By Alan ArnetteEverest, Everest 2012 Coverage, Weekend Update4 min read

Everest 2012: Summit Wave 4 – Summits!!! – Update 1

Everest Plume
Everest Plume

Update 1 – Summits

Kenton Cool has reached the summit on Friday morning, May 25 abut 4:45 AM. He is preparing to send a live video update from the summit to the BBC. Check his Facebook page for more information.

Update 1.5: I just spoke with Kenton Cool’s home team and the laptop went down due to the extreme cold so they will do an interview from C4 when the get down in a few hours. Kenton reported the winds were picking up bit overall a great day on Top of the World!

Adventure Consultants summited at 5:10 AM as they passed the Hillary Step, medicine making excellent time, they reported the winds have picked up a bit, but again this is semi-normal as the sun rises.

Also Peak Freaks reports their first summits at 5:15 with the rest of their entire team close behind.

The fourth wave of summits is underway. Teams have cleared the Balcony and are currently climbing the Southeast Ridge on the south or just below the Steps on the North.

Expect to read a lot of alarmist statement about crowds and more death (non reported) but let’s see how the evening plays out. I hope it will return to the Everest of recent years. There is a lot of mis-information, and hype that is serving purposes other than climbing mountains right now. (my opinion)

The first wave was on May 16/17 when the ropes were fixed and the Chilean team summited. The second on 18/19, the third on 19/20 – these were just last weekend with the crowds and sadly 6 deaths between both the North (2) and South (4) sides.

Today, May 24 the fourth has started with summits expected tomorrow morning, May 25. The last wave will occur over May 25/26 wrapping up the season for most teams. There may be some final small team efforts on the North but unlikely. High winds are expected to return on Sunday.

For an overview of today, please visit my previous post I put up earlier today.

General Updates During Summits:

Please note I may update the site a few times a day during these summit pushes so you will receive several emails if you subscribed to receive updates. If you are wondering about a specific team or climber, please understand that I cannot follow everyone because most of the climbers and teams do not have websites or are not providing updates.

The normal practice is once the team summits, they report the results to the Nepal Ministry of Tourism and they eventually publish a press release or report – this can take days or months for the official report. Hopefully the team you are interested in will publish something through their hometown press if/when they summit.

Weather and Team Updates

Higher than wanted winds hit the teams as they were leaving the South Col but still within some teams safety margins. Others felt it is too strong and will wait for Friday night.

The reports are coming in of good progress thus far with good weather, clear skies and manageable winds. Adventures Consultants says they are at the Balcony in 4 hours which is excellent time and indicates no crowd issues for them. Kenton Cool reported in at the same spot a bit earlier.

The Benegas Brothers reported in that their team of 10 are at the Balcony and this post as they left the South Col:

The time has come! It is 8:45pm local time in Nepal and the BBE Everest Team of Willie Benegas, Hernan Carracedo, Pablo Betancourt, Fernando Grajales and Fernando Rodriguez de Hoz are soon to depart Camp 4 at the South Col of Everest. They are in the finest company of Climbing Sherpas Tendi Sherpa, Phurba Gyalgen Sherpa, Funuru Sherpa, Lhakpa Sonam Sherpa and Mingma Tenji Sherpa.

Peak Freaks reported their team of 12 has passed the Balcony and this earlier:

the forecasts looks really good. Climbers don’t like to climb in wind over 20k and 30k+  is pushing it but some still do. Our forecast is showing to be wavering around 5 to 10k on the 24th night, and the team is reporting that they feel it calming considerably tonight already.

But Chris Klinke’s home team posted he will wait 24 hours and go tomorrow night:

They are waiting one more day for a summit due to high winds (25 mph) and crowds.   Winds at 25mph can really zap energy and put you at risk for frost bite, so they are going to hang out in their tents and attempt a summit early on Saturday morning (May 26th).  Another factor is that there are about 140 people up at camp 4 (south col) and about 100 are attempting tonight.   Hopefully tomorrow will be a bit less crowded.

Mountain Trip also reported they will wait 24 hours for the same reasons. There seems to be a wide range being reported on the actual number of climbers on the route tonight. I have seen from 70 to 150. In any event, with several teams delaying by 24 hours to Friday night, the risk of crowds at the bottlenecks is quickly going down. Dave Hahn’s RMI team have also decided to wait it out at the South Col.

IMG and  Asian Trekking’s large Indian teams are at Camp 3 and will climb to the South Col tomorrow and begin their push Friday night with summits Saturday morning.

Climb On!
Alan
Memories are Everything

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26 thoughts on “Everest 2012: Summit Wave 4 – Summits!!! – Update 1”

    1. IMG reported them at the Balcony at 1:30AM Nepal time so now, 4AM, they are probably near the South Summit. That would put them on a first summit schedule of between 5 and 6 AM, most likely around 7.

  2. I can’t get any news of the Summitclimb group going up now. Any spots on them? Or estimates. I knkow it is a small group.

      1. agreed, I thought there were 2 more than the blog you referenced, and one of them was my friend. I will continue to check. Thank you for your help. You seem to have an amazing handle on things there, and provide much help to family and friends.

