Himalaya 2011: News From Lhotse

Everest gets much of the attention in terms of Himalayan climbs, but its neighbor Lhotse is quite a challenge as well. Standing 8516 meters (27,940 ft) in height, it is the fourth highest mountain in the world and shares a large portion of the same route as the mountain in whose shadow it always sits. But plenty of climbers are on that peak this year as well, and there has been a notable summit to report.

Michael Horst has been climbing with the Alpine Ascents team this spring, and according to the team's blog, he accomplished an impressive feat over the weekend. Horst topped out on Everest on Sunday, and then less then 24-hours later, he also bagged the summit of Lhotse as well. The Alpine Ascents blog says that they think he may be the first climber to achieve this double-summit without first descending to Base Camp to rest. Instead, he returned to Camp 4, rested there, then went right back up into the thin air. Pretty impressive, and definitely worth a hearty congratulations.

Meanwhile, the North Face Lhotse Ski Expedition team has sent back their second video dispatch, which you can check out below. The team is currently still on the mountain, and are preparing to go for their summit bid, which will be followed by a ski descent. In the video, you see them arriving in the Khumbu and trekking up to camp, where they begin their expedition in earnest. There are plenty of great shots of the region and it really gives you a great sense of what it is like to be there. Lots of memories ofr me on this one!


The North Face®: Lhotse Ski Expedition Dispatch Two from Camp 4 Collective on Vimeo.

Himalaya 2011: A New Weather Window Opens

The weekend was a slow one on the South Side of Everest, with high winds slamming the weather window shut. All told, some 40 climber reached the summit last week, but plenty more spent the weekend in Base Camp, where they anxiously watched the weather reports and waited for good news. That good news came last night in the form of a second projected weather window for the end of this week. It now looks like we can expect another round so summit bids on Thursday and Friday, and teams are now on the move to take advantage of that opportunity.

Amongst the climbers who have begun the ascent are Alan Arnette, who sent an audio dispatch this morning from Camp 1. He reports that the conditions on the  mountain are favorable right now, and that he and the entire IMG team he is climbing with, made the climb up to C1 in rapid time. Normally, a lot of teams would push on to Camp 2, but they have elected to spend the day in Camp 1 and conserve their energy for the final push. The plan is to go up to C2 tomorrow, then on to C3 on Wednesday. Thursday, the team will climb to the South Col and Camp 4, where they'll rest for a few hours before leaving for the summit at around 3 AM Friday morning local time. If everything goes as planned, they should arrive at the summit sometime Friday morning. For Alan, who sounds in great spirits on the dispatch, this would be a major milestone in his 7 Summits For Alzheimer's campaign.

David Tait has started back up the mountain as well and will be checking in from Camp 2 later in the day via sat phone. In his latest update, he talks about facing the Khumbu Icefall yet again and the toll that the climb is having on his body, having lost a considerable amount of weight. You may recall that David was on his summit push last week when winds picked up on the mountain, causing Himex boss Russell Brice to pull the plug mid-ascent. Tait, and others, were forced to descend all the way back to BC, where they had a short rest before turning around again. The entire Himex squad is hoping to top out during this new weather window later in the week.

There was sad news to report from Everest this weekend, when it was revealed that Japanese climber Takashi Ozaki died on the mountain. ExWeb says that it was apparently a result of HAPE, and notes the particular injustice of Ozaki dying on the normal route of Everest after he helped pioneer some of the more challenging, and little used, other routes on the mountain. Ozaki, who was 58, had plenty of success in high altitude mountaineer, as he had successfully climbed six of the 8000 meter peaks. My condolences to his friends, family, and teammates.

That's all for now. Expect lots more news later in the week, when it appears there will be another round of summit bids. It is possible that this could be the final weather window of the season, as June is looming, and the monsoon won't be far behind.

Himalaya 2011: Everest Update!

It was a successful Summit Day for at least some of the commercial teams on Everest yesterday. The expected first big push took place on schedule, with a number of teams completing their climbs, while others elected to stay put or descend the mountain, in hopes that the weather would be a bit more safe and settled for another attempt today or early next week.

Alan Arnette, who is on Everest and in Base Camp at the moment, posted a good update earlier today with news on all the proceedings. He noted that some of his teammates on the IMG squad successfully topped out yesterday, and another group was heading up the mountain today. But Alan also says that the weather conditions for the summit bids weren't as good as the climbers would have hoped for, with winds blowing as hard as 50 mile per hour. Alan, who has been on Everest on three previous occasions, points out that usually anything more than 20 mph is too dangerous to risk going up.

