The first night in the Base Camp at 5,200m/17,160ft was a cold experience. Welcome back to the Lombok Glacier area, were the days can be relative mild and the nights very cold. Our first day, April 17 was a rest day. Rest days are very important from now on because in the next few weeks we will climb up all the way to approx. 7,500m/24,750ft, and all this just for acclimatization reasons. Once we have been at these high altitudes and our bodies have reacted positively, (what is not always the case), we will come back to Base Camp and try to relax, eat well and recover from the high altitude experience. The reason for all this is that our bodies cannot recover above 5,200m/17,160ft, so staying as low as possible and get some physical and mental force for the next climb is very important.
The first rest day in K&P big dome tent was very nice. We have here real chairs, tables, heaters warm water, excellent food, huge tents for each climber, clean toilets and yes, even a shower…. So life at Base Camp in this environment is not too bad!!!