Everest 2023: Summit Pushes Begin with Thieves on the Mountain

• EBC- C2: 6 hours (note: some teams will stop at C1, and go to 2 the next day)
• C2-C3: 6 hours – sleep at C3 using supplemental oxygen (note: some teams start Os at C2)
• C3-C4 (South Col): 4 hours – leave SC around 8 pm the same day (note: some teams will spend a full night at the South Col)
• C4-Summit: 8-12 hours- stay on the summit for 15 to 60 minutes
• Summit-C4: 3-5 hours – quick 30-minute rest and drink water
• C4-C2: 2-4 hours – sleep at C2
• C2- EBC – 2-4 hours – celebrate!

Theft – rare but not uncommon

Occasionally, a team will report that something goes missing from their camp or tent. This can be an honest mistake or a premeditated act by a climber or team, who chooses not to provision properly for an Everest climb or, in their strange world, feels that everyone’s property s also theirs for the taking. Adventure Consultants MD, Guy Cotter, reported that his team was a recent victim

We just discovered we’ve had a cache of gear stolen from South Col. Tents, stoves, pots and gas all gone. The thieves do not consider the impacts this might have on the safety of our people when they arrive to find this vital equipment gone. This is the work of cheap operators who do not have enough of their own equipment and have to steal to cover the shortfall. I think this may only be the start, we already hear of some of the large cheap. Operators not having enough oxygen to supply this teams. Anyone joining a cheap operator is as much to blame as the thieves themselves.

In 2017, a similar event occurred, as reported by Tim Mosedale, at their high camp on Lhotse. Tim posted then:

Some low life scumbag has taken the stash of oxygen from the tent at Lhotse Camp 4. Ronnie and Pemba have just arrived and were hoping to be poised for their summit bid for tomorrow. It’s soooo obviously our tent (markings on the outside, gear inside) so there’s no excuse or chance for confusion.

Yes, if there’s an emergency, then we’ll help. As long as we know that our oxygen is being used we can get it resupplied (or the team needing it can replace it). But to turn up and take it causes not only an issue for the summit team but also jeopardises the lives of other climbers.

It’s completely unacceptable.

Thankfully we’ve got another stash close by so Pemba has gone down to get that but that’s going to waste an hour of his time and energy. I’d never normally wish ill on anyone but if these thieving bastards don’t summit, or get frostbite in the process, then that’s karma.

If you wonder how some teams can offer an Everest climb at half or more than their competition, one way to cut corners is by paying their staff low wages or not fully stocking their camps and stealing from others. When gear goes missing, often it’s at the South Col when there are few people around. It takes a lot of manpower to get tents and oxygen bottles to the South Col, so an unscrupulous operator can save tens of thousands of dollars by pilfering other’s stocks. A few weeks ago, the Nepali government crowed about putting officials on the mountain this year to maintain order …

Pre- Acclimatizing or Fuzzy math?

Using altitude tents has come into fashion for Everest climbers. The theory is that by sleeping in a pressurized plastic tent for weeks before going to altitude, your body will be acclimatized to an altitude as high as 7,000 meters/23,000 feet. Companies like Furtenbach Adventures and Alpenglow swear by this approach and makes it a crucial part of the fast climbs, for example, Everest in three weeks instead of six or eight.

Other 8000ers

Norweigan, Kristin Harila, who is collecting 8000ers this year, got her third tippy top. She got the summits of Cho Oyu and Shishapangma in the last couple of weeks, and now she summited Makalu, 8,485 meters, along with Tenjen Lama Sherpa and Lakpa Sherpa. Also summiting was the rope team of Ang Dawa Sherpa, Chhiring Namgyal Sherpa, Dorchi Sherpa, Angdemba Sherpa, Pema Sherpa, and Furtemba Sherpa. Imagine Nepal noted that Swedish climber Raul Erik Helander and Pemba Chhiri Sherpa, and Ngima Nuru Sherpa made the summit. There are 58 foreigners with permits for Makalu this season.

There are teams ready for the summit on Kangchenjunga. There were summits on Cho Oyu from the Tibet side by Viridiana Alvarez supported by Ngima Rita and Pemba Tenjin Sherpa. Over on, Dhaulagiri, Carlos Soria, Sito Carcavilla and their Sherpa team have cached gear at Camp 1 and are holding for better conditions after horrendously heavy snowfall the past few weeks. Busy time in Nepal.

Denali

Not to be left out, it’s climbing season on North America’s highest, Alaska’s Denali, at 20,310 feet/6,190 meters. The season was declared officially open on April 27, 2023, with Park Rangers flying to their base camp at 14,000 feet. They will stay there and conduct patrols the entire season, something I wish Nepal officials would copy, stationing qualified and empowered rangers at Camp 2.

According to the National Park Service, 903 climbers have already registered, but only 83 are on the peak, and only one summited, soloist Jost Kobusch, back on February 19, 2023.

Meanwhile, the search continues for signs of two missing climbers on the Moose’s Tooth, a 10,300-foot peak near the Ruth Gorge in Denali National Park and Preserve. The NPS reports, “Based on boot prints and other clues, 34-year-old Eli Michel and 32-year-old Nafiun Awal, likely fell while climbing high on the West Ridge route of the Moose’s Tooth on Friday, May 5.”

My condolences to their families and friends.