Sherpas fixed the route to the summit on the Nepal side as of 8:35 p.m., May 10—exactly when they predicted about a week ago. This opens the Southeast Ridge to about 600 people, clients and support, to make their summit attempts. The Tibetan rope-fixing team summited on May 7, opening that side to about 100 climbers. It’s game time!
Weather
The major consideration surrounding a summit push is the winds. The jetstream sits on top of Everest all year, or rather, Everest pokes into the jet. Summit winds can exceed 100 mph, and the usual safe limit is around 30 mph steady winds. Professional forecasters like Chris Tomer, Michael Fagin (Everestweather), Marc DeKeyser and Meteoexploration provide human-curated forecasts to the best teams. Other teams use free forecasts from the Internet.
DeKeyser posted on his LinkedIn page:
On the 12th of May, an isolated branch of the sub-tropical jet stream amplifies over Central and Northwest India, which leads to an increase of the upper-level winds. At this stage it looks that they will still stay in safety limits, yet, on the 12th, the 13th and the 14th of May we may expect the winds at +8500 meter will vary between 25 and 30kt – which is of course close to the very upper limit. Weather wise I do not expect any significant problems during those three days: some limited convective development but the precipitation signal for this whole period remains very weak. So, I expect that from the 12th of May the wind will be the item to take in account: it is not going to be a hurricane but it will be strong enough to be uncomfortable.
Remember, it’s not the still air temperature that causes problems; modern down suits protect against that, but high winds and windchill create problems. Tems pushing the limits can expect loss of fingers and toes from frostbite and potentially even death. The best teams understand this risk profile and do not take risks with their clients.
On both sides, climbers can expect more difficult climbing this spring due to the warm, dry winter that left the mountain with less snow and more exposed rock than usual, thus causing rock fall. Recent snowfall has eased the situation a bit, but teams still note that the Lhotse Face is tougher than usual. We’ll see what the Southeast Ridge between the Balcony and South Summit holds. Also, the Tibet side is notoriously wind-blown, so with little snow, the climbers will experience more than the usual challenging crampon on rock climbing.
Tibet
Adrian Ballinger of Alpenglow will arrive at the Chinese Base Camp on the Tibet side this weekend. They will rest for a couple of days, then head up to Advanced Base Camp and the North Col for a rotation. Climbalaya and Furtenbach are also expected to arrive soon. Climbalaya noted: “Our visa applications have been accepted, and on the morning of 9th May, we will cross the border and head towards Thingri. By May 10th, we are set to reach base camp.”
Nepal
With the ropes to the summit, look for many teams to submit this weekend. Many are already positioned at Camp 2. Seven Summits Treks gave us this update with the nems of the rope team:
Seven Summit Treks’ rope fixing team attained the historic summit of Everest (सगरमाथा), first in the Spring 2024 at 20:15 (Nepal Time) today, 10 May 2024. 10 climbing Sherpas from Seven Summit Treks under the management of Expedition Operators of Nepal (EOA) have reached the top of Mount Everest, becoming the first climbers of the season to summit the world’s highest mountain from the Nepal side.
1. Dendi Sherpa2. Tenjing Gyalje Sherpa3. Namgel Dorjee Tamang4. Suk Bahadur Tamang5. Dawa Rinje Sherpa6. Dawa Sherpa7. Rinji Sherpa8. Pemba Tashi Sherpa9. Pam Dorje Sherpa10. Lakpa Sherpa
IMG says their team will go for the top soon:
The IMG climbers had a smooth trip up the Icefall and yesterday everyone was ensconced at Camp 2. Today was a rest day for the team at Camp 2, and tomorrow morning the team will be moving up to Camp 3. This will be the beginning of the summit bid! We are following the weather reports closely, and it appears we still have a few more days of low winds.
Adventure Consultants once again provided a solid update from EBC:
Here we are back in Everest Base Camp. It’s amazing how relative comforts can be. The lower altitude at Base Camp, where the air is thicker and life seems a bit easier, is a welcome change to Camp 2. Moving to Camp 2 in a single push, we made better time through the icefall before a break at Camp 1. We felt like ants in a bathtub, dwarfed in the Western Cwm, as temperatures rose and we stripped off layers of clothes. Arriving at the bottom end of Camp 2, we scrabbled over snow covered rocks to wearily step into Camp. After a rest day we climbed the Lhotse Face to Camp 3. The weather was everything, from cold winds whipping snow across the Face, to enveloping cloud, light snow and hot temperatures. Finn even had to remove his light down onesie, not an easy thing to do on steep icy terrain. Gaining height, the South West Face loomed nearby and the couloir crucial to the 1975 ascent was visible. The Yellow Band and Generva Spur grew larger and larger until the cloud covered everything and we were in our own bubble with about 50m visibility.
Other 8000ers
Adrian Hayes tells me they are on their summit push on Kangchenguga: “All going ok, at camp 4 got here around 12pm, 4 hours from camp 3. leaving for summit at 6:30pm tonight (Nepal time)”
Hang on, everyone, this may be a weekend of summits!
Climb On!
Alan
Memories are Everything
Podcasts
You can listen to #everest2024 podcasts on Spotify, Apple Podcast, Breaker, YouTube, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic, Anchor, and more. Just search for “alan arnette” on your favorite podcast platform.
Everyday Everest
Final drop on May 10, 2024
A new 16-part podcast series during the Everest 2024 climbing season.
Based on my Fictional 2020 Virtual Everest series, I’ll have a twenty-minute updated episode of the story a few times a week for the next two months. Everyday Everest follows a fictional team of nine climbers and their personal Sherpas from leaving home, trekking to base camp, acclimatizing, and finally, on their summit push. The story’s protagonist, Harper, sets the tone for the story when she tells her husband, Marc, “Honey, I’m going to climb Everest.”
You can listen to Everyday Everest on Spotify, Apple Podcast, Breaker, YouTube, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic, Anchor, and more. Just search for “alan arnette” on your favorite podcast platform.
Previous Everyday Everest Series Episodes
- Everyday Everest Podcast Part 15–Summit!!
- Everyday Everest Podcast Part 14–Summit Push
- Everyday Everest Podcast Part 13–Climbing Above Camp 3
- Everyday Everest Podcast Part 12–Summit Plan for the Team
- Everyday Everest Podcast Part 11–First Summits
- Everyday Everest Podcast Part 10–Climbing the Lhotse Face
- Everyday Everest Podcast Part 9–Summit Date Planned
- Everyday Everest Podcast Part 8–Suffering at Camp 2
- Everyday Everest Podcast Part 7–Into the Cwm
- Everyday Everest Podcast Part 6–Into the Icefall
- Everyday Everest Podcast Part 5–Arrival At Base Camp
- Everyday Everest Podcast Part 4–Blessing in the Khumbu
- Everyday Everest Podcast Part 3–The Trek Begins
- Everyday Everest Podcast Part 2–Hello Kathmandu
- Everyday Everest Podcast Part 1–Welcome and Part 1
Preparing for Everest is more than Training
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