Everest 2018: Summit Wave 8 – Update 2
Update 2: Moinz/Benegas summited Lhotse a day after getting Everest. This is the 4th 800er for Matt: Cho Oyu, Makalu, Everest and Lhotse. Update 1: Reports are now coming in of strong wind gusts. I asked Chris Tomer of Tomer Weather Solutions for his view on what was happening: Doesn’t look jet related to me so the gusts will pass. Could be a 3 to 6 hour spike. Then much lighter into Tuesday. My best guess is some spin in the middle of the atmosphere. In more general terms, the best summit window of the season is winding down. If the summit door was wide open last week then it’s starting to slowly close. Seven Summits Treks had one of their three VVIP members who paid $130K summit: This morning one of our VIP member Mr. Li Jianhong climbed Mt. Everest along with two more Chinese members Mr. Lyu Jun and Ms. Qu Jiaojiao between 5:30 to 5:50 AM. Ms. Qu Jiaojiao also climbed Lhotse on 20 May together with Jian Chang (China). IMG reports they had 10 members and 13 Sherpas support staff on the summit. It’s actually amazing that there are any climbers still left on Everest given there have been summits every day since last Saturday, 12 May, over 500 combined from both side now. But once again, several other teams are staged at the South Col and C3 on the North for early Monday 21 May summits. Many are climbing NOW! Monday 21 May – Summit Wave 8, yes #8! Look for more summits, a lot, early Monday morning with teams including: Nepal IMG Asian Trekking Alpine Ascents Int. Summit Climb Moinz/Benegas going for Lhotse Tibet Furtenbach Adventures Unique Efforts Still Underway David Liaño summited Everest and now is climbing Lhotse before heading to K2. He attempted Kang but was stopped by weather. Nobukazu Kuriki is at C2 now hoping to summit in a day or two. His exact route is still unclear to me. He posted Sunday: Namaste, gentlemen. I’m in c2 now. I’m going to take a day here today and I’m going to get up tomorrow. I have a slight cough and the cough and fever in the first half of the (Expedition) are almost gone. I think I have a chance now. Perhaps the day after tomorrow I will see the appearance of lì chéng from-Camp. Anyway, I’d like to concentrate and be careful and carefully. Thank you all for your support. Rupert Jones Warner is traveling to the Tibet side for his next attempt. He summited from Nepal on 17 May. Traverse Issues Horia Colibasanu and Peter Hámor are at C2 on the Nepal side hoping to summit via the West Ridge then traverse to Lhotse. They are concerned about the incoming weather since they need several days. Not looking good for their effort as near the end of the season. Their last post was Friday, 18 May: Horia and Peter are presently at the advanced base camp (ABC), after a climbing attempt. Due to a high risk of avalanches, they returned to 6,400 m. For this year’s project, the two of them need a 4-5 day window of good weather. They keep encountering poor snow conditions. Peter posted on Thursday: Peter and Horia couldn’t continue through the couloir to the West Ridge because of the great amount of snow. They are back in the ABC. Live Stream Delay? Tenji and Jon Griffiths, have been working hard and even doing a dry run for climbing to the summit of Everest by the normal, Southeast Ridge route, then return to the South Col and on to Lhotse back to back without supplemental oxygen. The no Os part of this is why its special plus it was supposed to be live stream over Nat Geo channels. But the team has gone mysteriously silent. Tenji Sherpa posted a few days ago: “Acclimitising is over now!!! waiting for good windows for final push” I have a message into them trying to figure out whats going on. OK, on to the next wave. I’ll update as I get info. Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything
Everest 2018: Summit Wave 7 Recap – Another Death, Summits over Obstacles
By this past week’s standard Sunday 20 May was a real slow day on Everest with just a handful of summit, around 50! But those who did had to work a bit harder than the rest to reach that spot. Also, don’t forget to read the Weekend Update for this past week that was filled with oxygen drama, deaths, records and over 400 summits! Common Sense Over Silly Rules Matt Moniz and Willie Benegas had to deal with over a week of unknowns to see if they were even allowed to attempt to summit. After they skied down the Lhotse Face, they were told they didn’t have the proper permit and faced fines, deportation and bans. Thankfully, none of that occurred as the Director General of the Ministry of Tourism determined it was a “very innocent mistake” and gave them his approval to “climb on!” And did they ever. In fact, they had to slow down and stop as they approached the summit because they were climbing too fast otherwise they would miss the sunrise!!!! Matt messaged “We went way too fast, we are burrowed in at south summit waiting for the sun inr.ch/5CEYVJJ – Matt Moniz” They waited an hour for sunrise and summited per Matt’s Tracker at 4:49 am. Follow the at Matts tracker as they go for Lhotse on 21 May. 2nd Times for Alpenglow ends well! Adrian Ballinger’s “overachiever” team summited. AB told me directly: 10 out of 10 on top this morning at 5:26am! No reg issues. We are already back at ABC, total push was 29hours round trip ABC-ABC, with no O’s until N Col. This Cho/Everest group are def overachievers ????. They basically climbed 3 x 8k peaks in 23 days in country. And they still want to walk the 12 miles down to BC this afternoon instead of spending a night. 