Everest 2017: Early Summits may be Later
There comes a time in every expedition where you feel like the world is conspiring against you. Well, not always, but often enough that the talk over meals, whispers outside the tents and prayers revolve around one thing – good weather! 2017’s word of the day – wind, is quickly becoming the word of the season. Sherpas were stopped from finishing the route to the summit from the South Col on Monday by high winds, and cold temperatures. In general the winds need to be under 30 mph/50 kph for sain climbers to consider a summit attempt. We have seen many cases of severe frostbite when the winds remain significantly higher and climbers refuse to turn back – this is called “summit fever” and the only cure is to climb with someone who is not willing to summit at the cost of life or limb. But what if these winds do hang around for a while, what happens? How Late is Late? To keep all this in perspective, this is how I summarized the 2005 season when weather proved difficult: Quite a season! The summits on May 21 were the latest first summit day in 45 years of climbing Mt. Everest. Norgay and Hillary did it on May 29, the earliest was April 4 in 1984. But it was still a good year for summits with over 230 climbers standing on the top of the world. To put this in context, around 150 made the summit in 2004 with the first summits on May 15. And in 2012, the first summits were also a bit late: A team of Sherpas set out the evening of May 17 to set the route to the summit. This team of skilled Sherpas came from IMG, AAI, Peak Freaks, Chilean, 7 Summits. On their heels was a Chilean team, 20 strong, lead by Chilean legend Rodrigo Jordan. They along with the rope fixers plus Ulei Steck who tagged along, umm, without supplemental O’s I might add, all summited the morning of May 18 – the first of the season. So while sitting at 11 May, people might start getting antsy, history has shown there is still a lot of time left. On the Nepal side the driving factor for when the season “ends” is when the Icefall Doctors declare the Icefall too dangerous to maintain. Traditionally this has coincided with the arrival of the monsoons, about 1 June. On the north side, there is no hard stop given the absence of an Icefall type feature. Topping all these practical limits, many climbers buy 60 or 90 day visas and extending them from remote base camps can also be an issue, but rarely happens for Everest climbers. South Side Progress Not everyone is sitting still on the Nepal side. Jannick Graziani, climbing without supplemental Oxygen reached the South Col (as have hundreds of Sherpas stocking the high camp): 6 hours from C3 to south col. Very windy and cold, so i did not stay there too much. Well, I was able to see the next step … so close, so far! Even with no OX, I was quite comfortable … as well as possible. Good breathe, bad stomach!I went back directly to BC with a beautiful light in the late afternoon in the west CWM. Had a good night. Let’s see what could be the plan right now. Icy Lhotse Face Tim Mosedale was one of the teams hoping to sneak in an early summit but the lack of fixed lines to the summit plus deep snow turned them back. They are now at EBC. I found his observations on the condition of the Lhotse face interesting. Good post by Tim that should be read in full: The conditions on the Lhotse Face were very challenging indeed. Obviously it wasn’t helped by the weather but the going underfoot was the toughest I’ve come across. The ice is bullet hard and there’s not really any evidence of foot placements from previous climbers. So every step was a brand new placement … and if you’re not sure footed you’ll be all over the place with your feet constantly skating away from beneath you. Which should be fun when there’s lots of inexperienced people hanging off the ropes. Remembering 1996 Adventure Consultants made a moving posts today regarding the 21st remembrance of the 1996 disaster on Everest that took so many lives including that of Adventure’s Consultant’s leader Rob Hall: Today is the 21st anniversary of the much documented Everest 1996 tragedy when Rob Hall, Andy Harris, Yasuko Namba, Doug Hansen, and Scott Fisher perished in a storm high on Everest. Most recently this story was told in the 2015 Hollywood Motion picture titled ‘Everest’. Rob Hall was the founder of Adventure Consultants. Today we are privileged to have Rob Halls former wife Jan Arnold, niece Emily and a friend Mary staying at BC. In the movie ‘Everest’ Jan was played by Keira Knightley. It is a spiritual journey of remembering. It is lovely to have them staying. Makalu Summit Altitude Junkies posted they had summits on 10 May, but no details yet. Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything
Everest 2017: Weather Playing Cruel Tricks on Climbers
All dressed up and nowhere to go! That is the story on Everest right now. Those staged at the high camps expecting the ropes to be fixed to the summit are disappointed. Those down valley relaxing in tea houses are smug and those at base camps are bored. On the Nepal side, the team of Sherpas trying to set the route from the Balcony to the summit didn’t leave the South Col yesterday as planned due to high winds and extremely cold temps. As we approach 10 May, climbers are getting a bit nervous about when the route will be open, but more importantly if the weather is going to cooperate this season. Snow and Rain … I asked Michael Fagin of Everest Weather for his thoughts on all the rain and snow and if the monsoon was starting early this year. The best source for monsoon related information for Asia is from the India Meteorological Department (IMD). IMD will issue a statement when the monsoon season has officially stated and I have not seen a statement yet. It usually starts about May 20 in the south parts of the Bay of Bengal The IMD did issue a long term outlook last month regarding the monsoon and stated that “the monsoon seasonal rainfall is likely to be 96% of the long term average.” Finally, there is a correlation with the monsoon season when have a La Nina, below normal sea surface temperatures off the west coast of South American along the equator. We have had an La Nina this past winter and this pattern “usually” brings above normal rainfall during the upcoming monsoon season. No mention of if this leads to an early start of the monsoon season. Asian Trekking noted: The rope fixing up to summit of Mt. Everest (8848m) from Balcony (8400m) was postponed today due to bad weather. The team did not go beyond camp 4 today, as it was windy and very cold. They are returning to camp 2, and planning another date to fix the rope beyond balcony to summit. It has started to snow in Base camp and raining down valley. Will update more in later post. Adventure Consultants summed it up well: This morning we were all excited by the prospect of the rope fixing team, including our Sherpas, reaching the summit of Everest. However a deterioration in weather, with significant snowfall, has altered that plan. The fixing team had no choice but to retreat lower, and for now, all plans are on hold. A few teams were already high on the mountain, planning on maximising on the rope fixing, and the good forecast. For now the summit remains untouched, despite best efforts. Downtime Ben Jones, who posts very nice photos noted how Lhakpa Rita Sherpa (we summited K2 together) and Gopal are passing the time – playing chess!! Lucas Furtenbach posted this picture of his team relaxing in a nearby Tibetan village. Hard to feel sorry for them if there are any delays! 