Everest 2017: Start, Stop Start, Summits

The variable weather is creating confusion with some teams, while others being more patient seem to have the timing just right. And we have summits on the north side last night! There are a few teams trying again tonight. The winds are supposed to begin to calm.

Several teams at the South Col late Thursday night (Nepal time) were hoping to summit early Friday morning. Some left, while others just stayed in their tents. The winds were gusting and whipping tents making them miserable at 8000 meters.

Those who left returned before reaching the Balcony using up their precious oxygen supplies. There was no Os for a second attempt, and probably little energy.

SummitClimb‘s Nepal team, who wins the award for the shortest updates of the season, posted:

We just received a radio call: Everest summit very windy: many teams turning back = no summit.

They did report over on Lhotse: 2 more members just summited with 2 Sherpas.

Mingma Sherpa with Dreamers Destnation noted the toll on the climbers:

Many tried Summit today but they returned back to south col because of high wind. Some news are out which said members and sherpa got frostbite.

Summit Fever

In 2008, I had a similar experience. I climbed just below the Balcony but felt I was going too slow and turned myself back. However, once I got back to the South Col, I felt great and thought I should try again. Thankfully, calmer heads prevailed plus I didn’t have enough oxygen bottle to try again so I return the Camp 2. On the down climb, I realized how spent I was. The best decision was to retreat and climb another day – which I did to the summit in 2011!

But these decisions are extremely difficult. The notion of ‘summit fever” sets in. This is a real phonenoum. You know you can climb higher. You are so focused on reaching your long time goal, that common sense becomes secondary. Having an experienced, trusted climbing partner is key to making good decisions. Just like in life, just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.

Windows, Weather and Communication

Camp 2 on the south side is pretty busy. If you look at the tracking table, you can see who is there. Simply put, most of base camp has moved to Camp2, often also called Advanced Base Camp on the south side.

It is located on a rocky section to the climber’s left as you ascend from Camp 1. It is about an hour, more or less, from the base of the Lhotse Face. Needless to say the views are stunning, especially at sunset.

Most climbers have spent anywhere from 3 to 6 nights already here with prior acclimatization rotations. Teams have full time cooks and dining tents so it is fairly comfortable. But, and this is a 1st World Problem :), there are no generators, no WiFi and no heaters – oh my!

A similar scenario is happening on the north side at Advanced Base Camp. But yaks can ferry gear there so they have a few more luxuries depending on the team.

However on both sides, climbers are 100% focused on the days ahead.

The previously forecasted window of 21-26 seems to be holding but, and this is a biggy,  big winds expected on the 22nd. Also the atmosphere is warming up a bit so the extremely cold temp of -40F may warm to a balmy -20F on  the summit.

Communication

The good news of this push is that the majority of the teams are lead by long time Everest guides on both sides. They have worked together, and generally communicate well. They support one another as needed in emergencies.

This does not mean there won’t be crowds but hopefully, teams move steadily. Last year one large team moved so slowly that others were stuck behind them using up precious oxygen and getting frostbite.

South Updates:

Adventure Consultants reports in from C2:

Everest Expedition 2017 – May 18 Dispatch – Camp 2 – This evening we are back in Camp 2. Another early start with a midnight breakfast had us climbing through the icefall well before dawn. We were escorted up to the first ladder by our Base Camp dogs, Blizzard and Gale, whose claws seemed to grip as well as our crampons. Above Camp 1, the hot temperatures in the Western Cwm delivered as usual and night time temperatures rose considerably.

Now we are staged at Camp 2 we are in a better position to take advantage of favourable weather conditions when it occurs. It is important to be in the right place on the mountain when conditions improve, as we need a 5 day period to travel from Base Camp to summit. By staging at Camp 2 we reduce that to 3 days, so it’s easier to be opportunistic. Tomorrow we will rest here and study the weather forecast when it arrives in the afternoon.

Meanwhile, Ang Dorjee and Paul will move to Camp 3 tomorrow, good luck to them.

IMG still has  a fair number of climbers at base camp waiting for the final push. The weather appears to be getting better day by day so this strategy will most likely work again this year.  Last year IMG had one of the last teams to summit. For their climbers at C2 they reported:

At evening check-in, the Team was doing great and looking forward to a rest day tomorrow. We are keeping our eye on the weather and looking forward to heading up the Lhotse Face soon. High winds are predicted for the upper mountain tonight and tomorrow so the timing is perfect for the rest day.

I get a request daily to report on specific teams or climbers. There is a lot of national and personal pride out there – all well deserved. glad to do this when there is unique news but many smaller team simply don’t update enough.

Anyway here is a shout out to the Greek team at C2! Climb On!!

North Updates – Summits!

7 Summits Club who left base camp a  few days ago reported their first summits of the season:

Alexander Abramov, head of the expedition, from the slopes of Mount Everest.

Welcome to the North Col, 7,000 m. Today, our group up here in order to 22th climb to the top. Today at 6:00 Andrew Ctarikovsky ascended to the summit of Mount Everest. For him and the rest of the team led by Sergey Larin. Around 12:00 pm I reached the summit. Now at 16:00 the team went to the camp … 8300

There has been a steady stream of north summits this year as teams take advantage of better weather than on the south or skillfully squeeze into small windows. A bit risky, but summits nonetheless.

Finally, those climbers who were stuck in Namache and Lukla by the fog, I am glad to note they are now with their teams and hopefully headed higher soon.

Climb On!
Alan
Memories are Everything