Geoff, Brent, Anders and I completed our safe return to EBC yesterday. This concluded our 2nd Rotation, which was successful but also proved to be both physically and emotionally challenging. While my body feels strong, I can’t help but feel slightly drained by what has occurred over the past couple of days. Dealing with a respiratory infection at high altitude is frustrating but Ueli Steck’s death has left me in shock. It remains difficult for me to comprehend the sequence of events; meeting someone that I consider my Hero, sharing a mountain that we both plan to climb, watching him happily bounce through camp, then hearing the helicopter as they searched for his body…
I promise that our 2nd Rotation was not completely somber and I will upload my journal entries, as well as the corresponding pictures as soon as I can. I just wanted to provide a quick update on my safe return before I lay down to get some much needed rest.
Before I go, a couple quick notes…
Your Messages: I cannot begin to explain how much your notes mean to me. I read every single one of them, often multiple times. It may sound cliche for me to say that they fuel and inspire me but they do, so keep them coming!
Q&A: My dear friend Stephanie Burger recommended that I have a Q&A session at the conclusion of the trip but why don’t we do that now?! Unfortunately, it’s a little difficult to reply directly to messages on the feed but I would be happy to compile answers to your questions on my posts. Simply include “Q&A: (Insert question here)” at the end of your message to me and I will do my best to provide a coherent answer. Please keep the questions at least semi-child appropriate (Yes, this is directed at Brendan, Jesse, Brent, and most of my other college friends).
Look out for my updates, which should be out in a few hours. In the meantime, thank you again for all of your love and support!
-John