Everest 2013: Race to Camp 3
It seems like the teams are only talking about the weather this weekend on Everest. There is movement on Saturday as the forecast calls for very high winds soon. Most of the teams moving up now are trying to spend the night or tag Camp 3 on the Lhotse Face. Once they have completed this task and returned to Base Camp, s their acclimatization program is complete and they will wait for a five day window of good weather to go for the summit. There is talk of the first summit window around May 18th. This is along time for the climbers to wait – two weeks. Their acclimatization will last several weeks so that is not an issue, but boredom and focus will be concerns. Big Winds Wim Smets, climbing Lhotse, made this post today: A storm is coming to lhotse. I will abort my acclimatisation trip and return to basecamp tomorrow. No early summit for me this time. The US Air Force team with IMG climbed to Camp 2 on Friday and posted this report as they returned to C2 ready to go to C3: The team made a very early start through the Icefall yesterday, and arrived at Camp 2 at about 9am Nepal time. They will be waking up shortly and spending a rest day to acclimatize. Other climbers report a very breezy night further up at Camp 3, and the winds at high altitude were strong enough that the Sherpas decided to delay another day before attempting to carry loads to Camp 4 on the South Col. The large Indian team from Pune also moved to C2 preparing to go to C3. SummitClimb, Adventure Consultants and Mountain Trip are all trying to race to C3 before the winds hit. This is the latest report from the Adventure Consultants team at Camp 2: This is the second rotation up the hill, hence we aim not to stay at camp 1 any longer. One of the challenging factors was the tremendously cold wind yesterday – some of us wearing all our clothes (two down jackets plus a goretex jacket, but not down suits) walking to camp 2 in the sun! To compare western climbers/members with our sherpas, today our fastest sherpa left camp 2 at 6480m and carrying loads OVER 20kg, they climbed up past camp 3 (which is a lot of distance as well as altitude) all the way to the South Col at 7950m, higher than most mountains in the world, searched for a campsite for Adventure Consultants, stashed the equipment in case of storms which takes time, and returned back by 9.45am!! 7.25 hrs! And all without oxygen. That fastest time was done by Pemba Chhoti who is famously strong. The other sherpa arrived between 10am and 1pm, all fantastic times. David Tait, usually a man of dramatic, emotional dispatches, made a simple Tweet today from Camp 3: Made it to c3 – more later weather bad Sometimes a few words is all it takes! David has had problems with his power systems and I’m sure will post a longer update once he is back at EBC. He had wanted to go with the Sherpas when they fixed the line to the summit but with the bad weather moving in, I’m not sure of his plans. Mike Chambers has a great audio update from Camp 3. He really captures the moment, again in a few words – 50 seconds. It is the Blog of the Day. Down Valley Peak Freaks, having touched C3, is now down in the Khumbu at Pheriche resting in the relatively oxygen rich air. They get the benefit of more oxygen in the air, sleeping off the ground but run the risk of getting sick from interacting with new people. This down-valley vacation happens every year with many, many teams going down for a few days before the summit bids. For anyone following Chris Klinke and the team from Rolwaling, he has posted a lengthy update on his blog. They are also down valley after having spent a night at Camp 3. North Update It is not a lot different on the North but teams are taking different approaches to dealing with the weather. Phil Crampton, Altitude Junkies, reported they are staying put at Chinese Base Camp: Base camp continues to be hammered by strong winds and the visible plume coming off the summit from the jet stream is longer than the entire length of the Northeast Ridge. Our latest weather forecast expects the jet stream to stay in position for several more days leaving us stuck down at base camp. Our Sherpas returned to base camp yesterday after spending two weeks at advanced base camp and above. They explained that advanced base camp is a miserable place indeed at the moment with the constant wind and that many tents belonging to other groups have already been destroyed by the high winds. We know of several teams in position at ABC waiting to climb to the Col but unfortunately the forecasts are not looking so good for the next several days. But the Adventure Peaks team is at the North Col squeezing in that milestone before the winds hit. Bob Kerr made an audio post from the Col saying the weather was acceptable for the moment. At this point, they are climbing without supplemental oxygen by design to acclimatize, so they must be very, very careful with exposure to high winds to avoid frostbite. I always find it interesting how different teams view risks and make decisions. Climb On!AlanMemories are Everything
Everest 2013: The Magic of Everest
