Himalaya Fall 2010: Eric Larsen Begins Summit Push On Everest

As predicted yesterday, the summit push has begun on Everest today. Eric Larsen updated his blog with a report that he has reached Camp 2, but it wasn't an easy climb. It took him about six hours to move up to C2 amidst high winds, which eventually calmed some as they went higher.

Eric also reports that the Icefall has changed dramatically since the last time he moved through, demonstrating once again how difficult that section of the climb can be. He saw several ladders that had collapsed from the shifting of the ice, and he noted several new ice formations in the area as well. His words are a good reminder why that portion of the mountain is such a scary proposition for all the climbers.

The plan now is to proceed up to Camp 3 tomorrow and then on to C4 on Thursday, where the team will rest for a few hours before setting out for the summit at about 8 or 9 PM that night. The hope is to reach the top in the early hours of Friday, provided the weather holds and everything goes as expected.

Elsewhere in the Himalaya, ExWeb is reporting that Santiago Quintero was turned back on Cho Oyo once again, reportedly less than 50 meters from the summit. Reportedly he climbed the entire way alone, once again breaking trail for a couple of other climbers, one of which, a Swedish mountaineer, did top out. This will likely close the season on Cho Oyo as well, and with Manaslu now empty, there are few climbers still in the region.

ExWeb does note that Jordi Corominas and Jordi Tosas are working together to summit Lhotse. They've already been has high as 7000 meters and are about to make their summit push as well, although they report that there is a lot of snow on the mountain this season. 


Stay tuned. There should be updates from the region over the next few days. Eric is now in the final stages of his Save The Poles Expedition. Lets hope he gets his chance to finish.