8848m to 5200m in a day. Ouch! PS: fun fact – my team member/pro skier Jim Morrison skied 7500m to 6400m today on North Side of Everest. Good effort in pretty awful snow conditions. The team was strong and unique, not your normal commercial expedition. Jim Morrison is a well-known extreme skier and Neil Beidleman was a guide on the 1996 Adventure Consultants team and returned to summit Everest in 2011. Tibet Asian Trekking also had a good day on both sides with 4 members and 4 Sherpas on the Tibet side. Arnold Coster put 6 members along with 8 Sherpas on the summit. All are safe back at ABC or the South Col. 7 Summits Club completed their third team with summits: 3 guides, 7 members and 7 Sherpas Nepal Asian Trekking also had a good day on both sides with 13 members and 15 Sherpas on Nepal side Death The Himalayan Times is reporting a member of Tim Mosedale’s Nepal Everest team died above Camp 3. Gjeorgi Petkov, 63, from Republic of Macedonia apparently suffer a heart attack. My condolences to his family, friends and teammates. Sherpa Injury In the same report on The Himalayan Times , a Sherpa was hit by rockfall near Camp 2. This is highly unusual because C2 is situated in the middle of the Western Cwm and not under a mountain side of Everest West Should or Nuptse. Monday 21 May – Summit Wave 8, yes #8! Look for more summits, a lot, early Monday morning with teams from IMG, Furtenbach, Asian Trekking, 7 Summits Club and more. Well done to all. Climb On! Alan Memories are. Everything
Everest 2018: Weekend Update May 20
A lot to cover from this week! Last weekend I started the update with “… this upcoming week will be like riding a wild horse. It appears, the winds have finally calmed and the jet stream has moved away … Hold on tight, its summit season!” Well was it ever! There were summits every day of the week and it looks like it may keep going until the base camps are empty or the monsoons begin, whichever comes first. But as everyone who follows Everest knows, its the weather that has the last say and it bears a close eye today. By my reckoning, there are now close to 500 summits combined from both sides, not a record year but will be in the top four or five. The Big Picture I’ve been on or writing about Everest since 2002 – 16 years now and can’t remember a week like we just had – summits every day, mostly good weather and tragically, but realistically, two deaths. By now the typical season has had a few bad summit weather days where teams turned around primarily due to high winds. There have been several deaths, usually on the Nepal side of inexperienced climbers and unqualified “guides”or bargain guides, which was the case this week for both deaths. Also, individuals, once back from their summit push, have posted comments about crowds, slow climbers and the like, but we’ve seen little of that this year – even though it certainly has happened. This season is going perfectly in many respects – on both sides. The ropes were in at a decent time that lined up with the acclimatization rotations. In other words, teams were ready as the ropes reached the summit. That timing along with this past week of good weather allowed teams to spread out and not bunch into a few days like in 2012 when there were less than five good days the entire season. We’ve already seen summits on eight separate days thus far in 2018. It’s been interesting watching the “summit strategies” of the teams. The old guard has waited and is either going this weekend or summited late this past week. Some of the younger companies were the first to push. Usually its warmer with less wind around the 19th to 21st of May so it pays to go “later.” This year, I’m not sure it made all that much difference, however teams did report cold temps earlier in the week as in -20F/29C, some said it was -40C! If the weather continues to hold, we could see an unprecedented series of summits days unfold. Teams are targeting daily summits up to the 25th of May. If that occurs, 2018 would have seen almost two weeks of daily summits – simply amazing. But not to paint too rosy of a picture, there have been issues this season from failing oxygen systems to preventable deaths. Typhoons and Monsoons On 6 May, I asked Michael Fagin of Everest Weather to discuss what brings an end to the season, “The main reason is the onset of the Monsoon. Close to June 1 there is a strong southerly flow that brings moist air from the Bay of Bengal into India and Nepal and of course into the entire Himalaya region including Mt. Everest. The net result is starting in June and continuing through the summer India and Nepal get periods of heavy precipitation which certainly causes issues for mountaineering in that region.” Michael tells me that the best source for tracking these storms is from the US Navy Joint Typhoon Warning Center. This is the latest map showing a developing system off the coast of Africa that might travel east into the Bay of Bengal, just as Michael described. I’m not a meteorologist or even play one on TV, but this bears watching as it could be the season ender as we move towards the end of May. Oxygen Issues Adrian Ballinger’s Alpenglow, team of 16 people experienced the nightmare scenario on 16 May. They were at 27,887’/8,500, only 3,766’/1,148m below the summit, near the 2nd Step on the Tibet side