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This is one of the more difficult seasons I have covered to sum up in one word so let me use several: wind, tragedy, misinformation, spin and summits. Overall it was a good year, a normal year with many summits on both sides plus the average death toll. I think we saw how the pressure to be first with news can backfire with incorrect stories but we also saw the power of dreams. Similar to 2016, there were no natural disasters or issues with people getting along, other than a few individuals acting very irresponsibly and selfishly. While weather forecasting proved to be continue reading

This season had more twists and intrigue than a U.S. Presidential election. While not completely over, this past week brought a strong end for almost all the teams on both sides of Everest. Many dreams came true, like that of my climbing buddy Jim Davidson (who is already back home in Colorado!), and for others they set a difficult goal but were disappointed like Ralf Dujmovits. Perhaps the strangest twist of the week, or season, came from the report of four bodies found at the South Col. Then it was said they made a mistake but came back and said there are bodies, just continue reading

The same people that reported 4 bodies – 2 Sherpas, 1 foreign woman and 1 foreign male – were found at the South Col now say they got it all wrong. I spoke live with both key sources last night. Managing Director at Seven Summit Treks, Mingma Sherpa, who provided the the information to Himalayan Times reporter Rajan Pokhrel who wrote the story. Both now say it was a mistake and were no 4 new bodies. I also confirmed with another Nepali operator Navin Trital plus long time Everest climber and guide, Willie Benegas of Benegas Brothers contacted me from the South Col and said no new bodies. He said he checked every tent. Too Many Bodies? continue reading

A horrible tragedy today on Everest. 2 foreigners and 2 Sherpa “guides” were found dead in the same tent at the South Col, 8000 meters. Rajan Pokhrel broke the story a few minutes ago on the Himalayan Times It was very windy and many teams choose to stay in their tents and not go for the summit. Update 2: Sources, reporters and officials now say report was wrong Update 1: as usual with stories like this,  differing information will emerge. However, my main points remain the same. It doesn’t matter if one person died, four or 40. There are long overdue changes in the way Everest is guided and climbed. I will break my continue reading