{"id":26813,"date":"2017-05-21T00:10:45","date_gmt":"2017-05-21T06:10:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/?p=26813"},"modified":"2017-05-21T10:29:47","modified_gmt":"2017-05-21T16:29:47","slug":"everest-2017-death-summits-thefts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/2017\/05\/21\/everest-2017-death-summits-thefts\/","title":{"rendered":"Everest 2017: Death, Summits and Thefts &#8211; Update"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Sunday\u00a0morning, 21 May, had a death on Everest at the Balcony as reported by the <a href=\"https:\/\/thehimalayantimes.com\/nepal\/american-climber-dies-on-mt-everest\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Himalayan Times<\/a>. Few details are available.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Update<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Fifth death: \u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/thehimalayantimes.com\/nepal\/slovak-mountaineer-dies-mt-everest\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Vladimir Strba<\/a>, 50 from\u00a0Slovakia, died near Balcony on south side.<\/li>\n<li>Climber Missing:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/thehimalayantimes.com\/nepal\/indian-climber-missing-mt-everest\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ravi Kumar<\/a> missing after getting separated from guide at\u00a0Balcony<\/li>\n<li>Fourth death: 54-year-old <a href=\"https:\/\/thehimalayantimes.com\/nepal\/australian-climber-dies-descending-mt-everest\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Francesco Enrico Marchetti<\/a>, 54 from Australia, at 7500m while descending from summit on Tibet side.<\/li>\n<li>Third death <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/44c8352bba4949e4af8eca353dea49c4\/American-climber-dies,-Indian-missing-on-Everest\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Roland Yearwood<\/a>,50 from USA Alabama, \u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/thehimalayantimes.com\/nepal\/american-climber-dies-on-mt-everest\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">reported<\/a>, few details.<\/li>\n<li>Blind Austrian climber Andy Holzer summited on north with\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/furtenbachadventures\/posts\/1219768261482487\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Furtenbach<\/a> Adventures<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Friday night thru Saturday morning looks to\u00a0have been big on the south as the winds calmed for a day or so. Meanwhile, a serious breach of trust occurred at the high camp on Lhotse.<\/p>\n<h3>Good Weather on Southeast Ridge = Summits<\/h3>\n<p>This is a headline many have been waiting for. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.adventureconsultants.com\/adventure\/Everest_Dispatches2017\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Adventure Consultants<\/a> made a nice post as part of their team made their way up the Southeast Ridge between the Balcony and the South Summit. This is a section rarely talked about and I made a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/2017\/03\/27\/everest-2017-the-climb-to-the-summit-not-discussed\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">post<\/a> on it earlier this season. First they posted on their progress:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Down here in base camp we have just received a call from Ang Dorjee that he and Paul have been moving well and are now 30mins below the South Summit, 8690m, the second highest point on earth. Travelling now along the true south east ridge it sounds like they are still experiencing a bit of wind, but at this point it doesn\u2019t appear to be slowing them down as they continue to make good progress.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Then the good news that AC put their member,Paul Pheby, on the summit plus Chhuldim Sherpa (Ang Dorjee) from Pangboche \u2013 his 19th summit. My first climb on Everest in 2002 was with Ang Dorge and he is the younger brother of Kami Sherpa whom I summited Everest and K2 with. Also on the summit for AC were\u00a0Ringin, climbing Sirdar, from Khumjung, Nepal \u2013 4th summit,Pemba Nuru Sherpa from Pangboche, Nepal \u2013 1st summit, and Rinji Pal den Sherpa from Thame, Nepal \u2013 1st summit<\/p>\n<p>Most teams reported good conditions Friday night into Saturday morning but <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AdventuresGlobal\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Adventure Global<\/a> suggested winds at the South Col stalled some members. This has been\u00a0common this year with moments of high winds followed by calmer periods. If you are getting ready to leave\u00a0and the winds are gusting to 60 mph, you stay\u00a0put &#8211; good decision.:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>We are very excited to announce that Anshu Jamsenpa, Furi Sherpa and Karma Sherpa summited about 45 minutes ago. This is Anshu&#8217;s 5th summit and the most by any Indian lady ever. Congratulations to Anshu, Furi and Karma. We are extremely proud of you. Neil and Tendi decided to stay at the South Col and not to push, because of the wind. They will reconsider their options later today.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/profile.php?id=100005045050899\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Seven Summits Treks<\/a> said they had 60 people going to the summit, no word on results. It is good that this large team got their chance and can clear\u00a0off the route. The other large team is the Indian Navy who, I believe, also had their attempt but tweeted only a few climbers\u00a0on the summits<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.summitclimb.com\/news\/recent\/everest-nepal-news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Summit\u00a0Climb\u00a0<\/a>said they put a couple on the summit\u00a0and said\u00a0more were coming but nothing was made public. The Himalayan Times said the death was an American on the SummitClimb team but this has not been reported by Summit Climb.