when 10 of 39 oxygen bottle regulators spontaneously failed over a 3 hour period. They were not the only team to see this phenomenon. Also on the Tibet side, Furtenbach and Transcend had regulator failures and on the Nepal side both Adventure Consultants and Kenton Cool’s member Ben Fogel had issues. All the teams were able to salvage their summits by using spare regulators except for Alpenglow who was forced back by the sheer numbers. All individuals are safe and a few are trying again. You can read the details on this post. A regulator controls the flow of oxygen between the bottle and the mask. If it fails, there is no oxygen in the mask and in this case all the oxygen in the bottle escapes into the atmosphere. All the failures were made by Summit Oxygen (SO). I have spoken live several times this week with SO’s founder and CEO, Neil Greenwood. In our last conversation he thought they were moving towards understanding what happened. “It is worth noting have been no regulator failures before or after May 15/16 when it appears a unique combination of temperatures and high atmospheric humidity have been the cause of the issue.” more details To keep this in perspective but to also illustrate the significance, regulator do fail. They freeze up, or simply stop working from all suppliers – Summit Oxygen, Top Out and Poisk. This is why quality, experienced teams will always carry spares – many in fact for large teams. But they don’t double up on this critical part because each one weighs 8.47 ounces/240 grams – that’s heavy at 8,000 meters!! In my experiences over 16 years, a failure of this magnitude is an extremely rare event – unheard of. I have used SO several times, including on Manaslu and K2 with complete success so this was a frightening shock. Preventable Deaths There were two deaths this week. First, Lam Babu Sherpa from
Everest 2018: Summit Wave 6 Recap, Wave 7 Underway – Update 1
UPDATE 1: Matt Moniz and Willie Benegas had to slow down and stop because they were climbing too fast otherwise they wold miss the sunrise!!!! he messaged “We went way too fast, we are burrowed in at south summit waiting for the sun inr.ch/5CEYVJJ – Matt Moniz” They waited an hour for sunrise and summited per Matt’s Tracker at 4:49 am. Also the first Greeks to summit Kang. Another good day on Mount Everest. This weather window has been about as good as it gets on Everest. Yes, there has been a bit of wind now and then but overall, it’s looking like a record number of consecutive days of summits may happen. Saturday 19 May makes the seventh straight day and there are teams headed up Saturday night for Sunday summits as well as for Monday and Tuesday summits. Nepal – 50+ Adventure Consultants continued their success with 100% on the summit, 6 members, 2 guides and 13 Sherpas. Sangeeta S Bahl made her summit after ending early last year. She and her husband Ankur Bahl are both Everest summiteers now. He summited in 2016 at age 55! He believes his wife is the oldest Indian female to have summited at 53 years 3 months and 10 days. She was a Miss India finalist in 1985. Seven Summits Treks had all their Indian team summit, 7 members with 8 Sherpas. Tim Mosedale reports two members and Sherpas summited. Tibet – 30+ Danish Everest climber Rasmus Kragh turned back 820’/250m from the summit. He was trying to become the first Dane to summit without supplemental oxygen or Sherpa climbing support. Transcend has at least two members on the summit out of their third team. A member’s illness delayed them by at least one day. The member was taken to the Nepal border and flown to Kathmandu where I’m told he is out of danger. Looks like Summit Climb summited from the Tibet side , no details. Also, after a bit of a wait, Alyssa Azar is reported to have summited. Wave 7 underway for Sunday morning summits 20 May Matt Moniz and Willie Benegas are on their summit push now nearing the Balcony. They hope to summit Everest on the 20th and Lhotse on the 21st. You can follow Willie’s GPS tracker or Matt’s. 7 Summits Club are hoping for continued success for their last three teams. Alpenglow‘s Cho Oyu summit team are climbing now. They are trying to summit both Cho and Everest within 30 days. Tenji Sherpa and Jon Griffiths are schedule to do a no O’s Everest/Lhotse climb with live stream any day now. Also, South African, Sibusiso Vilane who has summited from both sides is now on the South attempting without supplemental Os. He’s was C3 and headed up now. Next Up Asian Trekking has a mind blowing 41 members hoping to summit starting Sunday 20 May through 25 May. The commercial teams of Alpine Ascents, IMG and are all headed up now, most are at C3 or the South Col Saturday. Ben Jones of AAI made a comment that caught my eye suggest a change in the weather “The entire team is doing excellent and looking forward to heading to the South Col tomorrow if the forecast still looks good for us! I’ll send some photos tomorrow and let you know if we decided to head to the South Col (Camp 4) at almost 8,000m.