But obviously, teams did go up, and in addition to IMG, the Peak Freaks also put 11 climbers on the summit yesterday, all of which are now back down the mountain safe and sound and in excellent condition.  The Adventure Consultants also put most of the their team on top as well yesterday, ending another successful campaign for that team as well.

David Tait was amongst the climbers with Himex yesterday who elected to head back down the mountain. He does an excellent job of describing his roller coaster emotions while first climbing up to Camp 3, and then descending back down the mountain when the weather took a turn. He also notes that a number of teams decided to go all the way back to Base Camp, but an ill-timed collapse in the Khumbu Icefall stranded many of them in Camp 1 for the night. As most of you know, the Everest Ice Doctors work hard to keep a route open through the icefall, but when a collapse occurs, it can take some time before they establish a new path.

Today seems to be a "wait and see" day. Some squads are moving up to check the conditions, while others are waiting for the next window, which is scheduled to open next week. Alan, who says he is feeling well and is strong, will be climbing then, and is hoping to claim his first Everest summit. Edurne Pasaban has just returned from her final acclimatization round, and will be looking for a summit bid, minus the supplemental oxygen, sometime late next week as well. Hopefully the conditions will be good for a second, or possibly third, round of summits then.

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.

Himalaya 2011: Teams Jockey For Position On Everest's South Side

As predicted last week, the teams on the South Side of Everest are working to get themselves into position for summit bids later this week. With the ropes fixed to the summit, and the acclimatization rotations complete, everything now hinges on the weather. Team leaders currently have their eyes on the sky and are intently watching the forecast to try to judge the best time to make their summit bids. High winds have been buffeting the mountain the past few days, but it looks like they are calming down now, right on schedule for the mid-month push.

The IMG team has sent their first climbers up the mountain, with the lead squad resting in Camp 2 today and planning on heading up to Camp 3 tomorrow. They'll likely spend the night there as well, and if the weather window looks good, they could begin the final push on Thursday with an eye on topping out on Friday. The other IMG climbers will go up in stages, staggered a day or two behind. That includes Alan Arnette, who returned to BC from a Camp 3 acclimatization rotation yesterday. He'll most likely rest in Base Camp for a few days before starting his climb, with an eye on standing on the summit sometime next week.

The Peak Freaks are one day ahead on their schedule, as they are expected in Camp 3 today, moving to C4 tomorrow and a possible summit bid on Thursday. By all accounts, the team is doing well, and all the members of the team are healthy, save one, who is headed back down the mountain due to stomach issues.

The Himex squad are in their traditional wait-out-the-rush mode, save one of their climbers. David Tait, who has summitted the mountain on three previous occasions, is already on the move, heading up to Camp 2 today. He is planning on being on the summit by dawn on Friday, provided his health and the weather cooperate.

So there you have it. It looks like things are moving right on schedule at the moment. Teams are jockeying for position and looking to take advantage of the current good weather conditions. If the weather holds, I suspect we'll see a steady stream of summits over the course of the next week or so. The past few years has given the climbers a fairly narrow window to reach the top, and then once that window was closed, the season was rather abruptly over. Perhaps that won't happen this year, but it has been an odd season on Everest in terms of weather.

One other note, the IMG update also said that due to the high winds, the rope fixing up Lhotse. That work is now scheduled to be finished on Friday of this week, allowing the climbers (and skiers!) to make their final push on Everest's neighbor as well. I'm sure that there will be some Lhotse Teams in Camp 4 that will be ready to pounce on the opportunity.

Stay tuned! It'll definitely be a busy week on the Big Hill.

Himalaya 2011: 82-Year Old Dies On Everest

Sad news from Everest today, as we have received word that 82-year old Shailendra Kumar Upadhyaya died while trying to scale the mountain. He had hoped to set a new age record for reaching the summit and prove to the world that elderly people are still strong and vibrant, even after the age of 80.

According to the story, Upadhyaya was making an acclimatization rotation on the mountain and had just climbed up to Camp 1. What exactly happened after he reached that point, which is located at roughly 6096 meters (20,000 ft), remains unclear, and the cause of death hasn't been determined, but it seems likely that the rigors of the climb were a bit too much for his body to take.

In the original post I wrote about Upadhyaya's attempt I noted that he had almost no mountaineering experience, and while it is unclear if that had anything to do with his death, the lack of a climbing background certainly didn't help his cause.

My condolences to Upadhyaya's friends and family, who probably feared that this could happen.

