Heading up to ABC

I promise this is the last “Tom eating food” photo (for at least a week)!

We just had a wonderful meal, a chicken sizzler on a sizzling plate even, and then our own personal apple pie.

And a couple of other vignettes. Our crew are dedicated, Dorje just returned from a hunt around on the glacier with a bag full of ice so we can keep some meat cold in our ice box. Hopefully we will have just as superb meals at ABC.

We had a snow flurry today, Tom’s washing was frozen and covered in snow!

We all had hot showers though, the second since reaching base camp. The sherpa crew even showered; I am afraid to ask the Tibetans though. And that makes the second since leaving Kathmandu, we didn’t shower or even change undies for the week on the way in. Too much info, I can hear, but there is a reality about expedition life, or at least the getting to base camp part. I really hope frozen undies are as close to anything like that we get.

Our plan

Tom and myself are going to head up to 7000m slowly then return to BC to recover.

22 Apr – trek to Interim ~5700m

23 Apr – rest Interim ~5700m

24 Apr – trek to ABC ~6380m

25 Apr – ABC

26 Apr – ABC

27 Apr – ABC?

28 Apr – to North Col

29 Apr – North Col

30 Apr – down to ABC

1 May – back to Everest BC

We won't be taking a laptop so don’t expect any communications for the period. I might post occasional one line blog entries using my special phone; no photos or anything else. And I might not!

Geek post

You are warned, read beyond at your peril.

I absolutely love my new Canon 5D mark iii camera. While the 5D mark ii was a good camera, this is a step up in all ways. The focusing is much improved, with a large array of points rather than only nine, and is faster, and accessing all the options is just a button away, I can even change focus methods with the camera against the eye. The viewfinder is better (100%), the screen on the back too, high ISO results better, and subjectively the photos overall look slightly better. I have been posting barely or untouched jpegs from the camera as my processing software has yet to catch up, I can't yet process the raw shots. However after reading a scientific comparison (dxomark.com) it is clear that Nikon has the lead with quality of sensor in their new D800, and not just in the not so important megapixels, but critically in colour sensitivity and dynamic range (i.e. retaining detail between the lightest and darkest bits of a scene). Perhaps surprisingly, it comprehensively outperforms the new Canon, and while I won't be switching brands anytime soon, wedding photographers and others who can afford to switch, might, the differences are actually noticeable.

Enough! I will be back in touch at the beginning of May. - Jamie