“ Furtenbach has their “flash” team at C2 hoping to get to the summit on the 22nd. They pre-acclimatized and are on a 4 week home to home program. David Liaño is now on Everest and Lhotse before heading to K2. He attempted Kang but was stopped by weather. Nobukazu Kuriki is at C2 now hoping to summit in a day or two. Rupert Jones Warner is traveling to the Tibet side for his next attempt. He summited from Nepal on 17 May. Horia Colibasanu and Peter Hámor are at C2 on the Nepal side hoping to summit via the West Ridge then traverse to Lhotse. They are concerned about the incoming weather since they need several days. Not looking good for their effort as near the end of the season. Other 8000ers Seven Summits Treks put 8 Indian climbers on the summit of Dhaulagiri albeit in extreme cold with low winds chills and a slightly different message from other climbers. Carlos Soria had dropped out two days ago. My dear friend Ryan Kushner and his team turned back due to the extreme conditions so I not 100% sure the AT team summited. One of his partner, Christopher Manning sent this sat message: Sat Message from Christopher Manning from Camp 2 ( Lat 28.706771 Long: 83.51371) “Yes everything is ok, but the wind was high and fixed ropes not in place. I decided after an hour of waiting @7,600m to descend. The remaining 9 climbers Including Debasish Biswas stayed to go up further. No idea if they summited or their status currently. I left with my partner Ryan from C3 to C2. Any other ..Oh yes a big team did from many expeditions. Debasis Biswas and Waldi (Poland ) from 7 summits after their expedition cancelled with 1 Sherpa. 5 from Taiwan, Two ladies from Spain Lina Castro I think her name is and Eva from Spain. Myself and Ryan Kushner from the USA. I don’t think the weather was good, very cold Maybe -20 but with winds up to 60kph which made it feel very cold.” Asian Trekking has a 12 member Indian team plus another seven international group on Kanchenjunga hoping to summit over the weekend. Reflections I like what Guy Cotter, principle fo Adventure Consultants had to say about his and his member, Leow Kah Shin’s summit of Everest and Lhotse within 254 hours of each other: It’s not about the summit. It’s more about the entire experience, or set of experiences, that make up the journey as a whole. There are many times it is uncomfortable and we’d rather be anywhere else. There are also times we’re extremely satisfied and happy to be where we are because the environment we are in is so
Everest 2018: Summit Wave 6 Underway
Here we go for the fifth day in a row for Everest summits. Looks like the summit teams may have several inches of snow over the next three days but the winds remain manageable. We’ll see what really happens. Several other teams are staged at the South Col and C3 on the North for early Saturday 19 May summits. Many are climbing NOW! Adventure Consultants is climbing and already to the Balcony. Matt Moniz and Willie Benegas at at C3 Friday looking to summit Everest on the 20th and Lhotse on the 21st. You can follow Willie’s GPS tracker or Matt’s. As yesterday, I assume there may be other teams including Asian Trekking, Seven Summits Treks, small Nepal guides companies and a few independents. There are still more teams that are targeting the weekend including the three sub teams of IMG totaling over 20 members plus the ones I mentioned may be going up tonight. Summit Climb on the Nepal side is holding off until 22/23 May – try late this year. Tibet Danish Everest climber Rasmus Kragh is trying to become the first Dane to summit without supplemental oxygen or Sherpa climbing support – follow via his GPS. Transcend should be sending their third team up tonight after a member’s illness delayed them but at least one day. The member was taken to the Nepal border and flown to Kathmandu where I’m told he is out of danger. Looks like Summit Climb on the Tibet side is finally going up. They were last reported at C3. 7 Summits Club are hoping for continued success for their last three teams. Furtenbach should be sending their “flash” team running higher – they pre-acclimatized and are on a 4 week home to home program. Similar to the south side, I assume there are Chinese teams, small Chinese and Nepali guide companies plus Seven Summits Treks. More as I get it. Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything
Everest 2018: Summit Wave 5 Recap – 100+ Summits, Oxygen Update
It was day four of Summit Central on #Everest2018 with more than 100 combined summits from both sides. Again the weather was holding as it has been but a bit of snow is expected over the weekend up high. Oxygen Update More Oxygen Problems – On South Now, Alpenglow going back up On their summit push, Kenton Cool and Ben Fogel also experienced regulator problems identical to Alpenglow’s on the Tibet side. Ben Fogel said on Instagram: The only blight on the Everest expedition has been a major problem with the Oxygen delivery system. At 8000m plus most people need supplemental oxygen in the thin air. At 8100m, just north of the Balcony, mine exploded. Luckily for me Ming Dorjee Sherpa was able to give me his mask, regulator and cylinder and he returned to the South Col without O2. Then our cameraman’s regulator burst at 8500m and this time Ang Thindu (in tears) volunteered his bottle and regulator. As if that wasn’t bad enough, at 8800m, at a life threatening height, My second regulator exploded on my back. To say it was terrifying is an understatement. My heart sank. If I was scuba diving I would have been dead. Luckily, the heroics of @kentoncool, meant that he gave me his only cylinder and mask. Kenton was able to descend to the South Col for an emergency mask. In total we lost 4 regulators and we met many other teams forced to abandon their attempts due to the problem. It seems to be a major issue