Everest 2017: More North Summits 16 May, South Underway – Update 3
The north side of Everest continues with solid results. Over 30 people are under way on the Nepal side tonight but no word yet on result or conditions. with 17 summits and probably more. The winds were supposed to pick up around noon on the south side, and perhaps the north but we’ll see what the climbers report. “Both Sides Club” Mollie Hughes just tweeted she, Jon Gupta with Lhakpa Sherpa and Lila summited making Mollie the youngest British female to summit from both sides of Everest. You can follow their descent on the tracker here Mollie joins a small club of female climbers who have summited Everest from both the Tibet and Nepal sides: Teenage Summits The Transcend Indian team continued their success with four more teenagers on top along with six Sherpas. For those curious about the teenagers with Transcend. Their home team gave me some additional information today: I would like to mention here that in spite of the young age of all these climbers, our core team of trainers & instructors have made sure that they have received ample training before being to an expedition like Everest. To be very specific, our’s is definitely not the type of Adventure Company that promotes to take a weekend trekker to the Mt. Everest. To give you a very basic idea of what goes into our training, after the initial selection based of physical and mental tests, the climbers are sent to one of the first and oldest Mountaineering Institutes of India for their Basic Mountaineering Course. Over here, these candidates are not only trained in the techniques of Ice & Rock Craft but made to trek through one of the toughest mountain terrains. The amount of load the climber carries along with the tough terrain, makes this trek a nightmare to most. And only those who have successfully cleared this course with the highest merit are taken to the next level: Winter Training. In this part, the trainees are made to experience almost the same weather conditions, terrain, etc., that one would find on an 8000m peak like Everest. And only after the trainee has cleared all these physical and mental aptitude tests, he/she is taken to the Everest. More North Summits – UPDATE 1,2 and 3 Amical reports summits at 3:05 am in good weather. Not confirmed but Adventure Peaks has put climbers on the summit from Tibet. Horia Colibasanu summited without supplemental oxygen. Nepal Side Pushes – UPDATE 2 Adventure Global said Anshu Jamsenpa and Furi Sherpa summited. A 19 member group from Ascent Himalaya aka Ireland to Everest is attempting the summit from Nepal summited: UPDATE: Big Summits from Nepal AH Everest/Lhotse 2017 Update: Mingma Sherpa(EBC). The Everest team made the successful summit of Mt Everest at 9:45am local time. The team consists of 8 members and 9 climbing sherpas which was leaded by Pasang Tenzing Sherpa,Furtemba Sherpa & Narendra Shahi who are the internationally certified IFMGA GUIDES. They made a 100 % success on Everest making the following records. 1:Torkjel Hurtig (Norway) became the youngest to summit Mt Evrest from south side at the age 0f 28 who was supported by our climbing guide Yukta Tamu(Nepal). 2:John Burke(Ireland) became the first to summit from Clare and we thanks to our climbing guide Tamting Sherpa(Nepal) for his great help and support for his successful summit. 3:Viridiana Alvarez (Mexico) summited Mt Everest (8848m) on her 34th Birthday and thanks to our Climbing Guide Narendra Shahi for a great birthday gift. 4:Adriano Freire(Brazil) also made to the summit of Mt Everest(8848m) on his first attempt together with his personal guide Furtemba Sherpa & Tsering Dawa Sherpa(Nepal) who followed and support him all the way from EBC. 5:Allan Meek (UK/Welsh) summited Mt Everest (8848m) on his first attempt with his climbing guide Nawang Jangbu Sherpa (Nepal) 6:Andre Spica (Norway) summited Mt Everest (8848m) on his first attempt with his climbing guide Ang Dorjee Sherpa (Nepal) 7:Une Prestholt(Norway):After 2 bad years on Everest.Une finally made to the summit of Mt Everest together with Dawa Tashi Sherpa(Nepal) 8:Richard Brook (Australia) made the successful summit of Mt Everest (8848m) on his 3rd attempt. We Ascent Himalayas family would like to congratulate all our members & climbing guides for the successful Everest Expedition 2017.And also we thanks to Pasang Tenzing Sherpa (Everest Team Leader) for his great guidance throughout the journey and Mingma Tsiri Sherpa for his great management during the expedition and keeping us updated with all the details. Lhotse Pushes Cian O’Brolchain and John Snorri Sigurjónsson and Allan Cohrs are nearing Lhotse Dhaulagiri 8000er Finisher Peter Hámor completed his 8000er with a summit of Dhaulagiri. The Slovakian summited all 14 of the 8000er without supplemental O2. I’l update this post as I get more information. Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything
Everest 2017: Ropes Reach Summit from Nepal Side
A team of Sherpas and members from the Gurkha team summited Everest from the Nepal side between 1:00 and 2:00 pm Monday 15 May 2017. They fixed the final section from the Balcony to the summit opening the route, in theory, for other climbers. The weather window is short and appears to close around noon on Tuesday 16 May when the Jet Stream moves back on top of Everest. But, and maybe I need to put this in every post title 🙄 when it comes to weather this year, if you must make a prediction, do so often! Everest is a Beehive of Activity It is challenging to summarize the activity on both sides of Everest today as team, press and climbers reports are extremely inconsistent. Even when I contact people actually there I get different stories. But this is certain – climbers are climbing Mt. Everest as you read this. There is currently a tiny weather window on the south side that allowed around 25 people to summit 15 May. Another 40 are reported to be at the South Col to try tonight. On the north, there have already been summits and more are trying tonight. And, please let this sink in, there are hundred(s) of people sitting at base camp on both sides watching this first wave, content to see if history proves true and the winds calm, and a longer window opens as we approach the end of May. Gurkhas Summits 10 It appears that seven Sherpas and three members reached the summit but details are scarce for an unknown reason. More Summits on South? With the ropes to the summit, it might be easy to think all is good, but hold on. Adventure Consultants has been climbing Everest since 1992. Ang Dorje Sherpa their most Senior leader has been on most of them, so when AC talks, people should listen. This is what they posted today: Congratulations to the Gurkha Team and their Sherpa