Everest Challenge 2008 - David Cole

Map of Descent

2008-06-23T16:01:00.000-07:00

Everest Wrap Up....

2008-06-19T07:22:00.001-07:00

Dear Friends

(This is the last blog, and below, the final account "Summit & Descend!")

For people that have the slightest sense of adventure, and are inspired by the hardships that the human spirit will endure in the quest for success and achievement, then it is hard to resist having a fascination with the world's sacred roof top Mt. Everest – referred to by the Sherpas as "Chomolungma" (or Goddess Mother of the World).

For me, that fascination began when in 1992 I felt compelled to go and see Everest for myself. And in the true spirit of adventure it was only right that I made that approach deep into the Himalayas, via the same 150km trek from Jiri to Base Camp that pioneering expeditions led back in the mid 1900's in their quest to be the first to reach the top of the world.

I climbed to the top of nearby Kalar Patar which at 5,540m was for me a personal best; it would be the closest I could ever get to Everest without actually ever climbing it.

I would never in my wildest dreams have thought back then, that some 16 years later, I would be returning in my own personal quest to reach the summit.

Oh, the stir of emotions I felt when reaching the South Summit and seeing for the first time, the spectacular Hillary Step leading up to the final summit ridge. And then of course the realizing moment just after 11am on the 21st May 2008, when I took the last final steps up onto the summit of the Goddess Mother.

These last 2 months have been a fantastic journey and I only hope that you also have felt the same. I have enjoyed immensely writing these blogs for you all to share in the adventure first hand, and perhaps feel somehow, that you too also reached the summit of Everest there with me.

Again, I must especially thank you all for your great words of encouragement and support that I received via email, text message and the guest book – your contributions gave me the strength to endure those many days I cursed of the relentless fatigue, exhaustion, headaches, nausea and lack of appetite – it was worth every darn moment!

Also to the community of Maryborough (where I went to High School and where Graham and Dawn, my parent are from), I will make sure that next time I am in town to share the experience with you all in a slideshow night.

"What next?" you ask.

Well there are still plenty of challenges out there so don't worry about that; I'm a long way off quitting yet!

For yourself, I do really hope that by following along with my climb to the summit of Everest that it has been an inspiration to set your own personally challenging goals.

Aim high! Just as we did on Everest. Break your goal down into smaller goals, and go about achieving those, one breath, one step, one day at a time. Persevere. Endure. Keep your eye on the summit. You'll get there!

Keep in touch and please do contact me anytime for a chat, or with any questions or inquiries you may have, or just to share in the next adventure. I would love to hear from you.

" Without risk, there is no adventure"

Take care . . . David

Email : flatsprings@hotmail.com

http://www.spiritofeverest.com

Final Account - Part III (Descent)

2008-06-19T06:44:00.001-07:00

Views from the Top!

It was about 11:15am or so as I made the final steps onto the snow summit of Everest.

It summit was particularly crowded, but colorful with other climbers, most of which were unrecognizable in their puffy down suits, clad behind oxygen masks and large mirrored goggles. There were cheers of celebration; people hugging, calling loved ones on sat phones, taking video footage and candid pictures that could be taken back home to friends and family as memorabilia of this most precious and joyous moment.

I recognized both Zhangbu and Anselm and we embraced each other in a hug of congratulations and celebration. "Yes, yes, we've made it!"

I was not sure if I would cry, having anticipated this moment for several years. But gee…that sure wasn't necessary. "I have just reached the top of the world!" I thought. "You beauty!"

As I scanned the horizon from the summit, I could see other climbers ascending up from the Hillary Step; many bent over, resting with weigh on their forward foot as they took their final steps.

Looking to the west, there was only blue sky; now void of any peaks higher than where I stood - they were all now far below. Clouds were dispersed amongst their flanks, but moving up the valleys quickly.

A few feet from where I stood marked the descent down the opposite side of Everest into Tibet. It was the top of the NE ridge which could be followed all the way down to the expansive Tibetan plateau below.

Over my shoulder to the east, cloud blocked any view. I was vaguely conscious just how quickly this cloud moved in since arriving at the summit only just a short time before. I had a brief, oxygen deprived thought back to the tragedy of 1996 and the photo in the book "Into Thin Air" that showed storm clouds also gathering on this very same side of Everest. It played on my mind a little, however at this moment the clouds did not appear ominously, threatening enough as they did in '96 to distract me from taking in the moment.