on Everest his year and I hope we get to the bottom of the problem before someone loses their life. I’d like to publicly thank the selfless heroics of Ang Thindu Sherpa and Ming Dorjee Sherpa. Aplenglow While he said he met “we met many other teams forced to abandon their attempts due to the problem” I only know about three teams not the North and Cool’s on the South. I’m sure we will hear more. An update on Alpenglow, Adrain Ballinger contacted me 18 May at 6:30 pm Nepal time to say the main team would not try agin but his small team that recently summited Cho Oyu would, “Also just wanted to keep you in loop. Main team left for BC today. They had a great fight but will not make another attempt. Our small cho/e team will try again with german regs from kari and some well tested summit regs from hiro. Oxygen from Indian and Japanese teams. And only 1 camp (we will use C2 and skip C1 and C3) to minimize work for our sherpa teammates. We head up tomorrow and hope to summit on 20th!” Update from Summit Oxygen I spoke with Neil Greenwood at 7:30 pm Nepal time 18 May. He said he is confident they are moving towards understanding what caused the phenomenon and will be able to prevent it happening again. He continued “It is worth noting have been no regulator failures before or after May 15/16 when it appears a unique combination of temperatures and high atmospheric humidity have been the cause of the issue. Lukas Furtenbach, who first reported the failures to Neil, reported very high humidity and Adrain Ballinger noted his team were climbing though cloud at the time of the failures.” Neil added that Alpenglow had multiple failures over a 30 to 45 minute timeframe, not the 3 minutes that was originally reported. He is traveling to Nepal to personally meet with the operators and retrieve all the regs for testing in his labs in the UK. One more note he added was that the climbing community needs to be aware that regulators can hiss and make noises when o-rings are broken or a reg is not attached properly to a cylinder and this is not the same issue. Nepal: 65+ summits It looks like at least 65 people summited Friday 18 May. Madison Mountaineering with 3 guides, 5 members and 8 Sherpas, Climbing the Seven Summits had 100% success with 3 guides and 5 members and 8 Sherpas and Satori Adventures and Expeditions said 4 members and 6 Sherpas. Pioneer Adventure reported in with 2 members and 2 Sherpas. Tibet: 30+ Summits 7 Summits Club continued success for their second of three teams with 2 guides, 4 members and 4 Sherpas. Adventure Peaks with Ricky Munday and Patrick McNight “summited At 04:30hrs Nepali time and are now back down at Camp 3 and are continuing down to Camp 2. There was more wind and snow than expected, but it didn’t seem to slow them down too much. ” 28 year-old Illina Frankiv is reported to have summited by her partner and also an Everest summiter Neal Mueller. Also David Snow made the top in and in support of Sange Sherpa who had all 10 fingers amputated after his member refused to turn around last year. There is no update from Alyssa Azar. Other 8000ers Over on Dhaulagiri their summit push continues but with Carlos Soria at Camp 3 has abandoned his effort citing very high winds. This was his 9th attempt on Dhaulagiri. He only has this one and His to complete his dream of getting all 14 8000ers. It appears Ryan Kushner and his teammate Christopher are still at C3 hoping to make it. Nadav Ben Yehuda (30) has been airlifted from 6,600 m on Kanchenjunga after he suffered severe frostbite on his legs. Chris Jenssen Burke reported on her blog that she, Pemba Geljen Sherpa, and Lakpa Sherpa of Expedition Base summited. Also, Russian climber Sergey Baranov and German climber Herbert Hellmuth summited at around 6:45 pm, 17 May. Chris has an extensive report on her blog where she describe more rope issues, poor weather and more. This was her 10th 8,000er. Thomas Lämmle summited Makalu without supplemental oxygen and had no Sherpa support. He is now on Lhotse. David Liaño who ended his Kang attempt with no summit is now on Everest wanting it and Lhotse before heading to K2. Next Looks like the summit teams may have several inches of snow over the next three days but the winds remain manageable. We’ll
Everest 2018: Matt Moniz and Willie Benegas Cleared to Climb
Calling their skiing down the Lhotse Face without a ski permit a “a very innocent mistake” Department of Tourism’s director general Dinesh Bhattarai has given his blessing to 20-year-old American Matt Moniz and 49-year-old Argentine Willie Benegas for their Everest and Lhotse climbs. They hope to go this weekend, weather permitting. If successful, this will be Benegas’s 12th summit of Everest and Moniz’s first after being stopped twice before by ice serac release onto the Icefall in 2014 and the 2015 earthquake. Since May 7, the pair have been living under a veil of threats. They had read in the Nepal newspapers that they were under investigation for skiing the Lhotse Face without paying the $1,000 permit. However, no one from the government agency that manages the permits had contacted them directly until now. The climbers and, apparently their Nepal Agency who is responsible for knowing the rules, were unaware that a skiing permit was required in additional to a climbing permit. They had paid for climbing permits for Everest and Lhotse, so while they read in newspapers they might be revoked, no one ever