Teams are all over Everest today, no 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 carry loads to the upper camps, are also sitting in the tents. The second group remains in the camp ABC. Waiting on Everest, tedious, anxious – it is a heavy need. The main thing is not to get sick, save a form. Wind is expected to become moderate already the next night. However, in the coming days are expected with snowfalls. Would it be a good window for climb ?
But a report just in shows Jordan Romeo’s SPOT tracker as having them at camp 2. Gabriel Filippi is proobably there as well based on his last dispatch:
Violent gusts are beating at the summit right now. Still, I am going to attempt a climb to camp 2 (7900m) since the winds are calmer under 8500m. I am leaving in a few minutes, and if i can move in these conditions, Lhakpa will come to meet me later. It is pure pleasure to work with him again: he was with me on the summit in 2005. Always positive and ready, his superhuman strenght and his energy motivate me to the core.
On the south, some teams are moving up as shown by this from Adventure Consultants:
As I write this the Adventure Consultants’ Team are settling in for the night at Camp Three. When the team arrived early this afternoon they were experiencing gusts of up to 40 knots – not to be taken lightly at 7350m! However, Mike and Ang Dorjee have informed me that the winds are dropping and our forecasts support this continuing trend. Cyclone Laila, in the Bay of Bengal, is already threatening to add some excitement to the mix but current reports still suggest a dependable decrease in summit winds tomorrow night.
But the winds did stop some teams. This in from Paul Fejtek with Mountain Trip:
Unfortunately, the wind-swept snow blowing high above, and a new weather forecast received this morning, factored in to a decision by Scott to turn us around. He said during his last 5 Everest expeditions he has never seen wind this strong. We were disappointed to be sure to lose a day but feeling much more secure that our tents won’t blow away here at Camp 2 rather than up at Camp 3. However, the looming concern on everybody’s mind is the rapidly approaching end of the summit window. Every year near the end of May the monsoon arrives effectively shutting down the mountain. Last year this occurred on May 25th. Our new plan, assuming no more weather delays should put us at the South Col with a shot at the summit on May 23rd.
I thought that some teams may wait out the threat of the cyclone and look for a very late summit in late May or early June; however this may not be the case as even Himex is moving quickly after skipping the first window:
Russell opted for a bigger weather window and after having given his famous ’30 percent’ speech, the members, guides and Sherpas were off to Camp 2 in the wee hours of Tuesday morning.
You might now wonder, what the famous ’30 percent’ speech is. Well, it is Russell’s ‘lecture’ to remind his members that once they get to the summit, they are only half way up. “You need to preserve some of your energy as you will still need 30 percent of your strength for the descent. Getting to the top is only halfway,” he always emphasises.
Even Apa Sherpa is moving quicker than planned and in now on his way to the South Col. It seems everyone is taking this weather seriously with a huge number focusing on Friday night for their push with Saturday morning summits.
It is clear the high routes are full of climbers right now – a true conga line if there ever was one on Everest. Perhaps 100 to 200 climbers (members and Sherpas) all attached to the fixed ropes between camps. And they are almost all on supplemental oxygen for the first time this season.
For most of these climbers, they will be experiencing the use of supplemental oxygen for the first time ever. Climbers of other 8000m mountains like Cho Oyu, would have valuable experience but most will struggle the first few hours to get comfortable with the system.
These days almost all the climbers use supplemental oxygen. The primary benefit is to help the body feel warmer, not make them feel like they are at sea-level. At a flow of 2lpm, an average rate for most climbers, it will only make a 3,000′ difference. In other words, using O’s at 28,000, the body still feels like it is at 25,000′. Climbers will sleep on Os during the summit push starting at C3 and climb with it to the South Col (similar camps on the north).
Many of this week’s dispatches spoke of reviewing the oxygen systems. There are three basic parts: bottle, regulator and mask.
While the bottles come in different sizes, most weigh around 6lbs each; larger ones up to 15lbs. They last about 6 hours at 2 lpm flow; 15 hours for larger sizes. The average summit bid usually takes between 12 to 16 hours thus the need for two to three bottles. But if you use a high flow or take longer, then more bottles may be required. Also, obviously, if a climber use oxygen going up, they will need it going down; in fact this is where most accidents occur and is complicated if the climber runs out of oxygen.
This is one of the benefits of a large commercial team with strong Sherpa power; to take these bottles to the high camps and have spares available if a climber gets into trouble. Sherpas usually carry the extra bottles on the summit push and the members carry one or two bottles depending on the size. Much of the hard work to prepare for an Everest summit bid is to ferry the hundreds of bottle to the highest camps.
The other part of the oxygen system are the regulator and mask. The regulator is a brass fitting with a twist dial that controls the flow. Occasionally, but rarely, they will fail, so most large teams have a spare in someone’s pack on summit night.
Finally, the masks. They used to be old fashion Russian fighter pilot models since the primary suppler of these oxygen systems is Russian based POSIX. These masks had a poor fit, were uncomfortable and leaked! But now, the UK based company TopOut supplies the mask available for climbers.
With all this, not every climber uses supplemental oxygen. Whether you do or not is highly personal and some base their decision on personal challenge or sometimes “style”.
First Ascent’s Melissa Arnot is climbing without this year, one of the few, and posted her thoughts on this decision, visualizing her summit bid:
… I am climbing at a steady pace, breathing hard and covering my face from the cold. I can see that I do not have an oxygen mask protecting my face; I can see that I am doing well.
This is my goal. It is deeply personal. I am here, climbing Everest for my third time, attempting to climb without supplemental oxygen. The friends and co-workers I am surrounded by are people I know well. They are almost all here to work, guiding members to the summit at a reasonable pace and with safety in mind. Few of them are pushing their personal limits here. At times, I feel that this is a theater stage. I step onto the stage and let the audience look on. It feels intimidating in a way I cannot articulate. These are my friends, I remind myself. I can see that the critical eye is coming mostly from myself, my own fear of failure, but more acutely, public failure.
So many people journey here to Mt. Everest, thinking that the summit will change them, add to them. I have stood on top twice. The only spectacular thing up there is the view; the things that matter lie far beneath. I know that the summit won’t change me and I don’t want it to. I want to pursue personal challenge. I want to see the limits of what is possible and look those limits in the face. I realize that may never occur on this journey. I want to push ahead anyway.
After months and often years of dreams and preparation; the time has come to focus on Everest with no other thoughts. With climbers at camp 3 on the south and camp 2 on the north they are positioned for their final push to stand on top of the world on around sunrise Friday, May 21st. While leaders monitored the cyclone over India that could bring wind and snow over the weekend, climbers prepared themselves physically, mentally; emotionally.
It is easy to be back home in the comfort of our homes watching them, but they are where the action is; only they know what the real weather is, how soft the snow may be; the force of the winds, how they are feeling. They know reality. We can only guess.
To all the teams: Climb Safe, Climb High, Climb On to each of you.
Climb On!
Alan
