Everest 2018: Summit Strategies as Forecast Improves, Helicopter for Boyan
An atmosphere of optimism has overtaken Everest as the winds are predicted to calm, and the temperature warms. Climbers are feeling the summit in their bones for the first time this season. The schedule appears to be: fixed ropes to the summit over the next few days, first member summits around 13th May and then next week we will see summits daily on both sides. Of course, all of this assumes the jet stream has moved away which is a pretty good assumption, but still an assumption. The big day next week will be around mid week, 16/17th May. Big Picture It’s a mixed bag across the Himalaya and especially on Everest, some teams are still down valley on “holiday”, others are waiting in base camp and a few have moved to mid-level camps in anticipation of the ropes being fixed to the summit any day now. The Sherpa team setting the ropes are about to the Balcony on the Nepal side leaving “only” 1,535’/467m to the summit. They are hoping to get there on 12th May, Saturday, thus opening up the route for teams on Sunday the 13th. It’s a similar story on the Tibet side with the ropes well above Camp 3. Teams are sending their Sherpas up to stock the high camps, on both sides, with oxygen, fuel and tents. There were 300 Sherpas reported in the Khumbu Icefall on Friday, 11th May. High winds hit Camp 2 destroying some tents the last few days but nothing serious has been reported. Not to be forgotten, nearby Lhotse has climbers at C3 on the Lhotse Face and may summit Saturday 12 May. Wind or No Wind? Russell Brice probably has more trips on Everest than most any leader. He studies the weather forecast like a text book and draws his own conclusion with support from the Swiss outfit Meteoexploration. He is a bit uncomfortable at this time, especially about the windchill near the summit for his team: My understanding of the weather forecast is that it will remain at -30 on the summit for the coming days, and that the wind will be variable between 20 – 30km for the next few days. This is outside my normal parameters for safety as the wind chill factor is rather cold. I am sure that there will be several teams pushing for the summit during this time, but the risk of frostbite is quite high, so I wish them all a safe return, with no damage. In the meanwhile our team will be patient and will wait for a calmer period and warmer temperatures in a few days time. Of course we like to think that we are understanding the weather very well…but it is always changing, and so we also need to be adaptable, and try and be in the right place at the right time. Looking at the public forecast Meteoexploration has on their site, it predicts windy and cold over the weekend but warmer and calmer into next week supporting Russ’s comments. Nepal: Ropes to Balcony, Summits all Next Week First EverestER has been busy as usual and posted these numbers. There are about 1,000 people at base camp. Remember they are all volunteer and live off donations: 306 consults 265 men, 35 women 163 Nepali, 56 USA, 16 Canada, 16 China, 11 England 127 Mountaineer, 123 climbing sherpa, 23 kitchen staff, 10 trekker, 7 western guides 67 URTI, 51 HAC, 27 MSK, 21 gastroenteritis, 2 HACE, 6 HAPE, 7 AMS, 11 Frostbites. IMG commented that right now its even cold at base camp: “The weather this evening at EBC is mostly clear and calm and the winds are beginning to trend from the North. All of this equals lower temperatures than normal from EBC to the Summit. I know it is supposed to be cold on Mount Everest but it is COLD here tonight! Forecasted temperatures between Camp 2 and the South Col are between -21°C and -29°C for tomorrow and with a breeze coming in after lunch which can make for a cold day on the Lhotse Face.” Jagged Globe is at Camp 2 saying they are ready for the summit push: “There were strong winds at all altitudes during the night. This led to drifting snow in the icefall. The Jagged Globe team were the first on the move this morning and had to break trail and pull the ropes free as far as Camp 1. This slowed progress and the team took 9hrs for the trip from BC to Camp 2. The Sherpa team are carrying loads to Camp 4 today despite the continuing strong winds. Later tonight the team will decide if tomorrow will be rest day, or if they are in a position to move to Camp 3.” Louise McEvoy makes an interesting comment about secrecy on the summit day. She is with the Nepali company, Ascent Himalaya After lunch we all sat speculating when our summit push will start. The Sherpas like to keep it a closely guarded secret as if word got out it could start a mad rush from other teams, frustrating but understandable. Horia Colibasanu and Peter Hámor planning to climb to Everest via the West Ridge then traverse over to Lhotse have been working hard and appear to be in good shape as the forecast improves: “The last weeks have been pretty difficult. We’ve put an enourmous amount of work into equipping the route. We’ve fixed over 350 meters of rope to secure ourselves on the ice covered slopes, we’ve carried up a lot of gear. We are at Base Camp now and may descend to 4,500 meters, to rest while awaiting the favourable weather window. We need about 5 days of good weather to start out” Tibet: May 17-19 Will be Huge! 7 Summits Club is ready looking at the end of next week for summits: “Acclimatization Complete! The rest is done. Now just go upstairs! Storming the summit of Everest, our team of 7 Vertices is scheduled for 17-18-19 may by three
Everest 2018: Stunning Video of Fall, Helicopter for Boyan, Teams Prep for Summit
