Scott has arrived in basecamp (EBC) and has pimped out his tent for the long haul. Anyone who’s hung out with him knows he’s a master organizer! He’ll be based at EBC for the next month at least.  All is going well – they crossed Chukung Ri (a pass) then climbed Lobuche East (20075 ft / 6119 m) to hasten their acclimatization without going through the dangerous Khumbu Icefall too many times.

The Puja took place today (or yesterday depending on who is reading this and where).  Thus blessings are completed and the process of climbing Mt Everest will begin in the next few days.  First:  an acclimatization round to Camp 2 or Camp 3, all going well.  He’ll be on the mountain for about a week then they will return to EBC for a rest before doing at least one other acclimatization round.  The purpose of all this upping and downing is to allow the blood to adapt to the thin air way up in the jet stream parts of our atmosphere.  As an example – if you or I went to the summit of Mt Everest (say we parachuted out of a jet), we’d be dead of asphyxia within 5 minutes.  Hence the need for a gradual ascent.  Fitness doesn’t really play into it much – although the better shape you are, the better your coping mechanisms.

Here are some images from the Puja:

He’s gone back!  Again working for our good friends at Adventure Consultants.  You can follow their blog at: www.adventureconsultants.com

Scott is with a private client and they are moving ahead of the rest of the AC team. You can follow his group’s instagram at:  Eaglecresteverest

Today – April 2 – he is currently in Kumjung/Namche Bazaar on their way to acclimatize by climbing Lobuche East.  He’s been a little sick but is sounding better and is in good spirits.  Scott is once again assisted by his assistant camera, Mingma.  Mingma and Scott have worked together since working with Karina in 2013.

They arrive in Base Camp for a fundraising concert by DJ Paul Oakenfold at the camp of HimEX.  Go figure!

http://kathmandupost.ekantipur.com/news/2017-03-31/renowned-dj-paul-oakenfold-to-perform-live-at-mt-everest-base-camp.html

I’ll be in touch with more details.  Fingers crossed for a smooth season!

Anna

Scott arrived home very early Monday morning (May 11).  We were really concerned hearing about the very significant aftershock centred near Namche Bazaar in the Khumbu valley on May 13.  At 7.2, this is easily enough to further destabilize buildings and landslides.  Aftershocks are always a big concern and Christchurch (where we were for the 7.3 EQ in 2011) still suffers from aftershocks several years later.

Scott is understandably quite shaken by the experience in Nepal.  The loss of the six Sherpas on the AC team has been especially difficult.  As he and Guy and Suze and Rob Smith (a Scottish guide) travelled down valley and to Kathmandu, they visited the families of the Sherpas who died and also visited the Sherpas still in hospital in K’du.  Although we are happy to have him home, it’s also a relief that he remained to assist AC clean their base camp and to visit and  (to try) to offer solace to the families of the fallen and to visit the other injured Sherpas from the AC team.

Please consider donating to the Sherpa fund via Adventure Consultants: http://www.adventureconsultants.com/adventure/AC_Sherpa_Fund/

Scott and the remainder of the Adventure Consultants team – including our good friends Guy and Suze from Adventure Consultants – have left EBC and are heading back down valley toward Lukla and Kathmandu.  Scott says it feels strange to leave Base Camp after all the intensity of focus there.  Happily he found his second hiking shoe and now has a matching pair to walk in.  Regarding his film projects, Scott was actually rolling when the earthquake struck and has continued to film the clean up effort at EBC – led by team leader and multiple Everest summitter, Guy Cotter.  He also helped clean up the camp.  Scottie is a man of action after all.  He says it has been very intense and sad at Base Camp.

He’s now in Pheriche and then will spend  a couple of days in Namche Bazaar before heading to Kathmandu.  I’m uncertain of the situation in Kathmandu.  I can only imagine it is very difficult with crowding, aftershocks and people living outside – and the hygiene issues associated with such a disaster.  We hope for his safe return home in the next 10 days or so.