  3. From Jagged Globe http://www.jagged-globe.co.uk/news/despatches_list.html?id=39

    08:43 25th May (GMT) – Summits on Everest and Lhotse!

    We are happy to announce that eleven members of the Jagged Globe 2012 Everest team summited Everest this morning (Leader, David Hamilton (6th summit), climbers; Cian, Warner (first Costa Rican to summit Everest), Ian, Phil and Nick, plus Sherpas, Mingma (18th summit), Thundu (5th summit), Ang Di, Phurbu (3rd summit) and Tsering (5th summit).

    They are all back at the South Col sleeping now. Bruno decided to turn around on the Triangular Face with Pumba and Brett reached c8,500m with Pasang, before descending.

    The team left the South Col at 2015. David, Warner and Cian were on the summit at 0600, Phil and Ian summited at 0700 and Nick at 0800.

    On Lhotse, Adele summited with Kilu Sherpa very quickly (not sure of exact time), having left Camp 4 at 0015. She is on her way down to Camp 2.

    David said that the route was not as busy as they had expected. We’ll update when we have more details. For now, congratulations to the teams!

  4. Hi Alan,
    Thank you for your blog. I have been following the news since weeks We were trekking in Nepal in April 2010 and are very interested what is going on in Nepal. We also read the pages written by Kari Kobler and Ueli Steck.

    We whish all the teams who are on the way a safe summit, no strong winds and specially a safe way down !!!

    good luck to everyone and thanks
    regards from sunny switzerland, Susanne

  5. congratulations to Kenton Cool for his summit & resolve to take Olympic Medal to the top. Would be interested for his talk in the face book. Eagerly awaiting for the most possibly final summit wave of this season.
    However no information is there regarding North side further summit attempts.

  6. Hi Alan, Thankyou for your blog. I have been following daily for weeks. My husband is with Peak Freaks and came so so close to the summit this morning. Had to turn back at Hiliary step with vision problems.
    This blog has been a great source of information and insight into the goings on up there. It’s been reassuring and alarming and exciting and ….everything! I know you say you’re just a guy who likes to climb but you’ve really helped all of us at home who are waiting and wondering. And bringing awareness to a devastating disease at the same time.
    Thanks and good on you.
    Trudy. (Australia)

  8. Thank you Allan for sharing the great news always. Wishing for safe way down to BC to every one.

    Anwar Syed
    ———————————————–
    Lela Peak Expeditions Pakistan

    1. I jsut Tweeted: Follow live #Everest climber Ian Ridley with Jagged Globe via SPOT on SE ridge, a few hours from summit bit.ly/JNc1Dh

      2. Hi Alan,

        thanks again for your updates. Ian Ridley has summited according to his Spot and arrives back at South Col abut 20 minutes ago. It seemed that the spot of my friend Warner Rojas (Ian’s teammate) did not work well (no updates from SC-Summit-Balcony), but as the last 15 updates or so are from the same locations as Ian’s I assume he summited as well and he is also back at SC.

        Cheers,
        Harry

  12. “Now we are at Everest Base Camp, we come down from the yellow bands. Tomorrow it will be a disaster. Today there was 210 climbers on the fixed ropes gong up. Impossible to pass, 6-7 people without oxygen and all the others with O2 from Camp 2! Tomorrow it is impossible  for me to try without oxygen, with that impressive row I predict problems” . These the words of Simone Moro as soon as re-entered to the Everest base Camp, after having renounced definitively to try to summit Everest without oxygen and to try the Everest-Lhotse traverse. He almost reached the South Col but he was forced to re-enter to the base Camp stopped from too many people who, in these hours, crowd the normal way of climb Everest. ” I have seen people that was not able to put the Jumar in the fixed rope and at every node called the sherpa in order to remove it and to replace in the rope. With all that people tomorrow will be a drama. I’m very sorry, I was in good shape, fast, no headache, but having 210 people when you come up or came down it is a suicide. It means to wait for hours with an high risk of frostbit”.    ” Tomorrow there will be 200 persons who go up towards the summit – Moro concluded -, and the day after tomorrow others 100. They seem all driven crazy for Everest but the climber level is often shameful. Mine however does not want to be a claim. Everest belongs to all and that satisfied people and creates business in Nepal, but try to traverse Everest-Lhotse now is Impossible, I will try it in autumn or in other moment. Now it is crazy. There are people death all-around “.

    1. Andrea, thanks for this. As I commented on another post – As we get into the night, May 25 early morning in Nepal, it sounds like things are going well. A few teams have chosen to stay at the Col and go tomorrow night, some are pushing in good conditions tonight. overall, this feels like a ”normal” Everest summit push over the past decade. let’s hope so. Moro made a good call to abandon his climb given he was going without supplemental O’s imho. Ueli Steck climbed on day 1 with the rope team to ensure he could move fast – good plan if you climb without O’s.

        1. u can use a jumar all the way until the top, fixed rope is the safest way to go, imagine the no of fatalities without, u wouldnt wanna hazard a guess.

  13. Wishing them all a safe summit and safe decent, have everything crossed X Thanks for todays fab reports and insight.

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