Part 9 of Everyday Everest, my new Podcast series, drops today with chapters 28, 29 and 30. I'll continue my annual coverage as usual.

Based on my 2020 Virtual Everest series, Everyday Everest follows a fictional team of nine climbers and their personal Sherpas from leaving home to trekking to base camp, acclimatizing, and finally, on their summit push, returning home. I'll have a twenty-minute episode a few times weekly for the next two months.

In Part 9, our protagonist, Harper, and the team discuss what day they should target for their Everest summit, "Claudia smiled in admiration, "So, May 19th, it is!" Aaron dropped his head, deep in concentration. Dutch took center stage, "Today is May 2nd, so that's 17 days from now. We have to get back up to C2 then overnight at C3, and back here." Michael leaned in, "I think we need four days for the C3 rotation and at least six days for the summit push and return. That's ten days on the mountain, meaning we have seven days for rest and weather delays. Pretty tight."

Climb On!

Alan

Memories are Everything

This is the late April Everest 2024 Weekend Update. The headlines are significantly more positive than last weekend: Permits are a bit higher, which is good for the local economy but not so good for the mountain. The fixed ropes, aka the route, are all the way to Camp 2, thus opening the path for Sherpas to establish the upper camps and for clients to begin acclimatizing. #everest2024

Part 8 of Everyday Everest, my new Podcast series, drops today with chapters 25, 26 and 27. I'll continue my annual coverage as usual.

Based on my 2020 Virtual Everest series, Everyday Everest follows a fictional team of nine climbers and their personal Sherpas from leaving home to trekking to base camp, acclimatizing, and finally, on their summit push, returning home. I'll have a twenty-minute episode a few times weekly for the next two months.

In Part 8, our protagonist, Harper, and the team arrive at Camp 2 to continue acclimatization. The Mt. Everest Guides lead, John Paul, begins to explain how acclimatization works: "'Acclimatization' is a strange word that evokes many emotions. Fundamentally it means adapting the human body to an altitude where it was not designed to survive. Even though the percentage of oxygen in the air on Everest's summit is the same as on a beach in Rio, there are fewer molecules available to inhale. That's because there is less atmospheric pressure; thus, the oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide molecules spread out. It's the opposite of what a diver experiences with the pressure increasing as a diver goes deeper. Harper feels more weight, more pressure, whereas a climber has less available oxygen. That's why it's called 'thin air.’"

Climb On!

Alan

Memories are Everything

Part 7 of Everyday Everest, my new Podcast series, drops today with chapters 22, 23 and 24. I'll continue my annual coverage as usual.

Based on my 2020 Virtual Everest series, Everyday Everest follows a fictional team of nine climbers and their personal Sherpas from leaving home to trekking to base camp, acclimatizing, and finally, on their summit push, returning home. I'll have a twenty-minute episode a few times weekly for the next two months.

In Part 7, our protagonist, Harper, and the team climb through the Icefall and into the Western Cwm. The team's oldest member, Jim, is struggling. “Any advice?” He asked their guide, John Paul, who had been close by his side all morning. “Slow, steady, and make sure you are always clipped in. No need to rush. We are making good time.” Jim appreciated the positive spin.

Climb On!
Alan
Memories are Everything

Part 6 of Everyday Everest, my new Podcast series, drops today with chapters 17, 18 and 19. I'll continue my annual coverage as usual.

Based on my 2020 Virtual Everest series, Everyday Everest follows a fictional team of nine climbers and their personal Sherpas from leaving home to trekking to base camp, acclimatizing, and finally, on their summit push, returning home. I'll have a twenty-minute episode a few times weekly for the next two months.

In Part 4, our protagonist, Harper, makes her first trip into the Khumbu Icefall. She was nervous, following Moingma, her combing Sherpa, "Mingma looked at her as Harper took a second carabiner off her harness. He went across first. Clipping in ‘biners to the two safety ropes on either side of the ladder, he stepped onto the first rung, then the second and without so much as a pause, he was across, standing there staring at her. Harper could almost hear him in a deep John Wayne drawl; “OK, kid, I showed you how to do it, now get on with it.” #everest2024

Climb On!

Alan

Memories are Everything

Part 5 of Everyday Everest, my new Podcast series, drops today with chapters 14, 15 and 16. I'll continue my annual coverage as usual.