collaborators who fixed ropes to the summit of Everest today. Great job guys. This paves the way for others. The gates are open. We’ll be tuning in the weather for our summit bid. I’m hoping lots of folks decide to take advantage of the coming ‘micro’ weather windows to relieve crowding pressure. It’s nice to think we might be moving soon, after all it is mid May. But Ascent Himalaya said they expect to summit tonight 16 May – Nepal time. They have 8 members with 8 Sherpas: The Everest team left from camp 3 to camp 4 this morning at 7:30am and they will be take around approx 6hrs to reach to camp 4 today.Their plan is to make a summit tomorrow morning(16th May 2017)and we will update about that later this evening when they make a decision. North is Perfect, Forecast is Bad and Climbers Are Everywhere Some teams report perfect base camp weather while others see a window too small to push and yet others are trying to thread the needle tonight. Ricky Munday with Summit Climb posted: On the weather front, we had some disappointing news from Dave last night that the anticipated weather window from 21st had moved out to the mid-20s of May. Our latest possible summit date due to logistics is likely to be 29th May or so, so it’s squeaky bum time at the moment. Just to show there is no “group think” on the north side, Jon Gupta and Mollie Hughes with Lhakpa Sherpa and Lila are moving up looking to summit on 16 May: Everest Update (from Camp 3, 8300m!!) // Here we go…SUMMIT ATTEMPT!! Before you get to excited for us – we are trying in a small(ish) window which isn’t perfect. After MUCH umming & aahh’ing & studying of complex weather charts we are going to ‘give it a go’ on the very early morning of 16th May. This isn’t a rash decision & we could well turn back & return to Base Camp empty handed. If so we rest & wait again…but we will try. Either side of us are some strong winds & a little precipitation. But, as a small strong team we might just be able to work with it & push through! We have had 4 really hard days to reach high camp 8300m where we are now & id be lying if I said we weren’t tired. The next 4 hours is all about drinking, eating & resting. “Getting to the top is optimal, but getting back down is mandatory” Ed Viesturs Anyhow, we will see what the weather does for us & if it allows us to the top. You can follow us on the trackers all through the attempt here Thanks so much for all the support so far – it’s been truly incredible. Please buckle up & hold tight & I will update as soon as I can either way!m (but it might be a few days!) And the Transcend Indian team that made the first summit this year have their second team at Camp 2 on the north. They have 4 members and 6 Sherpas. Lhotse Soon With this small window, the Lhotse climbers have their chance to share in the spotlight. By their schedules show summits perhaps as early as tonight, 17 May in Nepal and other teams on 19 May, but with this weather, it may be off by a day either way. Remember that Lhotse is 2,400 feet lower than Everest but shares the same exposure to direct westernly winds. Ascent Himalayas is on the move with their Sherpas, Narendra Shahi & Pemba Nuru Sherpa,Tsering Pemba Sherpa and Ang Chhiring Sherpa and members John Snorri Sigurjónsson and Cian O’Brolchain. Also my K2 summit buddy, Al Hancock is heading up with teammates from Seven Summits Treks. Weather Forecasting Accuracy and Source Winds have been the major story on the south side this year. While the north had seen it’s share of winds, they have not been the impediment there as they have on the south. Many teams, climbers and families back home are looking
Everest 2017: Weekend Update May 14
The second week of May 2017 finally brought summits on Mount Everest. The ropes were set to the summit on the north side and then 18 people summited, including Lhakpa Sherpa with her 8th summit, a record for female climbers. Update: a small team of Sherpas may try to fix the ropes to the summit on the Nepal side Monday 15 May during tiny weather window. But most teams continue to look at 21 May as main summit opportunity, some could try a quick run before. 2017 is looking to be one of those years on Everest that is very difficult to navigate. North teams have experienced a mix of weather from great to harsh, while on the south, is has been difficult almost from day one. The forecast calls for a window of a couple of good days but then it shuts down as quickly as it opened leaving climbers stuck in high camps uncertain of their next move. For a few teams, they brave this uncertainty and succeed. But the gamble is huge. Long time Everest pros are content to sit back and see what happens, not risking their staff or members with unnecessary risks. But the waiting is taking a huge toll, especially on the south side for some, others take it in stride. A flu bug seems to be ravaging the Khumbu valley and has an impact on climbers. EverestER has seen more patients thus far than in the entire 2016 season – and over half are Nepalese. Some teams already have a 30% attrition from health and personal reasons exacerbated by the delays. This next week shows the usual tiny weather windows and teams are positioning themselves to be ready if and when they materialize. This first wave on both sides could be record setting with such pent up demand. I’m reminded of a conversation I had with American climber and guide Dave Hahn earlier this year. Dave was famous for being one of the last to summit year in year out. He set the non-Sherpa record for summits at 13. AA: Over the years you were often one of the last parties to summit Everest. Was this by design to avoid the crowds or just the way things worked out? DH: It was by design, for several reasons. While it is far more convenient for guides and guide companies to get Everest wrapped up in early May, the mountain can be a lot tougher for “normal” folks when it is bitterly cold, the route isn’t well-established and there are too many people going high all at once. So I was often waiting for better -easier- conditions and for the crowd to thin out. That strategy wasn’t always working anymore… the spring season was getting so busy that the crowd was no-longer thinning out. With that, let’s review where we are and what to expect. 1st Summits! With a bit of a mystery, the Chinese Mountaineering Association rope fixers on the north side stopped at 8300 meters, Camp 3, and said the commercial operators needed to take over. After a confab at base camp, nine Arun Trekking Sherpas working for the Indian team of Transcend Adventures finished the job and the route was opened to the summit on 11 May 2017. The Sherpa rope fixing team included: Lhakpa Nuru Sherpa, Lhakpa Gyalgen Sherpa, Sanduk Dorjee Tamang, Tenzing Chhotar Sherpa, Karma Gyaljen Sherpa, Mingma Nuru Sherpa, Fura Tshering Sherpa, Lakpa Sherpa and Pasang Chhiri Sherpa. 