Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Cone of Silence Descends on Everest


Yesterday I posted about the military and liaison officers arriving in Everest Base Camp and now it seems that communications on the mountain has been suspended as we had heard could happen when we heard about the Rules of Everest for this season.

Our friend Alan Arnette, who continues on his Road Back To Everest had expected to make dispatches throughout his climb to keep us all informed of his progress. His latest post simply reads: "Dispatches will resume in mid-May", indicating that we can expect no updates until after the Chinese summit with the Olympic Torch.

Likewise, the Peak Freaks have posted an update as well that gives details on their encounter with one of the Liaison Officers who indicated that while they understood that communication from the mountain was important to the climbers and their families back home, that they made no promises about when communications would resume or how much info would flow from the mountain. They also indicated that no cameras would be allowed on Everest until after the May 10th deadline as well. This includes trekkers to the region too, who will be asked to leave their cameras and cell phones at a station before entering BC.

On the other hand, Adventure Peaks is reporting that they still have goo communications, although they expect some delays in receiving their messages and being able to send out.

So, it seems that for now we can expect it to get mostly quiet until after May 10th or the Chinese summit. We'll have to wait, and watch, and see what happens. The strange year on Everest continues it seems.

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