John Rost of Fiesta Insurance - The
Dream - The Mt. Everest Accent
John Rost President and Owner Fiesta
Insurance at Base Camp on Mt. Everest
Please feel free to peruse the various
"web diary" entries John has made via Satellite Phone
to his cousin and good friend Jim Figlozzi:
John
Rost Trek Diary
Hear
John's Voice
I will be forwarding Johns messages from his Everest expedition, here is the latest message.
Jim Figlozzi
Johns Cousin
Hello Family and Friends,
We were able to see Everest for the first time today. It was a beautiful
site with Everest in the rear and Lotse and Amadablam to the right. Today
was a rest day in Namche Bazar which is located at around 11,000'. Tomorrow
we will continue our trek to Everest base camp. We should arrive in BC in
five days.
The people and the geography are amazing here. Cows and Yaks roam the very
small dirt and stone streets. We are walking along a trail that has been a
major trading route between Tibet and Nepal for hundreds of years.
We are all healthy and enjoying the journey.
Take care,
John
Hi Family and friends,
Well we are all here at Everest Base Camp (17,700'). Today was our first
day into the ice fall. We only went about 1/4 of the way to reach a few
ladder crossings. One was two sections of aluminum strapped together over a
crevasse about 50' deep. It was actually a lot of fun.
My health is finally good. I became ill with Giardia (spelling?). Nasty
parasite from fecal contamination with water. Lovely thought.... Very
uncomfortable for four days, but now getting healthy. A few other members
of the team have the same illness and still recovering.
We had our Puja ceremony the other day so the Sherpas are now moving
equipment up to camp one and two. None of the Sherpas will move until the
Puja is done. A Puja ceremony involves a Lama (buddhist priest) visiting
our camp and performing a ceremony for about three hours. It was very
interesting and we were able to participate. At the end Barley flour is
thrown on everyone and rubbed in your face.
The weather has been good. Mornings are usually quite warm. Afternoon the
clouds move in and the temperature drops quickly. A few of the days we have
had some snow, around five inches in total. The snow melts the next day.
The nights are around 15 F.
If you have heard in the news about Maoist rebels. We are safe. There was
some unrest in Kathmandu around the Govt buildings but the Army was out in
force. There were a number of Army forces on the trail To Base Camp. The
most recent problem involves our Sherpa staff. The Maoist burned downed a
govt. building that keeps all the title records for this area. Our Sherpas
need to go back to there home areas and prove their property ownership over
the four days or they lose their land. Life in a third world country. Our
plans to move up the mountain will be delayed a day or two.
Currently the plan is to rest the next two days and then move above the ice
fall to camp 1. We would stay at camp 1 for two days and then move to camp
2 for two days. Then all the way back down to BC for better food and rest.
Still a long away from summit day.
I hope everyone is doing well.
Take care,
John Rost
John called Saturday from his satellite phone and he just arrived at the base camp area at 18,000 feet near the Khumba Glacier. Its chilly there and snowing lightly. The base camp is in a valley surrounded by a lot of peaks in the 25,000-28,000 foot range. I'm sure there will be some great pics coming soon. John is doing well, though he has had a GI illness for the past few days its all cleared up now:)
Tomorrow they will have a ceremony with the Sherpas to bless all of the climbing equipment. In 4-5 days they will begin climbing up the Khumba Icefalls. Climbing Everest involves a lot of up and down climbing in order to climatize to the high altitudes so it will be a while until they attempt to reach the peak.
Here is a link to a great National Geographic article on Everest. If you look on the map I believe John is taking the main route up (British Expedition).
I hope we will hear from him soon and I wished him well from everyone!
Jim Figlozzi
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