Welcome to Everest 2010

Welcome to the 2010 Everest Coverage. Even though most teams will not arrive in Kathmandu until late March, climbers are busy training, finalizing expedition members, organizing logistics and for some, making huge plans. Last year we saw over 300 summits and sadly, 5 deaths. For 2010, I am expecting a record number of summits after the nearly 500 summits set a single season record in 2007. There are several factors playing into this season.

First, the north side should return to near normal with the Chinese allowing more teams to climb. For the past two years, permits were difficult, if not impossible, to obtain with the Chinese taking the Olympic torch to the summit in 2008 and again restricting permits due to violence in Tibet in 2009. After a near normal 2009 fall season for Tibetan 8000m peaks, including Cho Oyu, all indications are that teams will make a comeback on the north.

Second, the world economy has stabilized thus enabling many climbers to once again separate themselves from the tens of thousands of dollars it takes for an Everest expedition – and the operators are most willing to cooperate!

Finally, many local operators out of Kathmandu have improved their services while maintaining low prices thus attracting a new group of climbers.

However, as always, safety should be everyone’s primary worry. In 2009, three climbers died on the north side, two who were climbing without supplemental oxygen. On the south,  the Khumbu Icefall was extremely unstable and took the life of Lhapka Nuru on May 7th. His body was finally recovered in September 10th by a team of Sherpas from Asian Trekking.

The Icefall dangers were so strong that some climbers refused to enter it and other teams including Russel Brice’s Himex, used nearby peaks to acclimatize in order to avoid multiple trips through the dangerous seracs.

2009 saw some maintenance on the mountain. Bolts were put into the Yellow Band on the South to improve the stability of the fixed lines and will speed climbers through this bottleneck. And for the mountain, several tons of garbage were removed through the efforts of Dawa Steven Sherpa’s Eco Everest Expedition.

There were some first, as always, and a few brave efforts including Korean Park Young-seok  new route variation on the Southwest Face after three previous failed attempts since 1991. Then the Kazakhstan team attempted the first true traverse from Lhotse to Everest and back down the West ridge but abandoned their effort with one member dying.

Technology also stood out last year and I expect the same for 2010. The launch of Eddie Bauer’s First Ascent clothing line took center stage with an elite team dispatching every move with audio, video to a nice website. But the Discovery Channel’s filming of their series, Everest: Beyond the Limits is what many Everest followers are waiting on. They followed climbers with IMG and Himalayan Experience with high-tech infrared cameras, microwave links and Sherpa-cams. The series is schedule to debut on January 6th, 2010 on the Discovery Channel.

A popular feature of my website coverage is tracking the location of climbers and teams. Similar to last year, a table will always be at the top of the main blog page showing team locations. I will update it as I recieve reliable information but remember it is high level and there may be team members at several different camps. Also, I will add new teams as we get closer to the start of the season. Please send me the name of a team and their website if you woudl like it covered.

Next up is a look at some of the climbers for 2010 plus a big announcement of another attempted first on Everest.

Climb On!

Alan