May 4 – 8, 2010

My second rotation
May 4: EBC – C1 (6000m)
May 5: C1 – C2 (6500m)
May 6: C2 – C3 (7200m), personal altitude record!
May 7: C3 – C2 (6500m)
May 8: C2 – EBC (5300m)

This rotation is much more challenging than the first one but I’m feeling stronger and enjoyed it much better. Good health makes a big difference! Not does only it make me stronger and more energetic, but more importantly, it makes me focus on acclimatization instead of fighting the painful cough. 

Though I was still very tired when I arrived at camp 1 and camp 2, I was not as exhausted as I had felt in last rotation. My appetite was good during the whole rotation, often eat no less than the biggest guy on the team. Kitchen stuff often took me being full as the indicator that everyone else had enough food. I realized how fast I could lose weight at high altitude and I know I can’t afford to keep losing muscle mass at such a rapid rate. Otherwise, I would have no strength left climbing the summit?  So I kept on feeding myself protein-based food as much as I could throughout the day. 

I slept well and I was surprised that at my personal best elevation – camp 3 (7200m, 24000ft), I was still able to eat and sleep relatively normal (compared to the lower camps). Until people started mentioning it, I totally forgot about panic breathing during sleep – feeling suffocated while sleeping and panicking while trying to catch  your breath. Although, I had the bad habit of burying myself completely inside my sleeping bag at night... no wonder there didn't seem to be enough air inside my sleeping bag!  

Five days in a row, we got up in the middle of the night to start climbing before the sun heats up the glacier to an unbearable 100F by mid-morning. Though we finish our climb early in the day, that doesn’t mean you can go back to sleep for the rest of the day. Inside the tent, it’s boiling to sleep during the day. You have to wait until the late afternoon, when sun goes behind the mountain, which makes you instantly need to crawl back into your warm sleeping bag! Every day is a hard day, and the hardest day was the day when we climbed on Lhotse face, moving from camp 2 to camp 3.

Lhotse Face

Ideally, I would have liked to rest a day in camp 2 before tackling the demanding climb at Lhotse Face. But the weather forecast was predicting high winds moving in after tomorrow (May 6). We had to climb it tomorrow or we might have to give up. Another question was - what to wear in the climb on Lhotse Face? It will be very cold in the night that requires us to be fully equipped in our summit suit. But once the sun comes up, you had to strip down to your T-shirt. 

It’s a steep slope, which means there isn't a safe spot to take off or put on a summit suit. It’s a long climb, and entirely under the hot sun. Every one of us decided to climb in our summit suit, and planned to strip it off at the top and tie it around our waist once the sun came up.

The night was warmer than I expected. Once I started walking, I immediately had to unzip my suit, just to cool down! The slope is steep all the way, and there are several long sections of hard ice bulges that make it a very demanding climb. To be safe, we kept the jumar on the fixed rope all the way. 

Once we started climbing on the steep slope, I faced another dilemma. If I covered my face with buff or balaclava, I protected myself from Khumbu cough or sun burn; but I couldn't get enough air to breathe when the climb demanded it. Air or comfort? A hard choice! 

Luckily, the sun was not too cruel today. There was some cloud cover, which significantly reduced the sun’s heat. There’s actually two camp sites. A lower camp 3 and a higher camp 3. Unfortunately, the IMG site is the furthest spot on the highest spot at the higher camp! While you're on a steep slope, you can see very far. But looks can be deceiving! Anything that looks close is actually hours away! From lower camp 3, it's an hours climb to get to the higher camp using a fixed line branching out to the right from the main climbing route. 

And yes, you need a fixed line to go to the campsite! The whole campsite rests on a steep slope. There’s not much “flat” ground. Each tent platform has been dug with hard work! There’s not much room between tents even to the edge of the platform. So I had to be very careful in moving between tents! We don’t want to risk damaging our tents with crampons, so the advice is to take ice axe if you want to walk to the “toilet” just in case you miss a step.
 
