Snow 6/3/2022 10:53:21 AM

Last couple of days have been dusty. Sand dust particles are very small and if there is any wind, the dust goes to ears, eyes and nose. I presume that this does not necessarily make ascending to higher altitudes easier.  Someone might have heard my thoughts, because when I opened my eyes in the morning, the ground was covered in white and there was no dust! Snowfall had cleared the air. The sun was extremely bright, reflecting from the snow to such an extent that I had to put on already level 4 sunglasses and despite of the protection I had to squint.  

We ascended in a calm pace from 4 400 m to Thukla at 4 600 m. From there we had a pleasant ascend to  5 000 m, where we were greeted by a stunning scenery towards Tibetian plateau, Pumor, Nuptse and several other mountains.  

When we arrived to Lobutche (4 950 m) and had a nap right after checking in. This is the last stop before the base camp and also the last night in a guest house. We will be establishing the base camp on the 15th April and hopefully I will be able to update the blog then. The base camp is a popular, but also challenging destination on treks; about 25 000 trekkers visit the camp every year.  

We woke up hearing a helicopter and witnessed how one trekker’s journey ended in Lobutche. The diagnosis was altitude sickness and the trekker had to be transported to lower altitudes. Thin air is not challenging to humans, but also machines; the helicopter took off extremely slowly.  

We are doing ok. 

Mika Pitkämäki