Life at Annapurna Base Camp

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We managed to duck the clouds and wind and fly in from Jomsom to Annapurna's north base camp. Since a few people have asked, this isn't a camp that is trekked to anymore even though it isn't far from the famed Annapurna Circuit. My climbing partners, Chris and Lakpa, had to hike out last year because the earthquake in Nepal made for an unexpected shortage of helicopters. As their food began to run low, they elected to 'walk' to a nearby valley. It was obvious why, when porters attempted to ferry loads between Tato Pani and this base camp, quite a few gear bags were lost. The terrain is snowy and steep. If something is dropped, it does not come to rest until a few thousand feet below. We attempted to be conscious of the weight of the helicopter loads, especially in the thin air, but this is still the nicest base camp I've ever had the pleasure of settling in to for a month or so. We're not on a moving, melting glacier that will require constant tent platform maintenance like we were on K2 and Everest. And there is beer. We have a great dinning tent and personal tents we can stand up in, designed by Lakpa; what a luxury! As I write this, the sound system in our dinning tent is thumping away and Chris is setting up the satellite modem to check weather forecasts and send out her first blog.

Chris has her Australian and New Zealand flags flying. I have my ARM flag and solar panel is fixed to my tent, gear is sorted and ready for our first trip to camp 1 and 2 but first we acclimatize to BC. Base camp is about 14,000' and while the air is relatively thick here compared to Everest base camp (17,000') it still takes a while for our bodies to make enough red blood cells to feel strong. I've taken a few hikes around the area to get my heart racing and it doesn't take much. For Lakpa Timba and me, this is our first time here so we hiked up a high ridge to get a better vantage point on our route. We could see as high as where our camp 3 will go, just above a steep wall of blue ice. We've acquired a few colds and are recovering but expect not to make a carry up higher for at least another day or two. I'm optimistic a cool, new 360° camera arranged for by my amazing colleagues might arrive on a heli before we even make our first move. 

Besides our expedition leader, Lakpa, our other climbing Sherpa: Pemma, Lakpa Timba and Oong Dorji (I've probably butchered the spelling) have very accomplished climbing resumes. They are, as most Sherpa, incredibly humble, strong, smart, graceful and polite. The other teams at base camp are a veritable who's whom of the high altitude mountaineering world. Many I met in Pakistan two years ago on K2 or our trek out from their various peaks and other climbers I've heard of in books, gear sponsorships and mountaineering blogs. It is very humbling to be amongst them and yet, I have no sense of egocentrism as we make introductions around camp. We feel optimistic about our cooperation fixing lines and sharing camps up higher. Some days, I wonder why I'd ever put myself through this stress of leaving loved ones to live in a tent on an exposed, unforgiving hillside for a couple of months. Then, I look out of my tent in the morning I see the most beautiful, spectacular hanging glaciers and towering rock walls, thrust up from the ocean floors millions of years ago. I meet the brilliant people that are called to this alter to gain perspective and test their will and I think, why don't we do this as much as possible? It is a lovely break from the daily stresses and grooves we wear in to our lives. We all have our releases. This one makes me teary eyed often, feel greater exhaustion and greater sense of accomplishment than just about anything I've done. It is part engineering, part athleticism, part survival, part cooperation across many cultures and many, many hours left with our own thoughts as we proceed up, together, to touch the sky. I want to thank my lovely friends and family for their support. As distant as we all are in time and space, I feel connected to my loved ones. I can't imagine what early climbers and explorers felt as they left home for years on end with almost no contact. Today is my new, baby nieces first birthday. I'm sad not to be there but was blessed to be able to text my family and receive many kind notes back. 

Our ride to base camp.

The view from my tent door this morning. Annapurna I actual summit is just behind the the highest rocky point. This would not be a good summit day…

And since Chris is a more thoughtful writer than me, check in on her blog periodically:

http://chrisjensenburke.com/blog/

And check in on us when we're making interesting moves on the mountain or message me from:

https://share.delorme.com/MatthewDuPuy

So this happened... Sunset in Mukinath facing towards Dhaulagiri which is just obscured by the clouds.

Proposed route

Rain in Pohkara and snow and clouds in Jomsom kept us grounded today. While killing 4 hours at the airport this morning, I broke out Google Earth, Chris's route photos from last year and picked Lakpa's brain as we zoomed around the mountain virtually. We came up with a highly detailed route line I'll be loading on my phone and my watch. This is what happens when you take nerds and their toys camping. I'm including a photo of the route we drew but if you like playing along with Google Earth, here is the KMZ file.

Pokhara

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My climbing partner, Chris, has written a lovely summary of our intended route, schedule and plans on Annapurna I:

http://www.chrisjensenburke.com/blog/annapurna-the-expedition-begins

I don't have much to add but my thanks to her and Lakpa for allowing me to join them. They've done a stellar job with the logistics of getting all of the fixed lines, O2, tents, food and supplies to the foot of our route, the permits and me this far. They've a massive accumulated wealth of knowledge I'm slowly beginning to comprehend as my brain adjusts to this time zone. I'm lucky they are sharing it and looking forward to learning more and, hopefully, contributing soon. Chris has informed me that the final summit push on our Annapurna route involves some guess work picking a line through undulating terrain. I've managed to cache terrain data and plot some waypoints for our summits on my watch in order to optimize our route and in case of low visibility conditions. We also have questionable taste in movies and shows so I'm making sure we have Zoolander 2 and The Expanse on a portable wifi disk station I'm taking to base camp. Also, the sat modem is up and running with a new SIM card so I'll be able to post updates and get weather regularly. That is no less than 4 satellite systems (Thuraya, Iridium, GPS, GLONASS) we're using with 4 different devices. I'm glad we have all of these satellites whizzing above our heads and gadgets to talk to them so I can focus on what I do best; putting one foot in front of the other and repeating. A lot. 

Today, as we flew in to Pokhara, we caught small glimpses of the Annapurna range through the clouds. I'm in awe of the explorers who came here a decade ago and even considered setting foot on the flanks of these giants and humbled by the fact that our plane was cruising around 20,000' and we were still looking up at the peaks.

After some successful provisioning in Pokhara (purchasing of all of the chocolate in town), we'll finally get some altitude tomorrow. If all goes well, we'll end our day in Mukanath and start to stress our bodies so they'll make more red blood cells. 