🙂 🙂 Actually they are back at base camp now. Plans Also on the Tibet side, the Iowans are making plans for a 15 May summit: Years of climbing successively higher, more difficult mountains and hard physical training over the last year are now being put to the ultimate test. We start our push to the top of the world this afternoon. The summit winds are low and the temperatures are manageable. The only downside is heavy snow this entire week: between 8 inches and 2 feet projected every day throughout our summit push. Challenging. If everything goes as planned, we will be in middle camp (19k) tonight: May 9; ABC (21k) on May 10; rest day ABC on May 11; North Col (23k) on May 12; Camp 2 (25k) on May 13; Camp 3 (27k) on May 14; leave for summit at around 11 PM on May 14; SUMMIT (29k) at around 7-8 AM on May 15; back to ABC (21k) by 6-7 PM on May 15. Rest day at ABC on May 16 or head down to BC. If we are successful we will be the first Iowans to scale Everest’s Northeast Ridge. This climb is for you, Iowa – we are Iowans for EVERest! Illegal Climbing – follow up Finally in a follow up to the story of the illegal climber on the south side, Dawa Steven Sherpa CEO of Asian Trekking (the largest and most respected Nepali based guide company) told me: Hi Alan, saw your blog today about the illegal climber. We looked into it and he’s also climbed lobuche east and pumori illegally. Not only is he not repentant about his actions, you know he has atone further and insulted the people that have caught him on his FB. We also understand that he planned to make a movie out of this ‘adventure’ which would have sent a really bad message to potential visitors to peak. What ever his claimed motivations travelers like him are a danger to themselves and other on the mountain as well as threat to Nepal’s economy and attractiveness as a destination for responsible climbers who do thing the proper way. We are not taking this lightly. We will get the government to take the maximum possible action against him so people like him are discouraged from trying this sort of thing again. Time for Respect This is a serious situation. There have been other people assuming they can just enter Nepal, climb peaks without paying for a permit or following their rules. Imagine if you showed up on Denali without a permit, and flaunted it. The US National Park Service would enforce all the laws. Similar on Aconcagua. He was a guest in Nepal, just like anyone who enters any country on a tourist visa. If a law is broken, the government of that country has full legal rights to prosecute, fine, jail, etc. Nepal law says you must have permit to climb Mt. Everest and in that permit
Everest 2017: Ropes Near Summit, Climbers Staged
This is a brief update today as the majority of teams on both sides are resting up at their respective base camps or lower. However it appears the forecast for calmer weather materialized as Sherpas on the Nepal side reached the Balcony with the fixed ropes. And in a curious move the illegal Everest climber was posting on Facebook his every move. Ropes to Balcony The Director of the Expedition Operators Association, a working group of Everest guide companies based in Kathmandu, posted that the rope fixing has progressed nicely today. Damber Parajuli said: Today the rope fixers were able to fix rope to the Balcony. Tomorrow they hope to leave S Col at 03.00 to fix to the summit. Good luck to all !!! On the Tibet side, work is underway to get ropes and anchors to Camp 3, 8300 meters, for the Sherpas to begin setting the route to the summit. Multiple Summit Waves The teams seem to be forming into at least three major groups on the Nepal side and a scattergram on the North. Today, 9 May, on the South side climbers are staged at Camp 2 and a few already at Camp 3 waiting for the ropes to be fixed all the way to the summit. Tradition and respect for the rope fixers calls for no foreigners to climb with them as they reach the summit. There have been exceptions. David Tait climbed with the Sherpas for a couple of his summits. Kenton Cool has shadowed them as well. And Willie Benegas was infamous for working alongside the Sherpas. Of course, crowding the Sherpas was partly to blame for the 2013 conflict when climbers were on the Lhotse Face the same time the rope fixers were setting the lines. Harsh words were exchanged and the rest is history. As I covered in my recent post How to Manage the Everest Crowds, there are four basic strategies: Get out early Go Late Goldilocks Timing Break into Small Sub Teams and Go Fast and Nimble The wildcard will be when the large teams go and if they break into smaller sub teams or make one huge push. Usually the expedition leaders discuss their plan so as to spread out the climbers. On the north, climbers are usually a bit more patient to wait until the ropes are in, the winds are low and the temps a bit warmer. Unlike on the south with the Icefall Doctors ending maintaining the ladders in the Icefall which brings a firm end to the season, the Tibet side climbers can climb well into June or until the monsoons move in. Popular Everest For the north the total human number appears to be about 306 and helps frame the difference. Everest south now appears to have 373 Everest permits plus about the same number of Sherpas for 746 nearly double the north. Foreigners Support Total South 373 373 746 North 136 170 306 509 543 1,052 Blue Skies Ahead? This computer generated model suggest low winds at the summit for the next week. Other forecasters are suggesting a period of high pressure on top of Everest that should usher in good conditions. The general rule of thumb is not to climb to the summit with winds over 30 mph, about 50 kph. Of course this is a guideline that some will ignore. Climbing with No Money The South African who was apprehended at Everest Base Camp climbing without a permit was not really hiding. It appears Ryan Sean Davy , fully understanding he was climbing illegally, was publicizing his climb on Facebook. He defended his climb under the auspiciousness of “I was ashamed that I couldn’t afford the permit” and “My main incentive for being on the mountain was to help anyone who