K2 and Everest Winter Teams on the Move
The Polish K2 team is now in Pakistan and the Everest team in the Khumbu. It will be weeks before they begin actually climbing either peak. See this post for full background on both expeditions and the history of winter attempts on the highest two mountains on Earth. Winter K2 I received this update today from the Polish team: News from Pakistan: The expedition crew arrived in Skardu today by morning, all rested and in excellent moods. Repacking and preparing jeeps and tomorrow they will drive to Askole, from where the caravan will go to K2 Base Camp. Everything according to plan Most teams try to fly from Islamabad to Skardu but some have to drive the Karakoram Highway – a 48-hour grueling journey with sharp turns and bumps every other minute. The drive to Askole is on one of the roughest roads around. Pure dirt, blocked by landslides along the way, the teams will cross creaky wooden bridges and across rushing streams. Once to Askole, they begin the 80-mile hike to K2 Base Camp! This is a video I made from my own journey to Askole in 2014. Drive from Skardu Drive to Askole in 2014 byAlan Arnette Winter Everest Alex Txikon and Muhammad Ali Sadpara are already in the Khumbu. They had reported they will acclimatize on Pumori Peak which is located immediately next to Everest Base Camp. This 7,161 m (23,494 ft) mountain is extremely avalanche prone and rarely climbed these days. As you can see from his GPS tracker, and he posted on Twitter, they were at Pheriche at 4371 meters. Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything
K2 and Everest Winter Climbs are on!
After months of speculation, Alex Txikon will return to attempt a winter, no supplemental oxygen summit of Everest. And the Polish K2 team will leave Poland on 29th December for their winter K2 attempt. UPDATE: The K2 team has left Poland. Winter Dates To claim a true winter ascent of a northern hemisphere peak, the summit must be reached during the calendar winter of the northern hemisphere. For 2017/18 this begins with the winter solstice on December 21, 2017 at 11:28 am EST and ends with the spring equinox on March 20, 2018 at 12:15 pm EDT. Also to be fully certified as a winter ascent, not only the summit has to be reached within the winter calendar, but the start of the expedition cannot be before winter solstice either. Practically this means that the Base Camp must be reached after the winter solstice. Winter K2 I spoke with the team’s project Manager today and confirmed the K2 team will leave Poland on 29th December for Pakistan. It will take a few days to get back on the road to Askole where they will begin the 7 day trek to K2 Base Camp. They should arrive at Base Camp around 15th January, maybe a bit earlier. I also confirmed they will be climbing without supplement oxygen and plan on taking the Česen route. As you can see from this photo, the Česen and Abruzzi routes merge at Camp 3. The entire expedition is being lead by 67 year-old Krzysztof Wielicki who lead the last Polish K2 attempt in 2003. Wielicki has summited all of the 8000ers without supplemental oxygen. The Polish Ministry of Sport and Tourism has funded the expedition to the tune of $275,000. Jasmine Tours in Pakistan is the ground agent for the team and will provide 6 high altitude climbers from Pakistan for the expedition support. The team is composed of Adam Bielecki, Marek Chmielarski, Rafał Fronia, Janusz Gołąb, Marcin Kaczkan, Artur Małek, Piotr Tomala, Jarosław Botor and Dariusz Załuski, Denis Urubko and Wielicki. In my view, its all about the weather. They certainly have the skills and raw power to summit -that’s no question. But to get a few days with winds under 40 mph – that’s the key, so we will see! For more details on K2, winter attempts and this year’s effort, see this post. K2 Winter Attempts There have been few winter attempts due to the difficult and financing involved. 1980 Reconnaissance: Pol Andrzej Zawada and Canadian-resident Polish national Jaques Olek 1987/88 Attempt: 13 Poles, 7 Canadians and 4 Brits / made to Camp 3 2002/03 Attempt: 14 climbers from Poland, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Georgia / made Camp 4 2011/12 Attempt: 9 climbers from Russia / made Camp 2 2014/15 Near Attempt: Denis Urubko and team lost permit Winter Everest Alex Txikon attempted Everest last year but was stopped by deep snow and harsh weather on his second attempt. As you can see from his GPS tracker, he reached 7,950 meters before turning back last year. Now he is returning for another attempt. He made the announcement on Twitter pus on various other media outlets. This is video of his announcement in Spanish. Alex may be one of the few climbers on the planet qualified to attempt climbing Everest in the winter without supplemental oxygen. In 2016/17 he and teammates, Simone Moro and Pakistani Muhammad Ali Sadpara knocked off Nanga Parbat . The 36 year-old Basque climbers will be joined by his Nanga partner, Muhammad Ali Sadpara on this year’s Everest attempt. They are scheduled to arrive at Everest Base Camp the first few days of January 2018. Last year, Txikon carried a significant part of the load to establish high camps and to put the route in the Khumbu Icefall. He was supported then by Seven Summits Treks. This year he is saying he will back off the many days of work and do a better job of pacing himself. Txikon posted this ghostly image of himself last year saying he lost 12kg/26 pounds on his already lean frame. 