Jamie arrived at the summit and was well spirited. I joked about what took him so long! Anselm and I sat on the top for a bit. We took more pictures and did a bit of a pose shot on the summit yielding our ice axes high in the air as you do! I watched Zhangbu and he could not wipe the shy smile from his face; his chance to summit today surely the pinnacle so far of his young climbing career.

After a few more photos, we had done what we came for and I called to Anselm that we start heading down.

(Unaware at the time, but after reviewing photos taken as we turned to descend, I was to learn that it was 1:07pm when we left the summit. Amazingly, we spent almost 2 hours on the summit when my normal philosophy would be to get to the top, take a few quick pictures, and get the hell out of there).

Fatigue & Altitude Sets In

We wouldn't of traveled more than 30m or so down the summit ridge and I suddenly felt exhausted. This really caught me be surprised. Was I really this tired? I knew that I had to be extremely careful. 80% of high altitude mountaineering accidents happen on the descent when oxygen deprived climbers are tired and dehydrated. I was determined not to become a statistic.

Continuing on several hundred meters along the ridge, I was absolutely stoked to recognize an approaching climber; it was Andy. "You bloody rippa!" I said in a muffled voice beneath my oxygen mask.

I had not seen Andy since leaving the South Col late last night. He had been behind me the whole way and I might of assumed that Andy was moving too slow on the ascent and decided to turn back. He proved me wrong and I was so pleased he did! I looked back over my shoulder to see how close he was to the summit, and knew he would make it!

We chatted briefly and gave our best wishes. Then Anselm and I continued our descent.

A further 100m on we came across another climber we recognized – it was the guy in the blue down suit who was moving terribly slow on the ascent early this morning, and whom we had trouble passing. (We were to learn later he was Korean).

A number of Sherpas were crowded around him. We overhead their conversation, speaking sternly to the Korean guy……

"You must go down! You must go down!" The Korean seemed defiant not to listen.

"You must go down!" Frustration and anger could be heard in the Sherpas' voices.

"You don't have enough time. You must go down!"

The guy swaying from side to side raised his arm slowly to point towards the summit. He mumbled some words. It seemed he was adamant to climb up to the summit despite the advice of the Sherpas.

He stepped forward, tripping on an oxygen bottle in front of him that the Sherpas had just changed over for him. It was apparent he was not thinking clearly and at this late hour in the day, and at the slow pace he was moving, the Sherpas knew he was seriously risking his life.

Anselm and I continued on. A further 50m along the route approaching the Hillary Step we came upon another climber, a young guy, maybe 25 years old or so, being escorted by his Sherpa. This climber was stumbling down the route tripping over himself and fumbling with the fixed lines.

His Sherpa looked back at us realizing they were slowing our descent, and his glance said it all about his client's inability to function properly.

I turned back to Anselm and said I was afraid to watch this guy descend the Hillary Step as there was every chance he would slip on one the most exposed section of the route…..and….sure enough, he did; his crampon failing to gain purchase as he moved over the smooth rock surface. Fortunately however, his Sherpa had properly attached the climber to the safety line preventing a fatal fall several thousand meters down the south west face.

At the bottom of the Hillary Step we managed to pass the two of them, and came up upon another situation in which two guys standing across the route were having a discussion about oxygen – from what we could make out, it seemed that one guy was asking the other for oxygen.

(As it would turn out a 44 yo. Swiss guy by the name of Uwe Gianni Goltz who was attempting to summit without oxygen today, died, likely due to symptons of HACE – High Altitude Cerebrel Edema. It is believed that the guy we saw here at the bottom of the Hillary Step asking for oxygen was Uwe).

I was somewhat surprised about all these other climbers we were now coming across that were getting into trouble. The approach to the top was so perfect in every respect it seemed for everyone, but now, on the descent and high up on the mountain still, Everest was now in control! Our motivation was fueled to get down faster to much lower and safer altitudes!

From the bottom of the Hillary Step we climbed across to and over the South Summit to commence the steep descent down the SE ridge to The Balcony. (Photos taken here later confirmed the time was 2:01pm).

