Tag: Everest 2023 Coverage

Everest 2023: First Deaths of Season

Debris from an apparent serac release off Everest’s west shoulder has taken the lives of three Sherpas in the Khumbu Icefall. They were part of the rope team ferrying gear to begin fixing the route from Camp 2 to the summit. Searchers are said to have located their bodies but have not recovered them, but early information is often wrong. #everest2023

Everest 2023: Himalayan Update and “Records”

A few teams have reached Everest Base Camp, but most are still trekking or acclimatizing on Trekking Peaks like Lobuche, Mera or Island Peak. Camps are being established in the Western Cwm. Look for the first 8000 meters summit of the season in a few days #everest2023

Everest 2023: Weekend Update April 8

Fixing the route on Everest

As we end the first week of April 2023, teams continue their treks to Everest Base Camp (EBC). Meanwhile, bad weather has brought climbing to a halt on Annapurna. Reports of heavy snow may make the 2023 spring season more challenging than we’ve seen in years. But the good news is the fixed ropes are set from EBC to Camp 2, and the Icefall is officially open.

Everest 2023: Weekend Update April 2

The Everest spring season is starting slowly, at least on the Nepal side of the Hill. The Tibet side remains closed to foreigners. Multiple teams are trekking to Everest Base Camp – Nepal, aka EBC. Each weekend during the season, I’ll post a “Weekend Update” summarizing the main stories for the past week. #everest2023

I’ve always felt that if you are qualified and have earned the right to be on Everest, you should be applauded, regardless of your result. No matter what you read, Everest is not a walk-up; it hard, and people die. With that, let’s look at a few climbers with unique stories. #everest2022

Everest 2023: First Steps in the Khumbu

As we approach April, activity is picking up in Nepal. Team after team has left Kathmandu, taking helicopters or fixed-wing aircraft to Namche or Lukla. There they will begin the trek to Everest Base Camp, Island Peak, or just in the Khumbu. It’s a special time. As I’ve said since 1997, if you ever get a chance to trek in Nepal, jump on it. It will change your life for the better. Let’s take a look at the first steps in the Khumbu.

#everest2023

Everest 2023: Interview with Lukas Furtenbach – The Evolution of Oxygen Delivery Systems on Everest

Lukas Furtenbach, a major mountaineering expedition guide company and is now a top supplier of supplemental oxygen systems to all teams climbing Everest.  He partnered with Neil Greenwood of Summit Oxygen to create Everest Oxygen focusing on supplying supplemental oxygen to the mountaineering industry.

His Austrian-based Furtenbach Adventures offer global climbs, including most of the 8000-meter mountains, the Seven Summits, the Volcanic Seven Summits, and Ski Mountaineering. However, they have made a name for themselves with their “Flash Expeditions,” which takes only three weeks to climb Everest, compared to the classic style, which takes six to eight weeks.

In this Podcast, we explore the evolution of using supplemental oxygen, Lukas’s approach and several other Everest topics. We cover:

 2:24 – The Chinese closure of Everest for the past four years, and will they open in Autumn for 8000ers?
 4:45  – Will COVID be a factor for Everest 2023?
 5:55 – Furtenbach Adventures Carbon Neutral approach to mountaineering
10:02 – Climbing Everest in three weeks vs. six to eight weeks
11:35 – Pre-acclimatizing at home using altitude tents
22:13 – The history of altitude tents (In France in the late 1970s)
25:52 – Is using supplemental oxygen cheating?
29:54 – Everest Oxygen supplies systems to other teams
30:04 –  Understanding the Oxygen Delivery System
30:37 – Oxygen Cylinders
31:43 – Oxygen Regulators
39:29 – Oxygen Masks
42:15 – System Reliability
45:15 – Sherpas using Oxygen
47:22 – Types of Delivery Systems
47:32 –  Constant Flow
47:41 –  Pulse Dose
49:41 – On Demand
52:14 – Remote Monitoring of a Climber’s Health
56:17 – Everest 2023 Predictions

Everest 2023: Leaving Nothing Unsaid

Leaving home to climb Mt. Everest is no simple task. It’s not a business trip; it’s not a vacation; it’s something entirely different. While it may be your dream, it can be something altogether different for those left behind. As we approach the end of March, scores of climbers are going through this process for Everest 2023.

It’s time for Everest climbers to get focused and serious about the last-minute preparations. Since their dream began, they wondered how this period would feel. They saved money, bought the gear, and trained their bodies for months or even years, but a few crucial steps remain before boarding that plane for Kathmandu.

A longtime reader and climber preparing for Everest sent me this question last week: “How do you keep sleeping and maintain mental focus 20 days before leaving for Everest without stressing yourself out?’ My answer was:

Focus on “leaving nothing unsaid” with those who matter most in your life. Visualize being on the mountain with a positive outcome, review your gear using a mental walk-thru of the climb to ensure you have everything you need and want. Finally, surround yourself with positive people who have fun, laugh, and support you.

For this last step of prep, let’s take a closer look at three areas: Physical, Mental, and Emotional. #everest2022

Everest 2023: Himalayan Update-Climbing Underway

The #Everest2023 season is starting to take shape, with guides establishing their base camp and the Icefall Doctors working in the Icefall. China reopened, but it’s too late for Everest this spring.

Everest 2023: Interview with Scott Lehmann and Shayna Unger, Deaf Climbers

Podcast: Scott Lehmann and Shayna Unger, are aiming to be the first American couple and, to their knowledge, the second and third deaf climbers to summit Mount Everest. Also, they are trying to become the first deaf couple to compete the Seven Summits. Both were born, as they say, profoundly deaf, meaning they had no hearing at all. They live in the Washington, D.C., area and are educators and mountaineers. They summited Denali, Aconcagua, Kilimanjaro, Ecuador’s Chimborazo and Cotopaxi, and Mont Blanc, plus Scott has all the US High Point.

A third-generation deaf person, Scott is an educator and a mountaineer. Given the lack of deaf representation in the outdoors and lack of communication access to outdoor education, the outdoors was not a big part of Scott’s life until he was 23 when he climbed a mountain for the first time. Shayna is a deaf woman, an educator and a mountaineer. Growing up, Shayna often went on camping trips with her deaf family in the 1990s, but they never did. They have full access to outdoor sports. It was not until college that Shayna started traveling and fell in love with climbing mountains.