On the way down, I was really looking forward to be back at home – my sweet tent home in EBC, and the feeling I look forward to most was touching my face with the warm wet towel that would be served at dinner or breakfast time. That’s the only time I clean my face with something other than the freezing cold baby wipe! Our Sherpa guides are also looking forward to be back at home too, but their real home. The moment we touched down at EBC, most of them took off immediately to spend a few days with their family in Portse (most of our climbing Sherpas came from Portse, a village between Namche and Pheriche). Only then I realized that I have been on the road for more than 50 days already. 

Time flies by so fast! Yet, the game is still far from over!

Packing gear for a trip to Everest is not a trivial matter. In fact, it is a huge undertaking and much more complicated than any of my previous trips.  I first downloaded the gear list from the guiding company into a spreadsheet. Then slowly the one sheet list grew into a workbook, with separate list for clothes, climbing gear, medicine, food, personal care, books & digital equipment.

Because of the extreme altitude and conditions, I had to acquire quite some new gear. Some are quite expensive and hard to find for my small size, such as boots and insulation suits. Luckily, Wild Things Gear generously sponsored most of my clothes with custom-designed primaloft suits and custom-tailored shell/softshell layers. 

It was a blessing to have the support of Marie Meunier, the owner of Wild Things Gear, who took care of me like a mom! She helped me organize my equipment, how to coordinate my clothes layers with other accessories such as helmet, gloves, boots, goggle, and worked with me in making the suits just for my specific needs.  Trying the new suits reminded me of my childhood experience of putting on new clothes that Mom made for me on Chinese New Year, which was a special moment because we were too poor to afford buying new clothes, and donning home-made new clothes on Chinese New Year was our ritual.

To better protect my toes, I bought a pair of La Sportiva Olumpus Mono boots. Very few brands make extreme altitude boots for women, so I had to get a men's pair at the smallest size which was 39. Unfortunately, the break in process extremely painful and stressful. 

Despite having a lot room in the toes area, my ankles and lower calves were being crushed and badly bruised during the first few weeks. I got my friend Paul Cormier from IME and Dan&Stan ski shop in North Conway to custom-adjust the boots a couple times, but I am still not confident how it would perform on the mountains because I can’t keep on trying to break in the new boots here with my already well-bruised ankles. So I decided to pack in my old Koldflach Arctic Expd boots as well.

Another complicated project is medicine. Even a super healthy climber who never needs to visit doctors in normal situation can ran into many unexpected problems at extreme altitude, such as  severe cough due to altitude, life-threatening pulmonary edema or cerebral edema and even diarrhea from bad foods and infections.  Being away from modern healthcare for two months, I have to be prepared for any situation. My friends, Dr. David Coleman and         Dr. Steve West, helped me obtain enough medicine to supply a personal pharmacy and patiently educated me on how to use them. David even wrote me a detail step-by-step instruction that I can follow to treat myself under different conditions and taught me the efficient way to organize medicines for expeditions.

Though the guiding company is preparing all meals, I decided to bring a lot of snacks to supplement my nutrition on the mountain. Based on my previous experience, meals in these expeditions are normally heavy on carb and fat, but relatively low on protein and fiber. Because of my training regime during the past few months, my body has got used to a diet that is high in protein. So I brought a lot of protein bars, powders and nuts to provide extra protein, and to supply for two months.

Packing for this trip was complicated. On the start of this trip, I will be trekking in relatively mild conditions for 14 days to base camp. This means different boots and clothes for trek. Once in base camp, I have to prepare train and climb on such a big mountain - requiring us to establish two base camps to reduce the amount of equipment we have to carry up and down the mountain. 

Because high altitude training is done over a few months, I have to travel between main base camp and the advanced base camp. The main base camp is located at 17700 ft, which will be our main home, and an advanced base camp at Camp2 at 21300 ft, which will be a training base. Each camp will have duplicate equipment and gear, as I'll be travelling between them, getting used to the high altitude.  

Now you start to get a picture of what I am putting into my three big duffel bags!  

Like most who love the outdoors, I’ve been looking forward to the 2010 Vancouver Olympics for some time now. I’m excited to see the world’s greatest athletes compete, but I also love hearing the stories behind the athletes and how the drive to achieve their goals has helped them overcome many of the same road blocks of life that I’ve had to overcome. 

Lindsey Vonn is an amazing woman. I’ve conquered nearly all the highest peaks in the world only Mt. Everest to go, but nobody conquers a mountain faster than Lindsey. 

Imagine yourself driving down the interstate and a skier passes you. That’s how fast Lindsey flies down a mountain. Most people think climbing the mountain is scary. The danger involved, coupled with a fear of heights really strains people’s nerves. 

But, I think what Linsey does is far more frightening. She’s rocketing down a hill at 80+ miles per hour. No air bags. No seat belt. No roll cage. Just a helmet and a lot of hard packed snow. 

Yikes! 

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised though. She’s been skiing since she was two years old. She was the first American to win the Trofeo Tropolino competition for 11-14 year olds and she made her World Cup debut at 16 years old. 

Over the years, Lindsey has been a great overcomer. It’s a characteristic every great athlete has to have, and one that every individual needs if they want to succeed in life. It’s never about whether challenges will come, but a matter of what you’ll do when those challenges arrive. 

In 2006 Linsey injured her hip during an Olympic training run at San Sicario, Italy. She was airlifted out by helicopter and had to stay in the hospital overnight. She returned to finish eighth despite her injured hip. 

Now, Lindsey’s competition at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics is also being threatened with injury. She’s fighting a tender shin injury that really affects her ability to ski. Still, knowing what I know about Lindsey, she’ll be back on that mountain if there’s any possible way she thinks she can compete.

As I approach my Everest climb and the completion of my goal to climb the seven summits and ski to the poles, Lindsey’s tenacious way of pushing through the obstacles she comes in contact with inspires me to stay the course in my life. And, I hope it does the same for you.

Hopefully you’ve enjoyed reading about my adventures as I climb the 7 highest summits and ski to both poles. I hope my adventures inspire you not only to scale the figurative mountains in your life, but also to get outdoors and enjoy nature.

If you’re reading this and thinking to yourself, “I could never do that,” keep reading. I started from rank beginner and am about to attack my final mountain summit (Mt. Everest) and I’m telling you that if I can do it so can you.

But, if you choose to climb mountains, be sure you properly prepare yourself for the climb.

When I climbed Cotopaxi and Kilimanjaro, I was definitely not prepared for the climb. I survived, but, barely. With a little training the climb would have been much less threatening and I would have enjoyed it more.

How should you start? Well, doing some climbing at a gym is a good start.  

A rock climbing gym gives you a feel for what it’s like to make an extremely difficult climb. You’ll work muscles you’ve never worked before and test your strength, flexibility, and agility. You’ll also learn how to rest and conserve your energy. 

Rock climbing is like extreme hiking. You learn a lot about conditioning and safety. Plus, it’s just plain fun. Give it a try.

You don’t have to find a mountain face to practice climbing, there are indoor climbing gyms all over the world. The easiest way to find a gym is to use the map at indoorclimbing.com. Find a gym near you and plan a climbing day. Take a friend, it’ll be more fun.

You won’t need to buy any special equipment to climb with. Most of these gyms will allow you to climb in whatever soft-soled shoes you have or they’ll rent a pair of climbing shoes your size.

They’ll also have harnesses available and trained belayers who will make sure you’re strapped in properly and safe throughout the climb. Take some time to ask your belayer questions about climbing. Listen to their advice while you’re on the rock wall. 

An indoor climbing gym is a great place to get a taste of adventure. You’ll learn a lot, condition your body, and, most important of all, you’ll have a lot of fun.

Life goals are more easily achieved when they’re broken up into manageable chunks. That’s what short term goal setting is all about.

