Everest 2012: Weekend Update May 6
This was the week Everest fell apart – literary and figuratively. With concerns over the lack of snow surfacing back in late March, it was not until the Sherpas, store the tireless heroes of Everest, s started to establish Camp 3 on the Lhotse face that the danger became real. Multiple injuries from rock fall […]
Everest 2012: Weekend Update April 29
It is hard to believe the Everest spring season is half over. At this point the climbers are in the middle of their acclimatization rotations with successful climbs of trekking peaks, perhaps to the North Col or a few nights at Camp 2 at the base of the Lhotse Face. A few have returned home […]
Everest 2012: Weekend Update April 22
This was an extremely difficult week on Everest with the deaths of two Sherpas. However teams continued to make progress in their acclimatization spending nights at high camps, taking advantage of the mostly good weather on the south while high winds hindered progress a bit on the north. Sherpa Deaths A heavy tone hovers over […]
Everest 2012: Weekend Update April 15
This past week was critical for our Everest climbers. After 7 to 10 days of trekking they reached Base Camp on the South or, there after the same amount driving, the Chinese Base Camp on the North. Thus it was time to unwind, rest and regroup for the real task ahead. The conditions seem to […]
Everest 2012: Weekend Update April 8
The annual march through the Khumbu continued this first week of April 2012. The teahouses were full and so were the climbers in anticipation of reaching Everest Base Camp this weekend. Ian Ridley climbing with Jagged Globe reported from Everest Base Camp – Nepal: This morning we climbed up above Gorak Shep to Kala Patter […]
Everest 2012: Weekend Update April 1
Well the first significant week of Everest 2012 is competed with no serious issues. The Nepalese are issuing climbing permits as expected and the flights to Lukla are running on schedule, which is unexpected 🙂 We have many reports from climbers and trekkers of arriving safely in Kathmandu, stuff with their luggage and are now […]
Everest 2012 Weekend Update March 25
The Everest 2012 Season is officially underway with climbers now in Kathmandu and some already trekking towards Everest Base camp on the South. The North will remain quiet for a couple more weeks as the Chinese had previously stated that no climbers can enter Tibet until April 1st. In additional to frequents posts as news […]
Everest 2010 Weekend Update May 16
We can summarize the week in one word: weather. After the excitement of summits on May 5th and 7th, teams on both sides watched this week as the jet stream sat parked on the summit of Everest creating a huge plume of ice crystals that provided second thoughts on going to the summit. But first […]
Everest 2010 Weekend Update May 9 (updated)
This was a busy week on Everest with the first summits for the 2010 season along with a risky gamble. And several accidents and, sadly, a reported death on nearby Lhotse. A team of nine Sherpas fixed the ropes to the summit on the south side. They included Sherpas from IMG, Alpine Ascents and Himex. One western guide who was doing route work high on the mountain also joined them to the summit. Over on the north, it is an entirely different story. According to teams, the ropes are currently fixed only to camp 3 or about 27,300′, far short of the summit and thus stopping most summit attempts. The weather has been difficult this year. As usual, the north receives more snow and wind than the south and increases the difficultly of climbing on that side. It appears no summits attempts until May 11th when the winds could begin to ease but more likely it will be a few days later than that.
Everest 2010 Weekend Update May 1 (updated)
There are good weeks and bad weeks on Everest, a bad week is when someone dies. On Monday, April 26, Hungarian climber Laszlo Varkonyi was swept into a crevasse by an avalanche on the North Col. A desperate search ensued, however, by Thursday, the search was called off. Teams on the south, while aware of the north side events, continued their acclimatization rotations with many climbers spending the uncomfortable night at camp 3. The weather continued to play nice and Sherpas took the fixed line all the way to the South Col on the south and to camp 3 on the north. They are now being supplied with oxygen bottles, stoves, fuel, tents and other suppliers needed to launch summit bids. Both camps are roughly at 8000m. As of today, the ropes are not fixed to the summit from either side.