\u00a0Murari Sharma, Managing Director at Everest Parivar Treks handles the local logistics for Summit Climb made the report based on contact with base camp.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/rolwalingmingma\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mimgma Sherpa<\/a>, Dreamers Destination said he had a first on Everests:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Elton Ng also reached the summit together with <a class=\"profileLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/tsang.y.hung.5?fref=mentions\" data-hovercard=\"\/ajax\/hovercard\/user.php?id=719296525&amp;extragetparams=%7B%22fref%22%3A%22mentions%22%7D\" data-hovercard-prefer-more-content-show=\"1\">Tsang Yin Hung<\/a> and Zhangjianguo this morning at 6am. Mrs Tsang Yin Hung officially registered her name as first Hongkong lady to Everest.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<figure id=\"attachment_26819\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-26819\" style=\"width: 169px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Nobukazu-Kuriki-Climb-to-West-Ridge.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-26819\" src=\"http:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Nobukazu-Kuriki-Climb-to-West-Ridge-169x225.jpg\" alt=\"Nobukazu Kuriki Climb to West Ridge\" width=\"169\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Nobukazu-Kuriki-Climb-to-West-Ridge-169x225.jpg 169w, https:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Nobukazu-Kuriki-Climb-to-West-Ridge-362x480.jpg 362w, https:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Nobukazu-Kuriki-Climb-to-West-Ridge.jpg 723w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 169px) 100vw, 169px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-26819\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nobukazu Kuriki Climb to West Ridge<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Japanese\u00a0<a class=\"_2wma\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/kurikiyama\/?ref=page_internal\">Nobukazu Kuriki<\/a>\u00a0made it to Camp 2 and should now climb up to the West Ridge for his summit attempt via the Hornbein Couloir.<\/p>\n<p>But not everyone is ready to push to the top quite yet. Ben Jones with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.alpineascents.com\/climbs\/mount-everest\/cybercasts\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Alpine Ascents<\/a> said:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>After looking at forecasts we feel it is going to be much better to wait a couple more days for our summit push. The team is in great spirits and doing very well. The weather looks to be getting much better in a few days so we will just rest here at Camp 2.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Back at EBC &#8211; Nepal, Himex is finally ready to move. Guide <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bruce.hasler?pnref=story\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bruce Hasler<\/a> posted:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>We&#8217;ve made the plan to head up to Camp 2 tonight starting our summit attempt. Looking at this stage for summit bid on 25 but possibly 26th. There have been multiple summits today which is great to clear some folks off the hill. Still many people looking for their window of weather in next 2 days. Hoping it all goes smoothly and we get the wind to behave. Once again stay tuned&#8230; Summit shots 2013<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The weather on the south has been tough the last couple of days. While some teams summited, others wisely turned back. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/khumbukojangbu?fref=nf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jangbu Sherpa<\/a>, Himalayan Treks and Expeditions said:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>On 18th May our team went to south coll with all the confident and strong on 19th summit plan. Unfortunately because of bad Wendy speed 90\/100 pre hrs&#8230;spend 24 hrs at camp 4 &#8230; we decide to decent down now We all are safely arrived at base camp.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h3>North<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Everest_North_Face_toward_Base_Camp_Tibet_Luca_Galuzzi_2006_edit_1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-23694 alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Everest_North_Face_toward_Base_Camp_Tibet_Luca_Galuzzi_2006_edit_1-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"Everest from Tibet\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Everest_North_Face_toward_Base_Camp_Tibet_Luca_Galuzzi_2006_edit_1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Everest_North_Face_toward_Base_Camp_Tibet_Luca_Galuzzi_2006_edit_1-640x427.jpg 640w, https:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Everest_North_Face_toward_Base_Camp_Tibet_Luca_Galuzzi_2006_edit_1.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>And the last of three <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TranscendAdventures\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Transcend<\/a> Adventures Indian Team posted that they had reached Camp-2 and would\u00a0be moving to higher tomorrow. Based on the weather they will make the summit attempt. The details of the team members will be shared soon.<\/p>\n<p>Other north teams that could summit at any time include:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.furtenbachadventures.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Furtenbach Adventures<\/a>\u00a0with 17 climbers (foreign\/Sherpa\/Tibetan)<a href=\"http:\/\/www.arnoldcosterexpeditions.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Arnold Coster Expeditions<\/a>\u00a0with 15,\u00a0<a class=\"_2wma\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/IowansForEverest\/?ref=page_internal\">Iowans for Everest<\/a>\u00a0with 2,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TranscendAdventures\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Transcend Adventures<\/a>\u00a0with 15? and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.summitclimb.com\/climb\/everest-tibet\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Summit Climb<\/a>\u00a0 with 20+.