Basecamp 2
I received an email today from a mate who was explaining how he just got his underfloor heating installed in his ensuite bathroom at his house….. here is what I have to say:
Part of acclimatising is done through the kidneys, the bi-product of this is that you need to pee allot!!
So part of peeing allot is peeing allot at night!… (this is a new altitude, so it was 4 times last night)
Some people don’t really need to know this.. but it’s a blog, and should be documented!
Its only -10 outside at night time at the moment, this is only going to get worse. Here is the process:
I sleep in a silk inner sheet inside my sleeping bag, i feel the pee coming on.. so i ignore it for about half an hour till i cant anymore.
Then i get out of my bag and sheet, put my down jacket on, unzip 3 doors to my tent, put my shoes on without laces, walk about 5m away from the tent.
Stand with my back against the wind so not to pee on myself, (yep, i’m still in my underpant at this time)
Then i pee.. and it takes ages, coz i’ve held it for so long, the wind gusts and pee goes all over the place.
Then i reverse the whole thing and try to get warm again… Good times!
Its times like these that remind you that you are not in civilisation nor near ensuite bathrooms with heated floors!
Day 2 at basecamp:
I eventually got up at around 8am for breakfast, it was a nice sleep in although the sun comes up over the hill at around 545, but at least it brings heat!
We have a wind turbine as well as solar panels that pump electricity into batteries here in the dining tent. So we can recharge/use computers, during sunlight. At night time the stored power in the batteries is used for lighting etc.
So I spent most of the morning on the computer writing this blog and answering emails.
After lunch I went for an acclimatisation walk around basecamp. I saw some of the Chinese team on a nearby frozen river testing out their crampons. I don’t know why but they had their harnesses on too.
So totally underdressed and in sneakers I followed them up the icey river. I just took some photos and left them on their merry way. This got me to about 200m above basecamp which is good for getting the heartrate up and pumping the oxygen through.