Time Flies

So here we are, 5 days from the end of our time at the Pyramid. I must say that most people are ready to head down, but at the same time the experiments are moving along at a fantastic pace. We’ve managed to find a great system to keep things flowing.

The two undergrads arrived two days ago in good spirits (my apologies to their parents for causing a bit of a stir when I mentioned that only one more brain a-v test would be done- this is because of time constraints not because one was hurt or injured). They’ve brought a new life to some of the tasks, so a few of the ‘veterans’ have been able to give up some of the duties to them. They ascended a little quickly, so we’ll see how the AMS treats them.

Today’s schedule has some squat-stand studies, some Diamox ventilatory-response tests and Nia and I have one more arterial stiffness subject. Tonight brings some more sleep studies and tomorrow we have some more Sherpas coming in to take part in a number of studies. We have been blessed with some great Sherpa guides who have managed to arrange for more Sherpa subjects for us. Nowang had a treat of being brought up by helicopter from Pheriche this morning (but it likely only saved him 20 minutes of walking time J).

We’ll have a couple of busy days of testing and then things will wind down. A few of us will make the trip up to Kala Patthar and Everest Base Camp (some sad news from Everest today- 6 died and 3 missing at Camp 2, so a big rescue operation is underway), while others start the pack up. It will be interesting to see how much stuff we have used up and how much stuff we can leave behind. Apparently Gord got worked over in Kathmandu with overweight charges. I’m hoping that all the souvenirs I bought don’t put me over the top- I may have to ship them home to save some money and hassle.

I’ve been trying to add photos to the posts, but it’s been difficult with the slow internet, but I’ll keep trying and if all else fails I’ll do a photo post towards the end of the trip (maybe from Hong Kong) as I’ve managed to collect most peoples photos so far.

Keep your eyes peeled for more guest posts in the coming days.

Greg