1st Team Summits Close on their heels was the first of two sub teams of the Indian company Transcend Adventures. Six teenage climbers summited along with ten Sherpas on 13 May, marking the first non-Sherpa summits of the season. These climbers deserve all the admiration of any Everest summiter for a climb well done. Great job team. On the same day, Lhakpa Sherpa at 44 set a female record for most Everest summits with her 8th time to stand on the top of the world. Climb Up, Climb Down On the south side, a tiny weather window was seized to take the ropes from the Balcony to the summit, but usual for this year on the Nepal side, the winds returned along with cold and the rope fixing team never even left the South Col, returned to Base Camp to regroup. Several stronger than usual climbers had positioned themselves as high as Camp 3 ready to shadow the Sherpas and claiming the first summits for foreigners on the south side in 2017. But as the Sherpas were forced down, the climbers had no choice but to follow. Watch and Wait On a roller coaster of emotions, for some, teams now sit at base camp wondering when their time will come. The south is clearly more in flux in 2017 than the north. On the north long time Everest north side climbers like 7 Summits Club’s Alex Abramov has already moved his team to the high camps anticipating something on 18 May. But the huge Chinese team of over 80 people are content to watch from base camp … for now. On the south, team after team fled base camp for the thick air lower down in the Khumbu. Now most have returned to EBC to stand watch. How Late is Late? Wth patience thinning, some climbers are simply giving up, acquiescing to the unpredictability of Everest and the physical and mental demands of living at 17,300 feet. But that may be a mistake. I looked back at some Everest history and found my own post in 2005 saying: The summits on May 21, 2005 were the latest first summit day in 45 years of climbing Mt. Everest. Norgay and Hillary did it on May 29, the earliest was April 4 in 1984. Fickle Weather But the frustration is real. Climbers, families and watchers keep asking what’s going on with the weather this year? Long time operators like Eric Simonson of IMG simply says: I reminded the guides of my Everest trip in 1997 when we waited at EBC for 17 days after the C3 rotations before we had a good weather window to go for the summit. Hopefully it does not
Everest 2017: First Team Summits on North, New Female Record
If there is one thing that is predictable about climbing Mt. Everest it is the unpredictability. Currently some teams must feel like a yo-yo. They were heading higher, but then retreated. However one team kept going and separately, a record was set for female summits on Everest. Record 8th Female Summit 44-year-old Lhakpa Sherpa set record with 8th female summit on Tibet side 13 May. Lhakpa, who once worked in a 7-Eleven shop in Connecticut, has three children and once summited eight months after the birth of her first daughter and while she was two months pregnant with her second child. Her first summit was in 2002. She was quoted : … wanted to show that Nepali women have the courage and endurance to perform their best despite all their hardships. Transcend Adventures The Indian team of Transcend Adventure put 6 members on the summit along with 10 Sherpas. These were the first non-Sherpa summits of 2017. Transcend is an Indian owned adventure company with offices in Kathmandu. They run climbing trips and helped the youngest woman to summit Everest, Indian Malavath Purna, 13 years 11 months on May 25, in 2014 from the north side This year they have 23 teenage members with an equal number of Sherpas. Three of their young climbers have left the expedition for personal or health reason. The Sherpas, who also work with Arun Trekking, fixed the ropes to the summit a few days ago. Transcend posted on their site that they were leaving for the summit late night 12 May from Camp 3. They were reported reaching the 2nd Step around 2:00 am. They told me the winds picked up in early morning between 3 – 5 am but otherwise were not an issue. Their home team does not report any injuries or issues and said half the team was back at ABC by 6 pm with the rest not far behind. Transcend posted: 6 Climbers from the Transcend Adventures Indian Team have reached the summit of Mt. Everest along with 10 Sherpas as listed below. Every climber and sherpa have returned safely returned to lower camps. 3 Climbers have already reached ABC and the rest will reach in about 2 hours. Transcend Adventures once again salutes the lifelines of Himalayan Climbing: The Sherpa People. Mr. Krishna at 9:05 a.m Mr. Bharat Thammineni Suresh Babu, Durga Rao Mr. Satya Rao at 8:40 a.m, Mr. Nagaraju Sundarana at 8:20 a.m. There were 10 Sherpas that summited: Pemba Chhepal Sherpa, Thame Purba Sherpa, Sethang Tashi Chhumbel Sherpa, Gumsa Norbu Sherpa, Makalu Pasang Dorjee Sherpa, Thame Phura Tenzing Sherpa, Thame Kami Temba Sherpa, Thame Sonam Tashi Karma Dorjee Sherpa, Phortse Lakpa Tshering Sherpa, Thame It has become very popular for expedition operators to take teenage Indians on Everest expeditions. They receive a lot of publicity before and just after their climbs, but it is unclear that this moment transfers to longer term advantage. Ameet Singh told me: these are stories that need to be told daily wage labourers in india earn as much as the porters do on the trail to EBC this boy is a living example of the opportunity in adversity in india today the nonlinear growth and expectations that india has amongst its poor and underprivileged. Everest is a means to climb out of social inequalities. Everest is much more for some among us over others. Congratulations to the members and their Sherpas for staying with it during some challenging conditions. The next team of Transcend climbers should head up as soon as possible. North Teams Move Up and some Sit tight As I have mentioned several times this week, the weather on the north side has been calmer than on the south, but the uncertainty of how long the winds will stay away kept some teams from even trying yesterday. But others are moving into position for their summit push. George Kashouh talked about Summit Climb’s plans: Still no news on the weather. We know an expedition made it to the summit this morning so the first success has already come in. The winds look high for the next few days and we might even descend back to the village again. Today I went for a two hour walk with some friends down to some tents where local Tibetans sell food and trinkets. I was hoping to resupply on some snacks but they only really had tea and beads. On