The first time I heard that an 11 year-old was climbing the 7 Summits, I dismissed it. 11 years old? Where does he get the money. Who will take him on these climbs? And, what does a 11 year-old know about climbing anyway. Well a few years went by and I heard about this kid again, but this time he had climbed 5 of the 7 and was on his way to Everest. Whoa. Jordan Romero is not your ordinary 8th grader and his father Paul is not your ordinary Dad. Jordan saw a painting at school showing the highest [continue reading]
With the controversial summit from the Tibet side by 13 year old Jordan Romero, China seems to feel enough is enough. Starting this fall, 2010, climbers must be between 18 and 60 to be issued a permit. This was announced by the China Tibet Mountaineering Association (CTMA) who manages mountaineering in Tibet. In a report they said
Even though the season is over and climbers are back home, the ramifications from 2010 still echos throughout the climbing world. There are two developments – youngest records and the search for proof that Mallory and Irvine summited in 1924. First, the records race. This is precisely what people feared from the 13 year-old Jordan Romero’s summit. According to this article, Sherpa Pemba Dorje wants to find a younger climber to summit in 2011 saying that all Everest records should belong to Nepalese.
With the summits mostly ended, climbers are making their way back down to Base Camp. As they recover from their summit push, stories are emerging of rescues. Once again, we are seeing tangible proof that the climbing community is a tight one; especially in times of need. We are also seeing that pure accidents happen in spite of every precaution and mountaineering is dangerous and altitude treats everyone the same; regardless of experience. While impressive and motivating to non-climbers, one of the downsides of having a 13, 16 and 22 year old summits this year is that it could portray [continue reading]
May 222010
May 22nd, 2010 will be a day recorded in history: the youngest person to summit Everest and the person with the most summits in history on the same same day yet from different sides. Apa Sherpa at age 47 made his 20th summit with the Eco Everest team and on the other side of the mountain, 13 year-old Jordan Romero along with his dad and Sherpa team made the top of the world, his 6th of the 7 summits. What a day. Jordan showed his strength by going directly from camp 2 to the summit. I am not sure of [continue reading]
May 212010
update #4: the next wave of summits are moving up in good weather. Best of luck to all these climbers. Saturday morning climbers are moving down the mountain on both sides. No problems reported as of now. The weather continues to be good. update #3: Multiple south summits from Adventure Consultants and Eco Everest team in excellent conditions. Special congratulations Ang Dorge Sherpa with his 14th summit and Apa Sherpa with his 20th. Mandy Ramsden, 1st SA for 7 Summits and Arjun Vajpayee, youngest Indian to summit. Jordan Romero bags his summits as well at age 13. His SPOT map [continue reading]
May 202010
The last summit window was heralded as a great success by many teams. However it was not without incidents and many were not reported. EverestER, the base camp medical facility on the south posted a very revealing report on this summit window. And there are other reports on both sides from this season. First from the south and EverestEr: Approximately 90 people reached the summit of Everest in the last few days, a rough total of Sherpas and foreigners. Congratulations to all for getting down alive, summit or no summit. There were no fatalities. Along with summit bids, however, comes [continue reading]
Focus on Everest
Everest 2010
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May 202010
Teams are all over Everest today, some climbing; other stuck. High winds on both sides made progress difficult and sometimes impossible for some teams as they continue to push hard to avoid the impending weather. It is snowing at Base Camp on the south and the winds are pummeling the north side; stopping some teams only as high as the North Col. This from 7 Summits Club: The first group of expedition 7 Summits Club is blocked at the North Col (7000 m) by strong winds. For the second day, no one could go up. Sherpas, who were unable to [continue reading]
May 182010
Excitement is building once again for more summits as team after team left Base Camp for camp 2 on the south and ABC on the north. Their enthusiasm, however, was tempered by talk of monsoons in India; more on that in a moment. There were talks of additional summits for Tuesday, May 18th, but nothing has been reported. As the weekend summiters return to base camp on the south, more details are coming in of summits. First up is on the north, Julio Bird’s wife Maribel sent me this email: I just talked to Julio. He reached the top on [continue reading]
May 172010
There were at least 40 summits on Monday morning, May 16th from the south side. It is still not clear if there were any from the north. The winds did pick up late Monday bringing a stop to this brief window. There were no reports of serious problems with any of the climbers at this time. After a false start on Saturday night when the winds did not cooperate, teams huddled at the South Col, some spending an extra night which is usually avoided. But Sunday night, the winds still between 40 and 50 mph at the Col, let up [continue reading]
Everest 2010 Weekend Update May 16
Everest 2010, Weekend Update
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May 162010
We can summarize the week in one word: weather. After the excitement of summits on May 5th and 7th, teams on both sides watched this week as the jet stream sat parked on the summit of Everest creating a huge plume of ice crystals that provided second thoughts on going to the summit. But first a quick update for today, Sunday, on Everest. Teams are progressing higher with reports of acceptable winds for the moment. There could be 50 or more climbers on the south and perhaps the same number on the north since the ropes were fixed to the [continue reading]
The situation on the south side of Everest continues to be quite fluid. I have confirmed Phil Crampton of Altitude Junkies’ update that Ann-Marie will NOT attempt the summit during this narrow window. Phil had already kept the rest of his team back at base camp. They are planning on using the longer weather window in the forecast about a week from now. The situation is simply too dangerous according to Phil.
