Dispatches (cont'd)

April 17: Into the Icefalls
A 2,000-vertical-foot jungle gym on steroids, the dangerous Khumbu icefall is on the day's agenda.

April 14: Honoring the Everest Gods
It's New Year's Day, Nepali year 2059, an auspicious moment to acknowledge the mountain gods before heading into the Khumbu icefall.

April 13: Sherpa Support
Tibetan folk music drifts from the stone structure near the center of camp. Inside the kitchen, three Sherpas busily discuss the food stores. It's tea time.

April 10: Arrival at Base Camp
The Nepalis call her Sagarmatha. The Tibetans and Sherpas call her Chomolungma. We call her Everest—and we've just arrived at the mountain's base camp. It is the end of the approach and the beginning of the climb.

April 8: A Humbling Place
At 6:30 a.m. at 16,200 feet, we unzip the tent door to the smiling face of Tshering Sherpa, a kitchen helper with big dreams. He is serving us tea in bed. A young man of 21, he wants what most 21-year-olds want: fame and fortune. In his world, to get it you become a climbing Sherpa.

April 5: "All the Blessings We Can Get"
As we climb higher, we lose our appetites, our intestines churn with discontent and nights are filled with restless sleep. It's a challenge simply to eat and drink.

April 2: Going With the Flow
From the Nepalese village of Namche Bazaar, women, yaks and porters begin the scenic (and lengthy) march to the mountain.

March 27: Heading for the Top of the World
For the next two months, the kids, dogs, neighbors and husbands of a handful of American women no doubt will be holding their collective breath as an intrepidly "ordinary" Everest expedition gasps its way to mind-numbing altitudes in an attempt to reach the highest summit in the world.