Everest/Lhotse 2016: Signs of a Quieter Season.

I arrived in Nepal and immediately felt something was different. The normal crazy drive from the airport to the hotel was, well, almost relaxing. Traffic was reasonable, drivers almost polite … Kathmandu has changed.

In speaking with guides and other climbers, there is a sense of calm anxiety about this year’s Everest season. Perhaps it is more of a sense of capitulation to the inevitable forces of nature that no one can control, or anticipate. However, there is also a deep sense of hope that this year will be quiet, with no-drama; peace in the mountains.

Permits Down

The Himalayan Times reported today that 206 Everest permits had been issued to 24 different teams. Of these totals, 60 members are from military units around the world, fairly normal in recent times as climbing Everest has become a “perk” for many military operations, especially from India.

I am estimating on the Nepal side of Everest that with around 230 non-nepali/Sherpa Everest climbers, a bit down from the 265 permits issued last year, and perhaps 50 for Lhotse, also down from the 93 permits in 2015, the flanks of Sagarmatha will be quieter. It will take a few more weeks to get the final numbers for the Nepal Ministry of Tourism.

On the Tibet side, it appears to be a busy season with more climbers than normal. 7 Summits Club has 26 members, including a seven person female team. SummitClimb is reported to have a large team as well. It will be interesting to see if the crowding situation has just shifted from the south to the north.

While it seems that the climbers may be down, some first hand reports from the Khumbu note a lot of trekking activity there.

A Changing Guide Picture

As I covered in my three part series: Everest a Changing Mountain the guiding situation is changing on Everest. Looking at the makeup of the teams for 2016, some long time major guides have significantly lower numbers, for example Alpine Ascents with two members, and Himex with five. Alpenglow has two members on the Tibet side.

Some of the regular western guides are not here at all, Benegas Brothers, , Peak Freaks and RMI for example. Dave Hahn, with 15 Everest summits, is not here for the first time in years.

But Sherpa owned and operated Seven Summits Treks has over 40 members. Bucking the western trend is IMG also with over 40 members. Both of these companies offer their south side Everest climb well under the $65,000 often quoted in the press coming in between $35,000 to $45,000 for a Sherpa lead climb.

A couple of the high-end priced outfits ($60K and up) like Adventure Consultants and Madison Mountaineering have full teams but some have cut their defintion of ‘full’ to only 8 or 9 climbers – down from 15 in 2015.

Some of this is due to insurance covering 100% of the 2014 and 2015 season cancellations combined with those permits being extended a few years thus encouraging people to climb sooner rather than later. Look for 2017 to have record crowds from Nepal based on these factors.

Base Camp under Construction

Multiple Sherpa teams are at Everest Base Camp building tent platforms for the expanse of dining, cooking and sleeping tents required by the 800 or so inhabitants currently enroute. The location of the camps has not changed since the 2015 avalanche off Pumori/Lintgren that took 18 lives.

In general, the earthquake induced avalanche was felt to be an anomaly thus not requiring moving base camp from its tradition location. In all fairness, it is not clear where base camp would be moved as the terrain at the base of the Khumbu Icefall does not offer many options.

Icefall route

The Icefall Doctors continue to make progress establishing the ladders and fixed rope through the Khumbu Icefall. While several press articles have highlighted “large holes and cracks”, my local sources tell me it is not much different than last year and follows basically the same route.

One MAJOR change for 2016 is that the Nepal Ministry of Tourism is allowing the fixed ropes, anchors and oxygen used by the summit rope fixing team to be transported by helicopter to Camp 1 in the Western Cwm. This gear will be used to fix the route to the summit, not to be confused with the Icefall Doctors who only fix the route to Camp 2.

The significance of this is that it will eliminate 85 trips through the Khumbu Icefall by Sherpas, a meaningful change is how to make Everest safer when climb from Nepal. The Expedition Operators Association (EAO) deserves credit for driving this change.

A ‘Dry’ Year

The Sherpas are reporting that base camp is dry and windy at the moment. There is talk that 2016 could be similar to 2012 with little fresh snow on the Lhotse Face. In 2012, this created a dangerous situation with a lot of rock fall causing the Sherpas to take the fixed line climber’s right of the normal route up from the base of the Lhotse Face. This adds about half an hour to the climb from Camp 2 to Camp 3 but is safer from the rockfall.

Summit Oxygen

Finally, a bit of an update on my Lhotse climb. I will be using oxygen supplied by Summit Oxygen. I met with Neil Greenwood this morning to go over his latest system branded the Elite System. The Summit Oxygen system is now used by many commercial guides including Adventure Consultants, Altitude Junkies, Alpenglow, Himex, Jagged Globe and Madison Mountaineering.

The innovation is a flow control valve located on the tube from the oxygen tank to the mask. This allows the climber to regulate oxygen flow, adjusting it to a lower flow when at rest or a higher one in moments of high demand thus when carefully managed can make the oxygen last longer.

The prior adjustment method required a Sherpa or teammate to make any adjustments on the regulator located on the bottle in the backpack.

 

Obviously, this system requires a great deal of personal responsibility for the climber so as not to turn the flow rate to maximum and run it of oxygen. As is customary, Kami Sherpa who is climbing me with use the same system albeit at a lower flow rate. We will start using supplemental oxygen at Camp 3 or 23,500 feet. I have used the Summit Oxygen systems on Everest, Manaslu and K2 – all summits, so I hope my luck continues on Lhotse.

Alzheimer’s

My regular followers know I climb to raise awareness and research funds to find a cure for the disease that killed my mom in 2009. Please visit this page to learn about potential organizations to support.

There is a matching grant up to $1,000 in total donations now for any donation made to UsAgainstAlzheimer’s. Please let me know if you make a donation (just your email, not the amount) to get the matching credit.

Climb On!
Alan
Memories are Everything