baskets on our way up to Tengboche. The local porters were in hysterics! Great to hear the climbing team are in good health. Take care, love Mary xx |
| By: diana harvey | When: 20th May 2007 18:29 | Jules - We hope you had an absolutely SUPER 26th birthday on Monday 14th May. I did not email on the day because in France, where I was, they do not have QWERTY keyboards.
Best wishes! love from Mother |
| By: teresa | When: 20th May 2007 14:58 | Hi Kay,Thanks for your Blogs. What would we do without them? We almost feel asif we are on that moutain with you. Look after yourselves and enjoy your last two weeks. Love to all at EBC but especially to Gwen. Teresa |
| By: Ruth Mitchell | When: 20th May 2007 14:15 | Hi Kay and all lab staff, Well done for the tremendous amount of work you've done testing all the teams. We are looking forward to seeing you soon. We send best wishes to everyone involved and also to the climbers. Our thoughts are with them. Lots of love from Ruth, Graham and boys. |
| By: Tina Fotherby | When: 20th May 2007 13:52 | Dear Kay
Thanks for the up-date that's really interesting. If you are a wimp, God help the rest of us!! Underneath your soft exterior is one of the strongest people I know! Thinking of you, Tina x x |
| By: Lamont Ross | When: 20th May 2007 12:50 | Miss Kay, Thank you for your posting. It is amazing all the little pieces to make a large expedition work. Each little piece upon inspection, by itself is large. I would imagine that as time nears, dismantling the camp and labs will be as consuming as the construction. Continued best wishes and all our prayers for the safety of the climbers. Lamont |
XE Blogs:
Other blogs by Kay Mitchell:
23/12/09
Getting ready for the Christmas Break!
26/11/09
Talking it up
23/05/09
Everest Summit Anniversary
20/05/09
Summit Success
14/05/09
Oh what a beautiful morning!
12/05/09
The more it snows!
07/05/09
Taking the piss!
17/04/09
Trek A9 are well on the way
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