The next “windows” are suggested to be two days each on either side of 22 May: 18-21 or 23-25.<\/p>\n
I expect the activity to slow down a bit over the next few days as teams prepare to head up. However 100 Chinese rumored to be climbing from the Nepal side tonight, 17 May.<\/p>\n
I posted<\/a> a play by play as the summits\u00a0were happening last night so I will not review every detail but let’s\u00a0look at the big picture\u00a0and what is up next.<\/p>\n Adventure Peaks<\/a> with 2 members, 1 guide and 2 Sherpas.<\/p>\n Mollie Hughes<\/a> became the 16th female to summit from both sides of Everest with her summit along with Jon Gupta<\/a>.\u00a0See the previous\u00a0post<\/a>\u00a0for complete list.<\/p>\n Our buddies over at India’s\u00a0Transcend<\/a>\u00a0continues their solid performance with four more teenagers on top along with six Sherpas.<\/p>\n There were other summits but not reported yet.<\/p>\n Ascent Himalayas<\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>aka Ireland to Everest<\/a> had a big night with 17 total summits including several first. See the previous\u00a0post<\/a>\u00a0for details. Adventures Global<\/a> put two on Everest from Nepal. There were other summits but not reported yet.<\/p>\n Lhotse is in desperate need of coordinating rope fixing similar to what happens on\u00a0Everest.\u00a0\u00a0In 2016, three were no summits\u00a0because no team was willing to fix the ropes after a Sherpa fell to his death while setting the route.<\/p>\n This year, it appears there were duplicate rope fixing efforts. Australia’s\u00a0Everest One<\/a>‘s home team told me:<\/p>\n \u00a0Allan Cohrs and Raul Helander summited 5.20pm Nepal time. They fixed their own ropes along with Angelu Sherpa and Chirring Sherpa.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Meanwhile Seven Summits Treks<\/a>\u00a0 is reported to have put 10 on the summit – 7 Sherpas, 1 Norwegian, 1 Bulgarian and an Indian. They also said they fixed the lines:<\/p>\n First Summit of Mt.Lhotse 2017 : Route fixed by climbing sherpa guides of Lhotse Expedition organized by Seven Summit Treks and 14 Peak Expedition company. 01 Norway , 01 Bulgarian and 01 Indian climbers reached to the Summit of Mt.Lhotse at 5pm<\/p><\/blockquote>\n My K2 summit buddy, Al Hancock<\/a>, looks to be on the next push.<\/p>\n And another\u00a0Ascent Himalayas<\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>team, this one on Lhotse, made the top and also fixed ropes:<\/p>\n AH Lhotse Expd 2017 update by Mingma Tsiri Sherpa(Everest Base Camp)After the 100 % success on Mt Everest this morning approx 9:45am Our Lhotse Team member John Snorri Sigursson(Iceland) and Cian O Brolchain(Ireland) together with Tsering Pemba Sherpa(IFMGA GUIDE) & Ang Chhiring Sherpa summited Mt Lhotse at 04:20pm.This is the first summit of Mt Lhotse(8516m) this season. Tsering Pemba with other climbing guides fix the route all the way to the summit.They started to summit at 11:00 pm.John Snorri(Iceland) became the 1st Icelandish to summit Mt Lhotse(8516m) and Cian O Brolchain(Ireland) became the 4th Irish to summit Mt Lhotse(8516m).We Ascent Himalayas team congratulate our member and climbing for the successful summit.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n There 100 permits issued for Lhotse so it will continue to see activity through the remainder of this season. There should be plenty of fixed ropes. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n For every climber, summiting is special but for some they are completing a huge project.<\/p>\n Over on Dhaulagiri, Peter H\u00e1mor<\/a> summited thus finished all 14 of the 8000 meter peaks. According to the Himalayan Database his first 8000er was Everest in 1998 with supplemental oxygen and tried again in 2014 without but only reached 7800 meters.<\/p>\n Romanian climber Horia Colibasanu<\/a>\u00a0summited Everest from Tibet also without supplemental oxygen, the second for\u00a0his country. This was his 8th 8000er. His home team posted on facebook:<\/p>\n He made it!!!!\u00a0Horia reached this morning, 6.20 RO hour, the highest point on Earth, the peak of mountain Everest, after a long summit that lasted 12 hours. \u201cIt was very, very hard, and very, very cold\u201d, he said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n While not finished, noted German Alpinist Ralf Dujmovits<\/a>\u00a0is trying to get Everest without supplemental oxygen gave us this update: See his page for pictures.<\/p>\n Yesterday I came back from another acclimatization loop on the Tibetan side of Mt. Everest. I spent one night in CII (7,700 m) where I had a relativ good night – beside some slight disturbance from my stomach which told me at 3 a.m. to leave the tent in less than 20 seconds…. In this picture – taken by a Tibetan Highporter of a Chinsese expedition- you see me zig-zagging up the snowridge leading from the North Col to CII. In the background you see Pumori (7,161 m), Cho Oyu (8,188 m) and Gyachung Kang (just below 8.000 m, from left to right).