the return I took this video of base camp and you can see it’s a bit windy. I’m not too concerned about the weather since we have plenty of time at the moment. Our expedition usually is one of the last to summit and although no one likes waiting this is all completely normal. And Ricky Munday added: A number of other teams had moved up the mountain earlier this week with a view to making summit bids on 15/16 but the weather forecasts are now showing strengthening winds, so it’s not certain if we’ll see more summits tonight/tomorrow or in the coming days. Conversely, other teams, including the large Chinese team, had retreated back to base camp and below. South Climbers Repositioning Climbers on the Nepal side are anticipating leaving soon for their summit bids. One team left today from Everest Base Camp. Many are returning from their down valley rest in local villages and other spending the days at EBC taking day hikes. The fickle weather forecast is making any prediction practically worthless however, 16/17 May seems to be a brief window. After that there are hopes of more stable weather after 20 May. Jim Davidson with IMG reported going up to Pumori for a nice photo op of Everest: Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything
Everest 2017: North Side Teams in Full Summit Blitz – Update 3
With the ropes set on Thursday, 11 May 2017, the floodgates were opened and the teams on the north side are not waiting. Most seem to be aiming for standing on the summit between 14-17 May. This is a short post that I will update throughout the day if news comes in. UPDATE 3: 1st non-Sherpa Summit From Transcend Adventures: Summit!!!! At approximately 8:20 a.m. Beijing time, an Indian along with his Sherpa reached the summit of Mt.Everest! The Transcend Adventures Indian Team records the first summit of the season! Details of the climber and Sherpa will be shared in the successive posts. Stay tuned! UPDATE 2: Transcend Adventure team at 2nd Step at ~ 2:00 am The Indian team of teenager was reported to be pushing hard for the summit and was at the 2nd Step around 2:00 am. Sherpas on their overall team fixed the ropes to the summit earlier this week. No word on weather, but was reported windy, so they are showing their stuff with this effort. UPDATE 1: Teams turning back due to bad weather. Well it looks like Saturday, 13 May 2017 is not a great summit day on the north side for some teams. Iowans for Everest have returned to basecamp. They posted: We are physically and mentally ready for the grueling summit push, unfortunately the mountain is not yet ready for us. Bad weather on the summit (wind) has forced us back down to base camp. Well, I (Andy) came back down today. John was not feeling well when I did an overnight at 23k last week, so he is making up for lost time tomorrow by sleeping at the North Col and then heading back to base camp the next day (14th). We will wait for the next weather window at base camp. Frustrating, but this is all part of high altitude mountaineering. George Kashouh with Summit Climb confirmed the bad weather with their team not even trying today: Everest Update! I didn’t want to mention for this reason, but we were aiming to summit on the 16th of May. Some nasty weather has moved in so our plans have been delayed. Some other teams had gone up to ABC but had to leave and come back to base camp. At the moment, the weather looks nasty as far as we can see. One trustable forecast shows the pressure holding steady until May 24th. Hopefully that will change because at the end of May the monsoons roll in and after that it’s expedition over. The waiting game begins! Weather The winds were predicted to increase on both sides but as we have seen this year, the north can be calm while gales on the south. It appears that several forecasts calls for what I would term short moments of low winds but nothing like a long periods i.e. 3-5 days or a week. So this means that teams would have to brave high winds to be positioned at the high camps and when/if that “moment” arrives, climb hard and fast to summit and get back down equally fast. This will be a real test for those climbing without supplemental oxygen. This is a hard ask for any climber, but especially the inexperienced ones with only Kill under their belt, or a climber who is already tired starting off. Climbing in medium to high winds takes a ton of extra energy plus frostbite is a real risk. Let’s hope that the winds are calm now on the north and relax on the south as a lot of plans are being made right now. South Nothing new on the Nepal side other than now there is talk of a brief low wind moment on 14 May – Sunday where the Sherpas might be able to reach the summit on that side. If they do, you can bet there will be a few climbers on their heels. North It appears the majority of the teams on the north are planning to stand on the summit between 14-17 May. A few teams seem willing to patiently wait at base camp for the next window, whenever that may develop. The Indian team Transcend Adventures seems to one of the first to set off targeting a summit on the morning of 13 May 2017 Everest time. They had 23 teenagers supported by 23 Sherpas. I do know directly from the team that they split in two groups but indication of how ammy on this first push. I have reached out to them for more information but they posted: Summit Push: Team 1 of TA Indian Team is heading towards Camp 3 (pic). They will start the summit attempt tonight. 7 Summits Club posted they are aiming for 18 May: Expedition leader Alexander Abramov Everest from Tibet. Guys, we go up to the assault of Everest in an hour. The first group under the leadership of Abramova Aleksandra. Briman Daniel Kravt Eugene, Aznaur Akka, Tebiev Valery, Kohanskiy Yanush. Plan today, May 12 – Middle Camp. 5800. Tomorrow, on May 13 – ABC. The day after tomorrow, on May 14 – 15 May 7000. Then – 7700m. Then, on May 16 – 17 May 8300. Then the top and descend to 6400. The second group led by Larina Sergeya all day later.Wish us luck! Summit Rope Team Transcend posted the names of the Sherpas who got the rope to the summit: 1. Lakpa Nuru Sherpa, Sirdar, Thame Village 2. Passang Chhiri Sherpa, Thame Village 3. Fura Tshering Sherpa,Thame Village 4. Mingma Nuru Sherpa , Thame Village 5. Karma Gyaljen Sherpa, Phortse Village 6. Lakpa Gyalgen Sherpa, Thame Village 7. Tenzing Chhotar Sherpa, Thame Village 8. Samduk Dorjee Tamanag Pangboche 9. Lakpa Nuru Sherpa Phortse Village Lhotse I am getting multiple reports and communications that for the second year in a row, rope fixing on Lhotse is a big problem. Last year, when I was supposed to climb Lhotse and was there, the rope never got fixed after an Arun Sherpa died in a fall while fixing
Everest 2017: First Summits!!