(Phewa Lake and the World Peace Pagoda)

Arrival, KTM

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Arrival, KTM. Destination, jet lag. It is 4AM back home in California and 5:45PM here. Yes, there is an extra 15 minute offset of time from the Indian and Chinese time zones. I attribute all typos to that 15 minutes of extra jet lag. This is my third trip to Kathmandu. The third time seeing the pollution, litter, and traffic, hearing the chaos, commerce and commotion of it all. It is also my third time in 10 years seeing its resilience. Kathmandu's government has changed hands more times than I can keep track of. It changed hands while I was here trekking my first time in 2006 with the Mathys, Phelps and friend Ryan and again when I was climbing Everest in 2009 (shout out and love to the entire AAI 2009 Everest team). Maoist extremists changed peoples lives forever with their brutality and perseverance in the countryside. The population of this city swelled from 3 million to 6 million in a handful of years and did not rebound even after the political dialogue greatly improved. The infrastructure is crumbling but power is less intermittent now and life goes on, with a smile. The various incarnations of Shiva temples buzz with tourists and pilgrims. The cremation pyres burn non-stop. The busses and scooters flow in and out on barely navigable streets. Even in the 1000 year old squares that were decimated by the earthquake last year, sacrifices are made for good fortune, monkeys play, businesses pop up to serve the religious and the tourists and friends meet to socialize. They are rebuilding. Tibetan refugees continue to expand their villages in concentric circles draped with beautiful prayer flags around stupas. Buildings go up everywhere, not quite finished. People make a living and game the system wherever they go. If you don't finish your building here, you don't pay taxes on it. So, magnificent temples and shrines are surrounded with rebar and support columns to "add another floor someday".

What strikes me as beautiful and different about all of this madness; political upheaval, and natural disasters. The Buddhists don't just embrace the Hindu traditions, they incorporate and celebrate them. The Hindu, mostly Shiva worshippers around here, people are also just as likely to celebrate the upcoming birthday of the Buddha along with their Tibetan transplants. No one claims absolute understanding of the world around them, they simply listen, contemplate and incorporate. It is a beautiful quilt of philosophies and people; all trying to be happy. It is a lovely place to wander about and eat and drink and trade stories. I have friends here now; favorite places to shop and walk and take pictures. This isn't a home-coming but it is a comfy place to start and end a journey.

Our permits and supplies are gathered, and in two days, we will fly to Pokhara, Nepal's 2nd largest city, 200 miles to the west. It is also only miles from 3 of the highest 10 mountains in the world; Dhaulagiri, Annapurna and Manaslu. If the weather, conditions, people and mountains grant us their grace, we will attempt to climb two of those starting with Annapurna I. 

Chris and Lakpa picked me up at the airport and have informed me there are at least two major expeditions on the same route as us as Annapurna and as many as five on Dhaulagiri! Fantastic news! Our base camp team also arrived by helicopter 3 days ago and were spared the arduous task of carrying thousands of meters fixed lines between base camp and the base of the route. The helicopters managed to drop all of the fixed lines for several expeditions right at the base of the route. Also, fantastic news! Tomorrow morning, we will receive blessings from a lama in Kathmandu, do our gear check and make sure I can activate my SIM with the sat modem that my lovely colleagues at ARM have been so kind to take care of for me. Of course, this is great for sending photos and blogs but even more importantly; it allows us to consult with weather forecasters and see pictures of my new, baby niece as she is about to turn 1! 

p.s. My brother, Todd, got me started on Ed Viesturs, The Will to Climb, in which describes his own experiences and interest in Annapurna. He gives a great history of the mountain.

update 12 mar 2016 photos of blessing and rebuilding of Boudhanath stupa, Kathmandu
Links to images of modified Polish Route





Polish Route Images (purple line and line 4)

Schedule update:
13th - fly to Pokhara
14th - fly Jomsom, drive Muktanath or surrounds, acclimatising
15th - day in Mukanath and surrounds, acclimatising
16th - drive early back to Jomson, catch helicopter to BC

Thank you all for your wonderful support as we attempt Annapurna and Dalaguiri

My lovely co-workers are picking up my slack and even sponsoring some of my gadgetry and bandwidth to make this a safer journey

http://hexus.net/tech/features/industry/91175-smart-technology-modern-expedition-clouds/

Also, Chris made her first blog post of the expedition:
http://chrisjensenburke.com/blog/time-to-climb

Arrival at K2 base camp

After six days of arduous hiking up the constantly moving and changing Baltoro we have arrived at our home for the next month. It was a bluebird day, the first in a week. Our immutable objective looms, growing ever larger as we trekked to its flanks; steeped in legend and tragedy.

Like a moth to the flame; my id knows it must be here, my ego knows I do not deserve this. These are abstractions and metaphor, linguistics for emotions are not my forte. It is strange to feel this lump in my throat and this strange fluid welling up at my eyes every time I plan my next three steps across the jagged ground well enough to steal a quick glance at the silent giant ahead. Opportunities to repeatedly live dreams seems extraordinary to this kid from Fullerton.

If struggles of our past and in love, loss, work, honoring life and finding balance builds walls; surely the friends and connections we make in our travels and adventures soften those calluses and renew our child-like wonderment. Whether we explore our back yards or far flung corners of the world, we are all threads woven together. My path has been charmed and blessed by all of you. I appreciate the support and wisdom shared for this journey and the next. Thank you.

As I direct the electronic keyboard on my phone and attach some photos to this email and then send these bits whizzing off to a satellite as photons that will eventually be transmitted and decoded in to other, higher frequency photons for your eyes and pattern recognition centers of your brains another team is setting off for advanced base camp. This is no ordinary team. It is a team of three Sherpani. Three women from a country with limited infrastructure and opportunity have chosen to prove themselves yet again. Times are changing, progress is wonderful.

As always, see Alan's videos and dispatches at http://www.alanarnette.com/blog/k2-2014/

Expedition Dispatches: http://madisonmountaineering.com/dispatches/k2/k2-14/

Map updates posted to: https://share.delorme.com/MatthewDuPuy
You can also SMS my satellite beacon (PLB) from this site.