might have been in trouble”. Given how unusual this is, I thought I would post his explanation in full so you can make your own decision on his approach. Take a read and cast a vote on the poll: This news is probably going to make a lot of people upset with me and I really hope you’ll all forgive me. I’m willing to be as accountable as I know how but my Everest expedition has taken a very bad turn. I am going to be honest in saying that when I arrived at Base Camp it became evident that I didn’t have nearly enough money for a solo permit because of hidden costs and even if I did they would have declined it because I had no previous mountaineering experience on record. I was ashamed that I couldn’t afford the permit after all the help, preparation and what everybody had done for me during my training, it would have been a total embarrassment to turn around and accept defeat because of a piece of paper. So I took a chance and spent the little money I had on more gear to climb and practice on the surrounding peaks for acclimatizing in preparing for a stealth entry onto Everest. My main incentive for being on the mountain was to help anyone who might have been in trouble since every year there are so many fatalities. In one incident 40 climbers walked right past a dying man who was pleading for help. He inevitably died because all the climbers were fixed on the Summit and didn’t want to get distracted. If I could at least have helped one person it would have made a difference, that would have been my Summit. Unfortunately the system caught up with me and I was eventually captured by the mountain Orks after 2 entries into the Ice Falls and managing an ascent of 24,000ft. Expedition companies have no time for wanna be Everesters with no money so someone turned me in. I was harassed at basecamp to a point that I honestly thought I was going to get stoned to death right there. I’m not even exaggerating. I was treated like a murderer. A true testimony of how money has become more important than decency. My
Everest 2017: Weekend Update May 7
Climbers have been putting in the hard work that will be needed next week when almost certainly we will see the first Everest summits in the Spring 2017 season. The winds have been fierce for the past week stopping efforts to get the ropes to the summit on either side. The forecast, however, calls for a calm period ahead. If it materializes, look for a Walmart style Black Friday rush to the summit! (sorry to my international readers for the US analogy 🙂 ) This was a busy week and I covered a lot of ground with a post each day (listed at the bottom of this post). As the activity picks up I will post each day, update and perhaps make several depending what is newsworthy. I will not be reporting on the “delicious food by our XX Chef” that seems to qualify as “news” from Everest these days! 😆 EverestER Update The helicopter companies were once again very busy this past week ferrying people off the mountain and base camp for treatment in Kathmandu. EverestER reported seeing 365 patients so far – already more than the entire 2016 season. Over half have been Nepali. Many patients had complaints of high altitude cough and other upper respiratory complaints. There seems to be a flu bug in the Khumbu that they say is contributing to the URIs. Al Hancock, attempting Lhotse noted the illness: For the last several days different illnesses has swept through our team sending some climbers hiking to lower altitude settlements for recovery and many others in worse condition taken out by helicopter. Others like myself are staying put. We are lighting incense and sending out positive energy to our teammates that they have a speedy recovery and can make it back for a summit attempt. Climbing from Tibet – High Camps, High Winds Adventure Peaks is all set when the weather is right: We’ve had an update in from Sean and the team, they are back down at base camp after their latest rotation on Everest. This time the team have been up to tag nearly 7500m, everyone is feeling strong, but are glad to be back down for a rest, and to recover for the next time up! This time up the team have went to the highest they will go before their summit attempt. They have spent 2 nights now sleeping at the North Col and will have seen quite clearly now the task that lies ahead of them. A few reports of weird dreams at altitude, (mainly steak and wine) that will intermittently distract them from their dreams of standing on the summit. Not long now, as the team will rest at base camp, and the luxuries it provides and they will wait for the winds to lift, that will allow a summit attempt. Summit Climb‘s David O’brien said Sherpas will set the lines to the summit around 10 May. we walked the long ABC to base camp rocky trek yesterday and we’re all looking forword to some well earned rest. Our acclimatisation is now complete and the next time we head up will be on our summit push. There was a big meeting this morning to decide who will fix the section of rope above 8300m. One team with extra Sherpas has agreed to provide the fixing service with input from other teams to get ropes etc to the high camp. The rope fixing is expected to be completed by the 10th May earlier than usual for the North side. Transcend Adventures, an Indian based company with 23 members and 23+ Sherpas has taken on the rope fixing role from the CMA. A curious shift since the Tibetan rope fixers have set the route since 2008 when Russell Brice left the north aside for the south side. Brice’s Sherpas had total responsibility for years. Pool Table Included Before you feel too sorry for those climbing on the north side with it’s cold winds, and steep rock Steps, take a look at these pictures from 7 Summits Club. Alex Abramov prides himself in having the best base camp complete with big screen TV, espresso maker, ping pong table and, wait for it, yes a pool table! Ah, the benefits of being able to drive to base camp. Click to see more decadent luxuries or as some of my friends would say “glamping”. Oh, Alex charges from $59,900 to $74,900 depending on level of support – pool table included. Alex posted (I had a Russian native speaker translate and I’m still confused!) 😛 Final second day of rest at the Base Camp. Since we recommended everyone not to wash or scratch, everyone was crowding at the base camp. Cards, table tennis, pool, TV, internet, beer, coffee and all kinds of chatting. So, the day has passed and to … (hell) with it. Tomorrow we leave for Advanced Base Camp (6400m) and then off to North saddle. We won’t have reception again. For 4 nights. Hold out without me. Ready for the summit Lucas Furtenbach uses altitude tents to “pre-acclimatize” and seems quite pleased with the results. I met Lucas last year on Everest and was impressed with his operation. I hope to interview him after the season and explore his philosophy on climbing 8000 meter mountains where he believes Everest can be done in a month or less. He will provide members with 16 bottles of supplemental oxygen and charge $95,000. He posted from base camp that their team is ready for the summit when it comes and comments on the wind thus far: Pre-acclimatization with the hypoxia casts proves itself. The nights were partly very windy and some tents were again torn by other teams at the Nordsattel. With us all remained well. Rock solid Marmot Mountain Europe you can only say! Very soothing in such situations …The wind is so far the main theme this year at Everest. It intensifies the feeling of cold extreme and thus increases the risk of frostbite. In addition, it also mutes mentally, if one moves