Himalaya 2011: Skiing A New Line On Lhotse

I caught this video this morning while reading Backcountry.com's the Goat Blog. It is the first dispatch from a team of skiers and climbers from the Camp 4 Collective who have traveled to Nepal to climb, and ski, Lhotse, the fourth highest mountain on Earth. The video serves as an introduction to the three men and their expedition, and shows some of their early days in Kathmandu, one of the most colorful and chaotic cities in the world.

By now, the team is surely in Everest Base Camp and preparing to go up the Lhotse Face. Expect more dispatches in the near future and read their updates on the Vertical Carnival Blog. With the route now open on both Everest and Lhotse, they're no doubt waiting for the right weather as well.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, these people who climb and then ski an 8000 meter peak are nuts!




FINAL TNF Lhotse Ski Expedition Dispatch ONE 5.4.11 from Camp 4 Collective on Vimeo.

Himalaya 2011: Kenton Cool Nabs 9th Everest Summit, Tweets Success!

British mountaineer Kenton Cool has nabbed the first non-Sherpa summit of the year on Everest, just a day after the route was opened. While not a whole lot of details are known about the climb just yet, we do know that Cool is a guide with Dream Guides and that upon learning that the route was complete, he moved quickly to take advantage of a weather window.

According to the Dream Guides Blog, Kenton topped out at 7:30 AM local time this morning, and was back in Camp 4 three hours later. After a brief rest, he was expected to head further down the mountain, an is quite possibly resting in Camp 2 at this very moment.

Not only did Cool grab the first commercial summit of the year, he also sent a tweet from the roof of the world as well. You can follow his tweets at @KentonCool, where you'll find one that simply reads:

“@KentonCool: Everest summit no 9! 1st tweet from the top of the world thanks to a weak 3G signal & the awesome Samsung Galaxy S2 handset! @samsunguk”

Samsung was one of the sponsors for this climb, and he obviously used one of their smartphones to send the message from the summit.

It will be interesting to if there are any other climbers who will have a go at a summit bid while the weather is good. I'm still expecting the majority of the teams won't go until sometime late next week, but it all depends on their acclimatization rotation and how long the weather holds out. For now, it looks good though.

Congrats to Kenton on claiming his ninth summit of Everest. Well done mate!

(PS: This is my 5000th post on The Adventure Blog! Thanks to everyone for reading!)

Himalaya 2011: It's On!! Ropes Fixed To Summit Of Everest!

Today was the day that everyone on the South Side of Everest, not to mention followers at home, have been waiting for, as we have received word that the route to the summit has been fixed, and climbers are now free to begin their summit bids. For most, that means completing their current acclimatization rounds, and then keeping an eye on the weather to ensure a good window for the approach.

The world comes from various sources, including the Peak Freaks, who noted that this was an incredible display of speed on the part of the Sherpas putting the lines together. The team of six reportedly left Camp 2 this morning, and made their way up above the South Col, where they grabbed the ropes, donned their oxygen masks, and went to work. They were done in no time, and were suppose to descend back to Camp 4 to spend the night, but they felt so good they just kept going down the mountain. They're now bak in Camp 2 and resting comfortably.

IMG has even more information on the climb saying:

Today the IMG sherpas Phu Tshering and Karma Gyalzen, and the rest of the fixing team reached the summit! They started at 1am at Camp 2, climbed to the Col in time for breakfast, fixed to the Balcony in 4 hours, and decided to keep going! The conditions up high were perfect, and they reached the summit at 4pm (May 6 Nepal time) and got safely back down on the Col at 5:50pm.

They are leaving South Col at 6:30pm and heading for Camp 2 tonight! The route was on snow most of the way (some years it gets quite rocky above the Col) and there was quite a lot of snow up on the summit ridge and Hillary Step. All total they fixed 1600 meters of rope on the way up and are setting double ropes on their descent in the steep places.

So there you have it. Reportedly the conditions of the route up to Camp 4 are excellent, so depending on weather, and acclimatization, expect summit bids to begin by early next week.

Congrats to these six amazing climbers on notching the first summits of the season on the Big Hill. They're hard work has made it possible for everyone else to follow, and their strength and speed is something that I'll always admire. Well done!

Now let the games begin!

Himalaya 2011: Alan's Ready To Climb, Death On Manaslu

As I mentioned yesterday, work continues to progress at a steady pace on the South Side of Everest, and with the lines now fixed to the South Col, a steady stream of Sherpas are now shuttling gear up to Camp 4. If the weather holds, it is starting to look like the route will be set all the way to the summit by this weekend, and we could have guides on top of the mountain by Friday or Saturday. That will clear the way for the climbers to finish up their acclimatization rounds and start the waiting game for a weather window sometime around the middle of the month.