Big, positive news from Everest, the ropes were fixed to the summit from the Tibet side on 11 May 2017 around 4:30 pm. Meanwhile, the Nepal side climbers are settling in for a bit of a wait with those ropes not expected to be fixed until 17 May. Cooperation on the North Side The ropes on the north side have been managed by a team of Tibetan and Chinese climbers based out of Lhasa. For years, there was a climbing school in Lhasa that trained climbers on rope fixing and climbing techniques. A similar function is performed in Nepal today by the Khumbu Climbing Center. For years, Russell Brice, Himex team, lead the rope fixing effort on the north. After 2008, when the Chinese effectively closed the north side in order to avoid any anti-Tibet protests while they took the Olympic torch to the summit, Brice moved to the Nepal side and the CTMA took over. This has been going fairly well, albeit with some teams complaining that the ropes were installed later than desired in some years. This season, 2017, brought some uncertainty when the rope fixers got the route set to Camp 3 at 8300 meters, then stopped work. I have asked sources directly on that side for the reason and they seemed as mystified as anyone for the work stoppage. In any event, the teams gathered to get the job completed. On the South, the Icefall Doctors have responsibility to fix the route from EBC to Camp 2, then Sherpas from multiple teams come together to take the route to the summit. The Icefall Doctors are paid thru permit fees, but the commercial Sherpas are paid a bonus and the material cost is funded thru additional money from the climbers, often included in the price of their expedition. Anyway, on the north this year, each climber at base camp was asked to pony up $135 to pay for this effort from 8300 meters to the summit. Usually the largest team takes ownership of fixing the ropes since they have the most support staff. In 2017, the Chinese team with something like 45 support staff and Transcend with around 25 Sherpas were the likely candidates. The Chinese team said they would get the ropes and anchors to 8300 meters but couldn’t go higher and still support their members. So the Transcend team stepped up to finish the job. A technicality here, actually the Sherpas are termed as working for Arun Trekking, a Kathmandu based guide company, but Transcend, an Indian company with an office in Kathmandu, has the climbing permit. Thus we are seeing that both companies are proudly taking credit for getting the ropes to the summit. Is anyone still reading this? 🙂 If you want to read even more, guide Zeb Blais has an excellent blog on the subject plus other activity on the north side. Certainly the climbers on the Tibet side are thrilled that the road is open and now they can finalize their plans to summit. Same Mountain, Different Weather So what is up with the ropes getting to the top from Tibet but the Nepal side is locked down with high winds and deep snow. Isn’t it the same huge rock? Well yes and no – the key word here is huge. I thought I would ask a world-class meteorologists this question and get a factual answer. Chris Tomer is a meteorologist in Denver Colorado and provides weather forecasting for climbers all around the world in addition to being a climber himself and forecasting for the huge recreational community in the Colorado Rocky Mountains. He is currently providing weather forecasting for climbers on Everest this season thru his company Tomer Weather Solutions. This is Chris’ take on the tale of two mountains: … it looks like the higher pressure readings are on the North Side. And we’re talking true mountain meteorology here. If that’s the case you’ll have a pressure gradient at the Lhotse Face and a dominate North Wind off the Lhotse Face/Everest/Lhotse massif that acts like a wall pushing the clouds and precip south or at least blocking it from flowing over that physical barrier. Tends to keep the North side cleaner right now. I do see where the absolute flow of moisture is heavier on the Nepal side and that fits with the idea that the higher pressure readings are on the Tibet side. So, what does this all mean? For the time being the North side is more stable. The north wind is holding the moisture on the Nepal side. So this explains why the north has been pretty nice, including an excellent day today to summit, but Chris suggests a change is in the air: However, climbers will still run into the same bitter cold higher on the mountain and unless they are climbing to the summit in the next two days their fate will be the same as the Nepal side with the jet stream returning in a few days. Light summit wind the next couple and some light snow for the Nepal side. Then jet moves back over summit and influences both Nepal side and Tibet side equally. So the window remains open for climbers ready to get to the summit. I won’t be surprised to see a slew of north summits before this window closes. North Updates This from Tony Mills with Adventure Peaks: The plan is definitely to go for a summit on the 16th but the window is very very slim, the weather isn’t behaving to well at the moment. If we don’t take this opportunity we may have to wait for at least another week, so we will be threading that needle to a certain extent. We can sit at abc for a day or two if it doesn’t work out we come back to bc. Other teams are on the move tomorrow as well so the 16th has some credibility, we’ll see!! Hopefully we can just get this done now! Brooks Entwistle, who arrived at EBC only last week, 2 May, after “pre-acclimatizing” at home made this
Everest 2017: Early Summits may be Later
There comes a time in every expedition where you feel like the world is conspiring against you. Well, not always, but often enough that the talk over meals, whispers outside the tents and prayers revolve around one thing – good weather! 