Everest 2017: Catching up with Russell Brice
Russell Brice has one of the most recognized names associated with Everest. As I mentioned in an interview I did with Russ just prior to the season he came to notoriety on the Discovery Channel’s “Everest Beyond the Limits” series about 10 years ago. But few people know that Russ is a world-class climber in his own right. Born in New Zealand in 1952, he now lives in London. He started climbing as a young boy in New Zealand and soon found his way to the Himalayas and Alps. He has numerous attempts and summits on Everest and other 8000m peaks. In spite of a broken computer, Russ was kind enough to respond to a few questions via smartphone from Everest Base Camp on the Nepal side. Latest News – May 6 Before we get to Russ, on a very sad note, Min Bahadur Sherchan, 86, died from unknown causes at Everest Base Camp. He was attempting to set the age record and was reported feeling well. My condolences to his family, friends and teammates. A Sherpa fell down the Lhotse face and was helicoptered to Kathmandu. He is reported out of critical danger. Also the rope fixing on the Nepal side has stalled due to high winds. Sherpas tried to reach the South Col but turned back Other teams trying to sleep or tag Camp 3 also retreated on Saturday. Some have successfully spent the night at C3 this season in spite of the harsh conditions. Similar reports from the North Col and higher on the Tibet side. See the Tracking Table for estimated locations. There is talk from the multiple weather forecasts of a calm period around the corner. Russ suggests this also. If this happens, it will allow the rope fixing team to reach the summit and the teams to spread their summits bids across multiple days. Thoughts from Russell Bice I caught Russ in rare form with his traditional understated comments and self-deprecating humor. Now, here’s Russ: Q: Russ, we have been trained by you to get regular Everest Newsletter updates. Why none this season? I broke my computer during the walk in which is a good excuse. Many of my members are writing so is there any need from an old man.? But what i see in this age is many people are telling the world what they are doing…..which is not much. Actually i am spending a lot of time trying to do a lot so i have no time to write. Q: Can you give us a summary on how the season has gone for Himex thus far? Oh pretty good. It was quite difficult to organise the Paul Oakenfold (concert at base camp) trip. Paul was a really nice guy who accepted the difficulties of walking into BC and he did a great show. I was not so impressed with some of his support staff and film crew who were so arrogant as so many film crews are these days. It was a big challenge for me to have the support in place that was required but somehow we managed. I also took on the responsibility to organise the rope fixing to the summit. So we were quite busy packing loads to be carried to C2. We managed to get the permit on 13 April and flew the loads to C2 on 14 April. This saved about 68 Sherpa loads through the Icefall. As i write this we are planning on fixing rope to the Balcony tomorrow and to the summit on 7 May. Actually we delayed by one day yesterday as we felt that the wind was too strong today and it is unreasonable to ask Sherpas to work in this wond for the benefit for many climbers who have gone on holiday from Everest. Q: This season seems to have a lot of wind. Do you feel this is normal or something different going on? In fact, I feel that this is a very good season. Yes we had a little wind to start. Why people talk about this is because the direction caused a bit of disturbance at BC because of the winds rotations off Pumori. There was a stray jet stream section that broke away from the normal flow but that did not last long and in fact had generated a much more stable pattern for us now. I see this building up to be a long stable and early season. But what do i know about weather? Q: What are the the overall mountain conditions up to the South Col thus far? snow, ice, rock, etc? Not so bad. We see that conditions are quite dry and there is not so much snow on the Lhotse Face but not too much rock fall. It will be hard for the first teams on the ice but after a few teams and Sherpas have been on the route it will become easier. If we have some snow that will help However the route through the Icefall is very active. We have already had more than 6 collapses that have closed the route. The average temperature is only – 8C at 02.00 third year. The Icefall is more narrow and is moving faster so we need to be careful. Everyone at BC is asking the Authorities for permission to fly loads to C2 but they have not issued this. We are all very concerned that we might have another avalanche accident. I am also spending a lot of time pushing this….that is more useful than writing newsletters. Q: Lot’s of talk about how many people are on the south side. Has this been an issue for your team thus far? No not so many people….i think about 300 plus. Actually i think this is quite manageable especially with the predicted weather. Q: Any guess on first member summits? So if rope fixing goes well we should have rope to summit on 7 May and them i am sure we will see members on summit on 8 May. I hope
Broken Leg Update: Three Months Out
