How's the mountain treating you, Ed?

"Just got back down from Camp II. Spent the night there and everything is going well.

The conditions are really good. It's very straightforward and the Lhotse face looks good. I mean, it looks great as far as I can tell, and the weather we've been having so far has been phenomenal. We've had no bad-weather days to speak of at all.

Will you go for the summit earlier, due to the good weather?

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Well, we'll just go with the plan as normal. We hope to be totally established with Camp III and Camp IV at the South Col probably by the 25th of this month and then we're just going to wait and see. It's all dependent on the wind, and the weather, and the health of the team.

Traditionally the wind on the summit dies in the first week or two of May and so that's what we have to wait for. We don't want to jump the gun. I mean, if it looks good and we're ready, we may go early. But right now we're going to wait and see, probably for early May.

Are the expeditions coordinating their plans for summit day?

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Usually there's obviously two or three or four teams that will want to cluster together and go on the same day. I mean it's typically the lemming effect. For our filming purposes we either want to go before the majority of the teams or after the majority of the teams just because it's more aesthetic and we don't want to have to be dealing with a lot of people on the summit or the summit ridge.

How are you feeling? And the rest of the team?

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Yeah, I'm doing fine. I haven't been sick at all. And the rest of the team, I'd say 50 percent are very strong and the others have had some minor illnesses--chest colds or head colds--and they're recovering now. So they will have plenty of time to recuperate by the time we go later. But as far as I'm concerned I'm feeling really lucky and good about my condition and haven't been sick at all.

Any interesting developments at base camp?

Most of the teams are here now. Todd Burleson's group just arrived a couple of days ago. It's quite a cast of characters here. We have a South African team here that, they're very inexperienced and they've admitted it, but they are quite happy to be here.

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One sad note, I would say. Traditionally, about 15 minutes from base camp, you walk along the moraine to the very foot of the icefall. And in the past you were able to leave your ice ax and crampons there. And then in the morning when you got there you'd put your crampons on and grab your ax and start climbing through the icefall. And then when you'd come down you'd simply deposit your stuff there and walk on back to base camp.

And we did that, as is the norm. And then somebody stole my crampons and David Breashear's and Robert Schauer's crampons. And it's kind of sad to note that thievery has come to Mount Everest. And now at the traditional depot of crampons and ice axes, it's deserted. Nobody is leaving their gear there now for fear of it being stolen. So it's kind of a sad note in the history of Mount Everest that it's like downtown Chicago now; you can't leave anything around because it's going to be stolen. So it's kind of sad. Personally, it's very sad for me.

How's the food?

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Well, my wife Paula, she's the base camp manager. She's been organizing the food. I mean we've had everything from sushi, pizza, Mexican meals, roast turkey for dinner. I mean it's been quite amazing. Breakfast is kind of a free-for-all. Coffee, and chapatis, and toast, or pancakes, and omelettes if you want it. And then lunch is usually snacks and sandwiches, cheese, and sausages, and chapatis, and soup and stuff like that. So the food has been great.

And then up high, we haven't had a cook yet. We have a cook at Camp II, but he wasn't there yesterday so we just kind of nibbled and snacked. But food is not a problem. We've got a lot of food. We've got a storage tent full of food and we call it the 7-11 'cause you walk in there and pretty much have whatever you want.

Any talk yet about heading over to Manaslu?

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Just very minimal talk. I think we're concentrating now on doing Everest and then hopefully wrapping that up and then hoping that we have time to do Manaslu. Right now it looks like I'll be going to Cho Oyu in the autumn as a guide. But I've talked to my friend from Finland here, Venka Gustafson, and we've talked about perhaps doing Nanga Parbat (8,125 meters) in the future. But it's all about just putting feelers out. There's nothing definite right now.

With all the climbers there, haven't plans started to hatch?

They're all in different groups. They all have their own teams to discuss with and worry about right now so we haven't really sat down together. I mean, Rob Hall is with his group. Venka is with his group. And Scott is with his group. So for us to get together to discuss something over dinner hasn't happened yet. It will probably have to be a big party, after we've had a couple of beers. Then we might discuss something more in the future.

What's ahead in the coming days?

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Well, tomorrow I have a rest day and then after that we're going up to Camp I. And we still have to do some filming up through the icefall. And then the day after that we're going to go up to Camp II and spend a couple of nights and then we're going to start fixing ropes towards Camp III, establish Camp III, and then before coming down, make a carry to the South Col at 26,000 feet. And if that goes well, then we'll all come down and then we should be ready to make a push for the summit after the weather stabilizes and the wind dies down off the summit itself.

We may be down in five days or we may be down in more like seven days. Something like that. It's all dependent on the weather and how we're pushing the route toward Camp III.

How do you monitor the weather conditions from base camp?

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Traditionally we don't use any type of weather service other than what the weather is doing day to day. And then the historical weather pattern, which is the best weather for summiting is anywhere from May 5 to May 15. What happens is the jet stream, which is now right on the summit, moves off the summit and then you get a spell of a week or two of perfectly clear weather with no wind on the summit. So that's what we're shooting for. But as far as day-to-day weather forecasting, we don't even bother. Just get up and look. If it's a good day you go, if it's a bad day you stay.