Everest 2021: Delays Due to Cyclone Yaas

Heavy snow was reported on Everest, but some teams are reporting low winds. Once again, the truth is opaque on Everest. The gag order by the Nepal government has had a dramatic impact on teams’ willingness to share any information that could be construed as negative, thus all the happy talk. A handful of teams are still eyeing the end of the month for one last try.

Cyclone Yaas is expected to touch Everest for another 24 to 48 hours or until May 29, thus leaving an opening as early as Saturday but more likely Sunday and Monday. No doubt any team trying to make this last chance will be met with deep snow. It will take a strong group of many Sherpas to break trail.  Avalanche risk may be present especially since the teams will not have the choice to wait a day or two for the layers to bond.

Meanwhile, in a press release, Nepal’s home ministry calls expedition agencies and tourism officials ‘to make an immediate return of climbers from mountains.” Most computer-based weather forecasts call for winds to decrease to under 15 mph starting on Sunday, May 30.

Jenn Drummond gave another update from Camp 2:

The last three hours of our hike to Camp 2, we were in 35-40mph winds and fighting serious sleep deprivation. We all had to constantly brace against the wind to avoid blowing over. There was also hail! At that wind speed, it feels like having your face stung over and over by bees. We are worried that oxygen might be missing from Camp 4, so we need the weather to be good enough tomorrow for the Sherpa to check for it. If our designated oxygen is missing, we will need to wait another day to get more here for use and maybe summit on May 30 instead of May 29. Spirits are good! Please wish us all well. Support from home is amazing!

She is with Elite Exped who made this post from C2. They have 17 people there:

Climbalaya is also at C2 with eight people

Climbalaya Everest Expedition 2021 team now at Camp 2 for rest. Everyone are all good and fine.

Climbing the Seven Summits gave this update on their cancellation:

Cyclone Yaas has hit Everest, with severe winds and snow. Conditions are due to extend for the next 24 – 48hours as the Cyclone passes to the South & East. The climbing season comes to an official close on the 31st May. All CTSS climbers and Sherpa are now safely off the mountain. It brings a turbulent end to a tough season.

Compounded by this weather event, the season completion in just a few short days and the widespread impacts of Covid across the mountain, we made a safety decision to cancel the last summit wave just hours before their bid was due to begin.

Despite healthy and prepared climbers, a number of CTSS Sherpa were unwittingly exposed to Covid-19 at Camp 2 thus compromising the entire team. They were identified as close contacts and isolated with a handful subsequently testing positive, and therefore no longer able to support our climbers.

CTSS has strict margins of safety and redundancy that we operate within. Without a full Sherpa team accompanying our climbers and stationed at the South Col to aid in rescue situations etc, the risk became unacceptable. Further, the effects of becoming symptomatic with covid at extreme altitude can be catastrophic.

As we bring the 2021 season to a close, we are grateful to have had 2x successful summit waves with 25x Everest Summits & 7x Lhotse summits. Today we bid farewell to Damian, Akash & April who will descend to Lukla over 3 days and the Western Guided Team who will trek down the valley in just 2 days.

Teams that recently summited are stuck in base camp due to poor weather. Madison Mountaineering posted:

We had a nice, restful day here in base camp – cloudy and snowy all day.  We were going to head out today but no helicopter flights and we decided to delay one day, so we are planning to head out tomorrow.  Some folks are going to be trekking down the valley over three days to Lukla and others are hoping to helicopter out if the weather clears.  But the Cyclone Yaas out of the Bay of Bengal has created some very inclement weather here in Nepal in the Himalaya, so there might not be many helicopter flights coming soon.

And Summit Climb continued with their good updates:

27 May – Everest News: Trapped In Base Camp – Heavy snow fell all night. Now thick clouds choke our camp in the gauzy fog of big fat snow flakes. A new white carpet of sticky late May snow coats the ground and every surface. Above us a low leaden grey overcast ceiling obscures the peaks. Weather must be ripping inside there. Our members are tired; would like to helicopter down. No chance of that now. Our Sherpas need to return to camps 1, 2 and 3 to carry down 50 oxygen bottles, 35 epigas cans, 6 burners, 14 tents, 18 masks and regulators, 30 kilos of rubbish, and 25 kilos of assorted member’s personal gear. The Sherpas wanted to go up through the Khumbu icefall last night to begin their downcarrying. However, we took a look at the conditions: 1) non-stop heavy snowfall 2) strong winds 3) already tired Sherpas 4) walkie talkie batteries all dead. We vetoed the plan of them going up until situation improves.

Last Up

These are expected to nab the last opportunity of the season at the end of May:

Confirmed at C2:

• Climbalaya
• Elite Expeditions

Expected by not confirmed:

• 7 Summits Club ??
• Seven Summits Treks ??

Crisis on Baruntse

Marek Holecek and Radoslav Groh who made a historic alpine climb on the 23,389-foot peak are now trapped by the same wind and snow hitting Everest. A post on their Facebook page said: “The situation is unchanged, we are trapped at 7,000m, and we can not move,” Marek Holecek has just told his Base Camp. “It’s still snowing, blowing, and no visibility. We are waiting for a miracle that will hopefully arrive on Saturday.”

Baruntse is about 10 miles from Everest.

Climb On!
Alan
Memories are Everything

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