2016/17 Attempt The team arrived in Kathmandu on Christmas day, 25th December 2016 with plenty of time to summit before 20th March, 2017 – the end of winter. They spent weeks setting the route thru the Khumbu Icefall and establishing Camp 1 and Camp 2 before leaving Base Camp aiming for a 14 February summit. Their first summit attempt didn’t go well. Txikon, and Seven Summits Sherpas: Norbu, Chhepal left base camp on 10 February for the summit push arriving at Camp 2 in about 8 hours. The next day 3 more Sherpas, Nuri, Furba and Pemba joined them. They reported extremely cold still air temps in the -20F to -30F range, without windchill. They left Camp 2 to establish High Camp at the South Col and began to experience even worse weather -45C/-49F air temp with 60 kph/37 mph winds. This puts the wind chill at -70C/-95F, perhaps a bit lower at this extreme altitude but still deadly cold. Skin would instantly freeze in those conditions and even with the world’s best down suits the climber would soon become chilled beyond recovery. Given they were climbing without supplemental oxygen, the risks were dramatically increased. On the push from Camp 2 directly to the South Col, there were fighting the wind on each step. At the South Col, the high winds made it impossible to set up a tent. They arrived without sleeping bags assuming a short stay in the tent before pushing for the summit. The climbers were becoming dangerously cold. As they struggled to establish camp, the wind broke a pole sending Txikon searching in tents from last spring’s expeditions for a spare. He finds not one, but two dead bodies in separate tents. He didn’t identify them. After only half an hour, with harsh winds making establishing Camp 4 impossible, they all retreated to Camp 3 for a short, cold night then down to Base Camp. But while on the Lhotse Face, an avalanche of snow and mostly falling rock, hits the team sending Txikon sliding hundreds of feet and injuring Sherpa Chhepal. Txikon went
Young Sherpa Brought to U.S. Before Amputation
One of the tragic stories from Everest 2017 was of Dawa Sange Sherpa who had all of his fingers severely frostbitten while working with a member who reportedly refused to turn back in bad weather. Thanks to the generosity of the climbing community, Sange is now in Vail, Colorado receiving treatment from some of the world’s best doctors but he needs our help. Good Samaritan David Snow was trekking to Everest Base Camp with his group from Utah. Sange was guiding them on the trek and on to attempt Lobuche Peak. David found the young Sherpa eager to help his members, happy and healthy. They were impressed and optimistic for his future as a mountain guide, following in the footsteps of his father and uncle who guided on Everest. This was Sange’s first year as a full guide. After the Utah team’s trip was finished, Sange joined another group on Everest. That is where tragedy struck. Upon learning of Sange’s story, David established a fundraiser to offset unexpected and uncovered expenses. In David’s words: Sange has a very tough road ahead. Finding employment and companionship will be extremely difficult or even impossible in Nepal. Sange will be receiving reconstructive treatment with Dr. Randall Viola through the Kees Brenninkmeyer Foundation. Dr. Randall Viola is considered a top surgeon in the field and he is currently the Head Team Physician for Men’s US Alpine Ski Team. The Kees Brenninkmeyer Foundation, with the Core Mission to financially assist alpine guides, patrollers, or instructors who require surgery in order to continue their careers, has agreed provide financial help for all of Sange’s surgeries and rehabilitations. This will be a long and hard process and we ask for your support in helping us help a young man who gave so much to others. Sange would not abandon his member–we won’t abandon Sange. Summit Fever A little background on how Sange got in this spot. Dawa Sange Sherpa was guiding Pakistani Col Abdul Jabbar Bhatti on the Nepal side of Everest on 21st May 2017. Both were feeling good when Sange swapped out Bhatti’s oxygen bottles at the Balcony – normal procedure. Sange had chosen not use supplemental oxygen on the ascent, saving it for the descent – a mistake on his part. As they made their way towards the summit from the South Summit, the weather turned for the worse. It was very bad. Strong winds and snow froze their masks, goggles and oxygen supply. They were in trouble. Young Sange repeatedly asked his member to to turn back but the Colonel refused citing how much he had paid, according to Sange. Senior guides monitoring their situation by walkie-talkie told Sange to turn back, even if it’s just himself, when they learned the member repeatedly refused, but again, Sange decided to stay with his member. They continued climbing and eventually reached the summit at 3 pm, after 18 hours of slow climbing from Camp 4 at the South Col. The 21 year-old Sange posted later on his Facebook page: Suddenly the weather started to turn bad and soon worse . Unfortunately my oxygen mask and goggles were frozen completely. The wind was too cold and strong, blowing all the new snow in the air that I could hardly see through my goggles. I realized that it’s more important to return back than heading up for summit of Mt.Everest as I was aware of the risk included. So, I requested my member to return back immediately for our safety but my member he refused my request because the Everest summit was very near and said he had paid a lot of royalty to climb Everest. So, he don’t want to return back without successful summit of Mt. Everest Now both Sange and the Colonel were in desperate trouble. They had been climbing for over 18 hours. Sange gave his member another new oxygen bottle and they left after staying on the summit for only 5 minutes. As they descended, both climbers began to lose the will to live. Again, Sange tells the story: My member was was walking very slowly and I was also doing good climbing down without use of oxygen. It became dark and we