Our friend Alan Arnette posted a nice update from the mountain yesterday that helps to fill in some of the gaps as to what is happening at the moment. At the time that he wrote the post, Alan was back in BC, but is preparing to go back up the mountain to Camp 3 today. On his last acclimatization round, he went up and "touched" C3, but spent nights in Camps 1 and 2 along the way. This time he'll actually stay at C3.

Alan also notes that the last rotation on the mountain didn't go well for his health. He's been battling an upper respiratory lung infection and it made it very challenging to climb up to 7200 meters (23,621 ft). Once he returned to lower elevations, he was feeling much better however, and is now feeling strong and ready to back up. He also noted that he has changed his strategy for climbing the  mountain this time out, and is spending extra nights at Camp 1 in effort to conserve energy on the push at higher altitudes.

The weather continues to be odd, with snow at strange times of the day and colder than normal temperatures. Upper portions of the route are said to be more exposed than normal, despite plenty of snow, which can be a concern for the climbers who have to scramble up bare rock while wearing crampons. Those spikes are designed for ice and snow and don't exactly provide good footing on hard surfaces.

The plan is to now spend a few days going back up to Camp 3 before descending to EBC once again. After that, it is all about the weather window, and considering this is Alan's fourth time on Everest, he knows all to well what that waiting game is all about.

Considering the great work that Alan is doing to raise funds for the Cure Alzheimer's Fund, I'd personally like to see nothing more than him standing on top of Everest at last.

Other news of note, ExWeb is reporting that the Iranian team that summitted Manaslu last Friday lost a team member on the descent. Isa Mir-Shekari succumbed to altitude sickness at Camp 4 (7460m/24,475 ft) on that mountain on April 29th.

Also, David Liano, who was climbing Everest from the North Side has now returned to Kathmandu where he is battling what is described as a mild case of HACE. He now hopes to recover fully and return to the mountain, although he is shifting to the South Side for the attempt. Hopefully he'll be well enough to give it a go.

That's it for now, but stay tuned. Things are about to get very busy in the Himalaya. The next few weeks will be crazy with lots of news from the big peaks.

Himalaya 2011: Route To South Col Fixed, Summits Soon?

It was a rather quiet weekend on Everest's South Side, where many teams were recovering from their acclimatization rotations higher on the mountain. The weather has reportedly turned to fog, and there is now rain at the lower elevations, which seems to indicate that a warming trend is in the air. That will make a number of people happy, as the current cold, snowy, and windy conditions have made things rough on the mountain so far.

The biggest news of the weekend is that the route up the South Col is now fixed all the way to Camp 4, thanks to the combined efforts of the Sherpas of several of the bigger commercial teams. That means that supplies can now start to be funneled up the slope for the inevitable summit push that could come sometime around the middle of the month.

Tim Rippel, reporting in for the Peak Freaks, says that their Sherpa team is set to return to C4 sometime around Thursday or Friday of this week, and possibly sooner depending on the weather. Similarly, the IMG squad reports that their Sherpas are heading up to the South Col tomorrow for their supply run, and they are predicting that the ropes to the summit could be fixed by the end of the week as well. That means we could see our first summits of the season on Everest by Friday of this week.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the region, Alex Gavan is reporting that his team is starting up for Camp 3 tomorrow on Kangchenjunga. C3 on that mountain is located at about 7300 meters (23,950 ft), and with their acclimatization complete, they are just waiting for a favorable weather window before making an assault on the summit. If all goes well, they could potentially be on top by the weekend as well.

Don Bowie has sent a dispatch back from Cho Oyu a few days back. He and Ueli Steck have arrived on that mountain and have already gone up to Camp 2 at 7000 meters (22,965 ft). They were expecting bad weather over the weekend however, and may still be in Base Camp, waiting an opportunity to go higher. Last week, Ueli said that his Shisha Pangma climb had caught up with him a bit, so he wasn't thinking about going for any kind of speed climb on Cho Oyu, but perhaps he'll feel differently if he has more time to rest. After they knock off this peak, it is on to Everest for Don and Ueli.

Finally, ExWeb is reporting that the Iranian team on Manaslu reached the summit over the weekend as well. That mountain, located in Nepal, is the 8th highest mountain in the world, standing 8156 meters (26,759 ft) in height. They expect more details on that climb soon. Congrats to the entire team!



Project Himalaya: Behind the Scenes in the Khumbu Valley from Mountain Hardwear on Vimeo.

Himalaya 2011: Record Number Of Visitors To The Everest ER Tent

The Outside Blog has an interesting post up this morning regarding current conditions on Everest's South Side, where the doctors in the Everest ER tent are on pace to see a record number of visitors this year. In a recent post to their blog, one of the docs says that they have seen 276 patients already this season, which they call "a blistering pace set to break all previous clinic visitation records."