May 112010
It is getting interesting on Everest. Almost in Vegas fashion, teams are placing their bets on multiple weather forecasts but the stakes are higher than the table minimum. Most are content to stay at base camp and socialize, rest and wait for the clear window that appears year after year. Others are more aggressive with their bets looking to position themselves at the high camps and then take advantage of the next narrow opening. As we saw last week, this can work, but the most experienced teams are content with a wait and see approach.
There is a summit bid currently underway in what could be difficult conditions. But first a small surprise on yesterday’s summits. Previous reports emphatically said no western climbers were to be allowed to join the Sherpa rope fixing team, however, it seems that western guides were exempted.As I have previously mentioned the search for Sandy Irvine and the infamous 1924 camera might be underway again this season. This has become an annual event with most searches conducted under a tight veil of secrecy. The question everyone is trying to answer is did Mallory and Irvine summit Everest in 1924? Well, Jake Norton is writing a multi-part series on his site about the mystery.
May 022010
Well, right on schedule a somewhat unexpected snowstorm, complete with lightening and thunder, rolled into the Everest camps. Climbers stopped in their tracks, literally, to wait it out. Needless to say, this put a bit of a chill on talks of an early summit. But we will see. As I had mentioned before, it uncanny how the weather is excellent in April then turns ugly on May 1st almost every year – happy May Day!
There was a large avalanche near the North Col on Monday, Tibet time. Before going further, remember that breaking news of accidents from Everest, especially from the north side, in almost every case is inaccurate. The early reports from multiple teams are contradictory. Some say it was a rock fall but most eyewitness are saying it was a large serac or cornice that collapsed near the fixed ropes.
For most Everest climbers this is week three or four away from home. They are making good on their acclimatization efforts with over 100 climbers now having spent a night or two as high as camp 2 on the south however significantly fewer even touching the North Col on the north. The fixed line on the south is already to the Yellow Band above camp 3 and should be to the South Col in a few days. This will enable the Sherpas to begin the incredibly hard work of ferrying hundreds of oxygen bottles for their climber’s summit bids.
Apr 132010
Life is getting into a rhythm at Everest Base Camp. Report after report note the cold nights and warm days. They will wish for the cold once they get into the heat of the Western Cwm! Over on the north Bill Burke reports heavy snow overnight, not unusual for the north side. He also said that ABC has not been established on the north. We may see the first summits from the south this year. Also, an update on Jordan Romero.
Apr 122010
Update: Jordan does have a permit to climb on the north. The article below was from a Nepal official where the minimum age is 16. 13 year-old Jordan Romero had captured the world media with his bid to summit the highest mountain on each of the earth’s continents, the 7 Summits. He had already summited 6 (actually 7 including Kosciuszko in Australia) and is currently on his way to Apparently, there is a snag.
When are you too old to climb Everest; or too young? How about 13 or 80? Does age really matter anymore? Let’s take a look at some of the youngest and oldest climbers thus far on Everest and who is climbing in 2010.
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