On February 10, 2017 while training for the 8000 meter peak, Dhaulagiri, a sudden wind gust estimated near 100 mph swept me off my feet and into a talus field on a simple walk up mountain of Twin Sisters Peak, 11,4327′, in Rocky Mountain National Park near Estes Park, Colorado. I described the entire incident in my post Broken Leg: I don’t want to be in the Rocks. Now 12 weeks to the day after incident, I want to provide another update. The Injury When I was slammed into the rocks near 11,000 feet that Friday afternoon, my lower right leg was broken in multiple places. The tiba had an angular fracture and the fibula was also broken. My left leg had a puncture wound. My nasal cavity was broken as well. The injuries required two operations under full anesthesia and a five day stay in the hospital. The incident occurred at 12:15 pm on a Friday. I was with my close friend and frequent climbing partner Jim Davidson who was training for Everest (he is there now). Jim called 911 and cared for me for the next four hours as I lay in the rocks on the side of a mountain. Climbing Rangers from Rocky Mountain National Park arrived near sunset to begin my rescue. Search and Rescue teams from Larimer and Boulder County came in full force to assist. In all about 40 people helped save me that afternoon and evening. I was taken to the hospital in Estes Park but then transferred a few hours later to The Medical Center of the Rockies in Loveland, Colorado where Dr. Orr repaired my nose and Dr. Riley, my leg. Healing Over the past three months, I have been diligent in my physical therapy. My orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Riley Hale, told me to push to my tolerance as I healed. By stressing the fracture it would heal faster and stronger than by laying around. I was clear with all my doctors and therapists that my goal at age 60 was not to be able to move from the couch to the chair. I wanted to climb again. To start, I rode a stationary bike, walked as much as half a mile and did laps on three flights of stairs. I pushed myself very hard. The Doctor Says On Monday, April 17, I saw Dr. Hale, my Orthopedic surgeon for the 10 week x-ray and check. I was a bit apprehensive as I felt good but was experiencing an “awareness” (I refuse to use the word pain) in my lower shin area when I strongly stressed it. They took an X-Ray He said I was progressing faster than usual, and was pleased I was not using crutches. He was surprised that I was wearing street shoes. He said my swelling was normal and my gait looked good and would improve. Then he paused and said something he had not previously mentioned. “Alan, your break was as bad as it gets without breaking thru the skin.” He continued. “The “energy” that it took to break those bones in so many places was “impressive”. I suspect that most of the tissue around your tibia and fibula were stripped away. I expected a longer recovery time for you than what you are taking.” And with that he added: “You are clear to do what you want.” Reconciling ‘May’ with ‘Can’ As I left Dr. Hale’s office with the great news, I was ecstatic. I immediately thought of taking my new freedom out for a spin, to return to RMNP, to climb a snow couloir since it the best time of year to do that. My mind was exploding with options. Then I started walking to the car. I stopped by the grocery store on the way home. Each step reminded me that I was still healing. I was no longer hurt, but I was hurting. The tissue around my damaged bones needed to heal. Even though the fracture was starting to heal it was not 100%. The tendons, muscles and surrounding tissues from my knee to my toes reminded me of the extent of damage. They spoke loudly to me when I pushed too hard. It was difficult to accept, but I was not climbing anything soon. And, not but, I was grateful to just walk around the block. The memory of lying in the rocks was alive. It was living, breathing and occasionally reaching out making sure I never forgot. So while I was told “Alan, you may go out and life your life.” the reality was “Alan, you still have a way to go before you can live your life.” Mental Judo Lying in those rocks, an hour after the “incident”, I told myself, I was not going to be a victim, I was not going to be defined by this event and I was going to find the positive. I made some firm decisions almost immediately. I made choices about how I was going to respond to this incident. I selected my vocabulary carefully, not out of denial or being pollyannish but to set a positive tone for me. I use the word “awareness” instead of pain. If someone asks me if it hurts, I say I have a high awareness of the area. I refuse to say this was an accident, it was an “incident“. What happened, was out of my control. The only way to have avoided it was to not do what I love. And I refuse to compromise my life on the random chance that something may happen. I believe in the mind-body connection. When I feel a sensation in my knee, leg, ankle or foot, I talk to it. “Hey, what’s going on? Yeah, I know it not what you want. Thanks for letting me know. It will be OK.” and we move on. I know it sounds a bit crazy but I’ve developed quite a relationship with my tiba these days 🙂 When I take a step, I visualize the second step, not the first. The first step always challenges me. I can be wobbly, uncertain. I can be a bit timid so
Everest 2017: Climbers Battle the Winds, Health and Tragedy
Everest continue to challenge teams on both sides with high winds and snow squalls. Some teams continue to push while others are content to stay put. I finally have solid information on the number of climbers on Everest for 2017 – about 1,100 total on both sides, This includes foreigners and support staff climbing. You can add in another 10% who stay at the base camps to prepare meals and support the climbers. The helicopter companies are busy once again ferrying climbers (and sightseers) to and from EBC on the Nepal side. China does not allow helicopters – yet. We are seeing individuals with health issues evacuated while others are starting to take choppers down valley to rest up and “touch grass” before their summit bids. Bottom line: as we near the end of the first week of May, progress is about normal, the fixed lines will end up going to the summit a few days later than in recent years and the word of the season continues to be: wind. Les Misérables – Everest Style Jim Davidson who reached Camp 3 around 23,000 feet on the Lhotse Face yesterday mid day is dealing with tough conditions: Safe at C 3 raging winds for hours. Brutal. 20 to 40 Mph gusts higher Jim later messaged me to add that it was also very cold. I recall a similar night in 2011. Kami Sherpa and I reached C3 in perfect weather but then the winds picked up and got stronger and stronger and when thought they couldn’t blow harder, they doubled! We hunkered down inside the tent occasionally using our hands to keep it from imploding. Sitting in our sleeping bags, we were silent, the sound of the wind blocked our attempts to talk. As the afternoon wore on, I noticed it was getting darker and darker even though the sun was still up. The wind was piling the snow around our tent, slowly blocking all the sunlight. Taking turns, we would put on our down suits and brave the gale to clear the snow from the outside tent walls. It was a long night. Everest Climber Totals One of the biggest challenges in reporting on Everest is getting accurate numbers for foreigners, Sherpas, Tibetans on the mountain. The Nepal Department of Tourism publishes their stats, albeit with adjustments throughout the season, but the Chinese Mountaineering Association (CMA), does not – at least not that I have