Meanwhile the family of a climber who died over the weekend are willing to put more lives at risk to get their loved one home. And the admired traverse is not what was advertised.<\/p>\n
North Gets Hit<\/h3>\n
Big winds hit the north side around midnight on 23 May. This is a startling report from\u00a0George Kashouh<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>with SummitClimb:<\/p>\n Jet stream has hit the summit. Woke up to 100kph winds. I thought I was dreaming but my tent ceiling was nearly on my chest. Tent poles snapped and tent itself is shredded. I seriously thought I’d be blown off the mountain inside the remains. The door was on the ground and I was able to unzip it and slide my oxygen bottle out. Next I escaped myself with a mitt on a me hand and a glove liner on the other while some of my gear blew out into the sky. I tried to sit on my tent to keep whatever gear remained inside but was losing feeling in my fingers. I called for help and my friend Les saw me sprawled over the remains of my tent and threw me a rope. I was able to get into his tent along with Ian. <\/span><\/p>\n Winds continued to get worse. After the sun came our expedition leader must have seen my tent which looked more like a prayer flag in the wind and checked on us. He was two feet in front of us but we couldn’t hear a word he was saying. He motioned for us to leave our tent and go to his. A short time later the second tent I was in was destroyed. I had left mine tent with my sleeping bag, harness, water, food, and backpack. Not sure if any of that is still there. <\/span><\/p>\n Our leader who has been a mountain guide for decades including seven times on Everest said he has never seen winds like this before in his life. Currently we are taking turns sleeping and sitting against the wall of the tent to try to maintain this one which already has tears. All members are safe.<\/span>Danish Everest solo, No Os \u00a0climber Rasmus Kraghat, calling for help from 7700m on North side<\/p><\/blockquote>\n There is no update on George but Danish climber Rasmus Kragh<\/a> was reported\u00a0in trouble. His home team told me:<\/p>\n There are some worrying news about Rasmus. He arrived back at 7.700 last night after a long day out without oxygen. He says he had to abandon his attempt at 8.500m due to high winds.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Garrett Madison<\/a> put over 20 on the summit\u00a0with the winds:<\/p>\n Today at the top of the world it was clear but very windy, we had to work hard for this summit. Feeling grateful our whole team of 20+ climbers, made the top.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Other teams never risked going up in the winds.<\/p>\n Janusz Adamski<\/a>\u00a0named his Everest attempt “No Oxygen Solo Everest 2017 – First Polish Traverse of Mount\u00a0Everest Expedition.” So when it was\u00a0announced that he was successful with this Facebook<\/a> post on 21 May, it was assumed he didn’t use supplemental oxygen and had no Sherpa support:<\/p>\n TODAY MORNING TIME NEPALESE JANUSZ CONQUERED MT. Everest from the north, and then he went down on the south side first and the fifteenth of the polish world traverse mountains. At the moment, JANUSZ IS ALREADY SAFE AT CAMP 3 Nepalskiej side.<\/p>\n Tomorrow night will occur at the level of Janusz Takeover by Andrew CB Zi\u00f3\u0142kowskiego and attempt to get through to Kathmandu.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The Polish mountaineering media<\/a> and community were correctly proud, but there were problems \u00a0The media started making corrections:<\/p>\n [Update] Initially, we administered the Janusz climbing without the use of oxygen from the cylinder. This information proved to be false.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The Problems<\/strong><\/p>\n So first, he used supplemental oxygen, 2) he hired a Sherpa to carry gear and 3) he, apparently, didn’t have a permit that allowed him to cross from China into Tibet over the summit of Mt. Everest.<\/p>\n In summary his\u00a0“No Oxygen Solo Everest 2017 – First Polish Traverse of Mount\u00a0Everest Expedition.” was illegal, supported and used supplemental oxygen.