contacted them directly, even the government representative at base camp. None of the Liaison Officers there for the other teams contacted them either. Upon hearing that they had unknowingly not purchased the skiing permit, Matt made a public statement of apology and offered to pay all required fees immediately but no one from the government engaged with them to fix the wrong. In a follow-on story by the newspaper that broke the original story, The Himalayan Times, the article described the incident as confusion, loopholes and misunderstandings. The article disclosed that the ski permit clause was buried in a document entitled “Tourism Industry Service Delivery Directives 2070” but did not address penalties or any legal action against the skiers. The word ski doesn’t appear in the mountaineering rules document which is what expeditions have used for decades. The Liaison officer, Deepak Kumar Dahal, who was tasked with monitoring the climbers and making sure they followed all the rules never accompanied Moniz and Benegas to base camp. They received unified support from the Sherpas at Everest Base Camp with over 150 signatures attached to a letter asking the government not to take any punitive action which was critical in the ruling in their favor. Today again in the Himalayas Times, reporter Rajan Pokhrel reported “The minister was fully convinced about taking a lenient position with Willie and Matt as the Benegas Brothers Expedition has also been supporting Nepal’s economy by bringing tourists and has also created jobs for many Nepali climbers, guides and porters,” a high-level official said. It does appear their agency, High Altitude Dream, will be fined USD$461 or Rs 50,000. Also the liaison officer will be warned regarding the incident. If a weather window is available to climb both peaks, Moniz and Benegas want to seize the opportunity. They will climb, not ski. They intend to go to the Ministry of Tourism as their first stop when returning to Kathmandu to pay for the ski permit and fee associated with skiing the Lhotse Face. But top on their list is to personally apologize again to the government officials and thank them for their understanding. This is the correct outcome in my opinion and hopefully everyone has learned a bit more about what is and is not allowed in Nepal as well as some insight into the permitting process. Thanks to director general Dinesh Bhattarai for his balance in this case. Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything
Everest 2018: Summit Wave 5 Underway – Update 1
UPDATE 1: Nepal Madison Mountaineering put 3 guides, 5 members and 8 Sherpas up there. Climbing the Seven Summits had 100% success with 3 guides and 5 members and 8 Sherpas. Satori Adventures and Expeditions said they had summits but no details. Tibet Adventure Peaks with Ricky Munday and Patrick McNight “summited At 04:30hrs Nepali time and are now back down at Camp 3 and are continuing down to Camp 2. There was more wind and snow than expected, but it didn’t seem to slow them down too much. ” 28 year-old Illina Frankiv is reported to have summited by her partner and also an Everest summiter Neil Mueller. Also David Snow made the top in and in support of Sange Sherpa who had all 10 fingers amputated after his member refused to turn around last year. Here we go for the fourth day in a row, looks like there will be Everest summits. Conditions remain excellent with reasonable winds and temps – for an Everest summit! Several climbers have GPS devices so you can follow along. Nepal Two American teams are currently on the move: Madison Mountaineering with 3 guides, 5 members and at least 5 Sherpas and Climbing the Seven Summits (Mike Hamill) with 2 guides, 7 members and at least 7 Sherpas. Ascent Himalayas has a small team of two members and three Sherpas. I assume there may be other teams including Asian Trekking, Seven Summits Treks, small Nepal guides companies and a few independents. Many of these companies post days after their summits so its impossible to track them in real-time. David Snow with a small team using Seven Summits Treks logistics are also on the move with a GPS There are still more teams that are targeting the weekend including the three sub teams of IMG totaling over 20 members plus the ones I mentioned may be going up tonight. Tibet Transcend should be sending their third team up tonight or it might be tomorrow. They have had another good season putting 18 members thus far with at least 18 Sherpas. 7 Summits Club are hoping for continued success for their second of three teams. Furtenbach should be sending their “flash” team running higher – they pre-acclimatized and are on a 4 week home to home program. Adventure Peaks with Ricky Munday and Patrick McNight are on their push. You can follow Patrick on his GPS tracker. There are a few climbers who are on tiny Sherpa supported teams including 28 year-old Illina Frankiv she was at C3 on the Tibet side on her summit push. You can follow her at her GPS. Similar to the south side, I assume there are Chinese teams, small Chinese and Nepali guide companies plus Seven Summits Treks. More as I get it. Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything
Everest 2018: Summit Wave 4 Recap – 70+ Summits and Russian Death on Nepal Side
What was a good day of summits turned tragic as a climber died on the descent on the Nepal side. There were a number of summits on both sides, 27 summits (12 foreigners) summit from Nepal and 40+ (20 foreigners) from Tibet on Thursday 17 May. Death on Nepal Side Bashinformation Russia is reporting that Russian climber Rustem Amirov apparently began to have altitude sickness after he nearly summited Lhotse and no one could reach him in time. Apparently he had done only one acclimatization rotation after arriving in the beginning of May according to people who met him at EBC. Its reported he was found unconscious above camp 3 and Sherpas helped him down to camp 2 where he unfortunately passed away. He was on a permit with Nepal company, Monterosa. I confirmed his death with Nepal’s government representative at Everest Base Camp, Gyanendra Shrestha who added that he was on a large joint permit and not climbing with a Sherpa or on supplemental oxygen. Rustem’s wife posted his death on his Facebook page Clever and strong as he was, he turned around just 100 meters from the summit due to bad weather. The bad weather slowed his decend. At some point above camp 3, he suffered from acute mountain sickness. High altitude porters were sent to rescue him, and help him down to camp 2. Unfortunately it was too late. He was unconscious when he passed away and didn’t suffer any pain, if that is of any consolation. Rustem was not only your beloved husband and a caring father of your children but also a highly respected mountaineer and my best climbing friend. Together will we all find a way to live with our sorrow and learn something about what death really is, which is where the pain stops and the good memories begin. Not the end of life but the end of pain. Rustem will be in our hearts forever. Other teams reported good climbing conditions throughout this push, so the comments around poor weather are a bit confusing. Makalu Rescue On 14 May, Swedish climber Carina Ahlqvist were on her Makalu summit push along with several other climbers and she but developed snow-blindness and was exhausted at Camp 3 on the descent. Helicopter rescue by Fishtail Air pilot Maurizio Folini was delayed by poor flying conditions but she eventually was rescued and is now in a hospital in Kathmandu. source Nepal Summits Teams reported excellent climbing weather all the way from Base Camp to the mid camps and for those on their summit push. Himex put two of their three members on the summit and are now back at C2: Last night the climbing team left South Col camp at 20.30 in clear calm conditions. Unfortunately, Ross was not feeling good and so he and Son Dorgee returned to S Col and were back by midnight. Jacob, Dan, Nima Sona, and Nima Wongchu carried on and were on the Balcony at 03.16, still in clear calm conditions. They reached the South Summit at 06.35 and were on the main summit of Everest at 07.42 still with clear skies and no wind, so it looks like we chose a good day for summit push. They only spent 25 minutes on the summit and started their return down climb at 08.07, were at South Summit at 08.40, the Balcony at 09.46 and are now back at South Col at 11.24. In the “so, you got to do everything?” category, 🙂 Italian Astronaut Maurizio Cheli, 59, become the second man in the world to both fly in space and summit Everest. He made the tippy top today with support from Seven Summits Treks Sherpas, Ramesh Gurung and Nima Rima Sherpa. Also Rupert Jones-Warner plans to summit both sides of Everest in a single season. He got the Nepal side Thursday. Guy Cotter and Leow Kah Shin summited Lhotse a day after they got Everest. Kuntal Joisher summited Lhotse a couple of days ago and made this nice update on his Instagram account: We had just come back after summiting Mt Lhotse. Possibly the toughest day of my life. I was following Mingma Tenzi Sherpa all the way to the top. Mingma, the insane rockstar he is, broke trail in knee deep snow, removed close to a km of buried fixed line, and then at the very top fixed about 150 meters of rope to open the route to the top. Anyway, both Mingma and me were sitting in camp 4 after the climb and out of the blue tears just started rolling and in no time I was crying profusely. Mingma asked – are you OK, what happened? And I told him that I’m super home sick. I’m remembering my mom, dad, and my wife.. And Mingma told me – control! He removed satellite phone from his pocket and said – give a call home man! I turned on the phone and right away it turned off. The battery had discharged! Aah the life in the mountains. This is a disturbing video posted by Nepal guide outfit Mount Everest 8848M of people between Camp 1 and 2 on the Nepal side. Note some people having difficulty climbing, others rappelling/abseiling down in the middle of the ladders, a pack being pulled up because the climber couldn’t climb with it on, then there are multiple people on the loading the ropes. This is the kind of scene that suggests more experience and control on the world’s highest peak is desperately needed. Tibet Summits And again Transcend from India had another successful day with 7 members and 9 Sherpas. 7 Summits Club had 20 on the summit: 10 members with 10 Sherpas. You can see their names in the previous post. Alpenglow Update – Going back up? After declaring they had made a team decision to end all efforts on the north side this year, team member Neal Beidleman now says a few (or all??) of them are going to go back up: “No way we’re giving up here. We all decided that we all had it in us to
Everest 2018: Summit Wave 4 – Update SUMMITS!
