Everest 2018: Summit Wave 6 Recap, Wave 7 Underway – Update 1

UPDATE 1:

Matt Moniz and Willie Benegas had to slow down and stop because they were climbing too fast otherwise they wold miss the sunrise!!!!  he messaged “We went way too fast, we are burrowed in at south summit waiting for the sun inr.ch/5CEYVJJ – Matt Moniz” They waited an hour for sunrise and summited per Matt’s Tracker at  4:49 am.

Also the first Greeks to summit Kang.

Another good day on Mount Everest. This weather window has been about as good as it gets on Everest. Yes, there has been a bit of wind now and then but overall, it’s looking like a record number of consecutive days of summits may happen. Saturday 19 May makes the seventh straight day and there are teams headed up Saturday night for Sunday summits as well as for Monday and Tuesday summits.

Nepal – 50+

Adventure Consultants continued their success with 100% on the summit, 6 members, 2 guides and 13 Sherpas. Sangeeta S Bahl made her summit after ending early last year. She and her husband Ankur Bahl are both Everest summiteers now. He summited in 2016 at age 55! He believes his wife is the oldest Indian female to have summited at 53 years 3 months and 10 days. She was a Miss India finalist in 1985. Seven Summits Treks had all their Indian team summit, 7 members with 8 Sherpas. Tim Mosedale reports two members and Sherpas summited.

Tibet – 30+

Danish Everest climber Rasmus Kragh turned back 820’/250m from the summit. He was trying to become the first Dane to summit without supplemental oxygen or Sherpa climbing support. Transcend has at least two members on the summit out of their third team. A member’s illness delayed them by at least one day. The member was taken to the Nepal border and flown to Kathmandu where I’m told he is out of danger. Looks like Summit Climb summited from the Tibet side , no details. Also, after a bit of a wait, Alyssa Azar is reported to have summited.

Wave 7 underway for Sunday morning summits 20 May

Matt Moniz and Willie Benegas are on their summit push now nearing the Balcony. They hope to summit Everest on the 20th and Lhotse on the 21st.  You can follow Willie’s GPS tracker or Matt’s.  7 Summits Club are hoping for continued success for their last three teams.

Alpenglow‘s Cho Oyu summit team are climbing now. They are trying to summit both Cho and Everest within 30 days. Tenji Sherpa and Jon Griffiths are schedule to do a no O’s Everest/Lhotse climb with live stream any day now. Also, South African, Sibusiso Vilane who has summited from both sides is now on the South attempting without supplemental Os. He’s was C3 and headed up now.

Next Up

Asian Trekking has a mind blowing 41 members hoping to summit starting Sunday 20 May through 25 May. The commercial teams of Alpine Ascents, IMG and are all headed up now, most are at C3 or the South Col Saturday. Ben Jones of AAI made a comment that caught my eye suggest a change in the weather “The entire team is doing excellent and looking forward to heading to the South Col tomorrow if the forecast still looks good for us! I’ll send some photos tomorrow and let you know if we decided to head to the South Col (Camp 4) at almost 8,000m.“

Furtenbach has their “flash” team at C2 hoping to get to the summit on the 22nd. They pre-acclimatized and are on a 4 week home to home program. David Liaño is now on Everest and Lhotse before heading to K2. He attempted Kang but was stopped by weather. Nobukazu Kuriki is at C2 now hoping to summit in a day or two. Rupert Jones Warner is traveling to the Tibet side for his next attempt. He summited from Nepal on 17 May. Horia Colibasanu and Peter Hámor are at C2 on the Nepal side hoping to summit via the West Ridge then traverse to Lhotse. They are concerned about the incoming weather since they need several days. Not looking good for their effort as near the end of the season.

Other 8000ers

Seven Summits Treks put 8 Indian climbers on the summit of Dhaulagiri  albeit in extreme cold with low winds chills and a slightly different message from other climbers. Carlos Soria had dropped out two days ago. My dear friend Ryan Kushner and his team turned back due to the extreme conditions so I not 100% sure the AT team summited. One of his partner, Christopher Manning sent this sat message:

Sat Message from Christopher Manning from Camp 2 ( Lat 28.706771 Long: 83.51371)

“Yes everything is ok, but the wind was high and fixed ropes not in place. I decided after an hour of waiting @7,600m to descend. The remaining 9 climbers Including Debasish Biswas stayed to go up further. No idea if they summited or their status currently. I left with my partner Ryan from C3 to C2. Any other ..Oh yes a big team did from many expeditions. Debasis Biswas and Waldi (Poland ) from 7 summits after their expedition cancelled with 1 Sherpa. 5 from Taiwan, Two ladies from Spain Lina Castro I think her name is and Eva from Spain. Myself and Ryan Kushner from the USA. I don’t think the weather was good, very cold Maybe -20 but with winds up to 60kph which made it feel very cold.”

Asian Trekking has a 12 member Indian team plus another seven international group on Kanchenjunga hoping to summit over the weekend.

Reflections

I like what Guy Cotter, principle fo Adventure Consultants had to say about his and his member, Leow Kah Shin’s summit of Everest and Lhotse within 254 hours of each other:

It’s not about the summit. It’s more about the entire experience, or set of experiences, that make up the journey as a whole. There are many times it is uncomfortable and we’d rather be anywhere else. There are also times we’re extremely satisfied and happy to be where we are because the environment we are in is so incredible we feel very, very privileged to be here. We see the world we live in in a different way that very few people get to experience and that broadens our awareness of the world away from the two dimensional world view that most us us know.

Since congratulations to all.

Climb On!
Alan
Memories are Everything