<\/p>\n But his announcement said it was as advertised and very successful hailing him as the first Pole to accomplish such a climb. However, upon questioning, he is backed\u00a0off his claim\u00a0with these additional comments:<\/p>\n \u00a0Due to the time required for peaceful acclimatization, I need help carrying tents “booking” space in C1\/C2. The rest of equipment + mountaieering activity and summit push solo.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n and<\/p>\n With Andrew we met yesterday and we are coming down slowly to lukli. With Kronikarskiego Duty I’ll clarify that the traverse I made alone with oxygen from camp 3 (8250 M), which was necessary to transfer the 20 pounds of gear needed to safely continue the action on the south side of the mountain.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n His Kathmandu agency\u00a0told me he did not have a legal permit to cross into Nepal\u00a0from China and was briefed in Kathmandu before receiving his permit to climb\u00a0from Tibet. There was no mention of a traverse.<\/p>\n It appears his plans\u00a0changed for good reasons but I am a bit confused as to why the\u00a0post on 21 May failed to mention all those details.<\/p>\n But the big issue is the permit. I hope he can explain that We will see where this goes.<\/p>\n The family of Indian climber Ravi Kumar, 27, wants his body retrieved \u201cThe bereaved family wants the body at any cost,\u201d said Chowang Sherpa, managing director of Arun Treks and Expedition, the agency handling Kumar\u2019s expedition.<\/p>\n Apparently this means even at the risks of the 8-12 Sherpas would be asked to perform the tasks. His body is reported to be in a 200m\/656′ crevasse \u00a0near the Balcony, about around 27,600’\/8412 meters. It is estimated to cost over $60,000. source<\/a><\/p>\n The family was told:<\/p>\n \u201cGoing down into a crevasse 200 metres deep at an altitude of 8,400 metres to retrieve the body will be the most complex rescue ever executed on Everest,\u201d said Ang Tshering Sherpa, president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA). \u201cThat\u2019s why there is a 50\/50 chance of survival for the rescuers.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n It was reported that\u00a0Kumar had reached the summit with his guide at 1:28pm on Saturday and collapsed during the descent at 8pm due to low level of energy and oxygen.<\/p>\n Another retrieval is underway costing $40,000 for an Indian climber, Gautam Ghosh<\/a>, who died in 2016. His body was reported seen by Alex Txikon during his winter attempt in March at the South Col.<\/p>\n In both of these cases, the Indian government is reportedly underwriting the costs.<\/p>\n Many teams that were sitting tight are preparing to or already started up aiming for end of week summits.\u00a0\u00a0 Adrian Ballinger, no Os, \u00a0told me he and Cory Richards plus Zeb Blais<\/a> with his member Brooks Entwistle<\/a> are heading now:<\/p>\n Hey Alan! We leave abc tonight for summit push. 27th morning summit planned for all Alpenglow<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Ben Jones with Alpine Ascents<\/a> is also targeting the 27\/28<\/p>\n Tomorrow morning at 6am we will be heading up to Camp 3! Our team is excited. We feel strong, most of the crowds are gone, and we feel good about a good weather window coming up on the 27th-28th.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n IMG<\/a>\u00a0is looking at the 25th for putting their remaining 20+ climbers\u00a0on top<\/p>\n Himex’s 3 members\u00a0with guide Bruce Hasler and strong Shepra team is looking at the 26, but may\u00a0slip a day.<\/p>\n Nepal\u00a0side no O’s Climbers\u00a0Ferran Latorre<\/a>\u00a0and Yannick Graziani<\/a>\u00a0are targeting the 27<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n
![\"George](\"http:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/George-Kashouh-on-Everest-2017-300x225.jpg\")
<\/a>South Side Hit As Well, But Summits<\/h3>\n
Rare North-South Traverse Claims\u00a0in Question<\/h3>\n
![\"Janusz](\"http:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Janusz-Adamski-on-Everest-2017.jpg\")
<\/a>Body Retrievals – Risky and Costly<\/h3>\n
Next Summits – 27\/28<\/h3>\n