had to stop after a long descend. When I looked for my member he was resting on the ridge just few meters away from me. I called him a lot but he didn’t respond me at all. By now he was unconscious and too weak to walk and speak so do I. I inhaled my oxygen and I was too tired and unconscious that I didn’t realized when I went into sleep. Luckily I was awaken by the noise of other climbers, otherwise the climbers walking nearby would have considered me dead and left there. When I opened my eyes, I found myself lying unconscious. If I look around, it was just bright white ice and snow. It was just burning my eyes.There were many climbers going to the summit. I was feeling very hungry and thirsty, my water bottle was frozen and no matter how hard I tried I was not able to move my hand and body at all, there was no sense in my both hand. Soon I realized my hand were completely frost bitten, I was very hopeless and tired that I could have easily closed my eyes and become a permanent member of the mountain. It would have been very peaceful than suffering. About to die that day in the snow just below the summit of Mt. Everest, Sange relaxed and prepared to let go. But then Ang Tshering Lama, Nima Galzen Sherpa, Jangbu Ang Mingma Chhiri Sherpa and Pema Chirring Sherpa all with Sherpa Khangri Outdoor came upon the two climbers for the second time. The pair had been seen by other Sherpas who had advised them to descend but obviously they had not. Now they were found in tragic conditions. Led by Ang Tshering Lama who is a certified Wilderness First Responder and has volunteered as a search and rescue climbing ranger on Rainier and Denali
Everest 2017: Loose Ends
Now that the last summits of Everest 2017 are about a month old, there are a few storylines that continue to get press. In the grand scheme, nothing really changes with any of this “news”. Big Summit Numbers from Nepal Nepal Tourism reported for spring 2017 there were 445 summits from the south (Nepal) side consisting of 190 foreigners, 32 fee-paying Nepalis, 233 Sherpas. They issued 375 foreign permits thus a 50% foreigner success rate, much lower than recent history in the 70+% range – this was perhaps due to flu and an elongated summit window of a few days each that discouraged people, who left early. No solid numbers from Tibet side but in the 160-200 total range. Totalling both sides, 2017 was a big year with between 615-655 summits on both sides. But it was probably not a record for total Everest summits. The previous big years were 2016 when there were 641 climbers who summited from both sides, 658 in 2013 and 2007 saw 633 summits. The Himalayan Database will do their through research and update the database in a few months and for me they become the final word on who summited from both sides. The Himalayan Times posted slightly different numbers they received from the Ministry of Tourism. Every foreign guide service must use a local agency to obtain their climbing permits. Those agencies take great pride in supporting mountaineering thus often are listed as the guide with no mention of the foreign entity. For example IMG use Beyul as their agency. This is a list of agencies and their respective results: Hillary Step One event fed the media throughout the season and still does as climbers are returning home. Of course the question is if the Step was altered by the 2015 earthquake. The Nepal government says no. Sherpas say no. Guides say yes. The crux of the disagreement is whether snow has covered the Step in such a way that the route went to the climber’s right on a snow slope instead of directly up the offwidth crack between the rock formation. source American commercial guides weighed in and 15 time Everest summiter Dave Hahn, served as judge and declared the Step had in fact changed due to several of the large boulders missing. source No doubt these headlines will bring readers to more websites but nothing really changes. Both sides will declare victory and no one will really know until the snow is identical to pre-2015 conditions. Until then, take a look at all the images and judge for yourself. Jamie McGuinness posted one of his photos from 2008 next to Tim’s. It you really want to dig deep, read Tim Mosedale’s Facebook page where he defends his original proclamation that “The Hillary Step is no more”. Ueli Steck All deaths on Everest are deeply saddening to the friends, families and teammates but the death of Ueli Steck shook the entire climbing community. Now the Sherpa who found his body has done a western style interview with the click bait headline of “What really happened on the day that Ueli Steck fell from Nuptse?” It is a good interview but again, nothing really changes. Perhaps the most important outcome is the observation by Vinayak Jaya Malla who first found the body that there was no wind that day and he had sighted Steck “on a ridge that is 7100-7200m” suggesting he fell 800-900m. Also Malla made this comparison on what might have happened: If you have been to the Himalayas, you will often see Bharal, blue sheep, very high on the mountains. They are very agile and fast so as to protect themselves from snow leopards. But sometimes, blue sheep fall off from cliffs. Each time they do, there is a different reason. Sometimes they fall due to rock fall, other times, they have perhaps run too fast, etc. Perhaps we must think of Ueli as such – as a Bharal, as one of our blue sheep of the Himalayas who one day fell for an unexpected reason but was otherwise a master. Climbers Banned Both climbers who broke Nepal and China mountaineering rules were banned for 10 years for climbing in Nepal but not fined the $22,000 penalty or served jail time. One was for an illegal traverse and the other for not having a climbing