Up next for the Peak Freaks team: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joo6h9Xf4gU&feature=youtu.be
Up from Base Camp to C1, then C2 to sleep. Following that, up the Lhotse Face to C3 for a tag and return. Last year, I remember climbing up from C1 to C2 being one of the toughest days of the whole expedition. I don't know what it was that day, maybe the low air pressure mixed with the intense heat and the "boringness" of the moderately slopped route; I'm not sure. None of us, not even the Sherpas, could take ten steps before we had to stop and gather our breaths. We eventually made it, and the second time we went up from C1 to C2, it was a heck of a lot easier....just that first time killed. Such are the pains of acclimatization, I guess.
Anyways, Peak Freaks are well on track with their climbing schedule. Other teams have made it up to C1 and C2 as well. The Lhotse Face (the big wall that shoots up the mountain to the shoulder of Everest after C2), is still being fixed with ropes by the Sherpas. Should be ready in the next couple of days for teams to climb up.
On a more serious note, two Sherpas died last week. One from altitude sickness, the other from falling into a crevasse. Both very different circumstances, but both equally sad. It's good to stop and remember that the Sherpas are the real heros on these mountains. People climb for this and for that, and although it may sound impressive, nothing comes even close to what these Sherpas do. Every day they put their lives on the line just so that they can make money to support their families. Without them, no Western climber would be climbing Everest. Not one.