Fundamentalist frustration and additional alliterations

I've traveled many of the world's lands; crossed borders of mountains and oceans, languages and history. I've endured the company of ethnocentric, selfish people and enjoyed the company, mutual trust and wisdom of many, many more. My grasp of our place and time tends to wander and degrade as I move through it all so my thoughts come attached with appropriate caveats. Many women and men, wiser than I, are secure in their conviction that their god is the most nobel, kind and loving to its followers. Accounts differ on acceptance of heretics but we are all heretics to one another's god. I don't mean to cast aspersions on your beliefs in particular. You are 1 in 7 billion humans but it doesn't diminish the odds that you and your god may still have the universe figured out. I simply ask that you allow for the modest possibility that your particular invention of sin is just that and that you allow some leniency towards us hop polloi. Consider, at least for the sake of enlightened self interest, that you and others might be happier and more judicious with their tolerance and love if you ask your lawmakers, enforcers and society to allow others to determine their own definition of sin, freedom, god, sexuality, intelligence and joy within the confines of physical safety for other individuals. I realize that flourishing prose do not account for the difficulties and details of grey areas caused by linguistics but if you can allow that there are edge cases which will be subject to interpretation, then you can allow that those freedoms are also not polemic in their virtue and definition. Conservative, liberal, Muslim, Christian, if you degrade life in service of a higher power or believe that your god hates as you do and fail to see your fellow humans as such, you are the one that is troubled. We all think, care and feel as much as each other and about many of the same things. Your humility and understanding that life is sacred is all that is required to move beyond fundamentalism and enjoy this life. I don't claim to be enlightened, far from it, but I accept that there are insoluble questions and that connectedness and love provide a meaningful sanity break from them.

I find it almost comically comforting that people in high risk physical activities start to recognize that glimmer of consciousness bubbling up and passing without a word. "I'm comfortable with the life I've lived thus far, lets do this." It sounds overly dramatic or caviler with regards to comfort with mortality so no one ever mentions it. But you still see it hit that brain to mouth filter just before someone moves in to action beyond their comfort zone. I'm so glad a friend brought that up yesterday when reviewing lost acquaintances. I feel less sociopathic now. Much love to all of you, my amazing friends and family that make me feel average, normal and blessed by life.

Everest 2009

These are the emails I posted to my reflector while climbing Everest in April and May of 2009. I did not post these to my blog because I didn't think I'd get much time to write (and I didn't) and I didn't consider them relevant to more public consumption but am now doing so for posterity. My brother and I left southern California on March 29th, 2009. After a few bad weather days in Kathmandu, we flew up to Lukla and started our 40 mile trek to Everest's South Col Base Camp. My emails home begin after the trek in and we got the com tent up and running. Most of these messages were typed late at night at base camp (BC) on my little laptop, kept charged by the light of day in my two month home away from home, a little yellow tent under a most impressive banner of stars. The warm glow of the screen was not usually enough to keep my fingers from freezing up as I tucked in to my sleeping bag and the days activities usually left me in an exhausted but appreciative state for where I was and the wonderful people I was climbing with. I remember those days and people fondly and will so for as long as my wires and gears mesh.

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Wed, Apr 15, 2009 at 4:17 AM

subject EBC day 2

Greetings from Everest base camp at 5,350m (17,500') in Nepal where the air is clean but there isn't much of it. Todd and I arrived yesterday after battling some illness lower in the Khumbu Valley to find that more than half of base camp has been hit with various colds, resistant GI and respiratory infections. Illness at this altitude is normal but the season opened with a record setting number of visits to the base camp clinic. The good news is I'm feeling strong again and we're likely to set a record for cleanliness at our own camp now that nearly every climber and local staff member has been hit.

As most of you know, I'm climbing with the Alpine Ascents team. A team with a record of safety, environmental responsibility and, if you believe Outside Magazine, relative luxury. We have our own cook staff turning out great meals here at base camp and as you can now tell, our communications tent is up and running. Upon setting up today, I noticed 21 emails waiting for me (I won the record). I haven't gotten a turn on the base camp computer yet but when I send this message, I'll download the love and try to respond over the next few busy days. It is a great moral booster to get news from friends and family. As I type this, Todd and I finished setting up my solar panel, stabilizing my little tent against wind and he is now browsing short wave radio channels for world news. Our "showers" should come online tomorrow and as our lead guide Vern is fond of saying, we'll "Shower once a week whether you need it or not." AAI has picked a camp at the far north end of the Khumbu glacial moraine as usual. We call this the 'high rent' district because we are far from the trekkers, massive unguided camps like Russel Brice and the Discovery Channel, and most importantly, close to the ice falls. Not to be snobby, we like the view. Our base camp is divided in to three sections, the cook tent, dining tent, and com tent in the middle; the lower section nicknamed "The Manhood" because it it populated by the younger men and guides and the top of the hill called "Sunrise Village" with the older men and women on our team. Since Todd and I got in a day late and asked ahead of time for a room with a view, I'm the kid in the retirement community. They gave me the gate code and our activities director, Lori, invited us to 7AM calisthenics. Kathy nicknamed me "Pool Boy". A base camp nickname I'll happily take considering the others so far.

On the clear days, it is horribly hot out and the sunblock is used liberally, at night, it gets well below freezing as expected. The huge temperature shifts cause the glacier we are camped on to crack and moan and the hills around us are constantly reminding us where we are by dumping ice and rock hundreds of feet down and only 100 meters from camp. Like cracking thunder, it is a both eerie and exciting sound track to live and fall to sleep by.

Today we practiced walking on ladder bridges and reviewed various climbing knots and hitches in camp. Tomorrow we'll move in to the ice falls a bit to practice and review on the moving ice. Friday, we'll have our puja ceremony to bless our expedition. This involves burning juniper in camp, stringing up prayer flags and making offerings to the mountain. After this, we'll be cleared to move through the ice falls to camp 1 for more acclimitizaion (building red blood cells to absorb what little oxygen there is).

As this electronic epistle turns in to a novel and the smell of dinner wafts through the cold, dry air; I'll sign off and wish you all love and peace. Send positive thoughts to Todd as he begins his trek down the valley tomorrow.

