Everest 2017: Ueli Steck’s Everest Lhotse Project
Climbers from all over the world are arriving at the base camps on both sides of Everest this week to attempt the standard routes but one Swiss Alpinist has a special plan in mind. Ueli Steck’s Everest Lhotse Project will be fun to watch. He and Tenji Sherpa will attempt to summit Everest by the never […]
Everest 2017: Base Camp Begins to Fill Up
The activity is building around Everest. Teams are trekking on the south and driving on the north and some are already at base camp. All is well on both sides of Everest at the moment. Early April is an awkward time in the Everest timeline. There are literally hundreds of people scattered from Kathmandu to Lhasa to the trekking […]
Everest 2017: Ice Serac Release Stalls Climbing
Reports of a serac release in the Icefall are coming in. There are no injuries. It appears a towering ice serac in the Khumbu Icefall just before the “Football Field” released burying the fixed ropes. The conditions were already tough on Monday, 10 April 2017 with very cold temps and high winds. There were around 30 […]
Everest 2017: Weekend Update April 9
This past week on Everest has been busy with no surprises. Just like it should be in early April. And have no doubt, Everest will see record summits the spring of 2017. Excellent reporter Rajan Pokhrel of The Himalayan Times in Kathmandu reported that the Ministry of Tourism has already issued 250 permits for Everest to 27 teams […]
Everest 2017: A Busy Season on the 8000ers
The world’s highest mountains are going to be busy this spring. Everest tops the list with perhaps 1,000 summits smashing all records. Currently, the trails of Nepal are filled with hundreds of climbers, porters and Sherpas and even more trekkers. The teahouses are full and the local economy is benefiting from what appears to be a full recovery […]
Everest 2017: Free vs. Paid Weather Forecasts
We all know that weather can make or break an Everest summit, or the entire season. With so many climbers this year, a period of bad weather could result in nightmarish crowds. Similarly, a long period of good weather will allow the crowds to spread out resulting in a positive experience for most. As I […]
Everest 2017: Climbing the North Side with Jon Gupta, an Interview
A lot of attention is given to the Nepal side of Everest. It has more people, the risks are promoted heavily by those guiding from the north and of course, it was the side that saw the first summit back in 1953. And the north side has it’s share of fans, some perhaps even rabid […]
Everest 2017: Weekend Update April 2
Kathmandu has become flooded with climbers in addition to the normal spring trekkers. The hotels are full, the restaurants noisy and an overall feeling of anticipation in the air. Everest 2017 is well underway and it appears Nepal’s tourism industry has recovered from earthquakes, strikes and embargos. Each weekend during the season I will try […]
Everest 2017: Interview with Jim Davidson
Those who have followed me most likely already know Jim Davidson. Jim is well known as a professional speaking and his own survival struggle experience on Mt Rainier in 1992 that he chronicled in the New York Times best-selling book, The Ledge. I did a review and a Q&A with Jim back in 2011 when the […]
Everest 2017: My First Thought of Climbing Everest, and Your’s?
Climbing Everest is a strange phenomenon. You spend more money than a really nice car costs, you train for a year, then you leave your family for two months with no guarantee that you will summit, and about five people die each year. So why do this? And don’t give the “because it’s there” answer! 🙂 I […]