Based on my 2020 Virtual Everest series, Everyday Everest follows a fictional team of nine climbers and their personal Sherpas from leaving home to trekking to base camp, acclimatizing, and finally, on their summit push, returning home. I'll have a twenty-minute episode a few times weekly for the next two months.

In Part 4, our protagonist, Harper, now at Everest Base Camp, is enjoying the smells from home as she unpacked her duffle when she is suddenly interrupted. #everest2024

Climb On!

Alan

Memories are Everything

Welcome to the Everest 2024 Weekend Update in mid-April. This week's headlines are a bit concerning.

The fixed line that should already be at Camp 2 is only halfway through the Icefall. I'm not sure this is bad news for climbers, but Everest permits lag significantly from 2023, down 34%.

However, we saw the first 8000er summits this past week, with many more to come. Base Camp at Everest is filling up. Trekkers are on the move, and mountains are seeing summits. Hello, spring 2024. #everest2024

Climb On!

Alan

Memories are Everything

Part 4 of Everyday Everest,  my new Podcast series, covers chapters 11, 12 and 13. I'll continue my annual coverage as usual.
Based on my 2020 Virtual Everest series, Everyday Everest follows a fictional team of nine climbers and their personal Sherpas from leaving home to trekking to base camp, acclimatizing, and finally, on their summit push, returning home. I'll have a twenty-minute episode a few times weekly for the next two months.
In Part 4, our protagonist, Harper, visits a Monastery and observes the monks during their daily prayers, "Without a cue, the drumbeat began. One of the senior Monks started his chant – actually a prayer. Others joined in. They created an unbelievable resonance that built as it bounced off the artfully painted walls. Harper closed her eyes to take this moment in without the filter of sight. It was spiritual and sensory.#everest2024
Climb On!
Alan
Memories are Everything
https://www.alanarnette.com/blog/2024/04/13/everest-2024-everyday-everest-podcast-series-part-4-blessing-in-the-khumbu/

In 2024, Everest has become completely commercialized. Shock, right? Well, Will Cockrell's new book, Everest, Inc: The Renegades and Rogues Who Built an Industry at the Top of the World, tells us how it happened. If you love Everest, despise it or don't really care, this book has something for everyone.

In this fascinating read, Will did extensive research and uses quotes from original interviews with more than a hundred Western and Sherpa climbers, clients, writers, filmmakers, and even a Hollywood actor; the voices of the people who have made the mountain what it is today.

In this Podcast, Will tells me that he positioned Everest, Inc. as the opposite of Jon Krakauer’s Into Thin Air. His book gets to the heart of the mountain through the definitive story of its greatest invention: the Himalayan guiding industry. It all began in the 1980s with entrepreneurs like Rob Hall and Gary Ball, Todd Burleson and David Breashears, with Dick Bass establishing a new, innovative industry for climbing high-altitude mountains, including Mt. Everest. Many of the pioneers are still living and climbing today and have helped thousands reach their climbing dreams.

I talk through the three areas of commercialization with Will: the industry's formation in the 1980s and '90s, the early 2000s, when Western companions dominated guiding climbing Nepal, and the late 2000s, until today, when Nepali-owned operators lead 80% of all commercial clients.

Everest, Inc: The Renegades and Rogues Who Built an Industry at the Top of the World will be published by @simonandschuster imprint @gallerybooks on April 16, 2024.

You can read about Will on his website and YouTube.

Alan

Memories are Everything

Part 3 of Everyday Everest,  my new Podcast series, drops today with chapters 8, 9 and 10. I'll continue my annual coverage as usual.

Based on my 2020 Virtual Everest series, Everyday Everest follows a fictional team of nine climbers and their personal Sherpas from leaving home to trekking to base camp, acclimatizing, and finally, on their summit push, returning home. I'll have a twenty-minute episode a few times weekly for the next two months. 

In Part 3, our protagonist, Harper, sees Everest from the Everest View Hotel just above Namache Bazaar: "Harper stopped. They all stopped, quietly letting their eyes trace the Khumbu Triple Crown: Everest, Lhotse, and Nuptse—two of the fourteen highest mountains on the planet. The signature white plume flowed off the summit of Everest like a bride's long wedding gown train. Mother Goddess of the Earth never looked more lovely. Tony spoke, "I have been dreaming of this since the sixth grade."

Climb On!

Alan Memories are Everything

#everest2024

Everest 2024: Everyday Everest Podcast Series Part 3–The Trek Begins