Introduction to the EBC Lab staff

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We find ourselves in the beautiful, bustling little town of Namche, surrounded by snow-covered peaks and adorned by faded prayer flags flapping in the breeze. From here, the Pheriche, Base Camp and Summit science teams will move on to set up labs further up the mountain. Each time we move on, it is exciting but also a little sad: each time some of our friends stay behind to run the laboratories for the trekkers who are soon to follow.
Still, there will be many of us at Base Camp for at least some of the time on the mountain: the ten from our Summit-team, five in the climbing support team, two Logistic boys, three IMAX and four BBC camera chaps, and the ten Everest Base camp Lab team members.

The EBC lab team will be writing a blog once a week, so we thought we?d introduce ourselves: ?Base by location, not by nature.?
Our Big Boss (aka lab manager) is George Rodway, Sleep researcher and Everest Historian Extraordinaire, who?s going to watch over the science in our lab in his waking hours. This well-known high altitude researcher has, in the past, been a member of the Denali Mountain Rescue team.

Queen of Communications and our base camp Mama is Kay Mitchell. In a previous life an ITU sister, she has been involved in the XE project from the word go. As on the Cho Oyu trip in 2006, she will be responsible of the Blog and other communications. Her smile and good humour, even under difficult situations, are permanent base camp features.

Than we have the two Marks: Mark Wilson and Mark Edsell. The former is a neurosurgeon from London. In his spare time his superhero alter-ego flies over the city as a pre-hospital emergency care helicopter doctor. Mark E is an anaesthetist who recently came back up from Down Under. Among other difficult missions, he has worked as a diving doctor on an exotic dive island (life is tough, but somebody has to do it!)

Gwen, our South African doctor, is a white water kayaker and was a member of a Mountain Search & Rescue team in South Africa. She has braved the change in habitat from African Savannah to the Big Smoke of London.

Jules is an English surgical SHO who has decided to join the Forces after we come back, so he can do more trips. He is practising his leadership skills organising outings, drinking evenings and parties.

Jildou and Nikki represent Team Netherlands. Jildou, tall and blonde, compensates for Nikki?s lack of height (short and blonde? they are Dutch, you know!). She is a registrar Anaesthetist in Amsterdam, and has shown extraordinary skills in communicating with Baby Yaks. Nikki is the ever-bubbling medical student who has been involved in the project since last year.

Callan is spending his Gap year getting useful experience before starting Med school next year. He entertains us with is juggling and circus skills.

And last but not least we are waiting for Dick to arrive after he has completed his Final exams in Medicine. He managed to break his arm in a motorcycle accident just before we left, but hopefully that will have healed before he flies out as a newly qualified Doctor.

So that?s us. In a short while we shall be settling into our new home at 5300m altitude, perched on the side of the world?s highest mountain. We look forward to checking in with you from there?

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