{"id":30597,"date":"2018-05-16T10:40:40","date_gmt":"2018-05-16T16:40:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/?p=30597"},"modified":"2024-11-20T10:28:17","modified_gmt":"2024-11-20T17:28:17","slug":"everest-2018-summit-wave-3-recap-sherpa-death-on-everest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/2018\/05\/16\/everest-2018-summit-wave-3-recap-sherpa-death-on-everest\/","title":{"rendered":"Everest 2018: Summit Wave 3 Recap – Sherpa Death on Everest"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Sherpa has died while over 140 people summited Everest on Wednesday morning, May 16. But a series of oxygen system failures stopped at least one team. Look for another day of summits on Thursday as May 17 was the date many teams had target last weekend as the winds calmed. Last night was clear, winds were not an issue and about the usual temperature -4F\/ -20F. \u00a0Here’s the recap.<\/p>\n

Sherpa Death<\/h3>\n

Lam Babu Sherpa from Kurima Solukhambu died on May 15. \u00a0Details are unclear but he is said to had snow blindness. He was on the Nepal side reported missing on 14 May above the South Col. The rescue team based at Camp 2 by Seven Summits Treks was reportedly unaware of the situation. I have confirmed all of this with\u00a0Gyanendra Shrestha<\/a>, the Ministry’s representative at EBC. This is the second Sherpa to die on an 8000 meter peak this spring.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Ang Dawa Sherpa (32) from Solukhumbu died on 14 May at the Makalu base camp after having altitude related sickness at Camp 2 after their summit.<\/p>\n

Oxygen<\/h3>\n

At least three Tibet teams experienced failures of the oxygen regulators in mid climb. Alpenglow sent the warning out to other teams after they had 10 of 39 regulations fail near the 2nd Step. They reported, and I’ve confirmed, that Transcend and Furtenbach both also experienced failures. Adrian Ballinger turned his 26 person team around and the guides and Sherpas gave up their regulators to keep the members on supplemental oxygen. Adrian told me, “Most happened above 8500m (it was almost like fireworks with our regs and Transcend Himalaya regs failing in rapid succession on the 2nd step). But multiple failures occurred lower, as low as 7900m on descent.\u00a0The failures were not while attaching\/detaching bottles. They were mostly while climbing.\u00a0 Some were “explosive” with oxygen forming big loud plumes out the top of the reg; others were quieter but caused rapid emptying of bottles.” He went on to say ” “Explosions” was a figure of speech.” They were using oxygen cylinders, regulators and mask from the UK’s Summit Oxygen. Adrian added “We tested every reg and mask at 6400m (abc) before taking them up hill. This problem did not manifest until very high on mountain.”<\/p>\n

Adrian and his team certainly showed their experience and professionalism with how they handled this potential disaster. They are back to at least ABC now with no injuries. Its unclear what their next step is but Furtenbach immediately stepped forward and offered their regulators they used that are known to be good, if the Alpenglow wants to do another attempt. You can read the realtime updates and a statement from Summit Oxygen at this link<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Jim Morrison<\/a><\/span> who was on the team posted this first person account:<\/p>\n

Just follow the rope to the roof of the world, About a thousand feet to go and two more steps and \"\"????<\/span><\/span>but instead it went like this. I was just to the ridge where you can see into Nepal and chaos came over the radio. The Alpenglow team 15 minutes ahead of us that started from 8300 meters and was doing great had a sudden batch of oxygen regulators fail. A moment later my backpack emitted a venomous roar and all my precious oxygen dissipated into 8500 meter air. Nbd we have backups so I just waited for Adrian and explained what happened. We replaced and moved on up through the first step where the radio did its thing again. And then on cue my regulator blew, all backups were being rushed to the other team, and we were out! So… Mingma my spiritually enhanced friend from Phortse just took his mask and handed it to me. We descended and shared the one mask, me on it and him refusing to take it. An incredible swift climb turned to a different adventure. Everyone is safe, I\u2019ve written more than a tweet, I\u2019ll see Mingma in the fall and learn more from this Lama \"\"????<\/span><\/span> @adrianballinger @protectourwinters So we can come back and so can our kids.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Also\u00a0Kara Stinson<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span>\u00a0reports in:<\/p>\n

