Arriving to Lukla, Nepal — a common launch point for treks into the Himalayas situated at 9,040 feet — on March 31, Burke and the other members of his expedition team steadily trekked the 35 miles to base camp, acclimatizing to the altitude along the way with the assistance of a 10-person Sherpa team.
Burke has since practiced climbing the "dreaded Khumbu Icefall" — considered to be one of the most dangerous stages on the climb — and was set to cross it, advancing to Camp One (19,900 feet) Sunday, though the team plans to return to base camp to further acclimatize.
Communicating with his family via satellite phone and occasionally through e-mail, Burke reports good health and a pleasant journey thus far, with only a brief spell of altitude sickness disturbing his experience.
The following are selected excerpts from Burke's most recent trip reports, as transcribed by his wife, Sharon.
April 12, Everest Base Camp
"The weather has been cold and windy and it has snowed almost every day.
Our trip leader, Dan, described Everest Base Camp as the worst base camp in the world. He is probably right. It is a large tent city that sits on rolling piles of boulders and rocks with no flat areas …
I sleep downhill and am constantly sliding down to the bottom of the tent during the night and have to push myself back up to the top and repeat this process throughout the night …
At night when the heat from the tent interacts with the ice under the tent, it causes loud noises like pop, bam, crack, pow. At night you can also hear avalanches and rock and ice falls thunder down the mountain, which surround the Base Camp. We still have no power, so we eat dinner by candlelight in the mess tent that is pitched on the rocks.