All is well on Everest but communications on the Nepal side from base camp was disrupted when an early morning lightening storm took out part of the Wifi system. Updates are sporadic now. Teams are all over the region from base camp to Kathmandu to Shanghai! Packing Up, Heading up and Waiting All eyes are on the rope fixing team on both sides. Everything is in position to begin the work but high winds continue to slam the peak above 8000 meters making it too dangerous for anyone to enter the death zone. High winds also hit EBC on the Nepal side over the last couple of days for those who are there. The forecast suggested it will calm around the 11th so any day now. Yes “there is a chance!” Meanwhile some teams have taken this “touching grass” thing to an extreme with the fallback to lower altitude to rest up. Adventure Consultants said part of their reported that another team went all the way to Shanghai!! “Different teams have different approaches. Some choose to stay at Base Camp, others drop down the valley to Pheriche or Namche Bazaar. Others fly to Kathmandu, but this year’s prize goes to the team who have flown to Shanghai. If nothing else, the Shanghai Drop Back sounds exotic and far-flung.” On the Tibet side, young Alyssa Azar is holding firm at base camp. She is the youngest female from Australia to summit from the Nepal side in 2016, now she wants to do the Tibet slopes to the summit. Her home team reports : ” We spoke to Alyssa last night. Not too much has been happening. They’ve been resting in Base Camp and just checking gear whilst allowing their bodies to recover. She’s feeling really good and is keen to get on the move again. They’re watching the weather patterns and working in with other teams to see how they can work their rotations in with each other. Base Camp weather has been good with some snow for the past few days. Higher up is still quite extreme winds and once those lift then she will start her summit bid. It will be any time in the next 4 or 5 days that the summit bid will start. Everything she has trained for and worked towards will come down to that one week of effort and hoping the weather holds out.” The speed team Furtenbach Adventures is planing on heading up soon “Whole Flash team arrived well at our ABC at 6400m today. We entered Tibet 5 days ago. We had an impressive thunderstorm last night with 10cm snow. Still windy up here but should calm down tomorrow.” Other 8000ers in Motion On Kanchenjunga, Chris Burke said “It looks like we may have a weather window for our summit push, so our Expedition Base team is getting ready to leave base camp tomorrow, 11th May, to head up the mountain.” On Cho Oyu, 360 Expeditions at C1, 6100 meters suffering through lightening storms “We are at C1. 6500 m and have been for the last few days. The night before last our tents lit up as if a giant was welding just outside. Then an earsplitting thunderclap heralded an electrical storm which crept like a demented beast up and down the ridge on which we are camped.” Nick Rice, Ryan Kushner and team on Dhaulagiri have been hit harder than many of the other 8000ers this season with tough weather. Today they were delayed by new snow “Today, we woke up to around a foot of new snow in base camp. Our new forecast calls for extremely high winds low on the mountain tonight through tomorrow morning, so we had no choice but to push off our summit bid by at least a day, as it wouldn’t be safe to climb to Camp I in such high winds.” Beautiful View Alpine Exposures- Jon Griffith Photography posted a nice image that shows what a professional photographer can do. He added “A stream of headtorches make their way up the Khumbu Icefall and the Lhotse Face in the background. The lights of Base Camp shining brightly bottom left. Heading up tomorrow for our last acclimatisation run with a night at South Col if the weather plays ball….” I received some amazing photos taken by Prakash Sherpa with Adventure Consultants while they were fixing the rope on the recent Nuptse attempt. Note how steep and exposed it is. This is one reason not many people attempt Nuptse, in fact only 20 have actually summited. In may ways it is more technically difficult that nearby Everest and Lhotse. Boyan Petrov Missing on Shishapangma – Update Helicopter Approved! The best news thus far is China has finally approved ,after days of delays, to use three Nepalese helicopters and their pilots from Simrik Air who now have Chinese visas. Chinese border guards will wait for both helicopters to arrive on their territory, so they will not have to go to some of the border posts where only passport control exists. source The weather seems to be clearing high on Shishapangma and a team of 10 are leaving base camp with the intention to summit, but also to look for missing Bulgarian Boyan Petrov (45), who was climbing solo, without supplemental oxygen or a radio. He left base camp on 29th April but stayed behind as teammates left Camp 2 on 3 May due to poor weather. He was spotted through a telescope on 5 May but nothing since. The rescue team has been put together by Chinese mountaineering officials has not arrived at base camp. And Petrov’s wife, Radoslava Nenova, has made an appeal for donation to fund the rescue attempt on her Facebook page. STAY CLIPPED IN!!!! And for the last comment from Nobukazu Kuriki today, this stunning video illustrates why you never unclip from the fixed line and that goes for Sherpas. No one was hurt. Safe climbing all. Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything
Everest 2018: Waiting and Packing-Summit Time Approaches
The excitement is building as team after team is packing for their summit push. All the years of saving, dreaming and training are coming to a head over the week. A large snow blast hit the upper Khumbu Icefall in mid day but no one was injured. While they were packing, It was quiet with the exception of a huge lightening and thunder storm on the Nepal side. At 4:00 am his time on Wednesday morning, Kuntal Joisher texted me “It’s windy here at the base camp as well and crazy amount of thunder and lightning. What a show by nature. Been awake for last half hour listening to all the thunder and seeing the lightning flashes.” Then a few hours later: It’s time!!! Tonight I leave to begin my summit push for Mt Lhotse. Team Satori will first move to camp two where we would be stationed for two nights. We would then move to camp three, and then next day to camp four. We’ll spend a few hours at camp four of Lhotse and then begin our final climb to the top of Mt Lhotse through the Lhotse couloir. This would be on the morning of May 14th. Hopefully mountain and weather permitting we would spend some time experiencing the amazing Himalayan panorama from top of Lhotse and we hope to be back at the base camp by May 15th! Nepal: Waiting But not everyone is chomping at the bit to go, many are on holiday in Namche or even Kathmandu. Another nice update from David Snow‘s wife, Tiffany. I enjoy hearing her point of view. Click on the link to see some great photos. The team took a helicopter this morning down to Namche (11,000 feet) for rest, relaxation, normal(ish) food, real beds, hot showers and much better internet! The air is thick and they all are a lot happier 🙂 It’s amazing the difference (last year and this year) when talking to Dave at Namche. He is upbeat, energetic and overall more relaxed. They will be there for a few days while waiting for the fixed lines to go all the way to the summit. By all accounts it seems like this season is going fairly well and they expect the lines to be in soon. Some weather reports indicate a summit window coming soon, next week we might hopefully see the first summits on the south side. I have learned not to get excited about that (and they have learned that too.) It’s still too early to count our chickens. But keeping good thoughts and positive vibes! It used to be that climbers would walk, I know – how old fashion – back down to a lower village for this pre-summit “touch grass.” These days they hire a helicopter for several thousand dollars and split it between several people. Ryan Waters, Mountain Professionals, had a nice post describing the pros and cons of going back down valley. This is snapshot of the post: The pros being, resting the body at lower altitudes, eating different foods that often simply revolve around being able to sit in a cafe and eat cake, showers, etc. All of the arguments outside the Physiology aspect can be argued that we actually have better of all this stuff at our base camp. Our cooks great food, showers, constant internet in our camp, huge personal comfortable tents with beds, and showers. The possibility of instagraming from Namche probably more of a fashionable trend than anything is a big driver in many climbers minds at this point. The cons of dropping down; you are eating other peoples cooked food, the chance of maybe picking up an illness from this or other trekkers who are coughing away in teahouses, outsiders who have not lived in our little bubble for weeks on end can be a major risk. And probably most importantly, getting away from the mountain, not watching its rhythms and staying focused here with our staff and being present with Everest. He also posted a nice picture of this year’s Camp 2 on the Nepal side: Tibet: Waiting The Alpineglow Everest team is on the mountain now, arriving late per plan. The have completed an acclimatization rotation and are also waiting on weather: Continuing to acclimatize for their summit push, the Everest team completed a rotation to North Col/C1 (23,000’/7,000m) and returned to ABC (21,300’/6,400m). The North Col is a severe sharp-edged pass that was formed by glaciers- it forms the head of the East Rongbuk Glacier. The glacier marks the first point in the route where crampons become necessary for climbers. In anticipation of summiting, the whole team has their eyes glued to the forecast. Wind patterns are looking increasingly variable with a lot of up and downs. “Winds have been ripping really hard for the past serval days and will continue for several more… but after that??” Even though its a bit out of focus, I like this shot Arnold Coster posted along with he caption “waiting for weather” Boyan Petrov Missing on Shishapangma – Update There is no real news on missing Bulgarian Boyan Petrov (45), who was climbing solo on Shishapangma without supplemental oxygen or a radio. He left base camp on 29th April but stayed behind as teammates left Camp 2 on 3 May due to poor weather. He was spotted through a telescope on 5 May but nothing since. The upper mountain has been socked in with high winds, similar to Everest. A rescue team has been put together by Chinese mountaineering officials and his fellow climber at base camp but poor weather has thwarted their efforts. Also the Chinese approved the use of a helicopter to aid in the search but it can only fly to 5,000 meters and he is thought to be higher. The Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov was quoted in the Bulgarian media “We are in full communication with his relatives, as well as with the authorities in Nepal and China, and I have summoned the Chinese
Everest 2018: The New Generation of Everest Guides Making Their Mark