Base Camp before the avalanche.

http://www.pri.org/stories/2015-04-25/how-help-nepal-7-vetted-charities-doing-relief-work-following-earthquake

It feels like a repeated message from last year.  I’m sorry for the delay posting, I was focused on FB as it has greater reach.  Scott was at camp 1 when the 7.9 earthquake struck Nepal on April 25.  He was with the entire Adventure Consultants climbing team at the time.  An unprecedented avalanche was caused by the EQ, which then ripped through the Adventure Consultants Base camp.  Tragically 5 Sherpa (who were in the cook tent) were killed but other base camp staff were unharmed.  I’m not clear on the exact number of fatalities at EBC but reports are saying 15-18.

Scott was evacuated with the rest of the AC team to EBC yesterday Nepal time.  Since then, he’s been trying to find his equipment and help AC clean up their camp.  It would seem that most of Scott’s film equipment, tent, sleeping bag etc is gone or broken.  He did have some of his gear with him on the mountain.  At least he’s alive.

Basecamp is in better shape than Kathmandu which is facing a major disaster.  We are not sure when Scott will be home but in the meantime he is fine at basecamp.

Anna

Scott left for Everest yesterday (March 24).  With two projects lined up – with summits planned for both – he’ll be a busy man.  The packing achieved new heights this year.  He was packing full time for two weeks and part time for the two weeks before that.  Boxes were arriving continuously.   He has three cameras on board.  His Assistant cameraman will be Mingma Sherpa – who also assisted him on Karina’s project in 2013.  Project one has him working for NZ guiding company Adventure Consultants.

On another note, Scott has once again been nominated for a Sports Emmy for outstanding camera work on the Hawaii Ironman.  He already has one Emmy from this production (where he works with the Texas Crew) and they have been nominated at least two times before.  May 5 is the day of decision.

Lots on – we’ll keep in touch!

He’s off again.  After a spectacular year demonstrating what an actual renaissance man looks like (balancing jobs, wife’s job/s and parenting), Scott heads back to Everest.  His jobs in the last year (a catch up since his blogger is useless) include a shoot for the Travel Channel at a fishing lodge in Alaska, a very physically demanding three week shoot for Red Bull in the Kimberly’s in Northern Australia (embedding and filming Red Bull athletes thrown into an extreme environment) and an equally full on shoot in Japan for Animal Planet where Scott donned a bee suit to film the world’s most dangerous wasps (10 stings will kill).  His camera lens would be covered in venom as he sweated away in the 43 degree (celsius) suit.  That’s well over 100F!

He once again joined the Texas Crew to film the prestigious Hawaii Ironman.  Being a moto-cameraman means a 20 hour day with much of it out on the black lava roads filming the athletes from the back of a motorcycle.  Scott loves it.  This year he filmed the men instead of the women.

Early in December he joined his good friends from Kinetic Media (who he’s worked with on the Winter Games NZ for several years) to film an Ironman in Bahrain.  It was a crazy long journey from NZ – but a short job.

Returning to the US, Scott then filmed four episodes for an upcoming National Geographic series which focuses on animals that have been brought back from extinction.  His segment focused on wolves, sea otters, Californian condors, sea elephants and Channel Island foxes.

Everest this year is a two-part scenario.  Part one is to film an Adventure Consultants client as he seeks to climb his seventh summit (the Seven Summits refer to the highest peak on each continent).  Part two is a New Zealand Film Commission feature documentary.  This means that Scott will likely be climbing Mt Everest twice – but his second attempt will be soon after his first and will most likely be from the South Col at 8000m.

Guilin, China – another shoot another year!

Getting stock footage in Hokitika, NZ

Scott has filmed this (and received an Emmy award and two nominations) for the past five years.  He’s a “moto-camera,” meaning that he’s out in the field filming from a motorbike.  Most years he films the ladies but in 2014, he filmed the guys.  It’s a long strenuous day for athletes and field camera operators alike.  Hawaii is the great Ironman race of all of the Ironman races around the world.

http://www.ironman.com/media-library/videos/events/ironman/world-championship/2013/pro-race-recap.aspx#axzz3LLze2ghf

The overly baritone voice notwithstanding, this clip gives a good taste of Scott’s journey into the Nettlebed/Stormy Pots cave system last year.  The film has shown at many film festivals and has won awards. Many ask – did Scott have to make the squeezes and climbs as well?  Yes, he was fully committed.  No film if you don’t follow….

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSKi_TxlfIM