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KHUMBU CHRONICLES- Mountaineering climbing news! EVEREST TODAY Everest BLOGS and Himalayan Expedition News Archived here.
May 13- Vanessa EBC support leader checks in from Namche: " around 10am that morning, Tim and group radioed from the top of the Khumbu Glacier to tell us all to come outside and look with our binos. They were waving to us! How cool was that???? They were 4 wee peeps standing at the top of the last ladder." ....more here Tim checks in: Today Tim, Scott, George, Larry did their acclimatization climb to Camp 3 and are now resting at Camp 2. Sultan and Dom took one more day of rest at Camp 2, Dom will go up tomorrow and Sultan wants to wait till Farouq and Nabs get up and are rested. Tim says, " It was quite the visual the day before yesterday watching a steady stream of climber's butt to butt making their way up to C3, granted most of them were sherpas, but it put it into perspective of how many people there are up here. At base camp everyone is in tents and spread out so you really can't see the scale like we do know. The two ropes up and down from the south col will work well. Also the multiple summit windows on the horizon should make a smooth sailing for those who have been able to maintain strength, both mental and physical. " He also added that the route up to C3 was no longer icy. There had been some snow and now with sherpas stomping the steps down combined with the extreme temperatures during the day it is all compressing and making the route straight forward and easy to travel on. They went up in about 7 to 8 hours up and 2 hours down. May 12- Climber's going up and trekkers going down!- The trekker's left BC today. There was a storm yesterday and the clouds are still socked in so the trekkers that were thinking of climbing Kala Pattar for the popular photo advantage of the Khumbu glacier and Everest will instead head on down the valley making their way down to Namche to meet up with the rest of the team. Nabs and Farouq who took a rest day yesterday at Base Camp were stuck there today because of the storm. Tim, George, Dom, Larry and Sultan had a nice day above the clouds and storm at Camp 2 resting, reading and enjoyed a fresh chicken lunch, ham and veg snacking throughout the day and pasta and soup for dinner. They are comfortable, eating well and gearing up for Camp 3 in the early morning. There is plenty of time for Nabs and Farouq to catch up as Tim is talking about two waves for summit pushes. There are two windows right now. One is May 17 with higher winds increasing on May 18 and slowly tapering off offering another good window on May 21 to 23. As noted yesterday the south col Camp 4 is now fixed and our sherpa staff are now ferrying loads of oxygen up for the summit pushes. All is moving ahead in good speed. Good cooperation and everyone is still having fun but are at the same time starting to get anxious to get on top and get home to their loved ones and land of the living. May 12- China's earthquake and the Everest region!- Nothing was felt in the Khumbu Valley as far as I know. Nepal has not reported any quake activity there and Tim called this morning oblivious to there having been one. Rest assured everyone is fine. Updates coming in the next hour on the climb. Becky May 11- THE SUPPORT TREKKERS HAVE ARRIVED AT B.C. Trekkers at base camp include: Vanessa, Bud, Val, Lisa, Tim, Kim, Sabrina, Naomi, Anne and rumor is out that Scott W. is on his way up today after taking a day off. The team is now sleeping at BC and will head back down tomorrow. Some may make climb Kala Pattar while some start the decent back down. Ginette developed a cold by the time she first arrived at Namche. Read her blog here: Tim called in from Camp 2: Nabs and Farouq are taking a day of rest at base camp after their long walk back from Namche Bazaar. At Camp 2 right now is: Tim, Sultan, George, Larry, Scott and Dom. Tomorrow is a rest day at Camp 2 while Nabs and Farouq will ascend to Camp 2 to join them. The next day they will all push up to Camp 3. The route to Camp 4- (south col), is now fixed and loads of oxygen are on their way up to stock Camp 4. Everything is moving along swiftly now and news of summit bids are going to start coming off of Everest soon. Exciting times! Our team is looking at May 17 for a summit bid. The first summit bid window for this year. If they miss that one the next would be May 21. Everyone is doing remarkably well at this point but the hammer comes down now as the altitude really starts to kick in. It will be a hole new experience for most of them. However they have one common strength that we believe plays a major role in the success of an expedition and that is their positive attitudes and team spirit. May 11, 2008 "HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY"- This is a prayer that Nabil's Mum composed for Nabil and for all the members of the Peakfreak expedition lads for the their final ascent. And this perhaps would reflect the prayers of all the other Mums who like me would want to wish them all a successful summit climb and a safe return. Suhaylah MUM'S PRAYER
May the hardness of the mountains inspire you to remain
strong, both physically and mentally.
