Episode 051 A Different Atmosphere

These Guys Know How To Party. Immediately after finishing my radio conversation with Ben, I grabbed the camera and headed off to tell all of my friends the good news. Living here for almost two months now, I've got a lot of friends!

It's hard to really put into words what it feels like to be at base camp now that teams are summitting. Especially now that so many are on their way down having already made the top. It's like a collective sigh has been uttered and now the wind we hated to much over the past few weeks is tenderly drying the sweat from out brows.

I've gotten news that all of my climbing friends are now on their way back down. Some have frostbite, but everyone's alive and that's all that matters. The Royal Navy team was even able to perform a rescue and the Outdoor Life Network team performed some feats of bravery as well. Nicely done everyone!

But of all the people I ended up meeting with today, no one seemed to be as happy as the Indians. Man, this was one happy team! The entire group is back at BC now and they threw a party the likes of which I've never experienced before. There was singing, there was dancing. There was eating and drinking. I guess a successful summit of Mount Everest is a great reason to throw a party.

Party on.

Jon Miller

Total Running Time: 25:35

Dispatch 48, May 23rd, 2003: Mount Everest Base-camp

Hello everyone, what a day that was yesterday!

Even though it would have been wonderful to talk to Ben on the summit, I think it was even better to talk to him knowing he was safe and at Camp 6.Just a little bit earlier, Dawa was talking to Lhawang on the radio. The 3 climbers had descended to Camp 4 this morning and were packing up the tent and various gear. They were soon going to be heading down to the North Col and then to ABC.

They will take a rest day tomorrow at ABC and on the 24th will make the 22km rocky walk down to Base Camp. Since out radios don't work below the North Col, Dawa and Lhawang agreed to put them away, and the next time we all talk to each other will be in person at Base Camp on Sunday.So, this will be the last dispatch for maybe a day or so. I'm going to get some rest, myself, and try to enjoy these last few days at Base Camp as much as possible, which isn't all that much because all of us want to get moving HOME!

Of course, if anyone has a question or wants to know about anything related to life here, just email me. I'll answer them as soon as I check my In Box. Thanks again, everyone. All of your kind emails have been read, and I can't wait to show all of them to Ben when he gets down off the Mountain!

Jon Miller

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