Teams are once again on the move from their high camps on the Tibet side and Nepal hoping to summit early Thursday morning 17 May, 2018. After yesterday’s big day with over 140 summits, today should be a bit quieter. Also, hoping for less drama after the failed oxygen systems on the North side. Alpenglow Ends Season After a dramatic evening of oxygen tanks hissing life saving oxygen into the atmosphere at 28,000 feet (link), theAlpenglow team made a joint call to end their spring season. Alpenglow posted on Facebook Teams have decided against making another summit attempt. The enormous effort that it takes to reach 8,500m burns through the body’s reserves. In the climbing community, it is well known that exhaustion breeds accidents, so, in the interest of safety, the team has decided to pack up their climbing boots and call it a season. Again, I want to applaud each member of this team from the guides to the Sherpas to the members and their base camp support plus the other teams on the Hill last night. Well done to all. Summit Pushes Wednesday Night 7 Summits Club has 10 people at C3 headed up tonight. They report clear skies and excellent conditions and “only” about 60 people for tonights climb. Transcend has another seven along with seven Sherpas. Look for another 20-30 on the Nepal side. You can see the approximate location of many of the team on my Location Table. UPDATE: Summits!! Tim Mosedale says that “Adam, Rupert and their Sherpas have summited Everest this morning and are currently on their way down to the S Col. and Fergus and Adrian following tomorrow with their Sherpas. Hoping Rupert will be back at EBC early tomorrow morning to start his journey to the N side for his double attempt.” Note that Rupert Jones-Warner plans to summit both sides of Everest in a single season. Last done by David Liano in 2013 Transcend announced the first summits of Thursday: At approximately 4:15 a.m., J. Praveen from the Andhra Pradesh State Social Welfare Educational institutions, has reached the summit along with his Sherpa guide and G. Raju reached the summit at 4:45 am along with his Sherpa guide. Raju also belongs to the Andhra Pradesh State Social Welfare Residential education institution and Prasanna Kumar, Bhanu Surya Prakash belonging to Andhra Pradesh and Vikas of Maharashtra reached the summit at 4:50 a.m 7 Summits Club had a great nite: Today on may 17, at 5.30 in Nepal (2.45 in Moscow), the first group of the 7 Peaks Club Expedition, LED by Alexander Abramov, went to the top of Everest. 1. Aleksadr logačev 2. Vladimir Belʹkovič 3. Dmitry Tertyčnyj (17 years old) 4. Alexander tertyčnyj 5. Dmitry Tomilin 6. Kirill Semeškin 7. Alexander Popov 8. Alexey Balakin 9. Kamil Sučanskij. 10. Alexander Abramov leader and guide And again Transcend from India had another successful day with 7 members and 9 Sherpas. They have been focusing on helping the youth of India to dream big and accomplish those dream using climbing as a tool. I want to thank them for providing the name and villages of the Sherpas and the ages of their members. J. Praveen (M,19, Andhra Pradesh) reached the summit at 4:15 a.m. IST. G. Raju (M, 19, Andhra Pradesh) reached the summit at 4:45 a.m. IST Prasanna Kumar (M, 19, Andhra Pradesh) reached the summit at 4:50 a.m. IST Bhanu Surya Prakash (M, 19, Andhra Pradesh) reached the summit at 4:50 a.m. IST Vikas (M, 19, Maharashtra) reached the summit at 4:55 a.m. IST. Vikram (M, 25, Karnataka) Reached the summit at 6:25 a.m. IST Venkatesh (M, 19, Andhra Pradesh) reached the summit at 7:00 a.m IST Sherpa Guides: Name, village. Sange Dorjee, Khumjung Pemba, Shisowa Karma Gyalgen, Thamo Lakhpa Temba, Mojo Bemgar Lakhpa Tenging, Thangmote Nima Nuru, Kotang Halesha Furtemba, Phorte Ang Nima Rai, Thangmute Futsiring, Phorte Seven Summits Treks posted this :”Francois Cazzanelli and Marizio Cheli both from Italy climbed Everest this morning with Ramesh Gurung and Nima Rima Sherpa.” Also on the North but with zero detail is from Satori; “On May 16, 2018, the Satori Everest North Expedition team reached the summit of Mt. Everest. The team has since descended to camp II and are getting a well deserved nights sleep.” Lhotse Not to be forgotten, Lhotse is a popular peak these days, especially for those Everest climbers who return to the South Col, rest up and then ascend Lhotse bypassing the return trip back up from Base Camp. Adventure Consultants reports their private team had success: Guy reported that they had the entire mountain all to themselves, making climbing the Everest/Lhotse double even sweeter. Congratulations to the team: Leow Kah Shin – Singapore, 1st summit of Lhotse, Guy Cotter – New Zealand, 2nd summit, Pasang Bhote – Sangkhuwasaba, Nepal, 1st summit, Dawa Bhote – Sangkhuwasaba, Nepal, 1st summit There were 80 permits for Lhotse this season and I estimate 60% also had Everest permits but only half of them succeeded. Don’t underestimate the fatigue after summiting Everest and then going on to Lhotse. Shouts of Joy I clearly remember my first Himalayan summit and the most recent. As we sat down on our packs at the summit hoping for a moments rest and drink of water, a Sherpa, perhaps not even from your team, clicks the transmitter on the radio and literally screams “SSSSSUUUUUUUUUUUMMMMMIIIITTTTTTTTTTTTT” It feels like that soccer announcer who goes on forever with “GOOOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLLLLLL”. But what’s impressive is the announcer guy has oxygen, the Sherpa doesn’t! -:) I’ll update this post throughout the night. Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything