Climbing the World to End Alzheimer's
Climbing the World to End Alzheimer's
The second summit wave is taking place starting late evening May 11 with summited expected around dawn on Wednesday, May 12, 2021. Bad weather appears to be getting closer, including a potential cyclone outer bands so anxiety is inching higher to get up and out as fast a possible. If they miss this window, they be looking for a summit bid after May 20.
Over 50 people summited Everest between 5:30 am and 9 am on Tuesday morning, May 11, 2021. There are least that many at the South Col ready to go tonight.
The first summit wave is underway. Everest 2021: Summit Bid Wave 1 is underway. Looks for summits around 06:00 am Tuesday, May 11, 2021, Nepal time
First up is the 30 people (including support) team from Bahrain. Using logistics from Madison Mountaineering, Kenton Cool with Ardavan, and Jon Gupta with Becks are headed up. The six-person IFMGA Sherpa Guided Team from Climbing the Seven Summits are aiming for May 12. Ascent Himalaya, Imagine Nepal, and Peak Promotion are on their push. We could see well over 150 summits on the 11th and 12.
I will update this post throughout the push and give a summary tomorrow.
As the #Everest2021 summit wave 1 begins, a quick roundup of all the news across Everest, Dhaulagiri, and Makalu. Plus now China is in the “silly rules” business for Everest.
We can expect summits in the next 24 hours from many commercial teams. There are some comments suggesting summits have occurred daily since last Friday when the ropes reached the top, but that’s unconfirmed. The winds are amazingly low, under 15 mph on the summit according to multiple computer models. I’ll be posting updates on another post throughout the push.
With the ropes to the summit, it’s time for member summits. The weather, specifically winds under 30 mph above the South Col, seem likely into the week, but this could always change. Look for over 150 on May 11/12. Dhaulagiri summits stopped by avalanche danger.
The rope fixing team made the summit on Friday, May 7, 2021, opening the route to the over 300 climbers left at base camp. The weather remains good, for Everest, so look for many teams to jump on this window. Meanwhile, it appears that the virus spread has stalled for the moment with no new cases reported at EBC for over a week. It’s unknown if this is real or more coverups.
The Nepal government announced plans to assist climbers in leaving Nepal and another ban on any negative news saying “as it could terrorise the mountaineers as well as their family members.” I think someone climbing Everest can handle the truth.
We have the first summits of Everest 2021 spring season. The rope fixing team from Seven Summits Treks bought the rights to fix the ropes, led by record summit holder Kami Rita Sherpa. He got his 25th summit and most likely will return for a 26th.
Look for a slew of summits over the next few days including the Bahrain Royal guard, also with Seven Summits treks. They are leveraging their massive presence of over 130 clients, to dominate the mountain again this year. Other teams are laying back to let them make their push and clear out the route. Wise move. Winds are expected to pick back up after May 20, so teams will push hard to get this window, as it may be the last this season.
The season continues on schedule and as normal as possible in this difficult year. Reports of helicopter evacuations have slowed to a trickle either because they are not happening or no one is talking. We know for sure the government is mum. Let’s assume there are no new cases and hope for the best.
Slowly a few teams are revealing that they brought rapid test kits and are doing regular testing. Not sure why it was felt important to keep this quiet, perhaps none of our business I suppose. I think it should have been mandated by the government from the start. One bit of good news is a dump of almost nine inches of snow made the Lhotse Face more manageable. Climbing a steep slope on snow is much less stressful than on hard, solid ice.
The Everest area continues to be a busy place with people spread from Lukla to Namache, base camp and the high camps of 1, 2, 3, and the South Col. Everyone is in various stages of preparing for their summit bid that should begin soon. If you think that it is late for the first summits, let look at the last decade or so. As you can see the earliest summits by the rope team and members was May 5, and the latest was May 18 in 2012.
Now that we are solidly into May, about mid-season for spring Everest, let’s pause for a moment and take inventory of the situation. The bottom line for me is that things are going pretty well … considering. Without a doubt, this may be the most challenging season in the history of Everest, perhaps topped only by the earthquake in 2015 and the extreme loss of life in 1996 and 2014. The overall situation has changed a bit in the last ten days with regards to the virus. Teams are climbing! I say this with all respect and acknowledgment to the tens of thousands suffering in nearby India and, of course, Nepal.
I, along with other people reporting on this season, have focused on the virus because, well, because it was the main storyline. And it’s real, and it’s devastating. As some of my regular readers know, I had the virus and had family spend weeks in the hospital. It’s real, it’s deadly, and having it at altitude is no joke. However, some teams remain unscathed through excellent discipline, well-thought-out protocols, and perhaps good luck. Others have not been so lucky.
Once it became clear that COVID was spreading throughout base camp, teams took action and slowed it a bit. I’m not trying to sugarcoat the situation, but in speaking directly to climbers and guides at base camp, the overall condition appears to be improving. Now, can they complete their climbs and return safely home given the deadly situation throughout Nepal.
I caught up with Garrett Madison, founder of Madison Mountaineering from Everest Base Camp. He describes #Everest2021 thus far as they prepare for a 2:00 am departure back to Camps 1 and 2 in the Western Cwm. This will be their last rotation before the summit push in a couple of weeks. I asked him how his team, Madison Mountaineering, was doing with the COVID outbreak at EBC.
I talk in the beginning about the virus situation at EBC and the possible scenarios that could unfold over the next few weeks. Garrett’s section begins at 7:45 in this short interview.
Climbing the World to End Alzheimer's
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