Namaste,

Matthew

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April 17, 2009

subject EBC dispatch

Greetings again from the Khumbu. I'm still recovering from a nasty cold but still marveling at the life, the night sky and the grandeur of this place surrounding our little tent city. You might have noticed on today's cybercast we had our puja ceremony to ask permission from the mountain to climb her. After offerings, chants, blessing of equipment and burning of juniper, the offerings were devoured (at least the beer was) and the Sherpa tried to teach us a few circle dances; tried being the optimal word. We also taught them auspicious western dances like the Hokey Pokey and Hora. Our camp looks beautiful now with seven long, colorful strands of prayer flags radiating from our alter over all of our tents.

After than our entire team volunteered to go help build a helipad near the medical clinic for emergency use. I'm not sure when the Discovery program airs but a couple of their crew volunteered too so there might be a shot of me at the head of a human conveyor belt pitching rocks and leveling the platform. You'd be surprised how many engineers we have up here. One of our team members pointed out that chain gangs are now rare in the states but we paid good money for this exercise. Here's to hoping we never use our new helipad. Creative manual labor, lots of interesting folks, constant chaos under a constant monolith; life is good.

Now as I type this from my little yellow tent under a beautiful banner of heavenly bodies, with the cracking and sparking of rockfall from the nearby slopes, I'll bid you goodnight. Not because I want to but because my naked fingers in the cold air are losing the battle with this tiny keyboard and my solar panel kept getting dusted with snow today.

Much love to you all and thanks for the emails,

Namaste,

Mateo

April 17, 2009

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April 20th 2009

EBC update 3

How'dy campers. Today was yet another acclimatization day on the hill. We designed an overly dramatic obstacle course and used our summit mittens to negotiate the ropes and anchors with various climbing and safety gear. It is a lot like running a 400m sprint then trying to set the dial on your watch wearing oven mitts. We also set up a few traditional ice climbs just for fun. After showing off, Vern challenged me to climb an 85 degree wall without axes. He was very encouraging but I don't think he expected me to pull it off. I think I'll be on the Red team now. I'd also like to mention Kay, on her 4th summit attempt at the age of 60 swings an ice ax like a pro and climbs faster than some of the 30 somethings on this team.

Tomorrow, we start up the main route in the falls for a bit more practice and acclimatization and the following day, Red team will start its push to camps 1 and 2. Two days later, Blue team will follow. The staggering has less to do with skill and speed than simple logistics of having 18 climbers. Staggered, we need half the tents and fuel at any given camp. The whole up and back trip from base camp should take 5 days. We're all eager to get some real altitude (7000m) and a change of scenery. Though, after living in this tent for a week, I'm not sure I need a house anymore. I washed my socks and undies in a bowl of warm water, I have my laptop, my iPods, a guitar, a nice view, a comfy place to sleep and of course, a pee bottle. What more does one really need? Ok, there is THAT...

After a week at base camp: we've stopped turning our heads when a thunderous roar echos through camp, our makeshift helipad has been used once to pick up climber with HACE, talking about fresh fruit constitutes talking dirty, all questions relating to solar power and sat phones are referred to yours truly, 9pm is not too early for bed and some people are willing to throw a card game for bed time, a warm washcloth before dinner counts as a shower, no team member is above saying “That's what she said”, I'm already thinking of the meals and beers I want when I get home (it is too early for that), farting at the dinner table is completely appropriate (pv=nrt).

You get a week long reprieve from my emails but the cybercasts will continue up the hill with us. Keep the tech news, western conference results and general personal updates coming. I miss ya'll. Be good people. And as Vern says, “There are three rules to mountain climbing: Look good, act cool and safety third”

Love and peace,

Mateo

April 20th 2009

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April 26th 2009

Back in EBC

Greetings to all intelligent life and climbers too. Red team is back at base camp and enjoying the finer things in life; clean socks, clean underwear, sleeping bags that don't smell like feet and the luxury of oxygen. Four days ago we made our first trip through the ice falls to camp 1 leaving at 4AM and arriving just after 10AM. Vern told us we were a strong group to make the first trip 3 hours shorter than normal first trips. I quickly pointed out he was the jerk setting the pace. We spent the last few nights at camp 2, circa 7000m (21,000'). They say there is a lot less air up there and while trying to walk up to the Nuptse headwall yesterday, I'd believe it. The problem is, the jet stream shifted back over our little mountain yesterday and that air certainly made itself known. For those not familiar with climbing in the Hymalias, there are two short periods in the year where the jet stream that blasts the high range with 100+mph winds get pushed north by the monsoonal season in India. The month of May is generally the safest time to climb high during the relative calm. Some of you smart folks may note that it is not yet May. Fortunately, most of our camp survived the night. A testimony to our overbuilding of tent anchors even for our calm, first night at that camp. Our one casualty was the tall, narrow, blue tent that serves one critical but unglamorous purpose. It was quickly rebuilt in the morning by our coffee drinkers. Other camps did not fare so well. We saw several dining and cook tents destroyed on our hike down this morning. A numbingly cold, windy hike indeed. We were lucky to have super guide and sherpa, Lakpa, make us breakfast after sending down our camp 2 sherpa cook with HAPE and making two trips to camp 1 and 2 for both teams. We wish our friends on the Blue team the best of luck as they move up from camp 1 today. The winds are supposed to die down over the next few days... supposed to. We will see them in two days when they join us in the oxygen rich base camp at 5,850m to recover.

Yesterday, we took a stroll up to the head of the Khumbu glacier, the Nuptse face. This is where the gentle rise of the glacier meets a giant bergshrund and the steep head wall below Nuptse leading to camp 3, the yellow band (ancient sea floor rock) and the South Col of Everest. We had spectacular views of our goals for the next 25 days including Sagarmatha herself at 8,850m. We were also treated to our first game of “dodge rock”. It is similar to dodge-ball but when a climber in the yellow band kicked down a few basketball size rocks several thousand feet above us, we didn't try to catch them. Luckily, we were tuned to the sound of 250mph debris from a few days before when Lotse kicked down a few rocks a safe distance from our path. The sound, as some of you know, is a high pitch buzz much like a bullet ricochet hum for a few seconds followed by a soft, undramatic, thud. Vern heard the sound for a solid 3 seconds before yelling rock and Mike yelled for everyone to look up. There is little sense in ducking under a helmet or pack on such steep inclines; your best protection is to watch what is coming at you and get out of the way. Not to over dramatize but I've never seen a dozen, high altitude climbers in massive boots, plunge step down a glacier so fast. I imagine it looks a lot like a herd of drunken elephants chasing the last peanut on earth around an ice rink. Vern suggested we and other groups rope up the right side of the headwall this year to camp 3 and avoid the sherpa fixed lines under the yellow band. There is very little snow on the upper route this year so it is wise to avoid this area.

