Pimba Dortje Photo by Wally Berg

Today, the 21st of September, Brad Johnson got up early and did the first full carry that any of the climbing members of this team have done to Camp I. Brad took off quite early in the morning, just about 6:30am. Three and a half hours later, he called me from Camp I, reported the elevation according to his Avocet altimeter was 19,500 feet. And he concurred with all the Sherpas that we have an excellent location for Camp I this year.

Brad was back down for lunch along with all the Sherpas who had done a full carry today. I uploaded a couple of photos today and I'm going to begin introducing some of these Sherpa characters. We've talked a lot about them on the dispatches so far this season. You've heard a lot about them on prior Berg Adventures trips.

Pimba Dortje, from Pangboche, is here. The last time Pimba Dortje and I climbed together was actually 1989. I've seen him from time to time in the Khumbu. He's a strong and reliable character. Great smile, great care for his fellow Sherpas and all the climbing members. You'll see on his resume he has had quite an accomplishment behind him on this mountain and others. That's Pimba Dortje from Pangboche.

And of course, our Sherpa climbing leader, Nima Tashi - it's hard to say enough about this guy, both in terms of his friendship with me over the years and also his skills as a climbing Sherpa. From Ama Dablam last year on Berg Adventures' climb there, as you know, to the Everest GPS Expedition in 1998. And I still always remember most with Nima Tashi when he, and three other Sherpas and myself, flew back across the Pacific in 1990, at the end of the 1990 American Everest Lhotse Expedition. We spent four days with Scott and Jean Fischer in Seattle before we flew on to Boulder together. Nima Tashi spent most of the rest of that summer living at Glenn Porzak's house in Boulder. A lot of great adventures together over the years since that time - in the Khumbu and in the United States. Nima Tashi is a star and that's why he's our head climbing Sherpa.

I'll introduce some more of these guys as the time goes on. We've got a great community here, a great team at Base Camp.

Tomorrow morning, we climb with five climbing members - that's Maegan, Garry, David, Brad and myself, the entire crew - to move up to Camp I at 19,500 feet and spend some time in the Western Cwm. We will contact you from there. I'm not sure I can send photos from up there because of some equipment problems. We still don't have enough data cables for what we need to do here in the Khumbu, although they are on the way. But we'll certainly give you some voice dispatches from the Western Cwm with the entire team if we make it tomorrow.

— Wally Berg, expedition leader