The power of goal setting
A world-class sprinter without a finish line is just out for a run. A basketball team without a basket is just dribbling around. A mountain climber without a summit is just out for a walk.

There’s something about goals that is more than just the end that you ultimately want to achieve.  It’s that thing that stares you in the face, compelling you to move forward.

Not only do goals compel you to move forward but they tell you what direction to face. A goal is that burning desire that’s just beyond your reach, urging you to a more fulfilled life.

Your goal might be climbing the seven highest summits and skiing to the two poles or it might be starting a new career. Either way, your life will change when you get short term goals working for you.

A goal like reaching one of the highest summits in the world doesn’t happen in a single shot. The biggest mountains in our lives must be climbed in stages.

In a typical climb of Everest, a team will take four or more days to reach the summit . That’s 4+ short term goals that every expedition to the summit of Everest must reach before standing at the top.

If you want to reach the top of your mountain, you must break your big goal up into smaller, more rapidly achieved goals. That way you’ll be able to measure your progress and measuring your progress will excite you about getting one step closer to your ultimate goal.

If you’ve never set short term goals before, you will find it helpful to follow the SMART goal setting plan at www.stress-management-for-peak-performance.com. They also have a worksheet that can walk you through the goal setting process.

Remember, goals without a date applied to them are just dreams. There is a world of difference between I will ski to the poles and I will ski to the poles before my 35th birthday.

The first of these is more accurately stated, “I will ski to the poles...someday.” Since no date has been applied to the goal, someday becomes the date of achievement. Unfortunately, “someday” is ambiguous and can always be put off.

Set a date for your short term goals. Make them realistic and make them fit nicely with your long term goal. 

Whatever it takes
Do whatever it takes to get your short term goals accomplished before their due dates. Get up an hour earlier, turn off the television one night a week, but keep your eyes on your short term goals. Do that, and one day you’ll be standing on top of your personal mountain summit.

I found an old video of my hike in Antarctica up Patriot Hills. It's interesting to see how stark the environment is! 

Tomorrow we will sort out group food and gears, and pack our sleds to be sent to the airport. We are hoping to fly out early morning on the 16th to start our last degree ski trip.

For the previous few expeditions, almost every team suffered severe backward drift. The night before we headed out for the training trip, I ran into a familiar face at the bar — Steve Jones, the ALE manager at Patriot Hill when I visited Antarctica a couple months ago. He just came back from leading a last-degree expedition. They started at 89.30 degree, and got picked up at 89.28 degree six days later. But since then, the news was that ice drift has slowed down. There was even a positive drift (towards north) last night.

Pray for the good weather, and prey for the positive ice drift.

Just got back in town from our shakedown training trip. For the past three days, we skied around valleys on the island while pulling our sleds. The picture looks familiar? But notice my new expedition anorak!

The first day was a total white out. We couldn’t see any scenery. The place we were dropped off was by the house for doggies. It was a weird feeling when the three seals (food for dogs) hanging in the whiteout was the only thing we saw that day.

We practiced pulling sleds up and down rough pressure ridges, which are very common on north pole trip, and broke two ski poles within the first 10 minutes. At camp, we took turns cooking and doing chores for the group. Testing out gears and learning to handle the unique dampness of North Pole trip are a big part of the training. The camp site looks familiar, but look carefully the thin lines surrounding the camp site:

Aha, the thin line is to protect the campsite from polar bears. At each corner, there is a little bell attached to the pole. If the bear crosses the line, a little bullet inside the bell would explode and scare the bear away.

I was curious enough to pull the line myself, however triggered nothing. It turned out that we had the wrong type of bullet inside it! Luckily, no bear came, though I’m really curious to meet one.

I enjoyed quite a different life style during the past couple months:) Instead of being my normal mountain girl, I was hanging out on beach every other day:

The two tires weigh about 80 pounds together, and came as a special gift from John Huston, a polar adventurer and guide, who helped me to kick start this training last fall.