Perhaps the strangest twist of the week, or season, came from the report of four bodies found at the South Col. Then it was said they made a mistake but came back and said there are bodies, just not from\u00a0this year. The truth remains elusive.<\/p>\n
While\u00a0confusing, the deaths on Everest did prompt the annual discussion on how to make Everest safer, climbers more prepared and guide more competent.<\/p>\n
Why this coverage?<\/h3>\n
I’ll keep reporting on more summits and other stories from the spring season but will wrap it all up with my season summary in a couple of weeks.<\/p>\n Alos, I want to remind my readers that I am just one guy<\/a> who loves climbing. With 35 serious climbing<\/a> expeditions including four Everest trips under my belt and a summits of Everest in 2011<\/a> and K2 in 2014<\/a>, I use my\u00a0site<\/a>\u00a0to share those experiences, demystify Everest each year and bring awareness to Alzheimer’s Disease<\/a>.<\/p>\n My mom, Ida, \u00a0died from this disease in 2009\u00a0as have\u00a0four of my aunts. It was a heartbreaking experience that I never want anyone to go through thus my ask for donations<\/a> to non-profits where 100% goes to them, and nothing to me. Any amount that is meaningful to you is meaningful to me. Select your own Alzheimer’s organization or I have suggestions at\u00a0this link.<\/p>\n There were lots of summit this week, well over 300 total on both sides taking the season total to over 600. It will take a while – months – to sort out the exact numbers. Many of the commercial teams and no O’s climbers kept their powder dry until the very end hoping for several days of good weather. And it paid off. Click on the links to read all the names as I noted some of them throughout the week but these teams made it to the top:<\/p>\n North<\/strong><\/p>\n Transcend<\/a> finished out an excellent season with young Indian climbers having 38 summits.<\/p>\n The wild Russian team of 7 Summits Club <\/a>ran their shortest climb in 10 years at 39 days and also executed an unusual oxygen strategy. They won with 12 including\u00a0Janusz Kochanski \u2013 world record of 128 days on all 7 summits, and Lhakpa Sherpa who set a female record for most summits at 8.<\/p>\n Also under the leadership of 7 Summits Club Director, Alexander Abramov, they covered up some of the many visible dead bodies<\/a> on the north side including Tsewang Paljor aka “Green Boots”, which I thought had already been moved by the Chinese:<\/p>\n We also managed to cover the “famous” green boots. Everyone knows that at the level of 8 500 meters… (said with heavy breathing – approx. ed.)… Sorry, I now the air is not enough… In 1996 there died one Indian climber Tsewang Paljor, he just lay down to rest and froze to death. His body had frozen into stone. He had a green climbing boots. And all the climbers began to determine the height to talk about the green shoes. This is the mark of 8,500 meters.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n update<\/strong>: 7 Summits Club told me that just said that for the press and didn’t\u00a0cover Paljor’s body … “I think it’s not worth mentioning. Maybe they put a couple of stones. These words were more for the press to show it’s done more than one action. In reality they covered only one Marko.”<\/p>\n SummitClimb<\/a> says they had summits but have not provided any details.<\/p>\n The\u00a0Iowans for Everest<\/a>, Andy and Andy, summited after a false start. They were on a small team with few frills and showed what can be done.<\/p>\n Alpenglow<\/a> member team summits: Brooks Entwistle with guides Zeb Blais, Chad Peele, and Sherpas PaNuru, Dorji, Phurba, & Nawang<\/p>\n Furtenbach Adventures<\/a>\u00a0had 100% success with 17. They endorse\u00a0using altitude tents heavily. Austrian climber Andy Holzer<\/a> became the second blind person to submit after\u00a0Erik Weihenmayer in 2002.<\/p>\n Rowaling Excursion<\/a> summited 21\/22 May Tibet including\u00a0Benjamin Breckheimer becoming the 3rd Purple Heart recipient to summit Everest. Rounding out the international team was Swede Erik Akerberg and \u00a0Pole Grazyna Dorota Machni<\/p>\n Arnold Coster Expeditions<\/a>\u00a0got most of his team up – 10 climbers and support<\/p>\n Adventure Peaks<\/a>\u00a0 also saw\u00a0summits with 6 total<\/p>\n And a shout out to Anita Devi, a sub-inspector in Haryana Police has become the first Indian woman to scale Mt Everest from the North Col route.<\/p>\n Note: it appears\u00a0that\u00a0Kilian\u00a0Jornet<\/a>\u00a0is UPDATE<\/strong>: Well Kilian Jornet did run\u00a0again, this time from ABC to summits and back in 29:30 on 27 May. He went from ABC to the summit in 17 hours. Amazing. This makes him the first person to summit twice in one week without oxygen – as if anyone ever thought of this before!!<\/p>\n South<\/strong><\/p>\n IMG<\/a>\u00a0finished out their season with big\u00a0numbers: 23 members and 30 Sherpas. Plus they had a\u00a0summit without supplemental oxygen, James Brooman<\/a>.<\/p>\n Benegas Brothers<\/a> were successful this week with all their members, three, plus guides and Sherpas for 10 total. Willie reported\u00a0“NO WIND”<\/p>\n Madison Mountaineering <\/a>pushed in bad weather to put 29 up, including 13 members.<\/p>\n After three weeks of waiting for improved weather, Himex<\/a>, got 3 members\u00a0plus support for 9\u00a0summits.<\/p>\n The Mountain Couple:\u00a0Mountain Madness<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Mountain Trip<\/a>\u00a0joined forces to see 12 standing on top.<\/p>\n Tim Mosedale<\/a>\u00a0summited with his members for\u00a0an estimated 10 summits.<\/p>\n Asian Trekking<\/a>\u00a0for the Greek<\/a> team said that Michail Evmorfidis and Antonios Sykaris with Pemba Tshering Sherpa, Ki Dorjee Sherpa and Tshering Chhosang Sherpa summited.<\/p>\n US climber Roland Yearwood<\/a>, 50, died climbing with SummitClimb. SummitClimb said they had south summits but have gone quiet.<\/p>\n Satori Adventures<\/a>, a\u00a0Nepali company, had another good season with 10 up there.<\/p>\n Seven Summits Treks<\/a> said they had 60 people going to the summit, no word on specific results but there were many summits.<\/p>\n Ascent Himalaya<\/a>s had both Everest and Lhotse success well over 20 summits including some proud Irish!<\/p>\n Alpine Ascents <\/a>– put their entire team on top early\u00a0Saturday. Ben Jones has been\u00a0posting\u00a0some great photos this season so it is apt to put his summit pic up along with this\u00a0update from AAI:<\/p>\n Hello everyone team just reported that whole team members (11) peoples made to the summit at 8:15 am. Congratulations to Ben jones, Eric Murphy, Malcom Alexander, John Peterson, Santiago Perez, John Zeckendrof, jangbu sherpa, kami rita sherpa, fur kancha sherpa, mingma tshering sherpa and Dawa nuru sherpa. Great job everyone and have safe descent.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Kami Rita Sherpa, with the AAI team, summited for the\u00a021st<\/sup> time equaling the record along with\u00a0Apa Sherpa and Phurba Tashi Sherpa for the world record. I’ve mentioned this a few times, but I summited K2 with Kami Sherpa plus Kami Rita and saw first hand what\u00a0a strong, kind, and gentle soul this man has. Heartfelt congratulations to Kami Rita.<\/p>\n Sans Oxygen<\/strong><\/p>\n Summiting Everest without supplemental oxygen is rare, dangerous and difficult. \u00a0Thru June\u00a0of 2016, 197 climbers had summited without supplemental oxygen but it is dangerous; of the 282 deaths, 109 died attempting to summit without using supplemental oxygen.<\/p>\n The past few days brought several climbers on both sides with the goal to join that rarified club.<\/p>\n Ralf Dujmovits<\/a>\u00a0trying for what he says was his last attempt on Everest wanted to complete his impressive climbing record of getting all 14 of the 8000ers without supplemental oxygen, Climbing from the north side, he turned back early Saturday 27 may at \u00a08,500 m – 40 km\/h wind and snow. He was losing feeling in his hands and feet. \u00a0source<\/a><\/p>\n Yannik Graziani<\/a>\u00a0– the Frenchman climbing from the south side posted “Too much snowfall, too much wind, you freeze on the spot … I turned around at 8 500m, too risky without oxygen, now safe on the south pass.”<\/p>\n Ferran Latorre<\/a>\u00a0– made the summit with no Os but started using it on the descent say “It was too hard.” Similar to Dujmovits, Latorre has now completed all the 8000ers without oxygen except for Everest.<\/p>\n Adrian Ballinger<\/a>\u00a0summited without Os after turning back last year in a similar attempt while his climbing partner, Cory Richards<\/a>\u00a0started using Os near the summit this year instead of turning back. He summited last year without Os.<\/p>\n Hungarian David Klein<\/a>, no O’s turned back on south side due to winds early 26 May morning.<\/p>\n Elisabeth Revol<\/a>\u00a0posted: “At 4h am, one stone of wind and snow. In a few seconds you are caught in a trap. Not so far from the summit, sad Deaths on Everest alway draw great interest from the mainstream media\u00a0even though many mountains have more deaths annually, higher death rates and are significantly more dangerous. It seems that it is not the deaths per se but how they occurred that generates the buzz.<\/p>\n This week brought a classic case study further complicated by misinformation, contradictions, retractions and an overall general mess aroud the report of four bodies found in a tent at\u00a0the South Col.<\/p>\n The story was first published in the Himalayan Times<\/a> citing “confirmed” information from base camp and expedition leaders. I wrote about the deaths and speculated they died from carbon monoxide poisoning as it was reported the four bodies were in the same tent at the South Col when the winds had locked everyone down for the night.<\/p>\n But as more journalists asked harder questions, the story started to fall apart. A government official said\u00a0they couldn’t find any missing climbers from the\u00a02017 teams, and they had no idea of the identities.<\/p>\n I spoke directly with expedition leaders, the reporter who broke the story plus more logistics companies\u00a0and they said the report\u00a0was a\u00a0mistake. That bodies were found, perhaps only one or two .. but definitely not from this year.<\/p>\n Willie Benegas, long time Everest climber and guide who has participated in more rescues than most anyone, told me he personally looked inside every tent at the South Col this past week and found no bodies.<\/p>\n So we are left with an unsatisfying conclusion to this story. Were there any bodies? Were they\u00a0Vladimir Strba<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0Roland Yearwood<\/a>\u00a0who died this year and reportedly had their bodies returned to the South Col. The Sherpas who reported the four bodies were sent to bring Strba’s body back. Did they get confused?<\/p>\n Or did the Sherpas\u00a0see 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 The press and mountaineering officials seem willing to shrug this away and not find out why the story got out in the first place. As with many things in Nepal, the truth is shrouded under a thick layer of smog.<\/p>\n Update: The Ministry of Tourism issued\u00a0this statement:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A couple of poor examples to anyone looking to\u00a0the climbing community for inspiration came from South African\u00a0Ryan Sean Davy, 43, and\u00a0Polish climber\u00a0Janusz Adam Adamski, 49. Both willing violated the climbing rules of Nepal and bragged about it.<\/p>\n Davy, went to Camp 2 without a legal permit saying he couldn’t afford it but knew he needed one. He escaped the $22,000 fine but is now banned from climbing in Nepal for 10 years<\/p>\n Adamski made an illegal traverse from Nepal to China, also knowing he needed a permit. He is also facing a $22,00 fine and banishment. He said that he believes there is no border on mountains. Amazingly his total disregard for rules was flaunted in this quote to the Himalayan Times<\/a>:<\/p>\n \u201cI am ready to face any legal challenge in Nepal to safeguard the greatest achievement of my life, I\u2019ll never regret what I did. As there is no provision of issuing traverse permit in both countries, I had to traverse illegally for fulfilment of my lifetime dream,\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Wrapping up this section, there were thieves on Everest. While rare, it does happen. 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’s property is also theirs for the taking. Without understanding the why, Tim Mosedale<\/a> posted about an incident at their high camp on Lhotse and again at the South Col this past week. This is quite\u00a0serious as his climbers were expected to find\u00a0their gear and arrived to find it missing i.e. stolen.<\/p>\n Well actually there are. I am always surprised when you think the season is over, another one or two summits come out of nowhere.<\/p>\n One we know is still trying is Japanese Nobukazu Kuriki <\/a>\u00a0wanting to climb via the West Ridge, Hornbein Couloir then to the summit. He originally started on the north side but switched to the south after seeing blue ice on the North Wall, his preferred route. – looking at 30\/31 May<\/p>\n Visit the\u00a0location table<\/a> page for ongoing updates.<\/p>\n I want to sincerely thank each and every reader, even the one who told me “You are the reason the world hates Yanks”\u00a0 \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n Your\u00a0interest, and participation is what fuels me to spend the hours each day (and night) to bring you the latest curated stories.<\/p>\n Please return for the Everest 2017\u00a0Season Summary in a couple of weeks. You\u00a0learn when it’s available thru\u00a0email notifications<\/a>\u00a0or my public Facebook Page <\/a>or Twitter.<\/p>\n Climb On! <\/p>\n Everest 2017: Who is left? – updated<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n![\"Ida](\"http:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/02\/IMG_00471.jpg\")
<\/a>Before I go further in the last weekend update of 2017\u00a0I want to thank you for\u00a0all your great comments and questions plus your interest in my writings. This was my 15 year\u00a0of covering all things Everest and you broke the traffic record with\u00a0close to a million visits in April and May from virtually every country on the planet.<\/p>\n![\"donate](\"http:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/donate100alzheimersround.gif\")
<\/a><\/p>\nThis Past Week’s Summit Summary<\/h3>\n
done for the season<\/del> … I think \ud83d\ude42 He should be tired, he went from the\u00a0Rongbuk Monastery to the summit in 26 hours – a FNT record. He stopped on the descent at ABC due to illness.<\/p>\n![\"Ben](\"http:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Ben-Jones-leader-Alpine-Ascents-on-Everest-2017-summit-480x480.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Kami](\"http:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Kami-Riat-Sherpa-Mt-Everest-640x426.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/static.xx.fbcdn.net\/images\/emoji.php\/v9\/f22\/1\/16\/1f61e.png\")
????<\/span><\/span>. I felt good and altitude was not a problem. Grrrrr.”<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n
![\"Western](\"http:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Western-Cwm-from-Lhotse-summit-by-Al-Hancock-640x480.jpg\")
<\/a>South Col “Deaths”<\/h3>\n
![\"MOT](\"http:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/MOT-statement-o-South-Col-deaths-and-Hillary-Step-1-450x480.jpg\")
<\/a>“Follow No Rules” Climbers<\/h3>\n
Is There Anyone Left?<\/h3>\n
Thanks Again!<\/h3>\n
\nAlan
\nMemories are Everything<\/p>\nThis Week’s Posts:<\/h3>\n