permit. Height of Everest The actual height of Everest remains a top interest for at least two countries: India and Nepal. India announced earlier this year they would remeasure the height during the spring season. Apparently it didn’t happen. Now Nepal announced it will do the remeasurement taking over two years and costing $1.35M. source Nepal has made this announcement before, actually as far back as 2011. source But as normal with many Nepal announcements about Everest, there was no follow-thru. The 2015 earthquake is the driving force behind the remeasurement. Reports immediately after the quake suggested Everest had dropped by 2 inches, about 5 cm but it was an estimate based on satellite data. One would think that measuring the world’s highest peak would be somewhat easy given satellites, GPS and slide rules, but not so fast – even the naming has a convoluted history! In 1841 the Great Trigonometric Survey led by Welsh surveyor Sir George Everest identified the location of the mountain. Fifteen years later using trigonometry and measurements from 12 different survey stations around the mountain, Indian Radhanath Sikdar, a member of the survey team, finished the calculations and determined they had found the world’s highest mountain. They called it ‘Peak XV’ and noted it was 29,002 feet. In 1865 it was re-named Mt. Everest, against Sir Everest’s wishes, even though for centuries the Tibetans had called it Chomolungma. The Nepalese finally gave it their own name in the mid 20 century as Sagarmatha. In 1955, the height was adjusted to 29,028′. On May 5, 1999 a National Geographic Society Expedition put a GPS receiver on the summit. Using a second Trimble GPS receiver at the 26,000′ on the South Col they
Climber Selfishness Causes China to Close Autumn Climbs
Without thinking of anyone else but himself, Polish climber Janusz Adam Adamski, 49, made an illegal traverse from China to Nepal this Everest 2017 season. Now, not only will he will be punished by Nepal and China, but his action have costs others their opportunity to climb in Tibet this autumn. Follow No Rules Adamski made an illegal traverse from China to Nepal, knowing he needed a permit. He said that he believes there is no border on mountains and thus ignored the rules apparently feeling they didn’t apply to him. Amazingly his total disregard for rules was flaunted in this quote to the Himalayan Times: “I am ready to face any legal challenge in Nepal to safeguard the greatest achievement of my life, I’ll 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,” Adamski faces a $22,000 fine and 10 year ban from climbing in Nepal. It’s not clear what China will do. A Bigger Cost The China Tibet Mountaineering Association sent out notices today to those teams hoping to climb Cho Oyu this autumn. Simply put, due to Adamski’s actions, they are closing all of Tibet to climbing this autumn. Previously they said they were limiting permits to only 50 for Cho Oyu only. Perhaps this is a convenient excuse for China to do what it really wanted to anyway – close all of Tibet to foreigners due to a “meeting” being held in the region, but to name Adamski directly is quite strong. I think it is safe to say, someone in Beijing is not happy. With this, if you are looking to climb an 8000er in Tibet: Cho Oyu, Shishapangma or Everest, it will have to wait for 2018. Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything
Everest 2017: Season Summary – A Mountain with Two Sides
This is one of the more difficult seasons I have covered to sum up in one word so let me use several: wind, tragedy, misinformation, spin and summits. Overall it was a good year, a normal year with many summits on both sides plus the average death toll. I think we saw how the pressure to be first with news can backfire with incorrect stories but we also saw the power of dreams. Similar to 2016, there were no natural disasters or issues with people getting along, other than a few individuals acting very irresponsibly and selfishly. While weather forecasting proved to be challenging across the entire two month season, it was not an inhibitor to teams reaching the summit. Finally the fear of overcrowding, dangers of the Khumbu Icefall or China closing Everest forever, proved unfounded. Bottom line – it was good year on Everest and for both Nepal and China, and for hundreds who quenched a long thirst to stand on the summit of Mt. Everest. UPDATE: Nepal Tourism announced on 9 June 2017 that the Nepal side had 455 summits: 190 foreigners, 32 fee-paying Nepalis, 233 Sherpas and 375 climbing permits were issued to foreigners. the summit rate for foreigners was 50%. However – a Toxic Mix Awaits As I am in Kathmandu for a speaking engagement on behalf of Nepal tourism, I must begin this summary with my concern that the climbing on Everest continues to be threatened by inexperienced climbers and unqualified guides – on both sides. In speaking with multiple climbers, Sherpas and guides they all make the same points: there are too many people on Everest who lack the basic mountaineering skills to survive a major weather event or their own misstep when it will undoubtedly occur. There are too many “Sherpa Guides” who simply don’t have the experience or skills to be of aid to those inexperienced climbers when the inevitable occurs. This toxic mix of inexperienced climbers with unqualified guides will result in a tragic event that will make 1996, 2006, 2014 and 2015 look minor. And the young climbers, dreaming of leveraging an Everest summit into fame and fortune will never come home. Perhaps I am whispering in the wind, but I will continue to raise these issues, along with my suggestions, to anyone in authority who will listen. More on this in future posts. Banner Year? As we entered 2017, it