Everest 2013: Live from Everest!

With the route fixed to the South Col, anything can happen. I would not be surprised to see the Sherpas summit somewhat soon as they fix the final section all the way to the top. If history is any guide, there will be Westerners either with them or in hot pursuit. But weather holds the key.

Looking back over the past decade, a typical weather pattern was a mixed early April, followed by good conditions up to May 1 when it became windy, and snowy. Then like clockwork around May 15, the winds calm thus providing a two week period of good conditions for summit bids. Thus far 2103 has been somewhat close to that except for heavy snow during the third week of April.

There are several companies who provide weather forecasts to the teams. While anyone can find a Everest forecast on the Internet, a few companies specialize on expedition forecasts. They tend to look at multiple models with a sharp level of detail at different altitudes, i.e. camps. They provide expedition leaders not only the raw information but also their expert opinion. Two of the leading companies are Meteoexploration from Switzerland and EverestWeather out of Seattle.

Adventure Consultants noted they are looking for the weather window once they finish their Camp 3 rotation. Plus their Sherpas will begin carries to the beginning of the ‘Death Zone’ now that the route is open:

In order for us to look at a weather window we have to plan to move five days before the ideal summit weather window. Mid range forecasts are watched now with great focus. However, for the Everest team we still have a bit of work to do before we are completely ready.

Currently there are ropes fixed to the South Col 7950m, where we have our last camp, camp 4. Sherpas are beginning to carry loads up to the South Col tomorrow, loads of tents and gas and stoves, oxygen and masks and regulators.

Altitude Junkies’ Phil Crampton is also looking at the weather from the North side:

Our latest weather forecast from Seattle and that of the European forecast both predicts very strong winds on the mountain for the next several days. The jet stream is supposed to be directly above us on the 7th and 8th so with this in mind our Sherpas are now breaking down our advanced base camp to avoid us losing the campsite with the predicted winds. The Sherpas will descend to base camp tomorrow for a well deserved rest.

The team were hoping for around a weeks rest at base camp before heading back up the hill and possibly an early summit attempt. This now is not possible so we will have to find ways of entertaining ourselves for the extra several days we now have at base camp. Javier has now started his daily stretching class inside the movie tent.

The conditions at ABC were pretty bad today according to our Sherpa crew with very strong winds and blizzard like conditions. We have been experiencing some snow and very strong winds all day at base camp so we can just imagine what the conditions are like higher up on the hill.

Climbers are acclimatizing well. AAI noted today they went from Base Camp to Camp 1 in four hours shaving off a couple of hours from the first climb.

Jagged Globe posted a profile of some of their Sherpas. In addition to their impressive climbing resume, JG does a nice job of talking about their families. JG has completed their rotation to Camp 2 and getting ready to go spend the tough night at Camp 3.

The Multimedia Explosion

With the advancement of satellite technology, many climbers now send live video from Everest. These are a few examples just from today.

Dan Hughes, with Jagged Globe, is doing a good job of keeping his followers informed. He recently told me he is trying to raise £1million for Comic Relief, which is a charity which primarily help children living in poverty. He said thanks to some very generous sponsors such as inmarsat, he has unlimited satellite data and is able to share his climb live all the way to the summit! Dan just posted this live interview (3:29) with the BBC from Base Camp:

Similarly, David Tait, posted this video (2:11) on his Facebook account where he talks about getting injured in the Icefall and his plans to summit as soon as possible:

 Not to be left out, the Altitude Junkies gang over on the North clearly has too much down time Nelson Dellis posted this video (0:31):

Climb On!
Alan
Memories are Everything