<\/p>\n<p>Update from Furtenbach:<\/p>\n<p>Summit !!<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Today at 7.10 in the morning, all participants were at the summit. Windstill and -26 degrees.<\/p>\n<p>With <a class=\"profileLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/blind.climber\/?fref=mentions\" data-hovercard=\"\/ajax\/hovercard\/page.php?id=114631911960137&amp;extragetparams=%7B%22fref%22%3A%22mentions%22%7D\" data-hovercard-prefer-more-content-show=\"1\" data-hovercard-obj-id=\"114631911960137\">Andy Holzer<\/a> , the first blind man has reached the summit from the north. He is the first blind man at the summit of Everest. And he makes the Seven Summits full! Congratulations to Andy and his two companions <a class=\"profileLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/w.klocker?fref=mentions\" data-hovercard=\"\/ajax\/hovercard\/user.php?id=100001028047777&amp;extragetparams=%7B%22fref%22%3A%22mentions%22%7D\" data-hovercard-prefer-more-content-show=\"1\">Wolfgang Klocker<\/a> and Clemens Bichler.\u00a0With Anja Blacha the youngest German stood on the summit.<\/p>\n<p>Rise without traffic jams, hardly any other people on the road. Thanks to our super meteorologist, who prognosticated us this weather window.\u00a0The team has returned to C3 and will be off to the ABC tomorrow.<\/p>\n<p>A great performance of the Sherpas &#8211; THANK YOU !!\u00a0Congratulations to everyone !!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h3>Theift<\/h3>\n<p>Occasionally, a team will report that something goes missing from their camp or tent. This can be an honest mistake or a premeditated act by a climber who choose not to provision properly for an Everest climb, or in their strange world, feels that everyone&#8217;s property s also theirs for the taking.<\/p>\n<p>Without understanding the why, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Everest-Expedition-343655569085328\/?hc_ref=NEWSFEED&amp;fref=nf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tim Mosedale<\/a> posted about an incident at their high camp on Lhotse. This is quite\u00a0serious as his climbers were expected to find\u00a0their gear and arrived to find it missing i.e. stolen.<\/p>\n<p>Tim posted:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Some low life scumbag has taken the stash of oxygen from the tent at Lhotse Camp 4. Ronnie and Pemba have just arrived and were hoping to be poised for their summit bid for tomorrow.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s soooo obviously our tent (markings on the outside, gear inside) so there&#8217;s no excuse or chance for confusion.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<div class=\"text_exposed_show\">\n<blockquote><p>Yes, if there&#8217;s an emergency, then we&#8217;ll help. As long as we know that our oxygen is being used we can get it resupplied (or the team needing it can replace it). But to turn up and take it causes not only an issue for the summit team but also jeopardises the lives of other climbers.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s completely unacceptable.<\/p>\n<p>Thankfully we&#8217;ve got another stash close by so Pemba has gone down to get that but that&#8217;s going to waste an hour of his time and energy. I&#8217;d never normally wish ill on anyone but if these thieving bastards don&#8217;t summit, or get frostbite in the process, then that&#8217;s karma.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<p>On a happier note he said\u00a0Ronnie and Pemba Sherpa summit Lhotse today in very uncrowded conditions.<\/p>\n<h3>Everest 101<\/h3>\n<p>With the death, I know many readers will become quite worried about their climber. I will not speculate on what happened other than to note the weather was reported fairly good by most teams above the South Col.<\/p>\n<p>This is part\u00a0of Everest. Each year, on average, around 6 people die. This year has been safer than normal thus far. The common causes of death include altitude related illnesses &#8211; complicated by poor decision making when symptons first appear. In other\u00a0words, turn\u00a0back immediately upon any sign of altitude sickness &#8211; this is known by everyone but followed by few.<\/p>\n<p>The summit pushes thus far have reported cold temperatures and there have been cases of frostbite. Guide are reluctant to talk about this as it reflects poorly on their\u00a0leadership and decision making. Also\u00a0it is not surprising for a guide service to have\u00a0a death and never report it publically.<\/p>\n<p>All this just re-enforces that every climber should come to Everest self sufficient with proper experience, knowledge and judgment to take care of themselves in any circumstance. To depend on others is to ask another\u00a0human to take responsibility for\u00a0your life, something you would never do at home, so doing so at 28,000 feet is simply silly when it can be avoided.<\/p>\n<p>Climb On!<br \/>\nAlan<br \/>\nMemories are Everything<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sunday\u00a0morning, 21 May, had a death on Everest at the Balcony as reported by the Himalayan Times. Few details are available. Update: [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":6070,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"An Everest death while others summit and Kilian Jornet begins his summit run on the Tibet side, expects 20-30 hours #Everest2017","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[147,472],"tags":[475],"class_list":["post-26813","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-everest","category-everest-2017-coverage","tag-everest-2017-coverage"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/DSC01186.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26813","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26813"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26813\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6070"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26813"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26813"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26813"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}