was clear that the south side would see record permits issued by the Nepal government. Permits that were extended after the truncated 2014 and 2015 season were expiring. A very successful 2016 season convinced many that Everest was back in business and an aggressive campaign by new companies courting the Indian and Chinese markets were seeing success. It stood to reason that some spillover might occur onto the north side for climbers fearing the crowds and those believing the constant doom and gloom spouted by the PR machines of a few that it was immoral to climb on the south side. So as late March neared, many held their breath not sure what this Spring would bring. And now that we are into early June, the answer is simple, and complex – Everest 2017 was a fairly normal season. No villains, victims or conspiracy plots. Not a bad or good year, just a bunch of people climbing a mountain. Sit back, grab a beverage and let’s review what happened on Everest in the spring of 2017. Permit Fever In late March, Kathmandu filled up with aspiring climbers. The Nepal government issued 371 permits for Everest. 70 used their prior permits, saving $11,000 on the cost of this year’s climb. Some spent all of that at the Kathmandu bars before they left for Lukla. These days you can count on at least one Sherpa for every foreigner so that meant the south side was looking at least 750 humans going up and down, probably closer to 800. Over on the Tibet side, figures are always hard to get. I was chastised by one western guide for using the wrong numbers (he read my post incorrectly) so he gave me the ‘right’ figures which I used only to come back and tell me I posted the wrong numbers (his numbers) and gave me newer ones. Sigh, see I told you getting accurate numbers from the north is as easy as understanding Presidential Tweets … covfefe Anyway, I digress. The north seemed to have about 136 foreigners and 170 support staff. Not nearly as many as I had thought. It would be interesting to understand why the north side never regained the strong momentum it had back in 2006 and 2007. I have my theories and a lot has to do with if you are spending tens of thousands of dollars, you want some kind of assurance you will get to climb. The big growth in climbers on the Tibet side was stopped cold when the Chinese effectively closed their side to take the Olympic torch to the summit in 2008. It has never reached the pre-2008 figures even with fights, serac releases and earthquakes on the south. Perhaps with the Mountaineering Center under development in Tingre and helicopter rescue to be offered in 2018 for Everest north for the first time, the north will again see big numbers. 100 permits were issued for Lhotse, a stone’s throw from Everest. A few were looking to bag both peaks while above 8000 meters making Lhotse significantly easier – if you had any strength left from summiting Everest! When you add all this up, there was over 1,000 people on and around Everest in 2017 – and that was a record. UPDATE: but the summits from Nepal was the second highest, not a record. Trek and Drive The usual trek and travel to base camp on both sides went smoothly. The Chinese played their usual games with permits delaying a few teams but those who climb regularly in Tibet know the drill well by now. The dirt trails were filled with Zos, yaks, school kids, porters, locals – oh and climbers and trekkers
Everest 2017: Team Locations and Headlines
Alan Arnette’s Everest 2017 coverage and annual coverage is based on my own Everest and K2 summits and climb experiences, research, sources, and public information. I try to provide insight and interpretation of the activities ranging from routes to weather to the challenge of climbing Everest. I am home in Colorado this season after a climbing accident in February that stopped me from a planned Dhaulagiri climb this spring. A sincere and deep thank you to everyone who joins the Alzheimer’s Prevention Registry or makes a donation to one of the Alzheimer’s nonprofits. HEADLINE: Normal Season, Windy, 7 Deaths, 600++ Summits See all the Everest 2017 posts here Last News: Monday, 31 May 2017 (Everest time: GMT+5:45) Nepal Tourism says 455 summits: 190 foreigners, 32 fee-paying Nepalis, 233 Sherpas Monsoon hits Kathmandu 10 June season is over on both sides Season headlines Nobukazu Kuriki has ended his West Ridge, Hornbein attempt closing out the south side climbers Cargo flight crashes at Lukla, pilots killed source Kami Rita Sherpa summited for the 21st time tying him with Apa and Purba Tashi Sherpa for most summits Kilian Jornet 2d summit in a week run again, ABC to summit and back in 29:30 on 27 May. Nepal officials say Hillary Step is just fine (bad for business?) source Traverse by Janusz Adamski A was illegal, operator sends letter to Government 4 dead at South Col inside tent – with new “guide” service – report was wrong Kilian Jornet summited in record time but ended speed attempt due to illness stopping at ABC on north Blind Austrian climber Andy Holzer summited on north with Furtenbach Adventures My climbing buddy, Jim Davidson, with IMG, summited at sunrise 22 May. Very proud of him Mollie Hughes – now part of “Both Sides Club”, youngest Brit to summit at age 26 EverestER has now seen over 500 patients North side of Everest saw first 2017 summits by Transcend/Arun Trekking Sherpas fixing the rope on 10 May Flu is hitting many climbers on Nepal side 7 Sherpas and 3 Gurkha achieve 1st summits on the Nepal side Monday 15 May 44-year-old Lhakpa Sherpa set record with 8th female summit on Tibet side 13 May Neither side of Everest appears to be suffering from overcrowding this season Himex Sherpa OK after long fall down Lhotse Face Min Bahadur Sherchan, 86, died from unknown causes at