{"id":41351,"date":"2022-05-15T12:27:59","date_gmt":"2022-05-15T18:27:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/?p=41351"},"modified":"2022-07-31T08:59:49","modified_gmt":"2022-07-31T14:59:49","slug":"everest-2022-weekend-update-may-15-summits-summits-summits-in-great-weather","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/2022\/05\/15\/everest-2022-weekend-update-may-15-summits-summits-summits-in-great-weather\/","title":{"rendered":"Everest 2022: Weekend Update May 15 – Summits, Summits, Summits in Great Weather"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

We saw hundreds of people summit Mt. Everest with almost unprecedented weather this past week. And from all indications, summits will continue into next week, albeit at a slower rate, with the exception of Tuesday, May 17th, when the winds will spike over 30 mph\/50kph. However, at this rate, this season could be over soon.<\/p>\r\n

No on-mountain deaths or rescues were reported, but we may still learn of difficulties. Overall, the weather was ideal, with low winds and temperatures around 0F\/-20C.<\/p>\r\n

Big Picture<\/h2>\r\n

We have what I’d consider a ‘normal’ season for once in a long, long time. Of course, it’s mostly due to the lingering impact of COVID – the Chinese closed its border, and India was hesitant to sponsor the droves of young climbers who have filled the slopes for the last several years. But the big deal is the missing Jet Stream resulting in this period of low summit winds, thus allowing team after team to thoughtfully plan their attack.<\/p>\r\n

So how to sum up the week and season thus far – two words – low drama. Well, at least what we know of. Sadly, today’s social-media-driven mountaineering has turned into a public relations game where no one will admit they messed up, from clients to guides to anyone. Thus it’s hard to know if a helicopter flight was a rescue or a resupply of oxygen at a high camp.<\/p>\r\n

We have seen many summits. I estimate 341 from the Nepal side made up of 140 members supported by 201 Sherpas, or high-altitude workers of other ethnicities. And on the Tibet side, 50. There have been many, many people who fought a good fight but came up short. Sometimes due to lack of preparation, others from illness, personality conflicts, logistics miscues, or just bad luck. It’s all part of climbing an 8000-meter peak. Most will try again.<\/p>\r\n

There have been a plethora of ‘records.’ Many of these are from a person who is the first from their country to the summit, and then others have a personal story that they view as a record. We’ve also seen an unusual linking of multiple 8000-meter peaks.<\/p>\r\n

Again well done, but we need to look deeper into style. By that, I mean what most veteran climbers call “fair play.”\u00a0Use of oxygen starting at what camp? Level of support to break trail? Use of helicopters to shortcut treks to base camp. Did they reach the true summit or a false one? All of these are fair questions in my mind. And, to be clear, they don’t invalidate a genuine summit but only put the achievement into perspective, especially if the climber claims a ‘record.’ Many of these claims are solid, and the individual deserves the praise they receive back home.<\/p>\r\n

I’ll try to recap all the records in my annual season summary without comment. \ud83d\ude42 However, records are not in my lane, so I leave it to Guinness and the Himalayan Database to vet these claims. But congratulations to those who made X summits in Y days or were the first from your universe. I’m sure that 2023 will be a record year on Everest, especially when (if) China reopens its side.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

So with all of this, teams are taking their time and spreading out their pushes so as to minimize but eliminate the ques in the traditional bottlenecks.<\/p>\r\n

Last Week<\/h2>\r\n

Summits, lots of summits across Everest, Lhotse, Annapurna, Kangchungua, and Dhaulagiri.\u00a0Speaking of Dhaulagiri, Carlos Sora threw in the towel for the 13th time and is already back in Spain.<\/p>\r\n

One of the big ones and a true record was on\u00a0Makalu<\/strong>\u00a0by Adrian Ballinger<\/a>, co-founder of Alpenglow. He skied from the summit to base camp. Others have skied Makalu, but most started at 7000 or 7500-meters on the 8495-meter peak. Adrian texted me, “I summited today with Dorji Sonam and Pasang Sona (Alpenglow Sherpa). We fixed to the summit from where rope fixing ended by French couloir. And\u2026.I skied Makalu!!!!!! I just got back to ABC. First on top for season. Alpenglow pride “<\/p>\r\n