found. If anyone knows of a good source, please let me know. I was taken to task by the Alpenglow guide, Zeb Blais, for making the north seem crowded. While it has appeared the north side had more climbers this year, getting accurate numbers has always been tough given the secrecy of the Chinese. In any event, I always try to be accurate and thanks to Zeb, I finally have some accurate numbers, at least according to his sources 🙂 : I just talked to one of the top CTMA agents on the Tibet side. Here’s what she said: “the climbers are less than before (2016). There are 170 climbers and 180 sherpas to climb Mt. Everest this year.” A difference of 30 climbers may not be huge on the South side, but that is significant on the North. Please do your best to research this properly before you publish. Your blogs make it seem like there isn’t a huge difference in numbers on the South vs North, which is not true. I have tried to be diligent to talk about the differences in total humans on both sides using the rough estimates of 1,000 on south and 200 on the north, so with Zeb’s help, I now have something a bit more concrete. Update: Zeb corrected his correction of my numbers with more accurate figures from the CTMA. These are now reflected below. For the north the total human number appears to be about 306 and helps frame the difference. Everest south now appears to have 373 Everest permits plus about the same number of Sherpas for 746 nearly double the north. I’ll be using these numbers henceforth: Foreigners Support Total South 373 373 746 North 136 170 306 509 543 1,052 Bob’s your Uncle 🙂 Sherpa Respect The news that the Nepal Department of Tourism has been refusing to issue summit permits to the Sherpas (see yesterday’s post) generated a lot of outrage expressed in the comments – rightfully so. However, please understand that 99.999% of all climbers and teams respect the hard work performed by the Sherpas. Adventure Consultants Mike Robert sad it well today: Twenty of our strong Climbing Sherpa headed to Camp 2 today, for an extended stay. The plan is to carry oxygen, tents and supplies to Camp 4 on the South Col in preparation for summit attempts. The effort of climbing from C2-C4 and back in a day is superhuman and without this staunch ‘behind the scenes’ work, simply put, there would be no summit bids. North Update The Indian team, Transcend, made this post on the difficult weather on the Tibet side along with another good view of climbers on the North Wall below the North Col: our Sherpas could not establish Camp 2&3 today due to snow fall during night and have returned to ABC. Sherpa team will go again after 2 days. Meanwhile, our climbers went to a height of 7500m before returning to camp 1 and finally descended to ABC today. Wall below North Col. courtesy of Transcend Adventures Slow Teams As we approach the first summit window that I discussed in yesterday’s post, one of the more serious concerns revolve around slow climbers or worse entire teams that are slow. This mass of humanity clogs the route and jams everyone up. Often it is difficult, dangerous or even impossible to pass them on some terrain. I have used XXXX instead of the team name. Alex Abramov owner and lead guide of 7 Summits Club made this remark about teams on the north side in a post: And then the XXXX started: 35 members and 45 Sherpas. The picture is not
Everest 2017: Sherpa Unrest while Climbers Rush to Acclimatize
With the winds finally calming, teams are making serious progress reaching 7000 meters for acclimatization, meanwhile the Sherpas staged a protest at Everest Base Camp. There is massive movements on both sides of Everest today with teams scrambling to get their acclimatization rotations competed in anticipation of an emerging summit window. As I covered in my recent post How to Manage the Everest Crowds, there are four basic strategies: Get out early Go Late Goldilocks Timing Break into Small Sub Teams and Go Fast and Nimble Not to be repetitive but this chart shows the historical summits days with 16-22 May being the sweet spot. An Extremely COLD Summit Window Near? The word of the season has been wind but that looks to be relaxing a bit with a summit window nearing. I reached out to Chris Tomer of Tomer Weather Solutions for his thoughts on what we can expect. Chris provides weather forecasts to climbers around the world. He told me today: Big summit window opening up next week. Before that happens we’ll see a surge of high summit wind Thursday-Friday Climbers may get blasted at Camp 3 then winds decrease significantly starting on Sunday and stay exceptionally light most of next week. Why? A large ridge of high pressure builds in and the jet stream retreats. We’re talking 1-2 standard deviations above normal – that’s strong enough to hold the summit window open for 5 days straight, May 8-12. Is there a fly in the ointment? There are a couple chances for light snow during that timeframe. But, the real overriding issue is the cold. Summit air temps are currently running minus 40 Fahrenheit. Wind chill is even colder. Do summit temps warm at all next week? Yes but only a small amount. I’m forecasting summit air temps between minus 30 and minus 35. Climbers will be walking the razor’s edge with gear limits. Crowd Discussion Crowds are always a popular subject during the Everest season. This year, the Nepal Government issued a record 371 permits to foreigners. If you add in a 1:1 support of Sherpas that has around 742 people on Everest’s south side this spring, a record. These numbers have driven me to make more than one comment on crowds and now the mainstream press are writing articles about it With the season halfway completed, an estimated 10% of foreigners, aka members aka members have left the mountain – normal attrition. Global Rescue says they have taken 35 climber off the mountain with various health issues. So considering the total the members who have left plus their support staff also not climbing, we can reduce the climbers attempting the summit into the 600s and we can further reduce that by another 10% who will not try once their summit window emerges thus look for 2017 to be similar to the previous record year in 2013 at 537 summits, perhaps a bit higher but not 1,000 humans attempting the summit as I previously imagined. However, the big issue that remains is if there are only a few summit days, say under five, compared to the historical average of 11 suitable weather days for a summit. If you have hundreds of people trying to squeeze into a few days, that is when trouble emerges. 