2017’s word of the day – wind, is quickly becoming the word of the season. Sherpas were stopped from finishing the route to the summit from the South Col on Monday by high winds, and cold temperatures. In general the winds need to be under 30 mph/50 kph for sain climbers to consider a summit attempt. We have seen many cases of severe frostbite when the winds remain significantly higher and climbers refuse to turn back – this is called “summit fever” and the only cure is to climb with someone who is not willing to summit at the cost of life or limb. But what if these winds do hang around for a while, what happens? How Late is Late? To keep all this in perspective, this is how I summarized the 2005 season when weather proved difficult: Quite a season! The summits on May 21 were the latest first summit day in 45 years of climbing Mt. Everest. Norgay and Hillary did it on May 29, the earliest was April 4 in 1984. But it was still a good year for summits with over 230 climbers standing on the top of the world. To put this in context, around 150 made the summit in 2004 with the first summits on May 15. And in 2012, the first summits were also a bit late: A team of Sherpas set out the evening of May 17 to set the route to the summit. This team of skilled Sherpas came from IMG, AAI, Peak Freaks, Chilean, 7 Summits. On their heels was a Chilean team, 20 strong, lead by Chilean legend Rodrigo Jordan. They along with the rope fixers plus Ulei Steck who tagged along, umm, without supplemental O’s I might add, all summited the morning of May 18 – the first of the season. So while sitting at 11 May, people might start getting antsy, history has shown there is still a lot of time left. On the Nepal side the driving factor for when the season “ends” is when the Icefall Doctors declare the Icefall too dangerous to maintain. Traditionally this has coincided with the arrival of the monsoons, about 1 June. On the north side, there is no hard stop given the absence of an Icefall type feature. Topping all these practical limits, many climbers buy 60 or 90 day visas and extending them from remote base camps can also be an issue, but rarely happens for Everest climbers. South Side Progress Not everyone is sitting still on the Nepal side. Jannick Graziani, climbing without supplemental Oxygen reached the South Col (as have hundreds of Sherpas stocking the high camp): 6 hours from C3 to south col. Very windy and cold, so i did not stay there too much. Well, I was able to see the next step … so close, so far! Even with no OX, I was quite comfortable … as well as possible. Good breathe, bad stomach!I went back directly to BC with a beautiful light in the late afternoon in the west CWM. Had a good night. Let’s see what could be the plan right now. Icy Lhotse Face Tim Mosedale was one of the teams hoping to sneak in an early summit but the lack of fixed lines to the summit plus deep snow turned them back. They are now at EBC. I found his observations on the condition of the Lhotse face interesting. Good post by Tim that should be read in full: The conditions on the Lhotse Face were very challenging indeed. Obviously it wasn’t helped by the weather but the going underfoot was the toughest I’ve come across. The ice is bullet hard and there’s not really any evidence of foot placements from previous climbers. So every step was a brand new placement … and if you’re not sure footed you’ll be all over the place with your feet constantly skating away from beneath you. Which should be fun when there’s lots of inexperienced people hanging off the ropes. Remembering 1996 Adventure Consultants made a moving posts today regarding the 21st remembrance of the 1996 disaster on Everest that took so many lives including that of Adventure’s Consultant’s leader Rob Hall: Today is the 21st anniversary of the much documented Everest 1996 tragedy when Rob Hall, Andy Harris, Yasuko Namba, Doug Hansen, and Scott Fisher perished in a storm high on Everest. Most recently this story was told in the 2015 Hollywood Motion picture titled ‘Everest’. Rob Hall was the founder of Adventure Consultants. Today we are privileged to have Rob Halls former wife Jan Arnold, niece Emily and a friend Mary staying at BC. In the movie ‘Everest’ Jan was played by Keira Knightley. It is a spiritual journey of remembering. It is lovely to have them staying. Makalu Summit Altitude Junkies posted they had summits on 10 May, but no details yet. Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything
Everest 2017: Weather Playing Cruel Tricks on Climbers
All dressed up and nowhere to go! That is the story on Everest right now. Those staged at the high camps expecting the ropes to be fixed to the summit are disappointed. Those down valley relaxing in tea houses are smug and those at base camps are bored. On the Nepal side, the team of Sherpas trying to set the route from the Balcony to the summit didn’t leave the South Col yesterday as planned due to high winds and extremely cold temps. As we approach 10 May, climbers are getting a bit nervous about when the route will be open, but more importantly if the weather is going to cooperate this season. Snow and Rain … I asked Michael Fagin of Everest Weather for his thoughts on all the rain and snow and if the monsoon was starting early this year. The best source for monsoon related information for Asia is from the India Meteorological Department (IMD). IMD will issue a statement when the monsoon season has officially stated and I have not seen a statement yet. It usually starts about May 20 in the south parts of the Bay of Bengal The IMD did issue a long term outlook last month regarding the monsoon and stated that “the monsoon seasonal rainfall is likely to be 96% of the long term average.” Finally, there is a correlation with the monsoon season when have a La Nina, below normal sea surface temperatures off the west coast of South American along the equator. We have had an La Nina this past winter and this pattern “usually” brings above normal rainfall during the upcoming monsoon season. No mention of if this leads to an early start of the monsoon season. Asian Trekking noted: The rope fixing up to summit of Mt. Everest (8848m) from Balcony (8400m) was postponed today due to bad weather. The team did not go beyond camp 4 today, as it was windy and very cold. They are returning to camp 2, and planning another date to fix the rope beyond balcony to summit. It has started to snow in Base camp and raining down valley. Will update more in later post. Adventure Consultants summed it up well: This morning we were all excited by the prospect of the rope fixing team, including our Sherpas, reaching the summit of Everest. However a deterioration in weather, with significant snowfall, has altered that plan. The fixing team had no choice but to retreat lower, and for now, all plans are on hold. A few teams were already high on the mountain, planning on maximising on the rope fixing, and the good forecast. For now the summit remains untouched, despite best efforts. Downtime Ben Jones, who posts very nice photos noted how Lhakpa Rita Sherpa (we summited K2 together) and Gopal are passing the time – playing chess!! Lucas Furtenbach posted this picture of his team relaxing in a nearby Tibetan village. Hard to feel sorry for them if there are any delays! 