May the Lhotse face so steep and shiny, hold your every step
with firm embrace.
May your strength and stamina never fail as you negotiate
the path across its face.
May the mountain spirits be around you, to guide you and
lift you up and calm you.
With oxygen masks and crampons on, may you navigate your way
safely through the maze of fixed ropes.
May you watch your every step over the slope of Geneva Spur,
and sandy stones of yellow band, and lose no hope.
May the rose tint skies await you on your morning summit
day,
With light wind on tow you shall ascend Earth's glorious
peak in May
Please do not linger for long up there, as your body cannot
endure the hardships of the pressures abound.
You need the strength to be homeward bound.
You will return a Hero,
life's ambition fulfilled - so rise and rejoice as
your family and friends await you.
God Bless You.
AND I BIG HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO ALL OUR MUM'S, MOM'S and WIVES! We will be very good. We all know- " The summit is optional and that coming home is mandatory." FINAL CONTRIBUTION TO THE TIBETAN PEOPLE: During the take over of Mount Everest by the Chinese and throughout the torch relay around the world there was one climbing news website who rose to the occasion in support of the Tibetan people publishing information never heard before. Today's contribution I want to pass on to our readers. It is well worth reading! EXPLORES WEB: George Patterson's FINAL CONTRIBUTIONTO THE TIBETAN PEOPLE May 9, 2008- We have our BC village back to ourselves - Tim checks in: Our military friends said their good byes yesterday thanking us for our cooperation and our hospitality. They are now packed up and gone and the mountain has been given back to the climbers on the south side only. China had announced in April it was going to re-open Tibet May 1 to foreigners again and a few days later made the announcement to keep it completely closed till after the Olympics is finished in August. What this means for us on the south side? It means climbers can now wear "Free- Tibet" t-shirts and mention those words, we can have sponsor banners back on our tents, we have our mountain radios back, sat-phones, computers and video cameras returned to us, our freedom of speech, say what we want on our website and the best part is the mountain is now open to climbing to the summit!!! Last night was a very noisy night. The mountains were alive train wrecking all around us. Big chunks were slamming down off Mt. Pumori and the ice- fall was crashing and groaning. The days are getting warmer which will start to deteriorate the structure of the ice-fall. Have no fear though because the ice-fall doctors have built the route away from any of the dangerous areas and will be maintaining the ladders throughout the day. Everything is moving along swiftly right now. The ropes are in to Camp 3. Some of our sherpas headed out today to start chipping out tents spots at C3 and everyone is contributing sherpa man power among their teams to start fixing the route to C4- the south col. Our teams climbing plan currently looks like this:
Depending how well the climbers recover from their sleep at C3 will determine how the summit bids will play out. Scott, Farouq, Dom and Nabs are due back from Namche excursion tomorrow. As well the trekkers are now at Lobuche and should arrive at BC tomorrow. Tim said the Peak Freaks camp looks like a little village of its own with many tents assembled for the trekkers scattered around them. It will be bustling with activity tomorrow night if they are on schedule. It has been quite fun for the trekkers and the climbers because of the break down to Namche. With everyone being scattered out down the valley during the closure, they have had the opportunity to become acquainted and really feel like they are part of the climb too and they are! Their moral support does a lot for the climbers and what perfect timing! They will see everyone off on May 11- big celebration... The last celebration was yesterday. It was Saad's birthday. Ang Karsung whipped him up a beautiful sherpa cake for the team to share with him. Nice! Stay tuned! - summit fever is just around the corner.... P.S. Roger and Mario were successfully lifted by helicopter today to Kathmandu. May 8, 2008 - A Larry spotting!- Trekkers spent the night with Larry May 8, May 9 at 0300hrs he sprinted off to base camp. The others will take it easy as Scott has an sprained ankle he needs to treat it with tenderness. May 8, 2008- Chinese torch put helicopter rescue on hold. Now a trekker is stranded and very sick. Emails from our headquarters in Kathmandu.. Becky
"The helicopter was ready
to fly early this morning but the army suddenly stopped the
flight as the Chinese are taking the Olympic flame up to the
summit this morning. The Army received an order from the
Ministry to ground helicopters. The scheduled
Lukla flights have operated but they are not allowing any
helicopters to fly to Everest region. They have put a
temporary hold order on helicopter flights. We
were told by Dynasty airline that maybe we can do the flight
after 10.30 am when they expect the Chinese will have
completed their bid to the summit. I have
explained all this to Roger, and Tsedam is with them at the
helipad in Namche waiting for the chopper".
