You never know who you鈥檙e going to run into in the lobby of the . The former royal palace, with its scarlet lobby chairs, baby grand piano, and bar that serves a cold Tuburg beer, is the last gasp of Kathmandu comfort for climbers and trekkers on their way to the Khumbu. It鈥檚 the kind of place you might see Elizabeth Hawley interviewing . Or having dinner with Wongchu Sherpa, his head sirdar back in the mid-90s when Breashears was filming the.
So it was not too surprising when our microbus, jammed with 22 bright blue duffelsand ten trekkers, pulled into the hotel鈥檚 circular reception area after a 20-hour flight from the States, practically ran into this massive banner: 鈥淗earty welcome to the Everest Base Camp Trek Group Celebrating the 25th Anniversary of Dick Bass鈥檚 Ascent of Mount Everest April 30, 1985.鈥
Considering that Bass will soon turn 81 years old, I wasn鈥檛 sure if the Man himself would actually be commemorating his own climb. But having just read , the book by Bass, Frank Wells, and Rick Ridgeway that chronicles the owner of 鈥檚 successful attempt to be the first man to climb the seven highest mountains in the world, I started to stalk Bass as if he were a rock star.
First, I checked with hotel reception, who told me that, no, there was no Mr. Bassstaying here. I didn鈥檛 believe them. So the next morning I scouted the breakfast buffet, with its piles of croissants and steaming eggs and bacon, looking for a Texan with a big grin. He couldn鈥檛 have changed that much from the 25-year-old photos in the book.
Our team had only two nights at the Yak & Yeti before starting out on our owntrek to Base Camp, so time was running out. Finally, on the second evening, as I was late for dinner, one of my teammates called me in my room.
鈥淪teph! Get down here! Dick Bass is in the lobby!鈥
Sure enough, standing in the lobby, was a gregarious man bearing a slight resemblance to Jack Nicholson dressed in bright orange tennis shoes, khaki cargo pants, and a giant turquoise bolo with a plaid shirt. He was taking out his false teeth to show them to a growing crowd. I didn鈥檛 get the full false-teeth story. But then Bass launched into his plan in Nepal: Tomorrow he鈥檚 flying in a helicopter to Tengboche at 12,800 feet to start his trek to Base Camp in order to be there on time for the 25th Anniversarycelebration.
Bass was late for dinner, but he still planted three kisses on my cheek, one for hisFrench third, one for his German third, and one for his Scotch-Irish third. The gesture made him late for dinner, but he was still game for a photo.
鈥淗urry up take the picture!鈥 he said. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 suck in my belly forever!鈥
–Stephanie Pearson