Himalaya 2011: Apa Nabs Number 21!

So, remember when I said I was going to Chile for a few days? Turns out things didn't go quite as planned. Massive storms in the Dallas area killed all outgoing flights and as I sat, in an American Airlines jet for three hours, slowly watching my window for catching my international flight out of Miami disappear, it slowly dawned on me that I was never going to get to the Atacama this week. I had a fairly small window of time down there, and wasting a day in Miami didn't sound all that great. So, here I am, heading back to Austin, with plans to re-book the Atacama trip for a few weeks down the line.

Now... where was I? Oh yeah, big things happening in the Himalaya, where teams have begun summitting Everest and other peaks. The news of the day of course is that Apa Sherpa has claimed his 21st summit of the mountain, topping out this morning at 9:15 AM local time. The successful climb extends his record for the person who has climbed the world's highest peak the most times. Apa, and the rest of his Eco-Everest team, will now start cleaning up the mountain, as they have for the past few years, bringing tons of garbage, left behind by other expeditions, down to be properly disposed of.  The team also leads the crusade to inform the general public of the effects of climate change on Everest as well.

The Adventure Consultants put a few climbers on the summit today as well, working hard to beat the crowds that are expected at the summit over the next few days. It seems that all the major commercial squads are now in place, to have a crack at the summit. Good weather is expected into the weekend.

Stay tuned for much more over the next few days. Congratulations to everyone who successfully reached the summit today. Well done. And good luck to everyone queuing up to have their shot tomorrow and Friday.