A Monday on Everest is not a lot different than a Thursday or a Saturday. If you still need to get an acclimatization climb in, you have work to do. If you are finished, then you sit back and wait for five days of good conditions for a run to the top of the world.
The weather held off for Sunday as Scott Woolums, Mountain Trip, mentioned in this post:
Perfect weather this morning. Our 4th day up at Camp 2. Lots of people moving below and above Camp 3 now. Always a good thing to remember, there is no hurry. Lots of people appear to be planning early summits, but there still are no fixed lines to the summit and the jet stream is coming back with very high winds in the forecast out as far as the 20th. We are hoping things come together for earlier teams as that will ease the traffic later. Were all looking forward to getting back down to base camp and lower, just a few more days up here to go!
Once climbers are finished with their rotations, the Sherpas tend to take a short vacation back in their home villages. I was always amazed how they “run” down valley for an overnight or even a day trip.
Tim Rippel, Peak Freaks, notes:
Sherpa climbers will re for their big rest. Because our staff are all from Khumbu they can run home and catch up with their families. Check on the gardens and yaks, get caught up on house chores and visit with their families they’ve not seen for six weeks. This is an exciting time for them, this marks the half way point of the season.
On Monday, the Jagged Globe team made the climb to Camp 3 in a very nice 5 hours:
The climbers left Camp 2 at 0500 this morning, arriving at Camp 3 between 0930 and 1030. They report that the weather was calm and sunny and the mountain very quiet. They will spend the rest of the day in Camp 3 and sleep there tonight, before descending back down to Camp 2.
A couple of items from this post: good conditions and good weather. If the Lhotse Face has too little or too much snow, it is more difficult than normal. This year, there have already been comments that the route up the Face is direct with no loose snow. As always it is icy towards the upper Camp 3 and that is confirmed this year but overall it appears to be perfect for ‘fast-ish’ climbs.
That said, Dan Hughes with Jagged Globe posted a brief 1 minute video of their team while on the Face. It gives a good sense of the difficulty as you cannot understand a word he says due to his heavy breathing!
The second item is the good weather. Teams had been rushing to get their Camp 3 climbs in on the south based on the fear of high winds. However, it seems they never really materialized to the degree feared. While still stiff, they were manageable. David Tait made this comment, somewhat tongue in cheek:
Where are the forecast gales? It is a little early to begin berating some anonymous Swiss weather guru, but nevertheless, in the context of my goal, he skates on very thin ice.
I agree on not slamming the forecasts too much. It is very difficult to predict Everest weather. Better than in the 1990’s but still like home, it is not always perfect.
Unique Climber Updates
An update from the Russian climbers Denis Urubko and Alexey Bolotov attempting a new route without O’s. I think Google needs to work on their Russian translation, but we get the idea:
Dennis and Alex climbed the South Col. We are trying to survive) A couple of nights around 8000 meters. Alex is sick, but keeps the brand. The sunsets are incredible in a riot of colors, pragmatic chew Ryazan crackers
David Liano, attempting a double summit, posted an update on his progress after sleeping at Camp 3. He laments his efforts to paraglide off the summit as well.
Weather Windows
In the latest update from Himex, they report all three of their climbing teams, Everest, Lhotse and Nuptse, have completed their acclimatization programs and are waiting for the summit window. Brice estimated a brief window near May 10th for the Sherpas to complete fixing the lines to the summit but word has it they did some work today, Monday Nepal time. Most teams are looking at a true summit bid near May 18th, but it is the weather forecast!
North Fatality Update
I had mentioned yesterday that there were three helicopter rescues from as high as Camp 2 in the Western Cwm. One of them was for a Sherpa with Asian Trekking who was hit in the back of the head by a falling rock. Even with ‘good’ conditions on the Lhotse Face, rocks still fall. He is reported to be in Kathmandu and out of danger.
An update the death on the north side, Sergey Ponomarev died at Advanced Base Camp on the north side presumably of a heart attack. He was with 7 Summits Club. There is a complete report on the 7 Summits Club blog. My deep condolences to his family, friends and teammates.
Climb On!
Alan
Memories are Everything
3 thoughts on “Everest 2013: The Work of Climbing”
RIP Sergey
Although things are fairly quiet on Everest at the moment Alan still manages to put together an interesting read. It is always sad to hear of a death whilst someone is chasing their dream. Thoughts are with friends and family at this time.Kate
Thanks for the continued updates, even when at times this means sad news.
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