Today we made great time to camp 1 with many social visits along the way including a quick chat with Ed Vistures and some of his guides and famous photographers on the “1st Ascents” team on their way up. Ed, like Vern, is a climbing legend and we're lucky to have him on the mountain with us this year. We made it past camp 1 and through the ice falls before noon with little more incident than a few giant blocks of ice popping and moaning and a cursing German gal who learned that you can still slip on steep ice when arm wrapping a rope if you're not using all points of your crampons. One of our climbers, Adam, wants to count the number of clip and unclip moves we make with our safety gear in the never ending labyrinth of ice, ropes and ladders spanning crevasses. Our guess is somewhere over 1,000 moves. Our wonderful base camp cook, Gopul, made a huge lunch but most of our team's appetites weren't up to it after a windy, sleepless night (props to Doc for the low dose Ambien). We will all sleep well tonight at base camp. I'll fire off this novella and download the waiting emails from you all and mend a few items of clothing. An undramatic but much welcome ending to a busy few days.

Love and peace,

Mateo

April 26th 2009

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Greetings, Mateo!

I too have asked the mountain, but from here, to provide beauty and success

in your endeavor. I'm not hoping you will become beautiful, but that

wouldn't hurt either. It is good to see the pictures and know you are in

good hands-at least, the Sherpa seems to know something about what he is

leading you into, and the weather is going to be really good for a few

weeks.

The last Buddha I blessed with coin and a flower didn't prevent some Chinese

guy from stealing my camera, so, I am going to trust the Nepalese mountain

and the Sherpa instead.

Best wishes and stay warm. I was so glad to learn that peanut butter was a

great food for trekking. Now I don't have to apologize anymore for taking

it with me..

--

Thanks for the email DT!

Ah, the mountain is providing much beauty but it is being a bit gassy of late. Watching the big spires around us casting beams of light through the crystallized moisture in the surrounding air is quite beautiful. Never mind the wind shakes the tent so violently at night that I can't smell my tent mates bad gas. I never thought I'd prefer bad smells in a confined space. Things have calmed down a bit today and we now have the home office emailing sat photos our little corner of the world.

I'm sure wishing me beauty doesn't hurt either but even with my 8000 calorie diet, I'm starting to thin out and look like one of those super models on the picture box. I don't think that was the 'beauty' either of us was hoping for.

The Sherpa people are incredible. Lakpa, the gentlemen you saw the video, is climbing double time to keep up with both teams. He also cooks and manages all of our sherpa staff. He also recently became the first Sherpa to climb the 7 summits and now lives in Seattle. I think we can learn the most from him but he is very quiet and humble. Maybe that is the part I need to learn.

Never apologize for your peanut butter; unless you are keeping it your pockets. I find people look at you funny when you dip you cookies or toast in your pocket for that extra kick of protein and fat. Speaking of which, it is almost tea time. I have to mix some PB with my hot cocoa.

Much love,

Mattius Maximus

April 27th

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29-04-2009

EBC Update 5

Hello world. It is another 'rest' day at EBC. The Red team took its normal stroll past the south end of the camp to boulder in the moraine followed by the strenuous hike to the bakery tent and the Croatian women's team camp. They can't get enough of Dr. Tom but we're pretty sure it is because they can bench press him. The trekkers get jealous as climbers run by on the loose rock and snow without breaking a sweat to greet friends in other camps as they barely hobble by clinging to hiking polls. The forecast for the next 4 days is light snow so I'm charging my little laptop while our sun will allow. We leave for camp 3 starting on May 1st. Red team will move up to camp 1 for a night, camp 2 for two nights and finally camp 3 for a night before heading down. Since this trip is for acclimatization, we will not be using supplemental oxygen at camp 3 like we will on our summit push. The air is between one half and one third as dense as it is at sea level and the camp is literally hacked in to the side of the steep, icy headwall of the Lotse Face. Rest will not come easily. Heck, brushing our teeth will not come easily. I'm looking forward to breaking in the heavy suit though. It feels like I'm being wrapped in a giant teddy bear. I'm also happy about the snow since it means the winds will likely be below 10kts and the temperature will be stable. We can tolerate cold or hot but when the temps fluctuate wildly in the ice falls because of wind and reflective white ice we suffer since we don't stop and change layers in the critical sections. I'll also be hauling the big camera through the falls this time and am excited to shoot the mountain and people. With less air, the day time sky is darker and clearer. The night sky reveals more stars than pretty much anywhere else on earth.

I spent the better part of Monday checking equipment and helping Vern McGuiver a more comfortable oxygen mask out of a surgical mask and our conventional O2 system. He looks like a droid out of the old Star Wars movies and sounds like Darth Vader when wearing it. I think he gets a kick out of that though. After this trip, we will drop down the valley to enjoy the thick air for a week, then go for the summit push. It's hard to believe Todd and I flew out exactly one month ago.

They are setting up a slackline over our 'pool' right now so I'm going to go play and make more red blood cells.

I hope you are all safe, well and warm wherever you are in the world. I sincerely appreciate hearing from you all on the odd days I get time to download messages off the camp's laptop. I'm looking forward to body surfing, climbing, cycling and beer-ing with as many of you as possible when I'm done here.

Namaste,

Mateo

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MD EBC 6

Wed, May 6, 2009

Greetings ladies and, well, I don't know any gentlemen. I've returned from camp 3 to so many wonderful emails! Thank you kindly. Hearing about adventures back home helps transport us to warmer places when we need the odd distraction. I'll respond to as many as I can before the battery runs out or my fingers stop responding (snow at BC again) now that I've completed the mundane tasks of the weekly shower, shave, laundry, mending and eating.

We hiked down through the ice falls from camp 1 today, our pit stop from camp 3, under 3 hours. An extremely cold morning (and the plan of 10AM breakfast at BC) prompted us to move with grace and speed. Ok, just speed. The route, as usual, had changed from our last trip but we made quick work of the new ropes and massive, moving, overhanging ice blocks.

Camp 3 to camp 2 was also journeyed in just under 3 hours where we changed out of our heavy gear but the real story was the trip up. Camp 3 is a small perch, carved out of the ice on the side of the Lotse headwall. An hour past camp 2, the slow rise of the valley becomes bordered by the summits of Nuptse, Lotse and Everest and the “easy” route goes up fixed lines just south of the Geneva spur. We cross a large-ish bergshrund that is constantly showered by ice and the occasional piece of dropped gear from climbers above (ironically, we dodged a helmet this time) and headed up the steep wall. Since real-estate is man made, out team chooses to terrace tent platforms at the very highest section to maximize acclimatization. It took us a full hour to reach our perch after reaching the lowest camp. A total of 8 hours from camp 2. That last hour took us to nearly 24,000' and we took about 3 breaths between each step. Once there, we remained clipped in to safety lines to within feet of our tents and in our tents we stayed. Watch for video of Adam demonstrating proper fixed line safety. That little camp marks the highest I've ever climbed and slept. I use the term “slept” loosely. Most of us managed a couple of hours though. We stress our bodies to produce more blood cells to absorb what little oxygen is left up there. Every little task like taking off boots or packing a sleeping bag leaves you breathing hard and feeling the cold bite of the air. On our summit push, at camp 3, we will breath a very low flow of pure oxygen through what looks suspiciously like a rubber painters mask from very high pressure, Russian O2 bottles (Russian because other countries have safety standards that prevent bottles from being filled to such high pressure). Sleep should come much more easily then. We remain on varying flows of O2 beyond camp 3 because at camp 4 and higher, the lack of O2 makes it impossible for most human bodies to produce more tissue cells than are dying off; hence the overly dramatic term “death zone”. One of our super-star climbing sherpa did summit today. He was up past camp 4 inspecting the route and it was such a good day he helped a team member from IMG tag the top of our world!

To answer the many questions of, “So dummy (thanks Mom), you've been gone nearly a month and a half, any idea when you're going to wrap this up?”. Now we head down valley to the low, low, altitude of 12,000'. Our bodies will heal in the oxygen rich environment (near the Tengboche monastery for those of you that have been in the neighborhood). We have been given an unlimited budget to eat as much as we can at the lodges to regain some weight (at least the fat part of what we've lost). We should be back at BC by the 13th or 14th. If all goes well with weather and health on the hike (no hangnails, noogies, purple nurples or other such debilitating injuries), we will start our summit push around the 15th and our earliest summit date for Red team is the 19th with weather as our most unpredictable factor. Don't be too surprised if this stretches on till June though.

Word of Nepal's PM's resignation has had little impact on base camp and its liaison officers. Kathmandu's infrastructure can only get better so we're all wishing the locals well.

I hear tail of tea time so I'll wrap this 6th novel up and join the other 8 boys of Red team for cheese and biscuits (it sounds civilized till you realized we are 9 stinky boys, far from our mothers with our lead guide still up hill with the other team, yeah, it is that bad and worse =).

Until next time. Much love and peace to you all.

Matthew

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Heading back up

May 13, 2009

Our time is very limited on the comm resources as we move back up the valley so I'll apologize now for not being able to respond to each of you individually. I've been reading everyone's well wishes and updates from the home front though and appreciate them very much. Today we finally left Deboche and hiked through the snow back up above the tree line. If you haven't been following the cybercasts, our short drop back to low altitude turned in to a long waiting game with the weather. The entire area was blanked in several feet of snow. We can't make any good predictions about the jet stream high on the mountain right now but the snow melted enough and we're pushing back up to base camp. If the night is kind, we will move back in to our humble dwellings on the glacier tomorrow. Then we wait. When the jet stream clears we'll start our 5 day ascent.

Despite the weather, we are in good spirits and eating well. Our team is down to eleven climbers (one team) now. Unfortunately, three of our climbers went back to Kathmandu. Our climber with HAPE recovered nearly immediately upon his return to the lower elevations. Our climber with frost bitten fingers is expected to make a full recovery over the next few weeks if he treats them well. Our climber with the muscle injury is trekking back to Lukla today and doing well.

I miss my friends and family. I wish you all well with your great adventures from race car driving to marathons on all seven continents. I can't wait to catch up with everyone soon!

Much love from the Khumbu. Namaste,

Matt

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ECB 7

May 17, 2009

Greetings family and friends. A quick apology for duplicate, late or lost emails. The satellites were not cooperating on our drop back. We've reached a tipping point here at Everest base camp. Many of our team, myself included, have picked up a nasty cold on our drop back to recover and fatten up. We've spent an extra day at base camp to try and mend but the jet stream, which isn't entirely off the mountain even now, is threatening to bring its full fury to bare on out little rocky summit sometime around the 24th of May. We've decided to put ourself in position for our summit push and will climb up to camp 2 tomorrow very early in the morning. We will watch the weather from there. Winds anywhere over 40mph will keep us put. Our target summit date could be the morning of the 23rd (give or take a day). If the weather pattern shifts unexpectedly, we will remain at camp 2 for as long as a week to wait it out so this will be my last personal email for a while. The cybercasts will continue and increase in frequency on our summit push.

Everyone here is excited, apprehensive, and after nearly two months away, eager to come home or at least to a warm beach nearby. Those that are sick are especially worried about there ability to recover above 20k'. I'll call special attention to Kay, up here for her 4th time, also coming down with the cold. Please send her positive thoughts, mojo, prayers or whatever your personal philosophy calls for. I want to see her summit more than anyone on this team including myself.

Summit or no, I'm thrilled to be here. This experience so far has given me more than I ever expected. Sick or not, I know this is more a battle of will and mind than fitness now. I thank you all for your kind words of support and helping getting here. Everyone on this email list has contributed in some form and I can't thank you all enough.

Much love and peace to you all,

Namaste,

Matt

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Fri, May 22, 2009 at 9:48 PM (PDT) From Todd Du Puy to list:

Success on the Top of the World

Hi friends,

He's not out of the woods yet, but I just want to let you all know, if you

aren't following the cybercast, that Matthew tagged the summit of Mt.

Everest tonight! Saturday morning Nepal time between 10-11am!

I am so happy for him and the others that successfully made it. If I do get

a phone call from him, I'll pass along what I learn, but it's too windy and

cold for them to stop long until they're back at South Col camp and the

priority will be to rest first when they arrive there.

From the AAI website...

May 23, 2009 - More Summits!!!

Ok, here¹s the rest of our summit results. I already reported that Lakpa,

Kay and Chewang Nima, Stephen Coney and Mingma, Frank Slachman and Dawa

Nuru, and Lori and Tsering Dorjee were the first ones to reach the summit of

Everest this morning. Since then the following members and guides reached

the top: Garrett, Michael Horst, Adam, Tom, Phil, Matt, and Michael Morales.

Sherpas accompanying them were Thapkee (his second summit this season), Fura

Kancha, Pa-Rita, Ang Sona, and Dawa Tsheri. This makes a total of 11

westerners and 10 sherpas. Congratulations to everyone. There are also a

couple of names missing from this list. Vern was not feeling well and turned

around and headed back to the South Col. Jeffrey James (JJ) made it to the

South Summit, but turned around there. Both Chris and Frank H. also turned

around along with their sherpas, Dorjee and Ang Passang. I'm still waiting

for updates on how everyone is doing. The guides will be calling in from

several locations as they head down. And of course I¹ll let you know when

everyone is safe back at the South Col.

Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers, keep them coming until they're all

home safe.

Namaste,

Todd

Book of Matthew - the short version.

Most people desire to know more about what lies beyond our perception than they will ever understand. Many people claim to know more than they really do. Too many people believe them without reason or question. And when those imaginative tails come in to conflict, far too many people are willing to fight and die over them.

No Guff Chet

My aunt forwarded one of those inane "funny" emails deriding the Democratic party today. I don't read political blogs so I avoid writing them. It is muttering against the dark and I find my energy better placed in dozens of other tasks. I'm not a member of either party but I couldn't help but rant a bit. This was one of many asinine items in the email.

I am 42 years old,

I love the outdoors,

I hunt,

I am a Republican reformer,

I have taken on the Republican Party establishment,

I have five children,

I have a spot on the national ticket as vice president with less than two years in the governor's office.

Did you guess?

....

I am Teddy Roosevelt in 1900

My response to her and some of my "republican" family members:

If you're going to send this over-generalized, half-truth nuttery, don't expect us all to laugh. I don't have the time to sit down and pick apart all of the silly fallacies in this email and I doubt you would care to read even if I did but I can't let one item slide. Drawing a parallel between Gov Palin and T. Roosevelt is insanity. The debate about Palin's experience and ability to lead her way out of a box is a non-starter. I won't even go there. Teddy was a progressive reformer who, after McKinley was assassinated, protected the environment, pushed for universal healthcare and dissolved corrupt monopolies. Mostly though, you must concede that the Republican parties of 1900 and today have almost nothing in common. Back then, the party was actually fiscally conservative, reduced federal and executive power in favor of state power and observed a hard line between church and state. The neo-Republican party in office right now cares for none of those ideals and is unable to see the hypocrisy that they are socially conservative but governmental liberals. The opposite of what they were back then. I'd like to think McCain might hold some of those old ideals but I know Palin does not and as long as the party plans on pissing away my tax dollars on a futile war, expanding executive power and reducing civil liberties, they are far more harmful than any socialist agenda. Palin's extemporaneous interviews make her appear even less aware and intelligent than our current commander in chief. The thought that she could be president scares the bejeebus out of me to the point I might actually vote within the two parties for a lesser-of-two-evils Democrat or move to Europe.

End rant...

Clarifying "Theory" -- Evolution

To the the intellectual bankrupt among us who downplay evolution as a "just a theory" in favor of some intelligent design. Never mind the flaws in the intelligent design rational (e.g. The laptop is so fantastic and complex that it must have had an intelligent creator, Man -- Man is so fantastic and complex it must have had an intelligent creator, a god -- God is so fantastic and complex, he must have had a creator...). I'm simply sick of the mindless, broken record, pejorative misuse of the word "Theory". The following are both FACT and THEORY:

Gravity

Evolution

Electromagnetism

These are facts, we know that they happen, there is abundant evidence of them and no real evidence against them. Facts indeed by any definition of the word.

They are also theories. We KNOW that they happen. We don't know exactly all the details of how. This is the theory part.

Evolution is really a scientific consensus. Not every scientist agrees with the theory, but the vast majority do. That is, by definition, what the word "consensus" means: majority of opinion.

The assertion that a number of scientists have been "blackballed" from the scientific community is a rehash of the argument most recently put forth in the pseudo-documentary "Expelled," starring Ben Stein. This documentary, incidentally, has been refuted at length in all of its claims by Scientific American (a widely regarded publication) and several journals, including Science.

But you really demonstrate your ignorance of science when you say "So, until honestly proven, it remains theory, despite what the NAS chooses to call it." Here's a news flash: In science, you can never "prove" a theory. And the theory of evolution has just as much evidence to support it as the theory of universal gravitation. Yes, gravity and evolution are in the same realm when it comes to the amount and quality of supporting evidence. With theories, you can devise experiments based on predictions that theories make. These experiments are devised to falsify the theory. If the falsification does not occur, the theory survives. If the theory is falsified (disproven), it is thrown out or revised to account for new facts.

That's the scientific method, and your ignorance proves you do not understand science. Please, stop using the word theory as a pejorative. Calling something "just a theory" is simply asinine. If gravity is "just a theory," would you jump off a 20-story building because you might not fall to your death? If evolution is "just a theory," then would you withdraw funding from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) because they research disease pathogens and rely on evolutionary models to predict how some organisms become more virulent over time?

And please, stop spreading this claptrap that scientists only support evolution because they fear losing their jobs. That's conspiracy theory nuttery, and most "cases" cited by anti-evolution propaganda (such as "Expelled") don't stand up to independent scrutiny. Scientific American debunked those claims too.

Respect our democratically ratified constitution and do not put 'intelligent design' in to scientific ciriculum. Contrary to some opinion, real, honest science and religion can not go hand in hand. Science is a pursuit of knowledge based on hypothesizing the unknown and working to disprove the hypothesis. Any assertion taken on faith is conceding that it can't be taken on its own merits and outrages reason. But I digress. Stop regurgitating this nonsense of dismissing rational thought labeled with the word 'Theory'.

Thank you,

Matt

"Man got to tell himself he understand"

Gotta say goodbye to one of the greatest post modern authors and brilliant minds of our time. Thanks for the entertainment and laughing so hard it hurts, thanks for the provocation of thought and deriding of those that would do harm in this world, thank you for your bottomless humility and character. Thanks for a body of work that will echo through the generations and make the world a better place. I know you'd disagree but I hope, at least, you are somewhere laughing at us thinking, feeling, slabs of meat.

"A purpose of human life, no matter who is controlling it, is to love whoever is around to be loved."

"Sometimes I think it is a great mistake to have matter that can think and feel. It complains so. By the same token, though, I suppose that boulders and mountains and moons could be accused of being a little too phlegmatic."

"Here we are, trapped in the amber of the moment. There is no why."

"Take Care of the People, and God Almighty Will Take Care of Himself."

"Tiger got to hunt, bird got to fly;
Man got to sit and wonder 'why, why, why?'
Tiger got to sleep, bird got to land;
Man got to tell himself he understand."

Persistence of love after life

Do we persist after or wiring stops to function and our gears cease to mesh?
Should the microscopic details surrounding our parting circumstances be grieved upon? Or, as time persistently marches on, should we love the impact and impressions a person has left on the lives around him. Of course, there is time for grief and inspection. Like a mighty boulder, cast in to a river, a turbulent, gaping hole is wrought and the water is projected in all directions. The river will eventually calm. Ripples from the disruption continue but the observer downstream cannot make sense of them amongst ripples made by the wind and the rain and soon signs of the disruption all but disappear. One cannot avoid thinking about the gaping whole in life and how it might project in the future. Life does not stop though. When curiosity defeats thought of self, we learn. When acts of preservation for others are not reflected, we rejoice in the deed and weep for the response. But the important thing is to love what was loved, cherish the values we admired in those lost and let those memories ripple through our lives and in to others.
There are those that dwell on changing the past, in the darkness to expiate mistakes. I don't know that all people have the same problem with death. People are not all alike. Would it be, that if I were truly a good person, that death would sometimes be a blessing? Verily, I say no. Death is like the rain; and the rain falls on both the good and the wicked.
So now, I shall go out and toil in the world. Expense reports, contracts, schedules, bugs. To some unknown end. With the other life forms, fraught with troubles, full of "sound and fury." When confronted with their passions and their human nature I often feel "ordinary, and not up to the task." But I know I love and I am loved by those that surround me.
Grant me the serenity to see some of the blessings already granted. It is no comfort that things are worse for so many other people. But it forces me to consider that the significant possessions in life are the ones who we know and love, and the opportunities that are given us to affirm that gift. Life and labor make so many competing demands, and time seems to be too much in short supply. If this is the fabric with which we must work, let us work diligently to weave in the strong threads of family and friendship so that it will last and be a blessing to ourselves, our children, and, in times to come, our children's children.


Nick, your calmness and kindness, your intelligence and curiosity, the love you gave to your friends and family, they will carry on and that is enough. Thank you.


"Success is to laugh often and much.
To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children.
To gain the appreciation of honest critics
and endure the betrayal of false friends.
To appreciate beauty.
To find the best in others.
To leave the world a little bit better
whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition.
To know one life has breathed easier because you have lived.
That is to have succeeded."

-R.W.E.

Freedom of the will

A prescient deity would be fixed in the timeline just like us. Seeing ahead means being behind. But the center of time is outside the line.
All things all at once. And yet.
What difference could anything we do possibly make?
Unless there's layers there too.
And what we're taught to see as God is an impostor.
A little impostor.
A little desperate impostor who depends on belief and obedience to exist.
The closed system of our choices means we act out the inevitable. So that choosing isn't any more than bud and bloom. This much sun, that much rain, and there you go.
Unless there's more.
Unless there's a lot more.
A quick glance around shows opportunists in every nook and cranny pretending to be this, pretending to be that, in order to procure the energy of the credulous.
And for the credulous, the safety and security of pretending not to see, as well.
The givens always give it away.
The assumption is the Biblical God is what's there. Because he says so, or rather because the Bible says he says so. The tautology of mightiness. The chain of command arcs with lightning from a roiling sky. The unknowable has no advocacy in the arena of forensic publicity.
This life matters, this life is meaningless.
Would that choosing alone could make it so.
What is it all by itself? Without our prejudice, without our propaganda and cunning?
Ask a cow stumbling toward the ramp.
The answer's in the twinkling fractals of the micro-infinite. I really believe that.
Negative proof in the persistence of identity below the nominative threshold. I am sort of, in a way that's not stuck in the mirror of name and face. And my being proves something, you too. I think. We are. There's proof in that.
And in the scornful snorts of the priest/scientists confronting the childlike wonder of the uninitiated questioning and contemplating that one observable infinity we all can point toward.
The stars below us.

Dear South Dakota, you're fired.

It is called a grey area. You religious twits insist on making it a black and white issue for everyone and pushing your moral agenda in to law. I don't believe what you believe but I allow you to make descisions for yourself. All I ask is that same courtesy in return. You keep your personal hang ups out of my business and government.
We can all agree that killing a new born baby is murder. The baby is alive. Its autonomic nervous system is firing, it lungs can process the air that fills them, the heart pumps that air and nutrients around the body. That is life.
Most of us can agree that everytime a woman has her period instead of getting fertilized or every time a guy jerks off in to a sock instead of a woman, they aren't committing murder (except you Catholics and your Onan story but by your logic, God should be striking me down every damn day. Still here). Everything in between is subject to grey areas of religion and basic human morality -- do un to others and all that jazz. Leave it alone. Not everyone believes a soul enters the cells as soon as the mitotic cells join up. I think people who go around killing animals when there are other perfectly good food sources around are violent hypocrits but I don't get in anyones face about it. Wouldn't you be pissed off if I got the government involved and made eating meat illegal? Yes, people who get abortions are irrisponsible for needing one (for reasons other than personal health or rape) but those people have to live with there actions. It doesn't affect anyone outside of the two people who screwed up and got pregnant.
So, South Dakota. You push the supreme court to overturn Roe V Wade. I will make it my peronsal mission to remove every religious symbol from every piece of public property starting with the money in my wallet. To borrow from Steven Colbert; South Dakota, you are dead to me.