While that may sound like there is some terrible virus working its way through BC this year or that the climbers are taking bigger risks, the Everest Docs have a different theory. They believe that after spending several years in Base Camp, where they have more than earned a reputation for reliable and high quality care, that the teams are coming to rely on them more. Some of the teams may have even left their own doctors behind in favor of using the established docs who have been a part of the Everest ER squad for awhile now. Either way, the med tent is definitely busier, and the patients are receiving consistently better care than they have in the past.

In the same blog post, the docs say that they've had to treat several cases of HAPE/HACE, but all of the climbers who have had to be evacuated were feeling find when the rescue chopper came. They've also had reports back that after they've been taken from BC, the patients have recovered nicely as well.

They've also had to deal with their first case of frostbite, suffered by a Sherpa who took his glove off at Camp 1 where the winds were howling at 100 mph (160 km/h). That incident prompted them to post some great advice on how to avoid frostbite when caught on in the cold. That list looks like this:

-Stay well hydrated and well fed to enable your body to generate heat!

-Avoid alcohol, which can impair your sensation (and judgment!)

-Avoid smoking, which will constrict your blood flow

-Don’t climb/trek under extreme weather conditions (wind, very cold)

-Avoid tight fitted clothing (eg no wrinkles in the socks)

-If your clothing/socks/gloves get wet from snow/rain or perspiration, DRY them quickly – including boot insoles

-Wear mittens rather than gloves in extreme cold and a liner glove underneath if you need quick temporary access to fingers (e.g. photography)

-Never ignore numbness – as an old professor once told me – 'if you feel your fingers and toes getting numb and you ignore it, that numbness might be the last thing you ever feel!' Numbness is a sign that you may be getting into trouble. If it doesn’t resolve by increasing activity, you need to get somewhere to take off your gloves/boots and rewarm yourself.

-Avoid rubbing frostbitten areas – beating on them only increases the chance of injury and doesn’t help them rewarm faster.

-IF you or your buddy has frostbite, get somewhere warm, but only rewarm the injured area if there is no chance it will refreeze. The quickest way to rewarm is to submerge in warm water (~104F, or the warmth of a hot tub, test the water first with a thermometer or an uninjured body part – a frozen hand can’t determine if the water is too hot!) 

–keep the area padded and protected against further heat loss. 

-Research suggests that a dose of ibuprofen may help prevent some of the inflammatory problems that result from frostbite

-Get to a doctor as soon as possible if there is frozen tissue or if normal sensation doesn’t return after rewarming. New treatments, like some antiinflammatories and clot-busting drugs are TIME sensitive - and are only effective if given within 24 hours of thawing.

Great advice straight from the doctors that I thought was worth sharing considering that many of us visit areas that get cold enough to induce frostbite, something I wouldn't want to wish on anyone. Keep these in mind the next time you're heading to a Pole!

Himalaya 2011: Annapurna Summit, Aborted Attempt On Lhotse

Earlier today I posted an update on conditions around the Himalaya, particularly on Everest, with weather being the main focus. As I mentioned in that note, the region seems to be colder, windier, and and snowier than normal this time of year. But that isn't stopping some of the climbers, as we have word today of a successful summit on Annapurna and a failed bid on Lhotse.

ExWeb has the details on both stories, with the biggest news being that Italian mountaineer Abele Blanc has topped out on Annapurna. Details are a bit sparse, but for Abele this is the final 8000 meter peak on the list, which he finally conquered after six attempts. ExWeb notes that he even lost his best friend on the mountain back in 2005.

Standing 8091 meters (26,545 ft) in height, Annapurna is the 10th highest mountain in the world. That said, it is considered by many to be the hardest of the 8000-meter peaks to summit, and has highest fatality rate of any of those mountains, including K2.

Congrats to Abele for standing on top at last! Well done!

The other news item of note is that Czech climber Radek Jaroš had climbed to Camp 3 on Everest and was attempting a summit push on Lhotse, but elected to retreat due to heavy snow high on the Lhotse Face. As most of you know, the Everest and Lhotse share the same route for much of their climb, diverging at Camp 4, and with the news that the Sherpas have fixed the ropes up to the Yellow Band, located at about 28,000 feet on Everest, Jaroš has hoped to make a summit bid. The weather has thwarted that attempt however, and he is already headed back to BC.

