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An update from Everest base camp
The Base Camp team and trekkers are still working hard to collect copious amounts of data at 5300m. The team have now been here for over six weeks, a long time to be living in approximately half the amount of oxygen that there is at sea level.
Xtreme Everest 2 will finish with a flourish, with two full treks of 14 subjects to end our programme, all will be in the lab working hard sometimes until 9pm, by which time it̢۪s below freezing outside and often starlit. Recently, it has snowed very heavily, often dropping 6 inches in a matter of hours. Woe betide any diligent trekker or investigator who leaves their tent open in the afternoon and returns late after work!
Despite the snow, the weather is finally starting to warm up. The misery of early morning risings are a thing of the past (although Ali̢۪s wake-up facts continue to bewilder), and our sleeping tents are now warm enough for water and overnight urine collections not to freeze! A few of the braver members have even sported shorts and t-shirts which provides fascination and hilarity anew for our Sherpas, who have already been intrigued by our esoteric array of facial hair Click Here
On Thursday 25th April we conducted an exercise test on one of the Jagged Globe summit team Dan. Dan is striving to raise one million pounds for Comic Relief. He underwent a gruelling ‘ramp’ test (where cycling becomes harder and harder, like cycling up a hill that gets steeper and steeper), complete with a Comic Relief red nose attached to his mask, which was streamed live to his website with the help of Dr Dan Martin, Dr Phil Hennis and the rest of the CPET team. You can view the video of the test on his website, Click Here
The XE2 Base Camp investigators have also been testing ourselves again to see how living at 5300m for an extended period of time affects human physiology. All the team will be undergoing a demanding programme over the final days including studies of our living muscle tissue, fresh after a biopsy. The final trek, ‘K’, have left and now we begin the mammoth task of completing the testing on ourselves and packing up the lab. We then descend through the beautiful Solu-Khumbu valley toward Kathmandu, where there will be a reunion, no doubt emotional, with our capital-based compatriots.
Over the past 7 weeks we have grown accustomed to our extreme surroundings, with its harsh weather, demanding schedules and breathtaking vistas. It will soon be time to say goodbye to our temporary home, and all the friends we have made in the unusual community up here. The team are in fine shape and high spirits, and ready to give this expedition the sending-off it deserves.
Ali Cobb (EBC Laboratory Manager)
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