Team Peak Freaks is in Pheriche tonight. A few complaints of rain and bone chilling temperatures. Tim called while having tea at Lama Geshi's house to say everyone was doing good and everything is moving along as planned but it's cold.
This news prompted me to have a look at weather and get setup for dispatching the seasonal reports to the team. I must say I can appreciate their complaints.
The freezing level is hovering around 3600m to 4400m. They've been getting rain mixed snow the higher they go with temperatures of -4c at night warming to around +1 in the day.
It's only going to get colder. By the time they reach base camp it will be -20c so they'll be putting those lofty down bags to good use in the days to come.
I also looked at what is going on on the summit. Try and imagine -60c and 95 kilometres an hour winds this time next week. Yow!
This is all pretty normal for this time of year. Things will start to warmup in the days and weeks to come but it's certainly a rude awakening for anyone coming here for the first time.
Becky Rippel
Photo: stupa on the trek to Pangboche
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