Another noteworthy achievement was from the first 100% Black team,\u00a0Full Circle Everest<\/a>, which had all the members who attempted the summit make it with support from 10 Sherpas. They made a documentary that I’m eager to see when it comes out, probably in 2023. This is a significant accomplishment and shines a bright light on the lack of diversity in mountaineering. I explored that question with some of the team back in November when we did a Podcast<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n

Maybe the biggest surprise for the week was when Portuguese climber\u00a0Pedro Queir\u00f3s<\/a>, 41, texted me that he had made the first ‘member’ summit of the season at 9:39 am on Monday, May 9, 2022, with Mingma Sherpa of 14summit<\/a>. It was a surprise because the first summits were expected by one of the large commercial teams. He said a tip from the NatGeo team preparing weather stations gave them an opportunity to climb alone, and it was just the two of them on the summit. What a gift! Speaking of NatGeo, I heard they also summited, but there are no details as to who and when.<\/p>\r\n

The commercial teams of Furtenbach Adventures,<\/a> Seven Summits\u00a0Treks, <\/a>and\u00a0Climbing The Seven<\/a><\/span> Sum<\/a><\/span>mits<\/a>\u00a0had monster weeks with a combined 125 summits. What stood out to me was the support ratio of 54 members with 71 Sherpas or 1.3. When I asked Lukas Furtenbach about this, he sharply defended his approach:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

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For our standard Flash clients we have 2 sherpa for each client. but not to carry them up. only one Sherpa is climbing with each client. the extra Sherpas are carrying the extra oxygen and redundant o2 systems and are there for rescues in emergency situations. in our summit night 12\/13 may for example we could have climbed c4 to summit in 4-6 hours easily with out clients. but we were blocked by two very slow teams that did not let anyone pass. so it took us 11 hours up and down also delayed and we were standing around waiting in traffic for hours. if in such a situation, you don\u2019t have enough spare o2, you either have to turn your clients around, or they run out of o2 and die. I saw many clients and sherpas from other teams running out if o2 that night and day (and I saw sherpas carrying 25kg backpacks to c4 without o2).<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n

While I understand this model, it does explain the long lines of headlamps we see in the pictures. So the next time an Everest climber complains about crowds, perhaps they should look at how much support they require. I already highlighted a low-impact case in point with\u00a0German David G\u00f6ttler<\/a>, who is not using supplemental oxygen and carries all of his gear \u2013 tents, sleeping bags, food, fuel, stove, etc. He appears to be using\u00a0the ladders installed by the Icefall Doctors in the Khumbu Icefall and the Western Cwm and the fixed ropes.<\/p>\r\n

Kenton Cool just got his 16th Everest summit breaking Dave Hahn\u2019s long-standing 15. A non-Sherpa record. And South African Pierre Carter flew his\u00a0paraglider from the South Col to Gorak Shep.<\/p>\r\n

An impressive and fun performance to keep track of is Norwegian Kristin Harila<\/a>, 36, who plans to summit all 14 peaks in six months. This season, she already has Annapurna, Dhaulagiri, and \u00a0Kanchanjunga. Now, she is going for Everest and Lhotse, then Makalu. \u00a0She\u2019ll then go for the Pakistani 8000ers after these. She will do her Everest\/Lhotse summit bib on May 21st. Pemba Sherpa<\/a>, 8K Expeditions, is handling her logistics.<\/p>\r\n

And finally, such a moment for 18-year-old American\u00a0Lucy Westlake<\/a>, who set an American female record. She was with Nepali outfit Xtreme Climbers<\/a>‘ Mingma Chhiring.<\/p>\r\n

There were other impressive summits that I’ll discuss in the season wrap-up, probably late next week.<\/p>\r\n

Next Week – More Summits<\/h2>\r\n

It looks like the winds will stay under 30 mph\/50kph through May 25 except for Tuesday, May 17, when they will spike to over 40 mph, along with some snow at midnight, just as the climbers are moving towards the Balcony. That said, other models are showing low winds through the next ten days, so it’s best to check with a human forecaster before heading up.<\/p>\r\n

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10 day Everest wind gust forecast courtesy of Weather.us<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n

We still have teams on the move on Everest, including:<\/p>\r\n