Himalaya 2011: Snow and Cold Weather Continue On Everest

The 2011 climbing season on Everest is shaping up to be one of the coldest, and snowiest, in recent memory. The weather seems to be the primary focus of discussion even as teams continue their acclimatization process, with many dispatches noting that the weather pattern has remained the same all season thus far. Clear skies in the morning bring cold temperatures, with clouds moving in later in the day, usually dumping snow on the mountain.

The IMG squad posted an updated yesterday saying that a weather front off to the East of the mountain had brought yet more snow, dumping as much as 12 inches (30.5 cm) on the Western Cwm between Camps 1 and 2. Despite that weather however, some of the team members, including Alan Arnette, spent the night at C2, with others waiting in Base Camp to begin their acclimatization rotation.

The Peak Freaks had hoped to climb up to C3 today as part of their process as well, but lead guide Tim Rippel reports in his Twitter feed that that climb was aborted due to the snow. The team had not intended to stay the night at the camp, but simply go up and "touch" it before heading back down to BC for some rest. The snow was reportedly quite deep higher on the mountain, and although the lines are fixed, the team decided to not risk going any higher for now.

The Himex team has laid out their plans for the coming days, and they have quite a busy schedule planned as well. After most of the crew completed a successful climb of Pumori, they are now prepared to have a go at the big hill, but they'll need to acclimatize more first. So, to that end, they plan is to climb up to Camp 2 tomorrow, and spend four nights at 6600 meter (21,653 ft). After that, they'll head up to Camp 3, spend a night there before dropping back down to C2 for one more night. After all that time at altitude, they'll return to BC, on or about May 4th, when they'll begin waiting for a weather window for their summit bid. An ambitious plan to say the least.

Elsewhere, the Field Touring Alpine team is on Cho Oyu, where they've also spend the night at Camp 1 and hope to go up to Camp 2 today. Whether or not they actually do that is dependent on the ropes being fixed to that point on the mountain. They report similar conditions on Cho Oyu as on Everest, cold, windy, and plenty of snow. Want to know what it's like on a Himalayan peak in the high winds? Check out the video below.

Finally, Anselm Murphy checks in today from Kangchenjunga where he reports that the Sherpas ran out of rope while fixing lines up to Camp 3. They hope to return to C2 tomorrow and then continue their work straight away on Friday, which is good news for everyone, as they all seem eager to get up to 7000 meters to finish their acclimatization. Much like everywhere else in the region however, the mountain is experiencing bad weather, with plenty of snow and high winds. It seems that all of the Himalaya are caught up in this same pattern at the moment.

Himalaya 2011: Ueli Shares Details On Shisha Climb

Last week we received the amazing news on Ueli Steck's solo speed climb of Shisha Pangma in 10.5 hours. Since then, we've had a variety of reports on the climb, but we haven't heard from Ueli himself. That is, until today, when he posted details of the climb on his Himalayan Speed website.

Steck says that when he set off from camp he didn't have any intentions of climbing the mountain, but that he was going to climb up to about 7200 meters (23,622 ft) to have a look around and see how he felt. But the conditions were so good and he felt in great shape, that he decided to just keep going up.

Ueli says that he climbed along the British Route, then traversed over the Wieliki Route because of bad rockfall in the night. Eventually though, he ended by exiting on the Spanish Route, although he was more or less just feeling his own way as he went. He did report a lot of snow near the summit, which made things a bit dicy, but still he managed to complete the climb in a very quick fashion.

Check out the video below for more on Ueli's Shisha speed climb. And before anyone asks, no, there still aren't any summit photos released.


Ueli Steck Climbing Shisha Pangma (8027m) from Mountain Hardwear on Vimeo.

Himalaya 2011: Lines Fixed To C3 On Everest South Side

Despite continued cold and snowy conditions in the Himalaya, work towards the various summits progresses on schedule. As the first of May quickly approaches, it seems that it is all about the acclimatization process, building high camps, and stashing gear for the eventual summit push.

Perhaps the biggest news of the day is that the Sherpa teams fixing ropes on Everest's South Side have reached the Yellow Band, located at 28,000 feet. According to an update from IMG, they'll now descend back to Base Camp for a few days of rest before returning to that point on the mountain. My guess is they'll finish the last sections, up to the 8848 meter (29,029 ft) summit on their next go, clearing the way for the commercial teams to follow in a few weeks time.

With the ropes fixed so high up the mountain,  some teams have begun to climb up to C3, including the Peak Freaks who will likely have climbers there as early as tomorrow. Part of their team is at Camp 1 now, and another part is in Camp 2. They'll all "touch" Camp 3 tomorrow or Wednesday, and immediately descend to C2 for the night. Other teams are sure to follow of course, with most spending at least a night at C3 as part of their acclimatization.