🙂 🙂 Actually they are back at base camp now. Plans Also on the Tibet side, the Iowans are making plans for a 15 May summit: Years of climbing successively higher, more difficult mountains and hard physical training over the last year are now being put to the ultimate test. We start our push to the top of the world this afternoon. The summit winds are low and the temperatures are manageable. The only downside is heavy snow this entire week: between 8 inches and 2 feet projected every day throughout our summit push. Challenging. If everything goes as planned, we will be in middle camp (19k) tonight: May 9; ABC (21k) on May 10; rest day ABC on May 11; North Col (23k) on May 12; Camp 2 (25k) on May 13; Camp 3 (27k) on May 14; leave for summit at around 11 PM on May 14; SUMMIT (29k) at around 7-8 AM on May 15; back to ABC (21k) by 6-7 PM on May 15. Rest day at ABC on May 16 or head down to BC. If we are successful we will be the first Iowans to scale Everest’s Northeast Ridge. This climb is for you, Iowa – we are Iowans for EVERest! Illegal Climbing – follow up Finally in a follow up to the story of the illegal climber on the south side, Dawa Steven Sherpa CEO of Asian Trekking (the largest and most respected Nepali based guide company) told me: Hi Alan, saw your blog today about the illegal climber. We looked into it and he’s also climbed lobuche east and pumori illegally. Not only is he not repentant about his actions, you know he has atone further and insulted the people that have caught him on his FB. We also understand that he planned to make a movie out of this ‘adventure’ which would have sent a really bad message to potential visitors to peak. What ever his claimed motivations travelers like him are a danger to themselves and other on the mountain as well as threat to Nepal’s economy and attractiveness as a destination for responsible climbers who do thing the proper way. We are not taking this lightly. We will get the government to take the maximum possible action against him so people like him are discouraged from trying this sort of thing again. Time for Respect This is a serious situation. There have been other people assuming they can just enter Nepal, climb peaks without paying for a permit or following their rules. Imagine if you showed up on Denali without a permit, and flaunted it. The US National Park Service would enforce all the laws. Similar on Aconcagua. He was a guest in Nepal, just like anyone who enters any country on a tourist visa. If a law is broken, the government of that country has full legal rights to prosecute, fine, jail, etc. Nepal law says you must have permit to climb Mt. Everest and in that permit
Everest 2017: Ropes Near Summit, Climbers Staged
This is a brief update today as the majority of teams on both sides are resting up at their respective base camps or lower. However it appears the forecast for calmer weather materialized as Sherpas on the Nepal side reached the Balcony with the fixed ropes. And in a curious move the illegal Everest climber was posting on Facebook his every move. Ropes to Balcony The Director of the Expedition Operators Association, a working group of Everest guide companies based in Kathmandu, posted that the rope fixing has progressed nicely today. Damber Parajuli said: Today the rope fixers were able to fix rope to the Balcony. Tomorrow they hope to leave S Col at 03.00 to fix to the summit. Good luck to all !!! On the Tibet side, work is underway to get ropes and anchors to Camp 3, 8300 meters, for the Sherpas to begin setting the route to the summit. Multiple Summit Waves The teams seem to be forming into at least three major groups on the Nepal side and a scattergram on the North. Today, 9 May, on the South side climbers are staged at Camp 2 and a few already at Camp 3 waiting for the ropes to be fixed all the way to the summit. Tradition and respect for the rope fixers calls for no foreigners to climb with them as they reach the summit. There have been exceptions. David Tait climbed with the Sherpas for a couple of his summits. Kenton Cool has shadowed them as well. And Willie Benegas was infamous for working alongside the Sherpas. Of course, crowding the Sherpas was partly to blame for the 2013 conflict when climbers were on the Lhotse Face the same time the rope fixers were setting the lines. Harsh words were exchanged and the rest is history. As I covered in my recent post How to Manage the Everest Crowds, there are four basic strategies: Get out early Go Late Goldilocks Timing Break into Small Sub Teams and Go Fast and Nimble The wildcard will be when the large teams go and if they break into smaller sub teams or make one huge push. Usually the expedition leaders discuss their plan so as to spread out the climbers. On the north, climbers are usually a bit more patient to wait until the ropes are in, the winds are low and the temps a bit warmer. Unlike on the south with the Icefall Doctors ending maintaining the ladders in the Icefall which brings a firm end to the season, the Tibet side climbers can climb well into June or until the monsoons move in. Popular Everest For the north the total human number appears to be about 306 and helps frame the difference. Everest south now appears to have 373 Everest permits plus about the same number of Sherpas for 746 nearly double the north. Foreigners Support Total South 373 373 746 North 136 170 306 509 543 1,052 Blue Skies Ahead? This computer generated model suggest low winds at the summit for the next week. Other forecasters are suggesting a period of high pressure on top of Everest that should usher in good conditions. The general rule of thumb is not to climb to the summit with winds over 30 mph, about 50 kph. Of course this is a guideline that some will ignore. Climbing with No Money The South African who was apprehended at Everest Base Camp climbing without a permit was not really hiding. It appears Ryan Sean Davy , fully understanding he was climbing illegally, was publicizing his climb on Facebook. He defended his climb under the auspiciousness of “I was ashamed that I couldn’t afford the permit” and “My main incentive for being on the mountain was to help anyone who might have been in trouble”. Given how unusual this is, I thought I would post his explanation in full so you can make your own decision on his approach. Take a read and cast a vote on the poll: This news is probably going to make a lot of people upset with me and I really hope you’ll all forgive me. I’m willing to be as accountable as I know how but my Everest expedition has taken a very bad turn. I am going to be honest in saying that when I arrived at Base Camp it became evident that I didn’t have nearly enough money for a solo permit because of hidden costs and even if I did they would have declined it because I had no previous mountaineering experience on record. I was ashamed that I couldn’t afford the permit after all the help, preparation and what everybody had done for me during my training, it would have been a total embarrassment to turn around and accept defeat