Nepal
 

My cousin and his wife planned a trip to the base camp of Everest. They were almost at camp in the middle of the hike went the quake hit. What bad timing. I guess they are OK (his wife's mom heard from them at 3:00 AM today) Now we are just concerned about them having enough supplies to last until they can get back. Crazy! A once in a life time trip and the biggest disaster in 80 years

My niece flew to Mumbai last Tuesday/Wednesday. Itinerary had her in southwest India when quake hit, and headed via train to Nepal beginning yesterday to begin her climb to base camp. Not scheduled to return until 6/11. She is ok, but thinking of continuing north to volunteer, since she has her visas.... Not what I would be advising given the lack of infrastructure even before the quake, and the inevitable cholera that will soon be arriving with all the unrecovered dead.... Nevermind that she is not aligned with any group as yet that would be able to provide her with the basic needs for her... Without that, she is just another mouth to feed. But I don't get a vote. If it were my daughter, she would be headed back ASAP and heading to, say Mt McKinley, if she truly had to do a serious climbing adventure. But as I said, I don't get a vote.

I spent 1 week a month for 2 years in India on business. Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Chennai. Beautiful country but rife with abject poverty.
You have no idea what homeless is until you see the "tin towns" in Mumbai. People live in cardboard boxes with scrap tin for roofs. I saw people fighting with rats and dogs over piles of garbage.

Ross, I'd do everything you can to get her home.

Ross, is she trying to summit? Wouldn't she be with one of the established outfitters? Another tragedy for a poor country.
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This times 1000.
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No, she was not going to summit, Paul S.

As of this afternoon, my brother said she was emailing different relief groups trying to get in with them to provide any assistance. The group that she was going to Everest with has more immediate problems as they already have clients up on the mountain. He said there were at least one hundred in her group scheduled to climb in the next week. She wants to work in the world health field, so I understand her desire to get in there. But she has to get in with a relief organization first IMO. We will see how this plays out. She is awaiting word on whether she gets into med school as she has found that you wont get taken seriously in the field without an MD. She has worked in South American hospitals, so some third world experience in addition to graduate school at Columbia. I give this background as she is not just some dizzy young girl who wants to save the world.... That said, I still made my opinion known to my brother, that I would rather see her on her way back stateside.

Paul I, last time I had the pleasure of "visiting" we came at night (surprise, surprise) in a C 130. You know it's a special place when you can smell it in the fuselage on approach. The disparity between the rich and the poverty that the other 99% live in was worse than what I saw in South Africa in 1980 during Apartheid... (but SA is one of the very few places I was sent to that I would go back to now)

Prayers to all that are there/ They need it. I am sure my cousin is more concerned about helping then getting back right now. That is the type of guy he is. I am just glad he is OK and alive. Thinking about Stripers goes on a back burner. An event like this really puts the important things into perspective.

I hope everyone's family members are safe, stay safe and can make it home soon....
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A friend of mine guides summit groups. His crew wound up OK very scary situation over there right now.
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Just unbelievable what is happening over there right now.

yeah
 

especially considering that the aftershocks are registering
as large or larger than what's considered a typical size.

Yeah, it was crazy. My buddy Parksie was in Punta Cana when the huge earthquake hit Haiti...he got out of town quickly, right before everything came to a screeching halt.

Earthquakes are really almost impossible to deal with if you don't have the emergency infrastructure to handle something like that...my thoughts have been with everybody in Nepal for the last three days.

My cousin is on a flight home. Lucky to live, lucky to be an American with means. If you haven't already, find a trustworthy charity to support those who are not as lucky.

I heard the other day that katmandu (sp?) rose 3 feet in elevation from that earthquake... Everest shrank a half inch!
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That's some serious energy!!
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