Hi Becky, Becky "Unfortunately the
weather has turned bad and its cloudy, windy now Mario Trinchero had been bitten by an insect in Kathmandu before the trek and it has turned into a staff infection. The antibiotics are not working and he needs to be hospitalized. May 8 - Scott in Namche 0718hrs Nepal Time: Hey Becky, Did our "GO! China mantra finally pay off? We have late breaking word that the summit was torched. I'm packing my bags in Namche Bazaar along with Farouq, Nabs, and Dom for the 26 mile walk back up to base camp. We'll take it easy as not to fry our legs. If the rumors are true we should be up to Camp III next week and then summit ourselves sometime before the end of the month... Again, this info is all communicated via the Sherpa wireless but it has been quite reliable so far... all family and friends wish us luck. Hopefully we can now start fliming, calling, and communicating. We are keeping you in our thoughts and prayers and you are with us every step of the way... Godspeed, M. Scott Mortensen EVEREST HAS BEEN TORCHED
CHINESE SUMMIT- Here are a couple sites to check it out. Live torch coverage at CNN website Live torch coverage at Beijing website CCTV- Beijing Official Internet broadcast May 7 - Chinese going for the summit right now? Go China go!!!! I am sure the climbers on the south side would be beside themselves to join in the celebration. Out of a courtesy for all that they have been through they should be allowed to help cheer them on. Can someone in China please wake them up share the news? I am serious! - Becky Posted: 1300hrs PST. May 7, 2008 - Tim calls 0800hrs PST from Base Camp - Three days to go till Sagamartha (Nepalese name for Everest) is suppose to be given back to the world according the permit agreement. Our team members are slowly making their way back from Namche enjoying every minute of the land of the living. A place where things grow and body cells mend. Speaking of which- I sure hope Scott's sprained ankle is on the mend. Some of our Sherpas have been given permission to carry rope up to Camp 3 to start getting ready for the opening of the upper mountain. The weather is favorable from where I sit at base camp, but higher winds prevail on the summit. The weather reports show higher wind spikes in the next few days and dropping back down around May 13 but nothing significant. The skies are clear up top. This is all normal weather patterns for Everest. Traditionally the calmer wind transition doesn't take place till mid to late May so all is normal. Saad has had a successful acclimatization stay at C1 and C2 and will be ready to sprint in Rapid Ascent style whenever he is given the word "go" and the oxygen is in place at Camp 4. Everyone is doing well, spirits are still high, everyone is having fun but anxious to get on with what we all came here for. Planes were flying around Everest again yesterday but still no word from the Chinese. Over and out- Tim Our support base camp trek team who the climbers enjoyed an evening with in Namche should now be sleeping in Pangboche. Home of Lama Geshi, the Yeti Skull, Nima Dorjee and his wife Lhakpani. Tomorrow they will be moving up to Dingboche for two nights. We should be getting word from them by that point. A party of three on the trek team had a helicopter evacuation this morning out of Namche Bazaar. Mario Trinchero from the USA had been bitten by an insect in Kathmandu that turned into a staff infection. He has been on antibiotics and bed rest but it is not healing. He needs hospital care. His father Roger returned with him and friend Paul Krsek who has been doing a dynamite job taking care of the them with the help of Lhakpa Sherpa and coordinating logistics. All three are returning to Kathmandu. Roger and Mario went by helicopter and Paul will walk out to Lukla and fly by fixed wing from there to meet up with them in Kathmandu. Mario will likely go on intravenous to combat the infection. Wishing them all safe travels and Mario a speedy recovery! They are missed very much by the rest of the team. - Becky May 6, 2008- To worry about what you don't have, is to waste what you do have! Blog # 4- by Scott Mortensen
Fellow
climber, Nabil Lodey’s quote still rings true (he’s from So
far it’s going great. Great
that is, until I decided to escape the BASE CAMP theatrics for
some R&R down the valley.
