As expected, the winds died, the sky cleared, and the weather window opened on schedule on Everest today, giving climbers access to the summit from both sides of the mountain. There appears to have been a lot of summits, although as of this writing, I haven't heard an estimate yet. There were however, two summits of note that I wanted to touch on this morning.
First, on the North Side, 13-year old Jordan Romero successfully reached the top of Everest, setting a new record for the youngest person to accomplish that feat. Jordan has received a ton of media attention prior to the climb, and is sure to receive a lot more today, and while I'm definitely not in favor of these young kids climbing 8000 meter peaks, I'm glad that his climb is over, and he is down safe today. I want to extend a congratulations to Jordan and his whole team. He now has just Mt. Vinson in Antarctica to summit to nab all of the Seven Summits. He'll head for that peak in the fall.
Apa Sherpa also topped out on the mountain, via the South Side, claiming his 20th summit of the mountain. Apa reached the summit at 8:34 AM local time today, extending his own record for most times on top of the world. Apa is climbing to raise awareness of his own charity, the Apa Sherpa Foundation and to raise awareness of climate change. Congratulations to Apa as well!
Also, congratulations to Mandy Ramsden, climbing with the Adventure Consultants Team. She reached the summit last night as well, becoming the first South African woman to complete the Seven Summits.
More news soon, as it is likely to continue to be a very busy weekend.
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