My team was involved in the mass oxygen equipment failure at 28,500ft on our summit push. Our oxygen regulators began to fail en mass at an extremely dangerous altitude and location. With the selfless help of our Sherpa and guide team, we all were able to get to a safe altitude alive while keeping our fingers and toes. Can\u2019t quite wrap my head around the events of this morning yet, but extremely grateful for the safety of my team.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As predicted, it was a big night on the Nepal side with close to 100 summits. There were records broken and first time summits across the board.<\/p>\n

Records<\/strong><\/h3>\n

48 year-old Kami Rita Sherpa<\/a><\/strong> set the individual summit record at 22 with his summit at 8:30 am 16 May 2018. He broke the record he shared with\u00a0Apa Sherpa and Phurba Tashi Sherpa with his 2017 summit. He says he wants to get to 25 then retire. He was guiding a Chinese team of nine members for Seven Summits Treks who all summited with eight other Sherpas.<\/p>\n

Lhakpa Sherpa<\/strong> broke her own record for most female summits with another today, her ninth. Her first summit was\u00a0in 2000 followed by 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2016, 2017 and 2018. She lives in the U.S. She was climbing with 7 Summits Club and summited at 5:40 am. She has said she wants 10 summits.<\/p>\n

Kenton Cool<\/a> <\/strong>broke his own record for most UK summits at 13 when he guided Ben Fogle, Mark Fisher who was filling the climb for a documentary<\/a>. \u00a0There were also three Sherpas along, names not listed, to the summit.<\/p>\n

Nepal Summits<\/h3>\n

Gyanendra Shrestha<\/a>, the Ministry’s representative at EBC said there were 41 foreigners and 53 Sherpas summited today.\u00a0Adventure Consultants<\/a> reported summits at 5:43 am 16 May 2018 by Guy Cotter and\u00a0Leow Kah Shin.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Ascent Himalayas<\/a> put 12 up there including\u00a0Ole Hovestad becoming \u00a0the youngest Norwegian to summit at age 23.\u00a0Jagged Globe<\/a> was going for the summit but are not giving any updates until they are back to the South Col. As of 10:30 pm in Nepal still no updates.\u00a0Satori Adventures and Expeditions<\/a>\u00a0put 11 on the summit of Lhotse including 79 year-old Matsumoto Tatsuo, setting the age record for Lhotse.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Seven Summit Treks<\/a>\u00a0reports that from their International team Indian Sivangi at age 16 along with Rohtash summited with Sherpas Dawa, Nima Norbu and Furba Dorchi. Also\u00a0Javier Camacho (Spain) and Jangbu Sherpa<\/p>\n

Dreamers Destination<\/a> also had a good night with 4 members and 4 Sherpas summiting. They were the First Women Journalists Everest Expedition a group of five young female journalists advocating on different social issues including sustainable mountain development, nature conservation and gender advancement: Rojita Buddhacharya (NTV & MoST), Rosha Basnet (RSS), Priya Laxmi Karki (News24 TV), Kalpana Maharjan (Mega TV), and Deuralee Chamling (Freelancer) supported by Phurba Tenjing Sherpa, Pemba Dorjee Sherpa, Lhakpa Nuru Sherpa, Dakipa Sherpa, and Pemba Sherpa. An International Team had these members: Xiao Jun Wu (USA), Leichen Bian (China), Xingfeng Lian (China) \u00a0and Chin Wui Kin (Malaysia) \u00a0supported by Pemba Dorjee Sherpa, Lhakpa Nuru Sherpa, Phurba Thiley Sherpa and Bise Bahadur Gurung \u00a0.<\/p>\n

Xiao Jun Wu (USA), Leichen Bian (China), Xingfeng Lian (China) and Chin Wui Kin (Malaysia), along with their sherpa, Phurba Thiley Sherpa, Lakpa Nuru Sherpa, Pemba Dorjee Sherpa and Bis Bahadur Gurung.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Kaitu Everest Expedition<\/a> team also put 6 members and 8 Sherpas on top between 8-8:30 am.<\/p>\n

Tibet Summits<\/h3>\n

Furtenbach Adventures<\/a> said all five members of their classic team, which included five Sherpas, summited safely. They experienced oxygen issues but had enough spares to keep going.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Furtenbach Adventures Everest 16 May 2018 Summit<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Climbalaya<\/a> said they had three members and three Sherpas at the summit at 9:44 a.m.: Valentyn Sypavinn, Alexander Shalaev, Evgenii Pushkarev, Pema Sherpa,\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span>and Pasang Dawa Sherpa.<\/p>\n

Transcend Adventures<\/a> with their “youth” team had an excellent night despite a few oxygen issues. Their home team told me:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n