Everest Base Camp Ueli Steck dies on Nuptse acclimatising for Everest-Lhotse traverse Winds, winds, winds and difficult weather on Nepal side – the emerging stories for 2017 Arun Treks Sherpa injured by falling ice Gear flown into Western Cwm, eliminating hundreds of Sherpa carries North: 136 foreigners/170 Sherpas South: 28 countries represented, 455 summits: 190 foreigners, 32 fee-paying Nepalis, 233 Sherpas 70 Nepal side climbers used their 2015 extended permit 2017 Deaths: 6 Everest, 1 Nuptse deaths Camp cook for AAI died of a stroke/heart attack at base camp Vladimir Strba, 50 Slovakia, between Balcony/South Col on, climbing as independent with no Os- body retrieved Francesco Enrico Marchetti, 54 Australia, at 8300m after summit from Tibet with Expedition Himalaya – body retrieved Ravi Kumar, 27, from fall near Balcony after summit, separated from his guide from Arun Treks- body retrieved Roland Yearwood, 50 from USA Alabama climbing with SummitClimb – body not retrieved, too difficult Ueli Steck dies on Nuptse acclimatising for Everest-Lhotse traverse – body retrieved Min Bahadur Sherchan, 86, died from unknown causes at Everest Base Camp – body retrieved Connect Click to sign up or cancel email notification of new posts See all the Everest 2017 posts here If you value this coverage, please consider a donation to an Alzheimer’s nonprofit South Col Route (map) locations are for majority of team, individuals may be higher or lower Everest only TEAMS (members/western guides) 375 foreigners/~373 sherpas EBC C1 C2 C3 C4 S.Col Summits (foreigners/Sherpas) Fixed Line Rope to Summit Adventure Consultants (10/5) e 12/18 Adventures Global (8) e 2/2 Alpine Ascents Int. (7/3) e 6/5 Asian Trekking Eco Teams e 2/2? Ascent Himalayas e 8/9 Benegas Brothers 3/2 e 5/5 Himex e 4/4 IMG Classic Team 1 (14/2) e 2/2 IMG Classic Team 2 (14/2) e 12/15 IMG Hybrid (~8/3) e 9/13 Gurkha (10) e 10/10 Madison Mountaineering (11/5) e 13/16 Mountain Madness (5/2) w/MT e 5/7 w/MT Mountain Trip (5/2) w/MM e 5/7 Mountain Professionals e 2/2 Satori Adventures e 5/5 Summit Climb (15/1) e 1+/1+ (death) Seven Summits Treks (100+) e 60/70? Tim Mosedale (2/1) e 2+/2+ others 63/79 (est) SOUTH TOTAL (est) 222/233 Northeast Ridge Route (map) locations are for majority of team, individuals may be higher or lower TEAMS (members/western guides) 136 foreigners/170 sherpas CBC ABC C1 N.Col C2 C3 Summits (foreigners/Sherpas) Fixed Line Ropes to Summit Alpenglow (4/3) e 3/4 Adventure Peaks (4/1) e 4/2 Arnold Coster Expeditions (7/1) e 5+/5+ Furtenbach Adventures (8/1) e 9/8 Iowans for Everest (2) e 2/2 Kobler & Partner e 10/10 Mountain Expeditions (1/1) e 2/2 Summit Climb (11/1) e 7/6 Transcend Adventures (23/1) e 16/22 7 Summits Club e 2+/2+ others 21/19 (est) NORTH TOTAL (est) 80+/82+ LEGEND T/D=Trek/Driving to BC, K=Kathmandu, La=Lhasa, Lo=Lobuche, e=climb ended, x=last reported location, x+ =on summit bid, -x =descending h=high sleep point, t=touched not slept. Summit number=member/Sherpa. Locations estimated from public websites. Please refer to each expedition’s site for current information. Contact me to add/remove your team from my coverage. Other Teams Not providing enough updates to track or comment Dreamers Destination Himalayan Guides Indian Navy Indian ONGC I did similar coverage for the 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 seasons. I summited Everest on May 21, 2011 and have attempted Everest three other times – 2002, 2003, 2008 and Lhotse in 2015 and 2016. If you will forgive the self promotion, Outside Magazine posted an extensive interview with me and said: I was “one of the world’s most respected chronicler of Everest” If you receive value from my annual Everest coverage, please consider a donation to one of these Alzheimer’s nonprofits, 100% for Alzheimer’s, none for me Click this link to understand my personal journey with Alzheimer’s disease Everest Weather Base Camp Summit not intended to replace professional forecasts or critical climbing decisions Reader Polls [poll id=”-2″]
Everest 2017: Weekend Update May 27
This season had more twists and intrigue than a U.S. Presidential election. While not completely over, this past week brought a strong end for almost all the teams on both sides of Everest. Many dreams came true, like that of my climbing buddy Jim Davidson (who is already back home in Colorado!), and for others they set a difficult goal but were disappointed like Ralf Dujmovits. 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 this year. The truth remains elusive. While confusing, the deaths on Everest did prompt the annual discussion on how to make Everest safer, climbers more prepared and guide more competent. Why this coverage? Before I go further in the last weekend update of 2017 I want to thank you for all your great comments and questions plus your interest in my writings. This was my 15 year of covering all things Everest and you broke the traffic record with close to a million visits in April and May from virtually every country on the planet. 