On the walk to Namche Bazar, I tweaked my knee in a
downhill, Sherpa-led sprint.
(“Don’t compete with the Sherpas,”…Gold Team
Leader is often quoted as saying, and once again he is right.)
Additionally, in the last 800 meters of the 26-mile trek I
sprained my ankle in foggy, white-out conditions.
I was trying to film scenery while passing some
Euro-dudes, chain smoking cigarettes…What can I say, I’ve
never been good at multi-tasking, so maybe “don’t compete
with trail-blazing Euro-dudes sucking on coffin nails” is
another motto I should add to the cache.
I doubt either injury--the knee, nor the ankle, is
serious. I just find it ironic that I thrashed myself in
pursuit of rest and relaxation.
Some Advil and ice and I’ll be fine….I think.
I have a terrible innate ability to judge the severity
of my pain. Years
back, I missed a landing at Anyway, I only bring all this up because our friend Mustafa is attempting Everest for the third time. Sponsored by the KING of JORDAN, he has battled chest infection, ulcers, and now a vicious toothache in his pursuit for 8850 meters. This year is his third attempt. He too traveled to Namche Bazar, though his mission was a bit more crucial than mine. In his previous two attempts injury caused him to turn around very close to the summit, and this time he was taking no chances with the toothache. At altitude, a caving cavity, crown, or canal can wreak havoc. Fortunately, a brilliant Sherpa dentist, Nawang Doka Sherpa has a dental practice in Namche. Unfortunately, she left for a week one day prior to Mustafa’s arrival. Without an expert opinion, he was looking at another risky summit attempt. Enter
In a simple twist of fate that often accompanies adventurers (and ankles for that matter) we happened to find Mustafa in the town square the very next day. Too bad for him, the Charlie’s Angels of Dentistry had already left for Khunde, as scheduled…or so we thought. We found Rebecca, Kelley, and Amy conveniently postponed in a bakery around the corner. Now all we had to do was break into the vacant dentist’s office and Mustafa’s summit hopes would be restored. No problem. This is team Peak Freaks remember? In honesty, we didn’t do anything except film the whole ordeal. Within the hour, the proper phone calls were made, permission was granted, and Mustafa was getting molar #31 yanked right out of the socket. It was gruesome!!!! I got it all on film. Can’t wait to edit it together, add some music, and post it on YOUTUBE. So the molar of the story, (sorry, had to be done) is that for those who believe it all works out in the end. At least that’s my motto. On the bright side, my knee and ankle do not hurt at all when climbing, only descending...so who knows, maybe I’ll bring my snowboard to the summit and try to land that rodeo flip somewhere over the ice fall. In all seriousness, I am very thankful that Rebecca, Kelley, and Amy could be of assistance for our friend. Their group is doing great non-profit work with children in the area. Mustafa, though down a tooth, is all smiles and I feel very confident that he is going to make it to the summit this year—and more importantly, back down again all in one piece. For
those who want to know what’s going on at base camp, trust
me, you don’t. It’s
like a town of circus freaks without the carnival up there.
They shut down the mountain! I
didn’t even know you could do that.
I mean, it’s not In a closing serendipity, the Peak Freak trekkers just entered the Zamling hotel. Our numbers are growing—from 9 to 25. Also increasing is the positive energy that abounds when adventurers of like mind assemble together for a unified goal. You’ve heard about the high altitude horror stories in years past—thieves, cons, and careless crusaders… I’m happy to report that among our group, there is none of that. It seems that the more adversity that is dumped on our heads, the more our team rises to the occasion. So thanks to Tim and Becky for assembling an amazing crew…Next year, you might want to think about adding the Charlie’s Angels of Dentistry--Rebecca, Kelley, and Amy. Oh, and if the King of Jordan happens to read this, a small donation to Nawang Doka Sherpa’s dentist office in Namche might be in order.;) So many stories, so little time, M. Scott Mortensen
Trek team now have their own blog page: SUPPORT TEAM Saad Naseer- RAPID ASCENT UPDATE: Saad has received special permission from the authorities allowing him and Pasang Sherpa to go up to Camp 1 for acclimatization. May 5, 2008- Meet the teams MVP. If you have been reading Scott's blogs you will know why. Here is an example of what one of Scott's friends has to say.
"Just checked
in and found out that my friend Scott is on your Peak Freaks
expedition this year to Mt. Everest. I just spent the
last 30 minutes reading through the amazing blogs. I
came away utterly hyped by the entire teams endeavors! I
was struck by how often in Scott's blogs he praises his team
members, which tells me (as he does not praise lightly) that
they really are brilliant. It is typical of Scott's
style however to place others on top. (in spite of his
competitive nature). Scott truly is humble. In his
service to others he continually puts their needs above his
own. Regardless of a deadline he may have looming - if
you have a need; a project, an orphanage, a film to edit, a
film to shoot, a charity that he believes in , you come first.
Always.
May 4, 2008- Climbers in Namche Bazaar: Now resting in Namche Bazaar is Dom, Farouq, Nabs, Scott and Larry. Dom was there since yesterday, Farouq, Scott and Larry left early in the morning from BC and Nabs left later. Apparently there was quite the snow storm and Nabs reports in from Namche before the others who left in the morning. I have since received more news from Farouq and photos so we can rest assured they are enjoying some yak steaks and apple pie and may be taking in a few beers at the local pub downtown Namche. Good times! While Sultan, Tim, George and Saad are holding out at base camp having their own good times. Where are the Chinese? no one seems to know and there is much confusion at base camp in Nepal. One day you can make a sat phone call, the next you can't but someone else can. Yes you can send out messages, no wait a minute- now you can't. Organization of the rules at base camp seem to be playing out the same way. Everyone off the mountain- wait.... no... okay maybe you can take some rope to Camp 3. Everyone not on the permit must leave at once.... wait...well okay you can stay. What a season on Everest this has been. It has been hard to get organized when everything keeps changing. No matter, so far everyone is making the most of it and doing well and spirits are still high, all of which is most important at the end of the day. ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST! Helicopter crash Makalu Base Camp: Many expeditions that were scheduled to climb Everest from the north side in Tibet and were cancelled without prior notice opted to go climb Mt. Makalu Elevation (feet): 27765. Elevation (meters): 8462 in Nepal. Check this video out of an unfortunate landing. All seven survived!
May 2, 2008-Base Camp Support trek team have all arrived in Kathmandu. Between power outages due conservation practices and natural ones caused by recent thunderstorms they have managed to get a team photo dispatched from our Kathmandu base camp hotel. Right now they are all sleeping peacefully after a long day of touring the city and visiting the Hopeful Home orphanage children and delivering clothing and educational supplies. Good job on Vanessa's part getting everyone organized in their team shirts for the photo op! Not an easy task when everyone is tired from their long flights. They look pretty darn good. What a team!
CLIMBER UPDATE As for the climbers, most of them other than Tim, Sultan, George and now Saad, have decided to go all the way down to Namche Bazaar instead of Dingboche. It is quite possible they will meet up with the support trekkers while there. The trekkers are scheduled to depart tomorrow morning to Lukla. Day 1 of the trek. They will walk to the village of Phakding situated along side the Dudh Kosi river that comes out of the Khumbu Glacier. The climbers were reporting earlier that Everest is really dry this year. However things could change at anytime as mid to late May is the onset of the rainy (monsoon) season. They don't need any snow loads on the icy face leading up to Camp 3 at this stage of the game. They were expecting some yesterday but it is hopeful it will melt because the days are starting to get very warm. THE SILENT CHINESE SUMMIT ATTEMPT AND TORCH? Seems everyone is scrambling around to see what their next move might be. You can be sure that with what little information is getting out, and what is really happening, will be two different stories for security purposes on both sides of Everest. What we do know is the weather is favorable right now for a summit bid and with winds picking up again slightly May 7 onwards. This is what I see on the weather graphs but as weather goes in the mountains there is much more to consider. Everest can create its own weather at these altitudes.
May 2, 2008-Base Camp Support trek team have all arrived in Kathmandu. Between power outages due conservation practices and natural ones caused by recent thunderstorms they have managed to get a team photo dispatched from our Kathmandu base camp hotel. Right now they are all sleeping peacefully after a long day of touring the city and visiting the Hopeful Home orphanage children and delivering clothing and educational supplies. Good job on Vanessa's part getting everyone organized in their team shirts for the photo op! Not an easy task when everyone is tired from their long flights. They look pretty darn good. What a team! CLIMBER UPDATE As for the climbers, most of them other than Tim, Sultan, George and now Saad, have decided to go all the way down to Namche Bazaar instead of Dingboche. It is quite possible they will meet up with the support trekkers while there. The trekkers are scheduled to depart tomorrow morning to Lukla. Day 1 of the trek. They will walk to the village of Phakding situated along side the Dudh Kosi river that comes out of the Khumbu Glacier. The climbers were reporting earlier that Everest is really dry this year. However things could change at anytime as mid to late May is the onset of the rainy (monsoon) season. They don't need any snow loads on the icy face leading up to Camp 3 at this stage of the game. They were expecting some yesterday but it is hopeful it will melt because the days are starting to get very warm. THE SILENT CHINESE SUMMIT ATTEMPT AND TORCH? Seems everyone is scrambling around to see what their next move might be. You can be sure what little information is getting out and what is really happening will be two different things for security purposes on both sides of Everest. What we do know is the weather is favorable right now for a summit with winds picking up again slightly May 7 onwards. This is what I see on the weather graphs but as weather goes in the mountains there is much more to consider. Everest can create its own weather at these altitudes. May 1, 2008 (Nepal time)-- Khumbu Chronicle urgent update- Apparently the agreement that the expeditions signed as a condition to climb this year isn't worth the paper it was written on. The mysterious Chinese visitor that arrived at BC by helicopter a couple days ago was a Chinese official who came to insist the Nepalese military completely close the mountain down from May 1 to May 10, contrary to what the expedition leaders signed as a condition of being granted and paying for a permit. A couple of hours of negotiations with the Nepalese military Major (who went to bat for the climbers) reached an agreement before the Chinese official started to get dizzy from the altitude and had to leave. Sigh. The new verbal agreement will now allow 2 sherpas per team to stay at Camp 2 but they have to rotate every two days. All persons at base camp that are not on the climbing permit have to leave base camp from now till May 3 or thereabouts??? whatever that means. This includes many expedition leaders who don't take out a spot on a permit since they don't actually climb on Everest. Crazy! Also any base camp managers and support people must leave and no trekkers are allowed in during this time. Everyone's permits were checked one by one so there are a lot of people packing right now. Yesterday- April 30- there was a plane doing circuits around Everest passing from the north side to the south side dipping down to film the north face of Everest. Word from official Nepalese sources "in the know" in BC said the Chinese were filming. They also said the Chinese had summited but apparently they couldn't keep the torch lit so they are going to try again. This is why the closure is still in affect and security is being beefed up. Our team is heading down to Dingboche right now to do some communicating with loved ones, if the line up isn't too long. Gee, I wonder how much per minute calls are going to be at Gorak Shep and Dingboche today? Tim is holding at base camp to greet Saad who will be arriving tomorrow and get the oxygen supplements sorted for carriage to Camp 4 whenever things settle down and life on Everest returns to normal. Stay tuned as nothing seems to be written in stone. April 30, 2008- Khumbu Chronicles update- Our team should now be sleeping at base camp as the mountain is closed starting tomorrow. Originally climbers were allowed to climb as high as Camp 2. Now it appears they have to vacate the mountain completely. They are now only allowed to have 2 sherpas per team at Camp 2 due to Olympic torch relay security. During this time our climbers were planning on retreating down the valley to Dingboche or Pheriche to rest in the richer air. We may even get another dispatch from Scott while down there. As for the Chinese, the torch is rumored to be at Base Camp on the north side in Tibet but there is little news coming out of there because journalist are falling ill due to altitude sickness. They weren't given much time to prepare by doing the normal acclimatization layover schedule before arriving at BC because of confusion on who was going to be allowed if anyone at all. No one has seen the torch and probably never will because journalist aren't allowed to go past base camp. There was a worrisome cyclone in the sea of Bengal headed in the direction of the Himalayas but it looks like it will miss the region, thankfully. Calming wind trends are in the forecast starting May 2 to 6 so it is possible for the Chinese to summit with the torch and get out of there so teams on the south side can have a crack at it. There is still much work to do before this can happen. Our team needs to stock camp 3 and 4 and undertake one more acclimatization climb to Camp 3 in order to be ready for a summit bid if another window of good weather opens like the one forecasted for May 2 to 6. "IF" is the part we are worried about. If a second window doesn't open we are in a bad position competing with the Chinese for the" next window" once again. If it does open this week, but happens to be the only one, we are also in a bad position. Talk about being between a rock and hard spot. THE PERFECT SCENARIO: The Chinese summit May 2 or 3. The weather holds all of May, no winds and no snow. Wouldn't that be grand? but not realistic. There is a storm coming in the next day or two bringing snow to the lower elevations. Let the show begin! April 29, 2008- Peak Freaks Khumbu Chronicles- Our team should be sleeping at Camp 2 still. They have been up there for a few days now getting the most out of their acclimatization opportunity before they are shut down. Because no one is allowed into Tibet to give a report we have no confirmation on what the Chinese are actually doing. Rumors are that the torch is at Everest base camp on the Tibetan side of Everest and because they have asked that the Nepal side of Everest be closed May 1 to May 3 and the weather forecast is showing a couple days of calm, it is thought that they are planning on going to the summit during this time. It is odd that such a large international event would be kept so secret.
April 29, 2008- Peak Freaks Khumbu Chronicles- Our team should be sleeping at Camp 2 still. They have been up there for a few days now getting the most out of their acclimatization opportunity before they are shut down. Because no one is allowed into Tibet to give a report we have no confirmation on what the Chinese are actually doing. Rumors are that the torch is at Everest base camp on the Tibetan side of Everest and because they have asked that the Nepal side of Everest be closed May 1 to May 3 and the weather forecast is showing a couple days of calm, it is thought that they are planning on going to the summit during this time. It is odd that such a large international event would be kept so secret.
April 28, 2008- "21- Day Rapid Ascent" The team is now complete! Last team member arrives in Luka this morning. Allow me to introduce Saad Naseer from  Chicago.
This is one climber that hasn't been affected by the Chinese
closure of upper Everest. Saad's plan was to arrive in
Kathmandu April 27and attempt a "record
breaking rapid ascent of Mount Everest in 21 days or less."
Saad is scheduled to arrive in base camp sometime before May 8
in time to celebrate his birthday at the foot of Everest with
the rest of the team, and to be ready to attempt the summit
with only one acclimatization climb to Camp 2 before heading
out for the summit. He will be in position to climb
immediately upon the opening of the upper part of the mountain
which is currently closed till the Chinese have completed
their torch relay on the Tibetan side of Everest.
Saad's 21- day ascent from Kathmandu to the summit and back if successful, will be done in one third to one half the time of a normal mountaineer- without the standard four to six weeks of acclimatization and pre-summit bid. " I have nothing to justify my desire OR guarantee my success but I have the heart and the experience to give it my best shot" says Saad. After talking to Saad it quickly came to our realization that if anyone could do it, he could. He has several factors and some preparations that will all be working on his side. He has spent the past five weeks sleeping in a High Altitude sleeping chamber designed by a Canadian company based out Ontario called - ALTITUDE TECH. They claim that sleeping in the tent will change Saad's oxygen saturation slowly in his blood stream helping him to acclimatize well before he even arrives at the mountain. If this proves to be true, it may be that climbers in the future won't need to take so much time away from work and family to attain the acclimatization needed to climb Everest. Saad has demonstrated an ability to acclimatize faster than normal, an ability that he attributes at least in part to genetics. Saad has not only proven to climb with above average speed but his choice of mountains and summit record is extremely impressive. Saad's climbing bio includes:
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Do
you ever wonder why someone would want to climb the world’s
tallest mountain?