<\/p>\n It was a beautiful, almost windstill day – until I reached the camp side where snowfall and some wind started. I’m here to undertake my 8th and definitely last attempt to climb Everest without supplemental oxygen. Everest is the only of the 14 8000m peaks on which I used oxigene during the summit climb (early October 1992). Since then I tried six more times to reach the summit without supplemental oxygen. Each time something went wrong or circumstances were not good enough. . .<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Over on Kanchenjunga<\/a>, it appears the three Sherpanis (also fellow K2 summiters in 2104) turned back below the summit\u00a0for lack\u00a0of fixed ropes. This is the second event like this as other teams reported turning short of the summit of Makalu lacking ropes.<\/p>\n Summit Climb’s Tibet team continues to show patience. Ricky Munday<\/a> posted:<\/p>\n Snow overnight at Everest basecamp. It looks like we might be moving up tomorrow with a possible target date of 23rd May as latest forecasts show lower wind speeds high on the mountain from that date.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n And Dave O’Brien<\/a> added that they went shopping before their summit bid:<\/p>\n Hi this is David O’Brien. Yesterday we piled into a minibus for the one hour supply ride to Tashi som, a nearby Tibetan village. It was a slow careful drive on the way down with snow on the road, the driver was extra cautious. The local kids asked for money as we hopped out onto the muddy roads in the low altitude rain. We had a late lunch and then into the shop for a real buying spree. Pringles, coke, chocolate, yoghurt and any other local delicacies were carefully chosen , bought , eaten and re bought. Our last snack supply binge before the summit.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Everest 2017 is a case study on taking what the mountain will give you. Some handle it well, other not so much. A few of the climbers are starting to become a bit reflective in their posts. Their posts deserve a full read, on their original location so I won’t\u00a0repost all of their thoughts but a section or two that represents their thoughts.<\/p>\n Let’s start with this from Dr. Maria Nemethy at EverestEr<\/a> on the south side:<\/p>\n Will the weather open windows wide enough for safety, or will winds and crowds lead to mishaps (or worse)? Will the varying levels of experience on the mountain dance smoothly around each other, or will they collide tragically on the ropes and ice? Will bodies worn down by illness, loss of appetite and the general deterioration from living for weeks at 5500m sustain themselves through higher elevations, or will they succumb to fatigue and the environment? Despite the consistently busy flow of the clinic this season, we are aware that the most serious part of our time here is still yet to come. We hope to be as ready as we can be, readying ourselves as well as the clinic’s resources.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Blake Penson<\/a>, who had an ankle injury, returned home and had treatment, then returned to join his team lead by Tim Mosedale posted his feeling on his excellent blog. The critical paragraph:<\/p>\n There was a general feeling of anger, depression, exhaustion and stress after having this attempt snatched away for us. I wasn\u2019t that fazed with not being able to go up as it is still early in the season and I knew another better window would present itself. I was however furious with the fact that I would have to spend another week or three in this place instead of heading home in a few days. The prospect of sitting around Base Camp for another 10 odd days and then having another attempt was grinding away at me.<\/p>\n The trip had been too long already and I was starting to question if I had enough interest left in Everest to justify staying here. I was missing my family too much already and it was only going to get worse. I really don\u2019t care much for this hill any more. The 15 minutes on the summit is not worth the two months one has to spend trying to get there. It takes too much and in return, offers too little. Do I just throw this expired dream away and head home once I get down to Base Camp? A lot of thinking needs to be done.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n And my Colorado climbing buddy Jim Davidson<\/a> is on a life long quest to summit Everest. I can’t guess how many hours we have spent discussing his dream and my experiences. Jim was as well prepared as anyone I have ever seen and rich with climbing skills and experience.<\/p>\nNorth Summits:<\/h3>\n
![\"Summit!](\"http:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Summit-courtesy-of-Jon-Gupta-Mountain-Expeditions-260x225.jpg\")
<\/a>South Summits<\/h3>\n
Lhotse Summits<\/h3>\n
Extra Proud\u00a0Moments<\/h3>\n
![\"Horia](\"http:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Horia-Colibasanuon-Everest-300x225.jpg\")
<\/a>Last Chance<\/h3>\n
Disappointments?<\/h3>\n
Next Everest\/Lhotse Windows<\/h3>\n
Reflections<\/h3>\n