With the #Everest2018 season pausing for wind, I wanted to explore a few trends that are in full demonstration this season. All is well on both sides of the mountain today albeit with big winds and thunder and lightening reported at the Nepal Base Camp on Wednesday 9 May 2018. All bets are that the ropes will be fixed to the summit by the end of the week. If not then, it will be close to it and then the summits floodgates are wide open! For decades there has been a standard list of guides who have safely lead hundreds of climbers to the summit of Everest and back. They included Adventure Consultants, Alpine Ascents International, Asian Trekking, Himalayan Experience, International Mountain Guides, Jagged Globe, Kobler and Partner and more, but a new generation is now coming of age and determined to make a difference by mixing things up all the way from time required for the climb to the luxuries at base camp. I spoke in depth with a few of them to see what they are thinking. I wanted to cover three areas: 1) so-called “speed” climbs that are done in half the time of traditional expedition using “pre-acclimatization” techniques before arrive, 2) the entire race to have the most luxurious expedition at the highest price climbs and 3) Guide and Sherpa qualifications. Adrian Ballinger and his Alpenglow company is well known to the climbing community and to my readers. We kind of have a something, something relationship 🙂 Adrian strongly believes in his rapid ascents on the North side of Everest (and other peaks) while demonizing the South side even going as far as saying it is unethical to guide on the Nepal side due to the inherent risks associated with the Icefall. I respectfully disagree and accuse him of hyperbole plus out of control marketing. That said he is a world-class alpinist himself summiting Everest last year on the North, with no O’s. Yeah, he is the real deal. Adrian Ballinger promotes his “Rapid Ascent” climbs all over the world arguing that: “we have refined and distilled the acclimatization and climbing process to maximize safety, health, success, and enjoyment.” Reminds me of a statement from Jurassic Park. Mike Hamill is the newest kid on the block. His new company Climbing the Seven Summits is on Everest this season and doing well. Mike is well known in the guiding world having spent many years working his way up the International Mountain Guide (IMG) guide ladder. When he recently left, Mike was the lead guide for “private” or 1:1 commercial trips on Everest. A role that commanded well above average fees for both him and IMG. See this interview I did with Mike just before he left for Everest this year. He made a comment the other day that got my attention, “A huge thank you to our amazing Sherpa team for creating this wonderful and elaborate base camp so that the climbers can relax and be comfortable between rotations. Next year will be bigger and better.” It’s the bigger and better thing that got me. Austrian guide Lukas Furtenbach also heavily markets his so-called “Flash Climbs” advertising that his members can summit Everest in four weeks. He boasts on his Furtenbach Adventures website: “Time is a valuable commodity. We are about to change the fundamentals of high-mountain expeditions. Mount Everest in less than 4 weeks! While a regular Everest expedition can require almost two months, our Everest Flash expedition takes only 4 weeks while increasing safety and chances of success.” See this in-depth sparing interview I did with Lukas late last year. Before we get into this, I fully acknowledge that there is a market for luxury and for speed. In two of my ongoing polls, 15% of the voters readers said they would like a fast climb because “Great – I’m busy but want to climb so making it faster, if safe, is good.” As for luxury, it seems that voters want hot showers, heated tents and access to Wifi over movie nights, carpeted tents and foosball tables -:). These guides are meeting a market demand but when is it too much? [poll id=”14″] [poll id=”27″] Speed Climbs with Pre-Acclimatization Both Adrian and Lukas strongly believe in “pre-acclimatization” but the jury for some is still out. A recent article by Steve House and Scott Johnston of the well-respected UpHill Athlete took the entire premise to task with the summary: “We believe that if you want to climb an 8,000-meter peak, the safest way to do so is to arrive for your expedition in the best aerobic fitness of your life and employ supplemental oxygen. We believe that for 99 percent of climbers, sleeping in a hypoxic tent prior to departure on a high-altitude expedition will return fewer gains than proper training and preparation.” Lukas told me he is writing a rebuttal and gives them the benefit of the doubt that as Americans, they have not seen the decades of “proof” from European studies. He begins his defense with two points. I’m sure we will see more later. 1) Kilian Jornet is very sure that without his hypoxic acclimatizing program he could not have done what he has done. One of our team members had endless talks with him about this. He completely trusts in the program. 2) They write that in an hypoxico tent it is hot and humid. This is totally wrong. And any person who has slept in such a tent knows that. Dry air is the problem, not humidity. It is absolutely dry in there. In fact it is that dry that you have to bring moisture in it somehow. But the critics abound about this from the “old school.” In a Bloomberg (a business oriented publication) article about mountain guides and using Alpenglow as a case study, their use “pre-acclimatization” prompted these harsh comments from his competitors: “Complete bloody hogwash,” says Simon Lowe, managing director of Jagged Globe, the British mountaineering company founded in 1987, and one of rapid-ascent climbing’s most vocal
Missing Climber on Shishapangma
Bulgarian Boyan Petrov (45) is reported missing on the only 8000-meter peak fully within Tibet, Shishapangma. The working assumption is that he left for the summit, alone, and never made it. He left base camp with other climbers on 29 April but choose to stay when others left as the weather detoriated. He was spotted near Camp 3 by teammates at base camp using a telescope according to Facebook posts from his home team, Khalifa Himalayan Expedition, in Bulgaria. At this point he was climbing solo, no radio and without supplemental oxygen – his normal style for 8000ers. On May 5, a search team consisting of a Ukrainian climber and three Sherpas went to Camp 3 at 24,278 feet and found his tent with the flaps open and his sleeping bag filled with snow suggesting he had not been in the tent for days. Much of the information is being released by Hungarian mountaineer Dávid Klein, who is also on Shishapagma. There are about ten climbers on the 26,335 feet this Spring. Boyan’s wife, Radoslava Nenova, posted on Facebook that he has been missing for days and certainly made an attempt to get to the top because his tent was at Camp 3. She believes he had reached another camp where there were food and fuel. “He has everything he needs to survive,” she told Bulgarian National Television. The Chinese Mountaineering Association has officially declared him missing. A search team began a search on Monday, May 7. I met Boyan on K2 in 2014 as I was descending from the summit and he was ascending K2 near the Black Pyramid. We chatted for a moment about the conditions and he told me he had just summited Broad Peak. I looked at this young man with total admiration. He was strong and confident, and of course, not using supplemental oxygen. We had kept in touch over the years. Boyan is considered the most successful Bulgarian high-altitude alpinist. His mountaineering history is quite impressive with summits of ten of the fourteen 8000 meters mountains, all without supplemental oxygen. He had planned on going to Everest immediately after Shishapangma and then Cho Oyu in the autumn. He is a two times cancer survivor and a diabetic. Petrov work life is well documented as a zoologist at the National Museum of Natural History in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. He is also a specialist in wildlife in caves, according to his website. This site is the best to follow any breaking news. I wish the best for him. Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything
Everest 2018: Summit Plans Developing
We are entering the sixth week of the #Everest2018 season and overall it’s going quite well. Today, Monday 7 May saw climbers on both sides mostly at their base camps waiting for the ropes to get set to the summit but a few tried to go higher and were thwarted by high winds. The rope fixers are waiting for high winds near the summit to abate but we should see them summit later this week. Tibet Furtenbach Adventures suggests the ropes will be to the summit around 15 May, which would be a couple days later than the last couple of years but still enough time for everyone to do their summit pushes without rushing. Almost everyone is at Chinese Base Camp but a few are at Advanced Base Camp and even a couple at the North Col. The Sherpas continue to take oxygen bottles to the Col in anticipation of the summit push. Nepal IMG, one of the largest teams on the south side said one of their sub teams will head up for their last rotation on 8 May. They said all the rope, hardware and oxygen is at the South Col for fixing team when the winds allow. Other operators say the rope fixing team will also leave EBC tomorrow, 8 May and target the Friday 11th May for the summit. Right on the heels of the rope team will be the Imagine Climb team of Dawa Gyalje Sherpa and Mingma G along with Chinese double amputee Xia Boyu . They are aiming to start the summit push 8 May with the 13th in mind to summit. The largest team on the Nepal side has 100 members! Seven Summit Treks, known for offering low prices to attract large number of members said they have over 200 total people in their camp due to the support ratio of 1 Sherpas for each member. All of their members have completed their first rotation and many of them touched C3. In a sign of how the schedule is run, now some 0f their members are at Basecamp, others went lower, much lower all the way to Kathmandu but a few are in Namche; however, they said that ALL of their Sherpas are in the mountains. They are ferrying oxygen bottles and stocking the high camps for the next round of rotations this week. Look for the Lhotse Face and Khumbu Icefall to be extremely crowded this week just with the SST group. Finally they are looking at member summits from 2nd to 3rd week of May. David Snow, who is with SST, posted that they left Camp 2 hoping to tag Camp 3 Monday morning but after a few hours turned back due to high winds. David’s wife, who made the post, said they got 22,700 ft and are now back at Camp 2 and will head back down to basecamp on Tuesday. As usual the helicopter companies are busy. Now that they can reach Camp 1 and 2 fairly easily – not suggesting its routine but better than a decade ago, “rescues” have become quite normal. Climbers suffering from an altitude related issue and feel that they cannot manage a descent through the Icefall often use their evacuation insurance to get a helicopter to ferry them back to Luka and on to Kathmandu where the end up in the hospital for evaluation. Lakpa Norbu Sherpa posted a series of great pictures taken by a GoPro, I assume, lashed to one of the rescue helicopters as it was going to Camps 1 and 2. Here they are picking up a passenger at Camp 2 – 21,500’/6550m Cho Oyu Gyaljen Sherpa with Alpenglow posted some nice pictures of their Cho summit. You can see the snow blowing sideways in this one! At one point Adrian Ballinger expected windchill as low as -45C. Again, congratulations to that team OK, that wraps up Monday. All seems well and coming together for summits, more summits and a lot of summits over the next two weeks. Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything
Everest 2018: Nepal Silly Rules Strikes Again
In what would be celebrated by most countries for skill and an attraction to others, Willie Benegas and Matt Moniz skied down the Lhotse Face this weekend. They proudly posted their accomplishment on Facebook and now, instead of being lauded by the Nepal Ministry, they are being attacked for not following silly and secret rules. The Himalayan Times, parroting that the Ministry, reported that according to Ram Prasad Sapkota, director at the DoT, that after receiving the information from Everest base camp “The duo only obtained Everest climbing permit and their ski attempt was illegal. Climbers shall pay US$1,000 as royalty to obtain ski permit while the ski team must have a liaison officer to monitor their activities in the mountains and the ski team also needs to deposit US$500 as garbage management fee at the DoT.” I contacted Matt and he said, “Willie and I have permits for both Everest and Lhotse, unfortunately we were completely unaware of the ski permit requirement, and of course have made arrangements to pay for the permit and comply with the regulations. We certainly respect Nepal’s mountaineering rules and regulations and believe we were in compliance.” Of note, the word “ski” does not appear in the Mountaineering Expedition Rules, 2059(2002) posted on the Government of Nepal, Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Department of Tourism official website. Skiing down the Lhotse Face is not new. It all started in 1970 with Japanese speed skier Yuichiro Miura then in 2006 Kit DesLauriers, Rob DesLauriers and Jimmy Chin also skied the Face and in 2011 Chris Davenport did it. I seriously doubt any of these skiers got the special, secret “ski permit”. It appears to be resolved so Matt and Willie can go on to summit Everest and Lhotse. Climb On Alan Memories are Everything
Everest 2018: Weekend Update May 6
It’s early May on Everest so that must mean the wind is blowing, and how it blows! Most teams are back in their base camps waiting out what is forecasted to be several days of 100mph/160kph winds above 8000 meters on both sides. This means no rope fixing, no reaching 8000 meters for acclimatization for those climbing without supplemental oxygen and it also means a test of mental toughness for many on the Hill. All this said, there were summits on Cho Oyu today and talk of Everest summit on 13 May. Climbing in the Himalaya is in full bloom! The Big Picture I’ve been on or writing about Everest since 2002 – 16 years now and each season plays out very similarly. Teams do a great job of getting their acclimatization rotations in during mid to late April causing everyone to talk about early summits. Then the weather changes with snow and high winds causing everyone to talk of late summits. In the end, it all works out but occasionally goes the wrong way. In 2012, everything was going well until the early May weather hit, and it stayed until late in the month. When there was finally a forecast of a few days to summit, everyone went at the same time and the crowds were difficult. That event caused many changes to take place starting with better communication amongst the team leaders, better cooperation between teams with respect to rope fixing and dual ropes in the places where bottlenecks occurred. This year, dual ropes are already on the Lhotse Face, above C3 and the top of the Geneva Spur. It remains to be seen what condition the Hillary Step is in, or if in fact it has become the Hillary Slope. In any case, it is a rise of 30 meters, 100 feet and often slows everyone going up and down. The rope team will most likely put in dual ropes, if they can this year. Before there is too much talk about crowds and late summits, let’s 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 Ueli 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 this year while sitting at 7 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. Weather Outlook – Improving from Bad to Ideal? Back to 2018, there is a common theme to all the weather repots coming in. Winds are screaming above 8000 meters but are calm lower on the mountains. Both Adrian Ballinger on Cho Oyu, Ryan Kushner on Dhaulagiri and Ben Jones on Everest all confirm this. Ben posted: “The winds are roaring on the upper mountain, but from some reports from Sherpa coming back from the South Col there were not much winds there, and we also hardly had any winds on our climb to Camp 3 today.” I went back to my weather experts, Chris Tomer of Tomer Weather Solutions and Michael Fagin of Everest Weather to see what they think about think will happen. Chris feels that after this wind event, the jet stream will retreat from the Himalaya around May 11 thus the summit door swings wide open for optimal summit conditions from Dhaulagiri to Everest. He went on to say the jet stream might largely stay away for 1-2 weeks but that a few snow days will be inevitable with jet stream winds that light. Bottom line from Chris for his members was that: “the long-term jet is favorable and they can do this.” Michael talked a bit more about the impact of the monsoons and why the season ends around June 1. He said that while many teams are currently looking at some strong summit winds for parts of this week, there other weather patterns that need to be monitored. “I think it is important to monitor to see if there are any tropical depressions in the Bay of Bengal. There are times (not right now!) in May that these form into strong typhoons and bring devastating heavy rains and winds to Bangladesh. Interesting enough sometimes if the upper level wind patterns are right these storms tract toward the Everest region. If they do this can bring copious amounts of snow to the area. The best source for tracking these storms is from the US Navy Joint Typhoon Warning Center.” He goes on to discuss the end of the season and weather. “The main reason is the onset of the Monsoon, see map to the right. 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
Everest 2018: Skiing and Waiting
The winds have arrived on both sides of Everest above 7,000 meters and may get worse before reducing in speed. It is testing the patience of some but for the veterans, this is normal and understand that patience is key. Given the winds are at fairly high elevation, teams are still able to go on acclimatization rotations to Camp 2 and the North Col but the rope teams are stalled and there are no fixed lines to the summit from either side. Overall, the #Everest2018 season continues in good shape. Ski the Face Matt Moniz and Willie Benegas did in fact ski from C3 to C2 on the Lhotse Face. Willie posted: “Well after 10 years dreaming about it, it happen! Managed to ski from Camp 3 Everest 7,200 meters to Camp 2 6.400m. Not much of difficulty but definitely good eyes needed to read the terrain, catching a ice patch will be a bad thing to happen!” By the way if you are interested in learning more about the NASA Twins study they are part of Science has a nice write up. Windy above 7000 meters AAI is at C2 hoping to get to C3 on the Nepal side. They report calm winds there but can hear it ripping above: “We have forecasted high winds on the mountain for the next few days and we can hear the wind up high but so far we have had very little wind at Camp 2. We will see what tomorrow brings but right now it seems as though most of the winds are staying very high towards the South Col and Summit.” Summit Climb on the Tibet side had a bit more wind on their side: “It was indeed windy last night so sleep was difficult with constantly flapping nylon. We’re back at abc having finished our acclimatization rotations. It’s very windy here too and the forecast is for more wind to come. Base camp looks inviting.” Over on Cho Oyu, the Alpenglow team is on their summit push and Rolfe Oostra of 360 Expeditions gave a brief update on the mountain conditions (windy with lots of crevasses) the Alpenglow risks (strong team but risky push) and his plans (wait): “The team are using O2 which helps with combating the cold and of course with speed and agility. It’s a risk though but having talked to Adrien they are keen to have a stab at it. The team is strong and they have 1;1 Sherpa (also very strong) and if they pull it off it will be a great achievement. As ever the line is fine. Both forecasts I have indicates 120km winds.” How high you spend a night for acclimatization has been changing over the years. On my first climb in 2002, it was almost mandatory to spend a night at Camp 3 (23,500’/7162m) on the Nepal side but recently guides feel you only have to “touch” it. This means they spend multiple nights at Camp 2 (21,000’/6400m) on the first rotation and a couple more on the second then do a day climb to C3, spend about an hour and return to C2 then EBC and call it good. Over on the Tibet side it’s a similar schedule but they are actually sleeping at the North Col (23,000’/7000m) instead of just touching it and a few people will take a day hike a bit higher up the Northeast Ridge. So both sides have slightly different strategies and both work well. The key in this era is the use of supplemental oxygen at relatively high flow rates of 4 liters per minute instead of the 2 back in the days, some of the “luxury” guides run at 6 or even 8lpm. Why Climb? Absolutely love this image looking up at the route from the North Col by Carole Fuchs. Her description is perfect “Cognitive Dissonance.” People Updates Nobukazu Kuriki has finally left EBC and spent the night at C2. He has been sick with a high fever most of the expedition. He is the young Japanese hoping to finally summit Everest after six previous attempts. Its believed he wants to use the West Ridge, but that’s not clear. Rupert Jones Warner is hoping to be the youngest Brit to summit from both sides in a single season. The Chinese do not allow a climber to traverse from one base camp to the other so the only legal way to do this is to summit, return to BC, then hike/drive/fly to the other and summit again. This is Rupert’s plan and what David Liano did in 2016. Warner is currently on the South side. Steve Plain hoping to set the record for the fastest 7 Summits time, has completed his acclimatization rotations and is now at base camp waiting for the summit window – like everyone else. He needs to summit by 22 May to break the record. The current record is 126 days and as of today, 6 May he is at 109 days. Horia Colibasanu and Peter Hámor are planning to climb Everest from the West Ridge then take the ridge to Lhotse, something never done before connecting the two like this. They have been trying to put the route in above C2 towards the West Ridge and it has been exhausting according to this excellent post by Horia. The money quote: “The forecast by 10 may is strong wind, starting in 6. We are on the clock, and the route proves complicated.” Tenji Sherpa and Jon Griffith have also completed their acclimatization and are back at EBC. They will Live Stream their attempt to summit Everest and Lhotse back to back, Tenji without supplemental oxygen. I interviewed this past past week. I have to mention this one,Dave Simpson is climbing Everest and raising money for #Alzheimer’s Scotland at this link Anish Luitel climbing the north side for the Boy Scouts of Nepal is on his rotation to the North Col. He summited in 2016 from the Nepal Side. Rasmus Kragh from Denmark is climbing alone, if that’s possible,