As Snoopy would say “It was a Dark and Stormy Night”. I’m sure that’s how the climbers on Everest are feeling today. The jet stream has parked itself on the summit of Everest and is impacting all the camps on both sides. While bearable by a few brave (mostly Sherpa), climbers are stuck in their tents do what they do – wait and see. It is a tough time up there. The Docs at the medical post, EverestEr provided this update: It’s about midway through the season, and as lines are being fixed to camp 3 and many climbers are on their second rotation, we are seeing the inevitable effects of extreme altitude on some of our s. We have seen over 160 s, so far 5 of our s have required helivacs (two Sherpa, two climbers and one trekker.) We ed one with a serious case of high altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE), and one with HAPE and high altitude cerebral edema (HACE) and HAPE combined. But this is not stopping some climbers. Min Bahadur Sherchan’s who has the Everest male age record at 76 arrived at Base Camp this week, now at age 81! He is racing Japanese, Yuichiro Miura who at 80 has been acclimatizing for several weeks and is going for the age record. This is food for thought while we watch television and munch on chips tonight! Climbers are doing what next to summit night is considered the toughest part of a south side Everest climb – the Lhotse Face and a night at Camp 3. Eric Simonson, IMG, made this comments as his teams move through the Camp 3 rotation: This is generally regarded by most climbers as one of the toughest day/nights of the trip, with a strenuous climb up the fixed ropes followed by the climbers’ first night at 24,000 feet without supplemental oxygen. It’s all great for acclimatization, but it is a tough couple of days for the climbers. The payoff will come on their next rotation, when they will find that it is a lot easier the second time up there. Georgina Miranda climbing with Adventure Global shared her thoughts on climbing the Lhotse Face. She is back at EBC now. Of course there were moments of pure exhaustion and feeling like I was never going to get to the next milestone, but it was just one foot in front of the other that was going to get me there. I was reminded how brutally cold this mountain can be and also how it can feel like it is cooking you alive. At each point of discomfort, I always remind myself how fortunate I am to be able to be pursing this dream and why I am doing it. That thought tends to bring an instant calm and focus. Long time Everest veteran with 14 summits, Dave Hahn, RMI, offered these comments after their rotation to the higher camps: It is tough to realize just how hard Everest is on the human body until one comes back down to “normal” altitudes like 17,500 ft Basecamp. The first night of deep sleep convinces you that whatever you thought you were doing for twelve hours a night at 21,300 ft was not actually sleep. A plate of breakfast that you actually want seconds on makes you think of how easy the mountain would be to climb if you could have had your normal appetite up at ABC. Today the views included jet stream winds raking the upper Lhotse Face, driving snow a thousand feet higher than the mountain itself. Kenton Cool, with 10 Everest summits, had these thoughts on his climb to tag C3. Compared to other years the route to 3 is quick and easy, despite being set only a few days ago there are already footsteps in the ice which we could follow. I find climbing the face like being on a step machine with the ever and I relish pushing myself as hard as I can, although thats never easy at 7000m. Climber Carson Crane with Adventure Consultants shared a short Tweet from Camp 2 simply saying: I woke up last night and saw that the clouds had cleared and wow…the stars were just stunning. So beautiful. The Lhotse Face There is no Easter Bunny, no Santa Claus; the Grimm Brothers’ fairy tales are dark and scary and magic is real. Today, everyone on Everest believes in magic. Sitting in your tent at Camp 2, 21,500 feet; you rub the sleep out of your eyes. Your headlamp betrays your cold breath at 3:00AM. Today you climb the Lhotse Face. The morning routine is annoyingly familiar. It takes ten times longer than when you were back home to put on your boots. Breakfast is simple – toast, maybe an egg, perhaps hot cereal and coffee. The Sherpa cooks have been up since 1:00AM heating water so you eat with gratitude. But really all you want to do is crawl back in your warm sleeping bag. Sitting silently in the dining tent, your curse the tiny golf chairs for their instability, but then you consider where you are and are glad to have anything to sit on. Taking the last sip of coffee, you turn on your headlamp. Stepping out of the tent, you kneel down to put on your crampons but then look up. The moon is lighting up the ‘Face’ it looks huge. Squinting you look for Camp 3, maybe you see it, probably not. Finishing your crampon work, you take another deep breath. The walk to the base of the Lhotse Face is familiar, you did this a few days ago to get some exercise. But that was in the daylight, now in the dark; it seems to go on forever. You don’t remember the elevation gain and find yourself breathing hard once again. The morning blues… Approaching the base you glance at your watch, that took an hour. Once again you look up. Now all you see is
Everest 2013: Live from Everest!
With the route fixed to the South Col, anything can happen. I would not be surprised to see the Sherpas summit somewhat soon as they fix the final section all the way to the top. If history is any guide, there will be Westerners either with them or in hot pursuit. But weather holds the key. Looking back over the past decade, a typical weather pattern was a mixed early April, followed by good conditions up to May 1 when it became windy, and snowy. Then like clockwork around May 15, the winds calm thus providing a two week period of good conditions for summit bids. Thus far 2103 has been somewhat close to that except for heavy snow during the third week of April. There are several companies who provide weather forecasts to the teams. While anyone can find a Everest forecast on the Internet, a few companies specialize on expedition forecasts. They tend to look at multiple models with a sharp level of detail at different altitudes, i.e. camps. They provide expedition leaders not only the raw information but also their expert opinion. Two of the leading companies are Meteoexploration from Switzerland and EverestWeather out of Seattle. Adventure Consultants noted they are looking for the weather window once they finish their Camp 3 rotation. Plus their Sherpas will begin carries to the beginning of the ‘Death Zone’ now that the route is open: In order for us to look at a weather window we have to plan to move five days before the ideal summit weather window. Mid range forecasts are watched now with great focus. However, for the Everest team we still have a bit of work to do before we are completely ready. Currently there are ropes fixed to the South Col 7950m, where we have our last camp, camp 4. Sherpas are beginning to carry loads up to the South Col tomorrow, loads of tents and gas and stoves, oxygen and masks and regulators. Altitude Junkies’ Phil Crampton is also looking at the weather from the North side: Our latest weather forecast from Seattle and that of the European forecast both predicts very strong winds on the mountain for the next several days. The jet stream is supposed to be directly above us on the 7th and 8th so with this in mind our Sherpas are now breaking down our advanced base camp to avoid us losing the campsite with the predicted winds. The Sherpas will descend to base camp tomorrow for a well deserved rest. The team were hoping for around a weeks rest at base camp before heading back up the hill and possibly an early summit attempt. This now is not possible so we will have to find ways of entertaining ourselves for the extra several days we now have at base camp. Javier has now started his daily stretching class inside the movie tent. The conditions at ABC were pretty bad today according to our Sherpa crew with very strong winds and blizzard like conditions. We have been experiencing some snow and very strong winds all day at base camp so we can just imagine what the conditions are like higher up on the hill. Climbers are acclimatizing well. AAI noted today they went from Base Camp to Camp 1 in four hours shaving off a couple of hours from the first climb. Jagged Globe posted a profile of some of their Sherpas. In addition to their impressive climbing resume, JG does a nice job of talking about their families. JG has completed their rotation to Camp 2 and getting ready to go spend the tough night at Camp 3. The Multimedia Explosion With the advancement of satellite technology, many climbers now send live video from Everest. These are a few examples just from today. Dan Hughes, with Jagged Globe, is doing a good job of keeping his followers informed. He recently told me he is trying to raise £1million for Comic Relief, which is a charity which primarily help children living in poverty. He said thanks to some very generous sponsors such as inmarsat, he has unlimited satellite data and is able to share his climb live all the way to the summit! Dan just posted this live interview (3:29) with the BBC from Base Camp: Similarly, David Tait, posted this video (2:11) on his Facebook account where he talks about getting injured in the Icefall and his plans to summit as soon as possible: Not to be left out, the Altitude Junkies gang over on the North clearly has too much down time Nelson Dellis posted this video (0:31): Climb On!AlanMemories are Everything
Everest 2013: The Winds of Everest
The jet stream is back on top of Everest and creating cold harsh conditions for anyone at the upper camps. Teams on the North have chosen to stay at Chinese Base Camp for a few more days until the winds relent. On the South, several climbers and teams did push through to Camp 2. David Tait, Himex, is one of them declaring his desire to stay there and perhaps go with the Sherpas while the line is being fixed to the summit, similar to what he did in 2009. My plan is to a summit as soon as reasonably possible after this is completed, so its entirely possible I will not be returning to BC with the rest of the team – rather shooting for the prize asap – it will be hard as i will be probably under acclimatised – but I will be climbing with Phurba Tashi once again. The weather needs to play ball etc. The super ambitious team at Himalayan Ascent spent a night at Camp 3 as did the group from Berg Adventures who posted this update: We began our day at 8am; we started marching up 8,000ft from Camp II to Camp III. It is April 30th. Our goal is to stay up here a night without oxygen. As Wally admitted, it is probably going to be the worst night of our life! Thank you for that, Wally. We found the Lhotse face was a little more difficult than we had hoped. It was pretty busy, it was challenging as a lot of people were coming down as we were going up. The weather deteriorated as we went up to higher winds, it got colder. We were happy to arrive at Camp III. We are not at the lower camp, we’re kind of the middle camp, we’re really, I guess, isolated. There’s only one other tent where we are, (incomprehensible) but it’s been chopped into a ledge, but a remote spot and we’re looking forward to staying warm and going back down to Camp II tomorrow. UPDATE: Eric Simonson, IMG, noted that the line is now set to the South Col: BIG day today. Sherpas put in 17.5 hour day today (Camp 2 to Camp 2) and fixed to the South Col as well as Lhotse Camp 4. Great job by the fixing team (2 from IMG; 3 From Himex; 4 from Seven Summit). The fixing team left Camp 2 at 3:30AM and reached the Col at 3:30PM. Scott Woolums, Mountain Trip comments on the summit schedule: It’s amazing how many groups are planning to try to summit far earlier. Especially when there are no fixed lines into even C4 yet… These early windows tend to be shorter, colder, arguably more dangerous, and potentially more volatile than you typically see after the third week of May. An Everest climb is a big trip, and it seems strange to me to see climbers not being a little and waiting for some good, solid, warmer and more consistent weather. We are hoping many groups summit early as that could help us by having fewer people on our summit day. Our forecasts are looking like higher winds are coming back to the mountain, with the jet stream close to Everest for awhile now. This effectively shuts down any early May summit windows. On the North, Asian Trekking reports good progress yesterday: Eddy Dawes ,Yoshiharu Nakamura and Chi Sing John have successfully completed their first rotation trip to North col (7200m) today. They are coming back to advance base camp. Phil Crampton, Altitude Junkies, put his team to the real test by asking them not to blog while on their first rotation! This was voluntary and probably more fun but also makes a nice point on focusing on the climb. They are back at CBC waiting out the winds nbefore going back up. The team are now catching up with emails and blogging as they were off the grid for a week at advanced base camp. We decided to use the BGAN’s at ABC for weather forecasts only and not for blogs so they could focus on the objective in front of them. I’m not sure on how happy they were about this but it doesn’t seemed to harmed them too much not having all their gadgets with them for the past week. The Russian team of Denis Urubko and Alexey Bolotov are back at EBC preparing to return to 7000m for more acclimatization before they attempt a new route in mid May. They are climbing without oxygen or Sherpa support. Dave Mauro with IMG, has a nice post about his personal Sherpa, Mingma Chhring. Bonding with the Sherpas is a critical part of climbing Everest. I know I still keep in touch with Kami Sherpa, whom I summited with in 2011. Mike Chambers, also climbing with IMG, has the Blog of the Day. Not the normal detailed, emotional account of climbing but a down to earth description of a day at Base Camp. A fun read! Climb On!AlanMemories are Everything
Everest 2013: The Sherpa’s Viewpoint – updated
Update 2: In mid August 2013, Tashi Sherpa, 30, spoke with reporter Deepak Adhikari explaining what really happened from the Sherpa’s viewpoint. Tashi was on the rope fixing team and at Camp 2. This is the first time we have heard the Sherpas’ version of the incident. The storyline remains the same as what the professionals reported but Tashi claims the professional climber’s started the fight by kicking ice on them, assaulted them verbally and physically on the Lhotse Face. The fight at Camp 2 spun out of control when a Western guide “assaulted” a Sherpa. Tashi goes on to say there has been years of resentment between the Sherpas and the “whites” but this incident was personal with Moro. Click here for the story —- Life goes on at Everest with a few climbers spending the night at Camp 3 on their final rotation before pushing for the summit bid. Many are at Camp 2 or back at EBC preparing for their turn up high. Remember that we will not see the majority of Western summits until mid May so teams are still focused on acclimatization. But the fight on the Lhotse Face has had an impact. Tim Ripple, Peak Freaks, made this comment: What has gone on up on the mountain yesterday has lowered moral here at EBC. Mountains have no place for egos, you see it time and time again, eventually a price is paid. Melissa Arnot, cited by Simone Moro as helping defuse the fight made this post on her blog today: I cannot recount the events of this past week on Everest, nor do I want to. I understand that people want to hear the story and know the details, but, honestly, the details are sad and they are in the past. They cannot be changed. Everyone will have their version of what happened and why it happened. I, too, have my own version. I came here to climb Mt. Everest. I came here for the challenge, adventure and type of friendship that has become a mark of this place for me. On this expedition, I have had some of the times of my life, laughing into the late hours with friends who were supporting each other’s goals. I have had some of the worst times — standing in front of those same friends to protect them from unexplainable violence and anger. Something shifted the balance for a moment. My only hope is that it shifts back quickly, and everyone can resume their jobs, their passion and their goal of climbing. I am resting now, both my body and my mind, in hopes that I can resume the reason I came here. I am thankful for the good moments that have occurred this year. I am sad for the events of the last week. I am hopeful that the adventure ahead will be one of collaboration, support and rebuilding the relationship of trust between everyone who has chosen to be here. I have seen reports of 35 westerns leaving the South side. That would be about 10% of the climbers who arrived at EBC earlier this month. It would be a stretch to connect their departures to the “fight” as many climbers get to Everest, see the Icefall and have immediate second thoughts. That said, it is likely that anyone looking for support to quit would have found it from the conflict up high. The Sherpa’s Story I had hoped to never highlight the conflict again, yes; hoping everyone can just move on. While I am not wanting to brush this incident away given the serous nature and impact on climbing in general, I do feel like the acts of a few do not warrant taking away the spotlight on the many. I hope this is the last time I highlight this entire incident. In my initial report, I tried to piece together what had happened representing both sides. I also reported and linked to Simone Moro’s account of the situation. So I felt it fair to post an email I received representing the Sherpa’s point of view from Garrett Madison who is the long time expedition leader for Alpine Ascents (AAI) who is there. His email started with the following introduction: I have attached a short piece I wrote today about the fight at camp 2. I fully stand behind this piece, and recognize that I will be taking a position that may be unpopular at this time. Follows is the email in its entirety: Fight at Camp 2 on Everest As this story has emerged in the media it has become clear that the Sherpas have not been given a voice. The press releases, the blogging, and reports from the European climbers have dominated the headlines. Meanwhile the Sherpa are quietly continuing to fix the rope and continue their work at nearly 8000 meters on Everest. These Sherpa help realize the dream of many western climbers and will continue to be honored and respected by the foreign climbers who climb with them on Everest. I have pieced together an objective version of events different from what is currently in the media headlines. These details are directly from what I heard on the radio on April 27th, my discussions with many people in base camp over the last 2 days including expedition leaders, western guides, and members who were at Camp 2 during this incident, and Sirdars (head Sherpa) who directly supervise the fixing team. On April 18th, 2013: All expedition leaders and Sherpa Sirdars were invited and attended a meeting in Everest base camp to discuss the rope fixing strategy for this season on Everest. At this meeting everyone had a chance to suggest the strategy and route to safely climb the mountain. The meeting concluded with the nomination of fixing Sherpas (the available) and the suitable dates to complete the work. It was also agreed at the meeting by all the expedition leaders that nobody would be climbing on the route on
Everest 2013: Everest Armistice
As I reported earlier today, an ugly alteration last Friday between professional climbers Simone Moro, try Ueli Steck, and EpicTV photographer Jon Griffins with the Sherpas on the Lhotse face and at Camp 2 was brought to a somewhat peaceful conclusion. A negotiator was brought into Everest Base Camp and the following agreement was signed by all parties. The text reads as follows: Today, on 2070 Bhaishak 16 (April 29, 2013) at Everest base camp at SPCC office, with the presence of the Chief of Nepal Army team leader, Major Sunilsingh Rathor and the following attended personnels agreed to do the following decisions regarding the arguments between the two groups on April 27 while fixing ropes between camp 2 & camp 3. 1. On April 27 2013, above Everest Base Camp, at Camp 2 and Camp 3 an agreement arose between foreign climbers and Nepali climbers and the situation was discussed today at this meeting. Both parties have realized their errors and apologized to each other in front of those present. Furthermore, both parties agreed to help each other in the future to make successful each others goals. It has also been decided that this issue will not be raised again. 2. All those present agreed and committed that such activities must never be repeated by anyone in mountaineering and in the tourism sector. If any party is dissatisfied with the actions of another party, they commit not to go into conflict or use violence against the other party. Instead they commit to report the actions to the government representatives or releventent government recognized association present at the base camps, to come to an amicable solution between the parties. Hopefully everyone can get back to climbing and put this behind them. It remains unclear if the Moro party will abandoned their climb. Personally I hope they stay, put up a new route and resume mountaineering as they are some of the climbers out there. Climb On!AlanMemories are Everything
Everest 2013: Fighting on Everest – Update 2
I am not a psychiatrist but do know that large goals seem to brings out the , illness and the worst in people. Everest is one of the champions in this area. For many years now, Everest has attracted detractors. They find every reason to criticize Everest climbers as unprofessional, amateurs, ill-prepared, etc. They go on to decry the environmental impact, the impact on the local people; anything to support their point. Some professional climbers join in the chorus making fun of the average Everest climber doing what they like to call the “tourist route”, and they often say worse. Their insensitivity when climbers die is sometimes crass, in poor taste and judgmental. Even Reinhold Messner could not contain his criticism of non-professional climbers recently when he said “up to 90 per cent of those passing through Everest base camp could be using chemical assistance to climb the world’s highest peak” Now we have a report of professional climbers fighting with Sherpas while the “amateurs” watched in disbelief. A History of Conflict This is not the first time people have lost their temper, or common sense, on Everest. Outside Magazine published a long article on this back in 2001 where they accused Henry Todd of attacking a reporter from the Discovery Channel. Todd was banned from Everest for a time somewhat based on that incident. In 2008, a climber took it upon himself to support Tibet with a highly offensive banner directed towards the Chinese. He posted the banner on his tent at Camp 2. He was escorted off the mountain by the Nepalese army as they were “guarding” Everest that year so the Chinese could take the Olympic torch to the summit without incident. Last year, it was reported that The Tibetan rope fixers on the North side caught and bound a Chinese climber who was there without a permit in order to remove him from the mountain. I have witnessed professional guides screaming at climbers to “get off my rope”. The Sherpa community also exhibits tempers. I have been yelled at descending the Lhotse Face for going too slow or using the wrong rope. They take the rope fixing responsibility extremely seriously and have asked Westerns not to participate many times. It is rare and apparently annoying to have Westerners tailing them to claim “first summit”. Many Sherpas feel Everest, Chomolungma, belongs to the Sherpas and it is their mountain and as such Westerners are guests. It is common for Sherpas to say they should own all the records. So when they feel like a Westerner is not showing respect to them or the mountain, it can be a trigger point. I wrote an article for Rock and Ice magazine called Everest Deserves Respect so it pains me to report what happened last Friday. It is appearing like there is a lot of blame to be passed around. Fighting on the Lhotse Face There were hints of something serious last Friday when progress on fixing the line to Camp 3 came to an abrupt halt. Blog posts became quiet and some hints were made about a conflict. On Sunday, professional climber Simone Moro posted a report on Montagna.tv of a fight that occurred last Friday. Moro, Ueli Steck and photographer Jon Griffith from EpicTV, were attempting a new route on the Southwest Face with Mora and Steck not using supplemental oxygen. They were not using Sherpas either. Moro and Steck are sponsored by The North Face and Mountain Hardwear respectively. Moro has become something of a celebrity on Everest by flying a helicopter for Fishtail air frequently from the lower villages to Base Camp and occasionally into the Western Cwm to pick up sick, injured or even dead climbers. He has summited Everest four times. In his report, Moro alleges that he, Steck and Griffith were simply climbing towards Camp 3 and passed the Sherpa team who were fixing rope on the Lhotse Face. Moro goes on to say an altercation took place which involved “touching”. They reacted and a fight ensued. Back at Camp 2, Moro states 100 Sherpas surrounded them, threw rocks and punches and threatened to kill them and their lives were saved only by an intervention of Western guides. This is the link to the report and EpicTV’s translation. It serves as the primary basis for the media reports we are seeing. The Himalayan Times gave this account of the incident: The two sides have their own versions of the incident. The injured tourists said they got attacked for no apparent reason, whereas the workers claimed that they retaliated after Italian citizen Moro threatened them identifying himself as an international tourist guide. Moro and Griffith have sustained minor injuries, while Steck has received a deep cut on his face. Preparations are on to airlift Steck to Kathmandu from Lukla. The other two were taken to the base camp for ment last evening. Reaction For what it is worth, few of the guides or climbers who are posting regularly have much to say about this publicly. Most are making oblique references to “a few unforeseen delays”. Kind of a ‘what happens on Everest, stays on Everest’ approach. But with Moro publishing his report, the story is out. Adrian Ballinger, Alpenglow, did make a post on his blog: To me, the bottom line is that multiple mistakes were made by both sides. On Everest, the professional climbers (even when attempting new routes) also benefit from fixed ropes, trails broken, and rescue caches placed, primarily by the Sherpa. The professional climbers involved could have and should have chosen somewhere else to acclimatize on this day, instead of solo climbing above the rope fixing team. Everyone knew about the rope fixing effort, and other teams that would have liked to be climbing where the incident occurred respected the rope fixing effort and stayed off the Lhotse Face. Even if no rock or ice actually was knocked off by the professional climbers, and even if no rope-fixing sherpa was injured,
Everest 2013: Weekend Update April 28 – Updated
The last week of April revealed a few surprises on Everest with uncertain weather and difficulty in establishing a route up the Lhotse Face. The week started with heavy snow in the Western Cwm including a meter, three feet, near Camp 1. This stopped most teams from moving up or down but proved to be a temporary halt as strong Sherpas and ambitious climbers broke trail on Tuesday thus allowing movement to resume. Mid week saw a steady flow of climbers returning from Camps 1 and 2 to Everest Base Camp on the South. An equal number seemed to climb up to the same Camps thus creating a lot of traffic in the Khumbu Icefall. The Icefall is generally regarded as ‘easier’ this year with few long ladders and a straight forward route. RMI did report one collapse but it did not interfere with progress. Sunday brought a few moments for the teams. David Tait with Himex writes up in a dramatic fashion being hit by ice in the Icefall. He has a heavily brused calf but is OK overall and is back at Base Camp. The team leaders on the South gathered and agreed on a plan to fix the route above Camp 2. Over 15 Sherpas took on the task from nine different teams. The Sherpas made excellent progress to fix two lines, and up and a down rope, to the lower of the two Camp 3’s mid way up the Lhotse Face before running into a deep crevasse. It was reported that one Sherpa was hit by falling ice but his injury was not reported as serious. They took today, Sunday, off to rest. On the Tibet side of Everest, the majority of teams were at Advanced Base Camp and made a valiant effort to touch the North Col. But only a few strong Sherpas made that objective as strong winds and harsh cold continually beat most everyone back. Most everyone is back at the Chinese Base Camp. The Tibetans from the Lhasa Climbing School made good progress in setting the fixed line towards the summit and reached 8300 meters somewhere around Camp 3, well above the North Col and a testament of their strength. Update: Report issued by Moro of a fight Friday between Ueli Steck, Simone Moro and the Sherpa fixing rope on the Lhotse Face. Translation . It appears both sides became upset as they felt there was interference with one another during the rope fixing work. While it is serious if in fact blows were exchanged, I would not get too upset by this as it is easy for egos and tempers to get out of control in these compressed environments. A Sherpa was reported to have been hurt by “falling ice” on Friday but it is not clear this was related to this incident. However, it is now pretty clear that the Sherpas taking a “rest day” day is related to the incident. Hopefully everyone has calmed down and can get back to climbing. The Big Picture May 1st marks the halfway point for a spring Everest expedition. The Icefall is not longer maintained with ladders after June 1 due to warming temperatures and melting ice. Climbers may go a bit longer on the North until the monsoons begin stopping all activity. By this time in most seasons, many teams will have competed their rotations to at least Camp 2 and many already spent the preferred night at Camp 3 on the South. On the North, the same progress but having touched or slept at the North Col or higher. The weather drives the activity and looks good for the next few days at least. For 2013, most teams are close to their schedule. Look for climbers to continue their rotations this week with many spending the night at Camp 3 on the Lhotse Face and the North Col. The Oxygen Debate Probably the most often asked question of anyone who climbed Everest is “Did you summit?” A close second is “Did you use Oxygen.” To keep this discussion in context, supplemental oxygen has been used on Everest since the early expeditions in the 1920s, was used by Sir Edmond Hillary and Tenzing Norgay on the first summit and is used by well over 98% of climbers today. For many years, it was unclear if humans could survive above 8000m without some type of breathing assistance. Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler quieted that discussion with their summit on May 8, 1978 sans Os. For 2013, there are several climbers attempting the summit without extra Os, for example Carlos Pauner, Ivan Vallejo, and professional climbers Ueli Steck, Simone Moro, Denis Urubko, and Alexey Bolotov. But almost every climber on a commercial expedition is using oxygen. Studies have shown it makes about a 1,000 meter difference in how the body feels. In other words at 29,000 feet, the body feels like it is at 26,000; still extreme altitude by any definition for the human body. Oxygen allows climbers to climb faster but the primary benefit is it keeps the body warm, especially fingers and toes thus reducing the risk of frostbite. The largest risk is that if a climber runs out or has a mechanical failure of the regulator or mask on the summit push, their body is not acclimatize to those altitudes and could easily suffer from cerebral or pulmonary edemas very quickly. Performance enhancing drugs have recently been in the news mostly around professional cycling. Some people consider the use of supplemental oxygen to be in this category. In a perfect world, climbing without any aid would be the most pure style. But this is not realistic for most climbers except the physically gifted who often are professional climbers. Of the roughly 4,000 summits around 142 people have made it without supplemental oxygen, according to sources including research. That consist of 35 Sherpas and 117 Western climbers. Of those, no Sherpa died but there were 10 deaths of the Westerners. The
Everest 2013: Preparing for Camp 3, Sherpa Injured, OK
Multiple teams left Base Camp Friday and Saturday preparing to spend that all important night at Camp 3, case 23, 500′ half way up the Lhotse Face. Other teams are just on their second rotation and will spend up to five nights above Base Camp. But first for those looking to go to Camp 3 the route needs to be set by the Sherpas and this is proving to be more difficult than anticipated. Lhotse Face Earlier reports had the route to be set to the right of center line towards Nuptse. This was to avoid the rockfall that created havoc last year. But once the Sherpas began climbing in that direction, they ran into trouble. Ang Jangbu of IMG reported late Friday night of the plan for today, Saturday, Nepal time: … the fixing crew explored the original 1953 route on Lhotse Face, which is further to the climbers’ right and meanders through the ramps and seracs on the lower part of the face (see pictures on the IMG site of the route used in 2012). However, they ran into a lot of small crevasses on the lower part and a large crevasse near lower Camp 3 that are problematic. So, the fixing crew decided that it would be better to revert to the direct route, which climbs straight to Camp 3, to the left of the seracs. They returned to Camp 2 and will head back up tomorrow to get the direct route fixed to Camp 3. Phunuru walked around the different camps at Camp 2 this evening and we have commitments from these teams for the fixing tomorrow: Himex: 4 Sherpas; Astrek: 2 Sherpas; AAI: 2 Sherpas; AC: 2 Sherpas; JG: 2 Sherpas; Miura: 2 Sherpas; IMG: 4 Sherpas for a total of 16 Sherpas. They are planning to leave Camp 2 at 6:30 AM, split into 2 teams, and try to fix two lines all the way to Camp 3. We will see how it goes and keep you posted. All our Sherpas carried to Camp 2 today and are taking a rest day tomorrow. Then, half of the team will move to Camp 2 the day after to stay, and the second half will carry more supplies to Camp 2. However, Garrett Madison, AAI, noted an incident on the Lhotse Face Saturday that has stopped the work this weekend. There are no further updates at this point on the extent of the Sherpas’ injury: The route fixing project had a setback today when one of the fixing sherpa was struck by ice, possibly generated by a climber above, we believe he is OK. The fixing team of sherpas will take a rest day tomorrow and resume fixing work the following day weather pending. The Lhotse Face is one of many dangerous sections on the South Col route. It is steep, usually hard blue ice that is difficult to climb even with sharp crampons. It takes tremendous concentration with an altitude over 21,000 feet. Climbers have been known to loose their “” and slide down the Face to their death. Others have stopped their climb half way to Camp 3 with their bodies just giving out. Sherpas seem to suffer the most, with their frequent carries, being hit by falling rock, ice and avalanches. 2012 was a difficult year but with the recent snows, it was hoped that 2013 would be a bit safer. Once again, time will tell. Windy North The winds on the North side continue to be an issue for the teams. Phil Crampton, Altitude Junkies, posted this for Saturday: The plan this morning was to take a 5.30 am breakfast and be on our way to the Col at 6 am. Unfortunately we received some snow last night at advanced base camp and we know there is more at the Col and on the route. With the constant winds present all evening we collectively decided this morning that the chance of a wind slab on the route was too great and we held everyone, both Sherpas and team members back at ABC. People often ask which side of Everest is easier, North or South. Well it depends on your experience, comfort with exposure on the steep rocky ridge and tolerance for wind. The North, year after year, hits climbers almost continuously with strong winds. For some it can wear on them mentally, for others, it is no big deal. By the way one of our elder climbers (age 70), Dawes Eddy with Asian Trekking is reported at ABC. Climbing Experience The current Himex newsletter makes an interesting point about the experience on their team this year: We have a strong group and most of our members have climbed one, two or even more 8,000m peaks either with us or another expedition. This is the way, Himalayan Experience wants to head more and more in the future – making sure that Everest aspirants will have been on at least one expedition to an 8,000m peak before they head to the highest mountain on earth. “It would be great if they had reached an 8,000m summit, however, what is more important is that future members have been on a big expedition before they attempt Everest,” Russell explained. “Of course, they need the climbing skills and altitude knowledge but being on an 8,000m expedition also takes a lot of mental preparedness, which can only be achieved if you have been on such an expedition before.” Starting in the early 1990’s as Everest become more commercialized with guided climbs on the normal routes, climbers with a wide range of experience became the norm. The vast majority had climbs on Aconcagua, nearly 7000 meters and/or Denali which offered snow skills as their evidence of experience. Most do well with this but some do not. Personally, I know having a climb on 8000m Cho Oyu prior to my first Everest climb was a good thing but did not guarantee a summit. Climb On!AlanMemories are Everything
Everest 2013: A Tale of Two Mountains
With the weather holding on Friday, click teams made progress on the South with climbs to Camp 2. They are positioning themselves while waiting for the fixed lines to be set to Camp 3. Camp 3, at 23,500’/7200m is half way up the Lhotse Face and serves as the last camp most climbers use in their acclimatization rotations. They normally sleep there for one night without using supplemental oxygen. As I was once told, it is your ticket to try for the summit. Issues on the Lhotse Face The ten Sherpas fixing the line on the Lhotse Face met with some unexpected issues. The Sherpas are from multiple teams including Adventure Consultants, Alpine Ascents, Astrek, Himex, IMG, Jagged Globe, Miura, Seven Summit, and perennial non-Sherpa :), Damian Benegas. Garrett Madison, Alpine Ascents, gave us this this note today: Currently our route fixing team is working on putting in the fixed ropes from the base of the Lhotse Face up to Camp 3. However, today they encountered a set back when they encountered a long horizontal crevasse just below the lower Camp 3. Hopefully tomorrow they will find a way around it. If not, they will most likely have to use the direct route from the base of the Lhotse Face up to Camp 3, which last year was exposed to significant rock fall, but this year should be better protected given the snow above in place to catch any falling rocks from Lhotse. Felipe along with Damian Benegas noted on the Patagonia Brothers Facebook account that 300 meters of rope up was fixed before hitting the obstacle The Cost of Fixed Lines Billi Bierling with Himex, posted an update on behalf of the Himex team. In it she discusses an agreement amongst the commercial guide companies on how much to pay the Sherpas to carry the fixed ropes and anchors from Base Camp to the High Camps plus the charge for each climber to use the fixed rope. These costs are not included in the permit fees and are different from the fees included in the permit for the Icefall Doctors who only set the line to Camp 2. It remains to been seen how the cost flows to each individual climber: On 18th April, IMG hosted the first official rope fixing meeting and for the first time ever salaries for the various legs were established. For example, a Sherpa carrying a load from base camp to C2 receives US$ 30; from C2 to C3 they get 40 US$ and so on – if they are carrying from C4 to the summit, they will earn US$ 400 for one load. Also new this year is that the Nepal Ministry or Tourism has finally recognised the Expedition Operators Association (EOA) as an official body. This has been a long-term initiative from Russell on behalf of the foreign operators working in Nepal to ensure that all members financially contribute to the rope fixing. The price per climber for Everest has been set at US$ 230; for Lhotse it is US$ 150. Phil Crampton, Altitude Junkies, commented on the rope fixing on the North: The good news is that we witnessed the Tibetan Guides fixing ropes to the high camp at 8,300-meters yesterday. Our Sherpas have over 100 bottles of oxygen already at the North Col so after a few days rest they will start to ferry the necessary oxygen to camp two and three respectively. We are very pleased to state the fact that all of our Sherpas use oxygen for load carrying above 7,000-meters and we think we are one of the few companies that give their Sherpa staff members the same amount of oxygen as the western team members. In recent years, the fee on the North has increased and is now $400 per climbed charged by the Tibetans from the Lhasa Climbing School. They set the lines from near ABC to the summit. (this is an update from the original post) Two Sides of the Same Mountain Scott Woolums, Mountain Trip, observed the conditions in the Western Cwm; It is crazy hot here in Camp 1 today! We went for a hike up towards camp 2 today. Conditions are quite interesting, as we have lots of powder avalanche activity off Nuptse and the west ridge. Tomorrow, we hope to move up to Camp 2 for a few days, but we’ll see how things go… Phil Crampton, Altitude Junkies, commented on a tough day on the North. They made a carry and rotation climb towards the North col: Yesterday, our team members made their first foray up the North Col. The weather started out fine but halfway up the Col the winds picked up and near the top of the Col, the winds were unmanageable. Most of the team members made the wise decision to descend just 100-meters below the Col to avoid any cold injuries. The Sherpas and I carried onto the Col and we rewarded with being blown off our feet after depositing our loads at our campsite. All is well with all the team members and Sherpas. Edita Nichols’ home team made this post about her effort to reach the North Col: Edita called this morning right after getting back from their climb up to the North Cole. It was very hard to make her out as the wind was blowing hard and or the connection was not good. I did understand her say it was a tough go and they had to turn back as the wind was “brutal” and it was very cold. Her words were it was “dangerous”. The Western Cwm Looking at a map, the Western Cwm appears to be a nice break from the relentless altitude gain that comes with climbing the Icefall or Lhotse Face, much less the Southeast Ridge above the Balcony. Thus it is a bit of a surprise when climbers actually begin the walk from Camp 1 to Camp 2. Sitting crossed legged in your tent at Camp