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. Alos, I want to remind my readers that I am just one guy who loves climbing. With 35 serious climbing expeditions including four Everest trips under my belt and a summits of Everest in 2011 and K2 in 2014, I use my site to share those experiences, demystify Everest each year and bring awareness to Alzheimer’s Disease. My mom, Ida, died from this disease in 2009 as have four of my aunts. It was a heartbreaking experience that I never want anyone to go through thus my ask for donations 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 this link. This Past Week’s Summit Summary 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: North Transcend finished out an excellent season with young Indian climbers having 38 summits. The wild Russian team of 7 Summits Club ran their shortest climb in 10 years at 39 days and also executed an unusual oxygen strategy. They won with 12 including Janusz Kochanski – world record of 128 days on all 7 summits, and Lhakpa Sherpa who set a female record for most summits at 8. Also under the leadership of 7 Summits Club Director, Alexander Abramov, they covered up some of the many visible dead bodies on the north side including Tsewang Paljor aka “Green Boots”, which I thought had already been moved by the Chinese: 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. update: 7 Summits Club told me that just said that for the press and didn’t cover 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.” SummitClimb says they had summits but have not provided any details. The Iowans for Everest, Andy and Andy, summited after a false start. They were on a small team with few frills and showed what can be done. Alpenglow member team summits: Brooks Entwistle with guides Zeb Blais, Chad Peele, and Sherpas PaNuru, Dorji, Phurba, & Nawang Furtenbach Adventures had 100% success with 17. They endorse using altitude tents heavily. Austrian climber Andy Holzer became the second blind person to submit after Erik Weihenmayer in 2002. Rowaling Excursion summited 21/22 May Tibet including Benjamin Breckheimer becoming the 3rd Purple Heart recipient to summit Everest. Rounding out the international team was Swede Erik Akerberg and Pole Grazyna Dorota Machni Arnold Coster Expeditions got most of his team up – 10 climbers and support Adventure Peaks also saw summits with 6 total 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. Note: it appears that Kilian Jornet is done for the season … I think 🙂 He should be tired, he went from the Rongbuk Monastery to the summit in 26 hours – a FNT record. He stopped on the descent at ABC due to illness. UPDATE: Well Kilian Jornet did run again, 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!! South IMG finished out their season with big numbers: 23 members and 30 Sherpas. Plus they had a summit without supplemental oxygen, James Brooman. Benegas Brothers were successful this week with all their members, three, plus guides and Sherpas for 10 total. Willie reported “NO WIND” Madison Mountaineering pushed in bad weather to put 29 up, including 13 members. After three weeks of waiting for improved weather, Himex, got
Everest 2017: Who is left? – updated
It has been a season of wild swings from the weather to information from the mountain. But it’s not over. Let’s look at who is left and where they are. Heavy snow appears to be arriving on 28 May, so there is a sense of urgency for those still heading higher. UPDATE: Summits thus far Saturday 27 May: South: 11+ summits Ferran Latorre – Summit per his tracker, used Os late in push Yannik Graziani – “”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.” Elisabeth Révol, Hanz Wenzl, – no info but were with Ferran so probably summited Alpine Ascents – summits – 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. North: 10+ summits SummitClimb says summits – no details Alpenglow member team summits: brooks entwistle, zeb blais, chad peele, PaNuru, Dorji, Phurba, & Nawang Adrian Ballinger with no Os, Cory Richards on oxygen summit Ralf Dujmovits -turned back at 8,500 m – 40 km/h wind and snow. He was losing feeling in his hands and feet. source UPDATE ~1:00 am Saturday morning 27 May Nepal time: Teams on both sides are moving well early 27 May Winds have calmed on south and north Alpine Ascent headed up Update from late Friday night: NEPAL: there were summits on south side by Tim Mosedale and Himex with generous oxygen on 26. David Klein without Os turned back citing high winds on 26. Ferran Latorre, Yannik Graziani , Elisabeth Révol, Hanz Wenzl, Sherpa Dawa Sangay left 9 pm 26 May. TIBET: No Os climbers –Ralf Dujmovits and Adrian Ballinger, Cory Richards and Alpenglow team, perhaps SummitClimb also, are starting up early 27 May. South Teams Alpine Ascents seems to have had perfect timing this year lead by Ben Jones. They have been off by a day or so from all the major movement on the mountain and have not had any of the difficult weather or crowds – in fact few teams have commented crowds on either side. They are at the South Col preparing to summit hopefully on the 27. but they will need to watch the snow coming in. Ben posted an update with a nice picture – he has posted some amazing photos this year: Last few minutes to the South Col today. It was unbelievably hot the entire day from Camp 3 to the Col but our team did great. We had some people coming sporadically but for the most part we had the entire day and route to ourselves…..just the way the entire expedition has been! Tomorrow we rest here breathing supplemental oxygen at almost 26,000ft before leaving for the summit the last couple of hours on the 26th. We have mild winds here at the Col right now and look for the wind to be quite calm on our summit day. We are pumped!! UPDATE: on summit push Himex with three members, one guide – Bruce Hasler – and a team of Sherpas are on their summit push. Jeff Smith and Joe Burke are two of the members. It has been a tough season for Himex with early summit attempts by David Tait and Kenton Cool not working out plus some illness in their team. Russell Brice choose not to even post his traditional information filled newsletters due to computer issue but probably more due to all the issues. UPDATE: Himex got their summits:Kazu,John,Jeff and guide by Bruce Hasler and 4 Sherpas. – reported no wind at 7:20 am 26 May Tim Mosedale and crew of three members plus support are pushing to the top. Tim already summited earlier this season with Scott Mac and