because of a piece of paper. So I took a chance and spent the little money I had on more gear to climb and practice on the surrounding peaks for acclimatizing in preparing for a stealth entry onto Everest. My main incentive for being on the mountain was to help anyone who might have been in trouble since every year there are so many fatalities. In one incident 40 climbers walked right past a dying man who was pleading for help. He inevitably died because all the climbers were fixed on the Summit and didn’t want to get distracted. If I could at least have helped one person it would have made a difference, that would have been my Summit. Unfortunately the system caught up with me and I was eventually captured by the mountain Orks after 2 entries into the Ice Falls and managing an ascent of 24,000ft. Expedition companies have no time for wanna be Everesters with no money so someone turned me in. I was harassed at basecamp to a point that I honestly thought I was going to get stoned to death right there. I’m not even exaggerating. I was treated like a murderer. A true testimony of how money has become more important than decency. My
Everest 2017: Weekend Update May 7
Climbers have been putting in the hard work that will be needed next week when almost certainly we will see the first Everest summits in the Spring 2017 season. The winds have been fierce for the past week stopping efforts to get the ropes to the summit on either side. The forecast, however, calls for a calm period ahead. If it materializes, look for a Walmart style Black Friday rush to the summit! (sorry to my international readers for the US analogy 🙂 ) This was a busy week and I covered a lot of ground with a post each day (listed at the bottom of this post). As the activity picks up I will post each day, update and perhaps make several depending what is newsworthy. I will not be reporting on the “delicious food by our XX Chef” that seems to qualify as “news” from Everest these days! 😆 EverestER Update The helicopter companies were once again very busy this past week ferrying people off the mountain and base camp for treatment in Kathmandu. EverestER reported seeing 365 patients so far – already more than the entire 2016 season. Over half have been Nepali. Many patients had complaints of high altitude cough and other upper respiratory complaints. There seems to be a flu bug in the Khumbu that they say is contributing to the URIs. Al Hancock, attempting Lhotse noted the illness: For the last several days different illnesses has swept through our team sending some climbers hiking to lower altitude settlements for recovery and many others in worse condition taken out by helicopter. Others like myself are staying put. We are lighting incense and sending out positive energy to our teammates that they have a speedy recovery and can make it back for a summit attempt. Climbing from Tibet – High Camps, High Winds Adventure Peaks is all set when the weather is right: We’ve had an update in from Sean and the team, they are back down at base camp after their latest rotation on Everest. This time the team have been up to tag nearly 7500m, everyone is feeling strong, but are glad to be back down for a rest, and to recover for the next time up! This time up the team have went to the highest they will go before their summit attempt. They have spent 2 nights now sleeping at the North Col and will have seen quite clearly now the task that lies ahead of them. A few reports of weird dreams at altitude, (mainly steak and wine) that will intermittently distract them from their dreams of standing on the summit. Not long now, as the team will rest at base camp, and the luxuries it provides and they will wait for the winds to lift, that will allow a summit attempt. Summit Climb‘s David O’brien said Sherpas will set the lines to the summit around 10 May. we walked the long ABC to base camp rocky trek yesterday and we’re all looking forword to some well earned rest. Our acclimatisation is now complete and the next time we head up will be on our summit push. There was a big meeting this morning to decide who will fix the section of rope above 8300m. One team with extra Sherpas has agreed to provide the fixing service with input from other teams to get ropes etc to the high camp. The rope fixing is expected to be completed by the 10th May earlier than usual for the North side. Transcend Adventures, an Indian based company with 23 members and 23+ Sherpas has taken on the rope fixing role from the CMA. A curious shift since the Tibetan rope fixers have set the route since 2008 when Russell Brice left the north aside for the south side. Brice’s Sherpas had total responsibility for years. Pool Table Included Before you feel too sorry for those climbing on the north side with it’s cold winds, and steep rock Steps, take a look at these pictures from 7 Summits Club. Alex Abramov prides himself in having the best base camp complete with big screen TV, espresso maker, ping pong table and, wait for it, yes a pool table! Ah, the benefits of being able to drive to base camp. Click to see more decadent luxuries or as some of my friends would say “glamping”. Oh, Alex charges from $59,900 to $74,900 depending on level of support – pool table included. Alex posted (I had a Russian native speaker translate and I’m still confused!) 😛 Final second day of rest at the Base Camp. Since we recommended everyone not to wash or scratch, everyone was crowding at the base camp. Cards, table tennis, pool, TV, internet, beer, coffee and all kinds of chatting. So, the day has passed and to … (hell) with it. Tomorrow we leave for Advanced Base Camp (6400m) and then off to North saddle. We won’t have reception again. For 4 nights. Hold out without me. Ready for the summit Lucas Furtenbach uses altitude tents to “pre-acclimatize” and seems quite pleased with the results. I met Lucas last year on Everest and was impressed with his operation. I hope to interview him after the season and explore his philosophy on climbing 8000 meter mountains where he believes Everest can be done in a month or less. He will provide members with 16 bottles of supplemental oxygen and charge $95,000. He posted from base camp that their team is ready for the summit when it comes and comments on the wind thus far: Pre-acclimatization with the hypoxia casts proves itself. The nights were partly very windy and some tents were again torn by other teams at the Nordsattel. With us all remained well. Rock solid Marmot Mountain Europe you can only say! Very soothing in such situations …The wind is so far the main theme this year at Everest. It intensifies the feeling of cold extreme and thus increases the risk of frostbite. In addition, it also mutes mentally, if one moves