Things are progressing a bit more slowly on the North Side, where the weather has been even dicier. Teams on that side of the mountain have gone up to Camp 1, where they've spent a few nights and stashed some gear. Most are back in BC now, awaiting a chance to go higher. On that side of the mountain, a team of climbers from the Chinese-Tibetan Mountaineering Association handles the fixing of the ropes, thus all the teams are at their mercy while they wait for them to finish the job. Last year, they lagged a few days behind their counterparts on the South Side because it took a bit longer for the Sherpa team to complete their tasks. It is beginning to look like that will hold true this year as well.

Over on Makalu, David Morton and Melissa Arnot have completed their Puja ceremony and have started their work on the mountain. You can read their updates on the Born Out There blog. In his latest update David talks about the challenges of sleeping at high altitude, a subject that I found all too familiar while reading his dispatch. In short, it can be a not so pleasant experience.

Finally, Ueli Steck is en route to Cho Oyu, the next challenge in his Himalaya Triple Header. According to his website, he and the team are in Namche Bazaar at the moment, but will be back on the trail tomorrow. With any luck, they'll be in BC on Cho Oyu in a few days time, and we'll start the countdown on his attempt at his next big peak. Any one want to start a pool on how fast he'll go up this mountain?

To see what it is like behind the scenes on Ueli's adventure, check out the video below.


Project Himalaya: Behind the Scenes in Namche from Mountain Hardwear on Vimeo.

Outside Gives Us 10 Things To Watch On Everest This Year

The Outside Blog has an interesting list up today of 10 things to watch on Everest this season, featuring a brief run down of some of the fun, and crazy stories from the annual circus that surrounds the world's tallest mountain.

Amongst the items to make the list are Alan Arnette's Memories Are Everything expedition, in which he is climbing to raise funds for the Cure Alzheimer's Fund. Alan is a frequent contributor to the Outside Blog and I have been following his dispatches from the mountain closely as well. Other climbs of note include Edurne Pasaban's no-oxygen climb on the South Side and Nick Rice's attempt to do the same on the North.

A couple of the items on the list aren't actually on Everest, but its neighbor Lhotse instead. Spanish climber  Carlos Soria Fontan is attempting that peak at the age of 72 as his on going effort to climb all 14 of the world's  8000 meter peaks. Similarly, another team of climbers will attempt Lhotse and then ski down the West Face.

At the moment, most of the teams on the mountain are building their high camps and acclimatizing. Some have spent a night or two at Camp 2, and most are waiting for the Sherpa teams to fix the ropes up to C3, C4, and eventually the summit. This is all standard procedure on the mountain, and everything is on schedule for an expected mid-May summit window, weather permitting of course.

82-Year Old Preps To Climb Everest

According to this story, 82-year old Shailendra Kumar Upadhyaya is on his way to Everest Base Camp this week, where he hopes to become the oldest person to ever climb that mountain. The Nepalese man began his trek from Lukla on Tuesday and is expected to arrive in BC next week.

Upadhyaya is the former foreign minister for Nepal, and he says that he wants to climb the mountain to prove that older people can still be healthy and strong enough to achieve such a feat. If successful, he'll break the record currently held by his countryman Min Bahadur Sherchan, who summitted Everest back in 2008 at the age of 76.

As the world's tallest mountain, standing 8848 meters (29,029 ft) in height, Everest will pose quoite a challenge for the octogenarian. He hopes to complete the climb within 45 days, which would put him on course to summit in early June, right before the monsoon moves in for the season. If he does summit, it'll be an impressive feat not just because of his age. According to this story, he has no experience in climbing mountains.

Good luck! You're going to need it!

Himalaya 2011: Everest South Side Climbers On The Move

It seems that it is business as usual on the South Side of Everest, where teams have already been spending the night at Camp 1 and 2, despite high winds, plenty of snow, and even an avalanche or two. This is all part of the plan of course, and an integral part of their acclimatization process that will, eventually, put them on top of the mountain.

Yesterday I posted a report on Edurne Pasaban's perspective of the meeting that went down in BC over the weekend in which the lead guides all came together to figure out a plan for fixing ropes up the mountain. Edurne made it sound like that meeting was a bit of a fiasco, and perhaps some of those feeling came from being an independent climber who was left out of the discussion for the most part. But reading Alan Arnette's report today, we get a bit of a different perspective. Alan notes that Himex leader Russell Brice dropped by the IMG team's camp yesterday to discuss the plan with the crew. They felt that the team leader meeting went very smooth, and that the plan for the rope fixing and logistics was a good one. They went on to say that they felt that intra-team cooperation was at an all time high on the mountain, and there were high hopes for a smooth climb ahead. That is indeed good news for all involved.

It hasn't been all that smooth for Alan however, as the bulk of his report is about his own stomach issues that left him tent-bound for a day and feeling very under the weather. Feeling sick at home is bad enough, but to battle a stomach virus half-way around the world, and at 17,600 feet, is misery. Fortunately, he seems to be bouncing back nicely and it won't have an effect on his plans to climb the mountain.

On another interesting note, Alan also says that the route through the Khumbu Icefall is quite short and, so far, secure this year. The Ice Doctors have apparently built a good route, and the climbers don't have to cross over as many ladders as they have had to in the past. He plans to head up to Camp 1 soon for an over night, as the acclimatization work continues.

Elsewhere, Dave Hahn and his team have been spending plenty of time in the Icefall as they train for the climb and prepare for the rigors ahead. Being one of the first teams at BC, they're a bit ahead of some of the other teams in terms of schedule, and so far it has been smooth sailing. Dave posted a good dispatch on their progress to the Born Out There blog. You can read it here.

Higher on the mountain are the Altitude Junkies and Peak Freaks teams. The Peak Freaks spent the night at Camp 1 last night where they report high winds which brought all kinds of problems for those trying to catch a snooze. That's nothing compared to what has been happening at Camp 2, where the Altitude Junkies are right now. Apparently the winds have been so bad up there that tents have been destroyed or swept off the mountain altogether. The AJ squad will now spend three days at C2 before heading back down to Base Camp.

A variety reports say that it continues to be quite cold and snowy on the mountain. Apparently about mid-afternoon each day, the clouds move in and start dumping snow, which usually lasts into the evening. As a result, there is plenty of the white stuff on the mountain, and the temps are colder too. Still, we're probably about three weeks away from any major summit pushes, so the weather could improve by then.

Himalaya 2011: Base Camp Politics

As the young climbing season continues to unfold, there are a number of milestones that need to be achieved before anyone ever goes to the summit. Well, anyone other than Ueli Steck anyway. In addition to the normal acclimatization process, teams have to build their high camps and stock them with supplies, which is a process that can take weeks to complete. While they're busy doing that, teams of Sherpas will be working the route and fixing ropes to the summit, which eventually paves the way for the commercial climbers to follow along later.

Due to the large number of climbers, even in a down year like this one, fixing the ropes to the summit on Everest is always a delicate affair. In recent years, the larger commercial teams have joined forces and worked together to accomplish that task, spurred on by Russell Brice's Himex squad, which brought a much needed level of organization to the South Side of Everest when the company left the North Side a few seasons back. On the North Side, Brice was the man in charge, keeping track of every aspect of the mountain, on the South he still holds a lot of sway, and has found a way to work the other teams.

On Sunday, a meeting was held amongst the team leaders to discuss the various responsibilities and to decide who would take charge of fixing the ropes. Apparently that meeting wasn't a good one, as Edurne Pasaban reports in a blog post from that day. Edurne, who is a very experienced climber and back on Everest to make a summit attempt without oxygen, describes a scene that sounds chaotic, unorganized, and elitist. She wasn't even invited to the meeting because she is climbing independently, which implies that she should be using her own ropes, which will have to be set by her own team. Whether or not that happens, remains to be scene, but one thing is clear, Edurne didn't feel welcome at the meeting, nor did she feel that it was productive, positive meeting. Her frustrations at the process and her fellow climbers, are easy to see in her words.

To make matters worse, after her team set up camp, they were asked to move out of the way, as their tents were blocking one of the commercial team's yak path. Edurne and her mates dutifully moved out their tents, despite the fact that there was no evidence of a trail nor have they seen any yaks pass through the area.

While some of this probably comes across as sour grapes and easily hurt feelings, it actually sounds a bit like business as usual on Everest. That's what happens when you get some very alpha type personalities, all of whom are use to being in control, trying to work together. That said, I'm sure they'll sort it out and get the work done, albeit with a few bruised egos along the way.

On the North Side, things are a bit quieter. There aren't nearly as many climbers there, and most of the big commercial outfits don't operate there due to the Chinese control of that side of the mountain. But there are still plenty of teams in BC and are preparing to make their climbs as well. David Liano for instance, who ExWeb reports is climbing with Asian Trekking, and is now in ABC on the North Side. ExWeb also says that a Mongolian climber, who was preparing to summit Everest, had to be sent down from BC when he started hacking up blood. The man was suffering from pulmonary edema and he hadn't even left Base Camp yet.

Altitude is a scary thing!