documented the state of the Hillary Step. All the Irish back home are pumped for another Irish summit, this time by Rory Mchugh UPDATE: Blake Pension posted SPOT tracker from summit around 8:00 am 26 May NO Os David Klein turned back due to winds UPDATE: David turned back early 26th, just after midnight, Friday. That was last night. He is already down in camp 2 and descending to EBC tomorrow. source: Laszlo Pinter www.mozgasvilag.hu Ferran Latorre is at Camp 3 now Camp 4 headed higher. So is Yannik Graziani who posted: Reached this morning C3. Beautifull weather but verry warm (35degrees). Tomorrow to South Col, and saturday should be the day! Weather window seems to be great! We are the last team I think. UPDATE: Yannik posted: “We reached South Col at 12:00 (now time) with a bad weather. Fortunately this is the time to climb to the summit! “Fuerza !!!! West Ridge Nobukazu Kuriki has changed his mind adding my own personal issues with getting credible information from the mountain 🙂 He said he was feeling well, returned from Camp 2 or higher on the West Ridge – back to Gorak Shep, started feeling better and now feels he can summit via the West Ridge and Hornbein Couloir on 31/31 MAy. He will certainly be alone by then. One concern will be if the Icefall Doctors are still maintaining the route. He posted: Hi, It’s me, Kuriki. Yesterday, on the 24th May, I started to climb aiming for my final camp, but actually on the 23rd, I had been felt like vomiting, so yesterday, I waited until the afternoon to make decisions. I arrived until the altitude of 7,300m, however my nausea didn’t go away, so to make my condition better, I came down till Gorak Shep, 5,300m. At first, I thought about mountain disease, but my SpO2 is 80 and it’s quite good, and I don’t have headache, just have nausea, and now my condition is much better. I will stay here for one day, then, I will make my attempt again on 27th. If the weather holds, I will arrive at the summit on 30th or 31st. The belt of blue ice, on
Everest 2017: South Col Dead Body Report was Wrong
The same people that reported 4 bodies – 2 Sherpas, 1 foreign woman and 1 foreign male – were found at the South Col now say they got it all wrong. I spoke live with both key sources last night. Managing Director at Seven Summit Treks, Mingma Sherpa, who provided the the information to Himalayan Times reporter Rajan Pokhrel who wrote the story. Both now say it was a mistake and were no 4 new bodies. I also confirmed with another Nepali operator Navin Trital plus long time Everest climber and guide, Willie Benegas of Benegas Brothers contacted me from the South Col and said no new bodies. He said he checked every tent. Too Many Bodies? The best explanation is that the Seven Summits Treks Sherpas somehow “confused” seeing one body and thinking it was four. Assuming good intentions here, perhaps an analogy with the “fog of war” is apt. the six Sherpas were were sent to the South Col to retrieve the body of Slovak climber Vladimir Strba who died between Balcony and South Col while climbing as independent with no Os. That retrieval was successful. Seven Summits Treks was also involved in retrieving body of West Bengal climber Gautam Ghosh from the South Col. Another body retrieval will soon start for Indian climber, Ravi Kumar, 27, who reportedly died from a fall near the Balcony after summiting. He became separated from his guide from Arun Treks. First Report The original article on finding four bodies at the South Col reported: At least four climbers including a woman mountaineer were found dead inside their tent at a high altitude camp on Mt Everest taking the death toll on the world’s highest mountain in the spring climbing season to at least nine in Nepal side, the base camp officials have confirmed. Sherpa climbers from Seven Summit Treks who were there to recover the body of a Slovak mountaineer spotted four more dead bodies inside a tent, Managing Director at Seven Summit Treks Mingma Sherpa quoted the rescuers as saying over the phone from the incident site. Though the precise details of the incident are not available yet, the cause of death could be suffocation inside the tent, the rescuers reported. Multiple sources at the base camp also confirmed that four persons belonging to a new trekking company have gone out of contact since Sunday after they were last seen near the Balcony area. “We are trying to verify all shreds of evidence before naming the victims,” a liaison officer at the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation said. There were four deaths over this past weekend: Vladimir Strba, 50 Slovakia, died between Balcony and South Col on south side, climbing as independent with no Os Francesco Enrico Marchetti, 54 Australia, at 8300m after summit from Tibet with Thamserku Treks and Expeditions Ravi Kumar, 27, from fall on Nepal side near Balcony after summit, separated from his guide from Arun Treks Roland Yearwood, 50 from USA Alabama climbing with SummitClimb Good News While all this has created worldwide headlines, I am grateful there are no new deaths to report in addition to the current six. The other good news is that the mistaken report has generated a conversation about the experience of climbers and the qualification of guides. And that is a good subject to further explore. Summits Continue 25 May was another good day on Everest’s Nepal side with over 40 new summits including the Benegas Brothers and International Mountain Guides. Both reported superb weather conditions. On the Tibet side, several climbers seeking to summit without supplemental oxygen have moved to the higher camps. Heavy snow is now predicted for Saturday, so best if they can get up and down before then. Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything