Update from Everest Basecamp (The Adventures of Jaco Ottink Pt V)

20 Apr Update from Everest Basecamp (The Adventures of Jaco Ottink Pt V)

Part five in our series from our seven summits mountaineer, Jaco Ottink as he attempts to climb Everest via the South Col. These updates are in the words of his wife Daan

16th April 2016

Dear all,

This time not a real live update from Jaco unfortunately, but I knew I wouldn’t hear from him until probably Tuesday / Wednesday next week. The last messages I got from him were on Tuesday evening, the day before they went back to Lobuche Base Camp. He mentioned things were getting tougher – he was short of breath, suffering every now and then from headaches, had sore lips and was cold. All signs of acclimatisation I’m afraid. He said he also longed for a decent bed J.

So on Wednesday they walked back to Lobuche Base Camp and on Thursday they went to Camp 1. On Friday they climbed the

Lobuche peak

East Summit (6119m) and from the newsletter I received from Russell today via Facebook I now know they managed to summit yesterday ‘in clear and calm conditions’. Today they have had a rest day back at Lobuche Base Camp. The plan is that tomorrow they will go back all the way to the summit and actually sleep on the summit. On Monday they will descent to Lobuche Base Camp and then continue their journey straight away back to Everest Base Camp. I’m sure Tuesday will be a rest day again!

Here is a link to Himalayan Experience expedition newsletter:

https://himalayanexperience.com/newsletters/everest-2016/everest-expedition-1#sthash.s9o5Tnv3.5rqfPhpK.dpbs

I was especially glad to read the section about the Khumbu Ice falls and that their condition doesn’t seem to be too bad. The day he’ll pass the Icefalls for the first time will be nerve wracking ….

Jaco and his team mates

If you would like to get an impression of the actual expedition, there is a great 40 minute episode of “Everest, Beyond the Limit” (broadcasted on Discovery Channel a few years ago), where you see Russell in action. The team climbs the Lobuche as acclimatisation climb, similar to Jaco. You also get a good impression of the Ice Falls and the total route they will climb all the way to the top of Everest.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNHaBdEcpCE

Finally, a big thank you to all of you who have made a donation for Jaco’s fundraising for Unicef. They have a specific project for children in Nepal whose families and communities have been hit last year by the earthquakes. If you haven’t made a donation yet but would like to do so, there’s still time! Please visit https://give.everydayhero.com/au/climbing-beyond-summits. Unilever is matching the first AUD 1000 dollar for dollar!

That was it for now. I will definitely get back in touch as soon as hear from him.

Daan