2012 was the case study for this scenario So have the crowds been a problem thus far on the south? Not according to Ben Jones with Alpine Ascents: Another crowd free great climb up to Camp 1 today. The team did great and made good time. We are resting in Camp 1 now and will head up to Camp 2 tomorrow. On the north side, they have a larger than usual number of climbers around 200 – not all that big especially on a mountain like Everest. Update: Zeb Blais, lead guide for Alpenglow provided these figures for the Tibet side: I just talked to Emma, one of the top CTMA agents on the Tibet side. Here’s what she said: “the climbers are less than before (2016). There are 170 climbers and 180 sherpas to climb Mt. Everest this year I will be using 350 total humans on the north side henceforth. Adrian Ballinger, who is attempting to summit from the north without supplemental oxygen made a post using the attached photo showing “crowds” on the north: This photo is from the North Side today. Only 200 climbers total will attempt this side this season. That’s hundreds or thousands less than other popular mountains (Rainer, Denali, Mt. Blanc, Matterhorn, etc.). The photo – a coincidence that 1/3 of this year’s climbers chose to climb to 23k today. Our solution? Wait until tomorrow. The route will be empty. As experienced climbers we could also choose to climb an alternative route, or just leave the fixed lines and climb as an independent roped team. No drama. But more to Adrian’s Point is that it is not the crowds but the experience of the climbers, a subject I have hit hard this season based on too many reports to cite of “climbers” with Kili as their highest, not knowing how to attach crampons or put on harnesses. This is the real threat on Everest in modern times. Adrian notes: The real but harder to visualize issue is whether some of these climbers are too inexperienced for the route. This is what slows things down and adds risk to all. Logistics companies (often locally based and managed) taking inexperienced climbers on mountains they are not ready for is an issue worldwide. As an industry we need to take responsibility for ourselves if nations will not, and create standards for 8000m peak guiding. Most important – experience and training requirements for members (previous 6,7 and 8k peaks), high altitude workers (@khumbuclimbingschool) and guides (@amga_1979 and @ifmga). OK, moving on …. South Summits? David Tait though climbing with Himex, often goes alone posted his intentions to leave EBC on 4th May: Hi – I leave Base Camp at 2am tomorrow morning initially for C2, then C3, C4 and hopefully summit over
Everest 2017: Climbing Resumes after Winds and Tragedy
While 2017 has been what I term a “normal” season, as we enter the midpoint on May 1st, there are signs of trouble. The winds continue to be the wildcard this season, stalling many teams from continuing their acclimatization rotations. Almost all the reports on the south side include the words windy and cold. Obviously this makes for uncomfortable climbing, but this is not unexpected on any 8000 meter mountain. When the wind forecast calls for gusts over, say 40 mph, many teams will hold tight instead of risking frostbite or worse. In spite of days with this forecast, some go anyway and then are forced to retreat. This just in today, 2 May, from Summit Climb on the South side: High winds. We are evacuating camp 2 now, down to base camp. Sounds a bit dramatic with the word “evacuating” but most likely, they are simply extremely uncomfortable and are not willing to take the risk. Other teams are moving up to C2 so we will see what they report. The emerging issue is that if the winds continue to delay acclimatization rotations, the possibility of hundreds of climbers clogging the routes may materialize. It is way too early to sound the alarm, but worth monitoring at this point. Ueli Steck On Sunday, 30th April, Ueli Steck died from a massive fall of Nuptse just above Camp 1 Camp 2. He was acclimatizing for his Everest-Lhotse traverse project. The details remain unknown on why he fell but climbers at Camp 1 reported seeing a climber fall from high on the rocky slopes. The family has announced Ueli will be buried in Nepal in a traditional Buddhist ceremony and a memorial will be held in his home country of Switzerland at a later date. I updated my post announcing his death with all the recent details. I contacted many climbers at Everest Base Camp for their reaction and all were shocked, some to the point of considering ending their own efforts. The major guide companies gathered their members together to provide the facts and gave their teams time to process what had occurred. A death of such a talented, skilled and public figure always shakes the climbing community to it’s core and if you are actually on the same mountain, the impact is even more dramatic. David Tait said it well from EBC: The death of Ueli Steck, the impromptu departure of a troubled member of our team and the inclement high altitude weather has taken a toll on the team’s mood over the last few days. Some of the team knew Ueli well, others, like me, had only met him once or twice. However, regardless of this disparity the sense of loss was felt by all. It was an intensely sad day – much letting of emotion, the likes of which I have rarely seen before. In an odd way, I felt privileged to simply witness this passing. The coverage of his death was widespread and respectful. I cannot say the same for some of the comments from a handful of readers. A few articles outside of the regular adventure, outdoor media I would suggest reading include the New York Times OpEd, New York Times announcement, New Yorker, Planet Mountain, Forbes and on his training techniques, an excellent article at Climbing. There are many more so Google to find them. UPDATE 3 May 2017: New information is coming out that contradicts the original reports. Now it seems that Ueli was climbing Nuptse across from Camp 2, not Camp 1 as originally reported. This makes better sense since the route to Nuptse’s summit is directly across from Camp 2, not Camp 1. But as to why he fell remains a mystery. This report from Swiss Info: Acclimatization on the South The major activity this week, weather permitting, is for climbers to climb to 7000 meters or around Camp 3 on the Nepal side. Some will sleep at Camp 3 while others will simply climb to the camp then return to Camp 2. All of this is to force the body to chemically adjust to the lack of available oxygen at these altitude. As I say, reaching Camp 3 is your ticket to the attempt the summit. If you can’t reach C3, then you are probably not ready. This from Ronnie Muhl’s Adventure Global: The AG team have completed their acclimatization and now await that first weather window. Neil slept at C3 two nights ago and dropped some gear higher up on Lhotse the day after and Anshu is currently resting in BC. The winds have been strong, but should start dropping towards the end of the week. Exciting times. We will keep you posted.Another Delay in the Icefall Icefall Delays On 2nd May, Tuesday, climbers reported a collapse that stopped all movement for 2.5 hours until the route could be repaired. Jim Davidson with IMG’s Classic team said: Safe at camp 1. Trip up slow & cold as route gone in 2 places. Img guides & Sherpas did great job fixing. On to camp 2 tomorrow. Jim also told me that there were 40 people standing in place waiting for the route to be repaired. This brought back memories of 2014 while waiting for a similar repair, the serac released off the West Shoulder of Everest taking 16 lives in a blink of an eye. I am sure there was high anxiety for Jim and his fellow climbers. This picture taken by Ben Jones with Alpine Ascents has become iconic for the 2017 season. This is near the top of the Khumbu Icefall where the glacier begins to tumble down creating huge crevasees. While deadly, it is also beautiful in a striking manner. NO O’s James Brooman climbing on the Nepal side without using supplemental oxygen, left EBC with the intention to tagging the South Col, or 8,000 meters. This is higher than those who do use O’s touch before the summit bid. It is critical that the body be pushed as hard as possible, and that means crossing that magic line of 8,000
Everest 2017: Ueli Steck Dies on Nuptse – Updated
Horribly tragic news is coming in that Swiss climber, Ueli Steck, 40, has died on Nuptse near Camp 1 Camp 2 off the Western Cwm. I have received 100% confirmation from multiple sources at Everest. I am told his wife has been notified. His body was recovered and is now in transport to Kathmandu. Durga Dutta Dhakal DoT Director confirmed the incident and saying his body was now at Lukla This original post was about 1:30 pm Nepal time. Today, 1 May, I have updated it with the most recent information. Update: A spokesperson for Ueli’s family posted on 30 April late in the day this official notice on his website: Ueli Steck was killed while trying to climb Mount Everest and the Lhotse. His family has learned of his death today. The exact circumstances are currently unknown. The family is infinitely sad and asks the media builders to refrain from speculation about the circumstances of his death due to respect for Ueli. As soon as there are reliable findings on the causes of Ueli Steck’s death, the media will be informed. The family asks the media for understanding that they will not provide any further information at the time. The Himalayan Times posted the news as well. I was first contacted by Larry Daugherty climbing with Adventure Ascents about noon, Everest time on 30 April: Body found at the base of West Nuptse, climber apparently fell alone and unprotected. Initially it was suspected to be Ueli based on clothing and apparently his acclimatization plan..then they confirmed with my team 10 minutes later it was in fact him. He was reported climbing alone. The details may never be known but often early report have some details incorrect. Two French climbers were also reported in the general area. Climbers at Camp 1 have reported they saw a person falling off Nuptse. Update: It has been reported that Ueli fell 3,280 feet. Summit Climb made this post on 30 April: Our team is ok, but just now we saw a climber falling down Nuptse wall. Oh My God Please Help Them! Update: The UK Gurka team made this post, 1 May about finding Ueli: As the Gurkha Everest Expedition team were approximately 45 minutes into their descent from Camp 2 on Everest yesterday morning, 30 April 2017, members of the team discovered the body of Ueli Steck in the Western Cwm. “Our sincere condolences to Ueli Steck’s family and friends, following yesterday’s tragic events,” said deputy expedition leader Major Andrew Todd, this morning. “Our team, who conducted his recovery and heli-extraction from the Western Cwm, are now back at Base Camp. “Ueli remains a huge inspiration to our team. As we push on, we will never forget yesterday or Ueli’s phenomenal climbing legacy.” Expedition chairman Brigadier Ian Rigden said: “The Gurkha Everest team is very sad to report the death of the legendary Swiss climber Ueli Steck on Mt Everest. His body was discovered by our team and they organised the repatriation off the mountain. Our thoughts are very much with his wife, Nicole, and we extend our heartfelt condolences to her and their families.” Ueli had been acclimatizing for an Everest Lhotse traverse. He had already climbed to Camp 2 and then soloed up to the West Ridge. He preferred to take day climbs from EBC to 7000 meter instead of spending nights at altitude to acclimatize. It can be safely assumed he was doing another acclimatizing run but this time on Nuptse. Update: He had recently posted this on Facebook: Quick Day from Basecamp up to 7000m and back. I love it its such a great place here. I still believe in active aclimatisation. This is way more effective then spending Nights up in the Altitude! Update: Jim Davidson, attempting Everest was at Camp 2 and saw Ueli heading towards the West Ridge on a reconnaissance climb: With heavy sadness, we say goodbye to one of the greatest climbers of our time, Ueli Steck. Ueli died today while solo climbing on Nuptse, just above Camp 1 on Everest. Like many, I looked up to Ueli as an incredible climber. I saw/met him briefly a few times, and he was a cordial and kind man. Last week we watched him solo at 22,000 feet up above Camp 2 on his way toward the difficult West Ridge of Everest. With only my GoPro handy, I took this wide photo of him climbing up. Ueli is circled in red. We watched him ascend for an hour until the clouds closed in. My condolences to his family, friends and many fans. I will always remember seeing Ueli climb up, up, up and into the clouds. In 2013 Russian alpinist Alexey Bolotov died while acclimatizing in the same general area. on Nuptse. His climbing partner Denis Urubko said Bolotov was rappelling when his rope was cut by sharp rocks and fell 300 meters down a rock filled ravine. This is a photo I took in 2008 of the general Camp 1 area with Nuptse on the right. This rock face is similar to the general area where the incident is assumed to have occurred based on eyewitness reports: My deep condolences to all of Ueli’s family, friends and admirers around the world. This is a truly tragic day in mountaineering. Update: And finally, I found some words to express my feelings: Today the heart of our climbing community has been taken. I met Ueli a few times and always enjoyed his talks. His humble style, matter of fact delivery on feats that in some case only he had achieved and no one ever repeated, captivated my spirit and feed my imagination. Ueli never sought publicity, or blogged while climbing, keeping his focus on the task at hand. Only after his achievement did he reveal the details, and the challenge. Thank you Ueli for showing us what could be done, to live bravely and give back unselfishly with your generous spirit. You will be missed. UPDATE 3 May 2017: New information is coming out that contradicts the original reports. Now it seems