Everest 2018: Taking Weather Risks
Everything has been going so well on #Everest2018 that it had to end soon given the history of this mountain. It seems that not everyone is happy about the rope fixing and with high winds about to hit some are taking risks to summit and return before it hits on Cho Oyu. Everest teams are still dong rotations. It looks like Everest will be quiet thru 11 May – if the forecast are correct. Big Picture There is a lot going on all over the Himalaya right now. Most big Himalayan peaks, including Everest, are summited from mid to late May as the Jet Stream moves out now the area. This means that the climbers have finished their acclimatization climbs well before then. After those climbs, they usually take a week or so to rest up, regain strength, let small aches and coughs go away before heading to the summit. Of course it’s the weather that always has the last word on summit schedule. In any event, this is exactly where we are today, 4/5 May 2018. Rope Discord Mingma G. Sherpa, who has made a name for himself the last couple of years with multiple 8000 meter summits in the same season and pushing in difficult weather is now critiquing the efforts of the rope fixing team run by Prestige Adventures and Madison Mountaineering: Our Everest team finished acclimatization, went to Kathmandu for rest and back to base camp already and waiting in Base Camp for Summit way to be fixed. There are 4 person allocated for route fixing but it looks like we need to wait. I believe if 4 person continuously work just for route fixing then it shouldn’t take that much time as it is taking now. We don’t know what is going on inside? We understand 5-11 May is not a good weather but till now all route fixing ropes and oxygen should be in south col which is not yet clear. Expedition Operators Association Nepal (EOA) talks lot in Kathmandu but no any investigation on mountain so the reason there is no any proper management and delay in Rope fixing to Summit as a result we are missing the good days to Summit. Next year, We will take Rope fixing responsibility and see how long it takes in reality. Mingma is a young, talented individual. I hope he finds a way to work with the other teams. Summit Risks Over on Cho Oyu, Adrian Ballinger who prides himself, and heavily markets his Alpenglow Rapid Ascents programs, in attempting peaks in as short of a period as possible set himself, and his members, an aggressive schedule this year by climbing Cho Oyu, then Everest within days. Today, he is pushing on Cho Oyu in highly questionable weather as high winds are forecast to hit anytime now. He posted: The Cho+Everest Team made it to Camp 1 on Cho Oyu and they are planning their summit push around difficult weather (And by difficult, we’re talking -45°C windchill!). Sometimes mountains are climbed with perfect forecasts and the outcome almost guaranteed. Sometimes you just keep moving up until something tells you to stop. This summit push is the second type. Wish us luck I do wish him luck and patience as the season moves on. Winds Won’t Stop Them It’s always a difficult decision of just how much risks to take on the acclimatization phase. If you wait too long, you might miss an early summit window and get caught in the crowds towards the end of the season. If you push too hard in harsh conditions, team members might get sick, injured or simply run out of gas fighting the conditions and not have anything left in the tank for the summit push. Reports are coming in that it is fairly warm this year and I’ve received comments that the condition of Icefall feels more like late May, about three weeks early. With this in mind, teams are pushing their plans and hoping that the strong winds will not materialize as forecasted. Adventure Consultants and the AAI team both know about the weather and moved up to Camp 2 anyway. AAI noting: ” Tomorrow will be a rest day as we prepare to head up to Camp 3 to touch and come back down to Camp 2 and finish our second rotation on the mountain. It is supposed to be windy the next several days but good preparation for our summit attempt in a couple weeks.” Unlike last year, both side seems to getting similar weather. Dave O’brien with Summit Climb noted the wind at the North Col: “Hi this is David O’Brien, we’re up at the North Col at 7000m in our tents having had plentiful freeze dried dinners and some thick chicken soup. Hopefully the wind will die down tonight or it’ll be tent flappy dreams all around..” “Normal” Avalanche at EBC Dream Wanderlust posted a nice video of an avalanche off the Lo Lha pass above Everest Base Camp on the Nepal side that captured a lot of cameras today. I don’t like to dismiss these events, especially after the 2015 event that took many lives at EBC, but this particular area is quite well known for avalanches and often sprays base camp with a puff of wind and snow. This one had no impact on EBC. Attrition I’ve been talking about how this time in the Everest season we see people dropout for various reasons. UK celebrity, Victoria Pendleton was on Everest with UK adventure celeb, Ben Fogle, both guided by Kenton Cool. They were on an aggressive schedule hoping to summit in a short timeframe. There have been several reports by other climbers seeing her in stress in the Western Cwm then she apparently developed breathing problems at C2 and went on oxygen. She posted on Instagram: Unfortunately after much deliberation I have decided not to continue my endeavour to summit Mount Everest. The weather conditions have offered the possibility of an early summit