September 21

Hey everyone and thank you for being patient with me as blogging is really Mats specialty. I received an email from Mat today and for those of you who did not get it here is what it entailed: Everything is well, Mat is currently in a village called Namche Bazar and it is at 10,885 feet. He will spend a total of 44 hours there to get used to the altitude. He struggled a bit yesterday because the trail consisted of huge stones. He went down several hundred feet from Benkar, then on to Namche. He brags that he was 5 hours faster than the Korean group. His guides name is Prem and he is soft spoken and very nice and all of 42 inches tall. The Sherpa is Diel who is quiet and 20 years old. Mat had a huge blister on his foot so he will climb to Pherich tomorrow which is probably our right now. He met a couple from Sweden yesterday who were on their way back from Island Peak and said they could not summit due to a huge crevass that opened up on the head wall. Mat's tour manager in Kathmandu, Naba, said he will contact the Nepal Moutaineering Association and have them build a ladder over the crevasse so we shall see. He is still 10 days out from that. He has seen Everest the last two days, the weather is clear in the mornings and clouds roll in during the afternoon. Mat sebds his love,

Sherrie