Rescue at 8,700m

Barely over the crest of the summit, we now came upon a group crowded around another climber on the ground who was clearly in trouble.

Anselm and I observed. The climber at the center of all the attention was Sultan; a young guy from Oman attempting Everest who we had hear about, and had passed once in the ice fall. He was easy to recognize; the Oman flag blazed across his hat, and the front and arms of his down suit.

It was still day light but we were conscious that it was getting later in the afternoon and were all still very high and exposed on the mountain. Instinct was telling us we have to keep moving down, but the rescue was blocking the route. There was no chance to pass on this steep and exposed ridgeline. We dare not risk venturing from the fixed lines, so we anxiously waited for an opportunity.

We sat down and continued to watch the rescue unfold. Sultan looked well gone, passing in and out of consciousness. He was certainly incapable of following the instructions of his rescuers so, with rope attached, they forcefully dragged him down. No time could be wasted. Every precious moment of the rescue was depleting everyone's final oxygen reserves – us included.

Anselm and I both checked each other's remaining oxygen and decided it would be wise to conserve what we could. We each turned down the flow to 1L/min.

Meanwhile, Andy caught up with is. We spoke briefly, then Andy spotted an opportunity to bypass the rescue, and he quickly took the lead in doing so. We followed immediately behind along with two of our Sherpas who had also caught up with us by now. We were not sure where Jamie and the other Sherpa off our team were at this time. They would still be back up above us coming down.

Down the South Ridge

The further we descended the more tired I felt. "Keeping moving down" I kept telling myself. Descending remained instinctive.

I moved, often awkward, down over the rock bands. I glance quickly and see the Sherpas are behind me.

Anselm was about 100 yards in front of me; plodding along and taking frequent short rests. I was moving with a similar lack of grace but nothing could distract my descent.

Further along in front of Anselm was Andy. He appeared to be holding himself well and now seemed to be the strongest in the group.

Andy reached the Balcony, followed shortly after Anselm. One by one they each descended down the snow face to the right of The Balcony and disappeared from my view.

I reached the Balcony but from here, could not see the other guys. "How can that be?" I thought.

Climbing Alone

I turned down the snow slope plodding along continuing to take frequent rests. I reached the first rock band at the very top of the south face and then suddenly become aware just how dark it was; complete and utter darkness. I felt truly alone.

As I scanned my headlamp down the route, I was shocked at what I saw; a mass of tangled lines going off in every direction, down the face into darkness.

"How can this be?" I thought. Coming up the route last night there seemed only one obvious fixed line. I start to ponder just which line now is the correct line to follow down.

Doubt started to penetrate my thoughts and churn over and over in my mind….

"Am I off route?"

"But I can't be"

"Have I got lost in the dark?"

"That's not possible!"

"Why then?"

Judgment told me to choose what looked like the newest looking lines and assume these that would guide me to the bottom of the south face to camp. I moved down accordingly to this method.

Down, down, down…..

The Dark Side

I swept my head from left to right and back again constantly assessing the route. I was distracted by something bright out to the left hand side. "Ah, could it be another climber?" I thought.

I shone my headlamp back in that direction, and sure enough, there was a climber in a light blue suit. Oddly though his face was somewhat hidden, as he sat motionless propped between two rocks; legs straight out in front of him and leaning back slightly.

"What was he doing there? Resting? Why there at this time? Why so close to the trail? There is no else around??"

I took another glance this time observing that he was motionless, his position appearing though so neatly composed in a partially upright position. I then realized, of course, that this was a dead climber; most likely from a prior season.

The sight of the body did not did not bother me. This was Everest to which there is a brutal, unforgiving dark side.

I continued to move down; still hazily focused on the distant faint glow of camp far below.

The pack in which I had my oxygen bottle keeps falling off my shoulder. The valve on the bottle protruding from the pack is getting stuck in the fixed lines. I am frustrated and have to stop and take off the pack to free it - it is using precious time and energy that I just don't have right now.

"The oxygen mask; it won't stay on my head. I cannot breath. It's not working" I keep saying over and over again to myself.

I get to a point where I find the mask more of a hindrance now. It was not offering any relief it seemed; leaving me constantly short of breath, until such time I would find myself gasping for air. I tear the mask from my face and let it hang around my neck. I can only assume I am out of oxygen.

I continue down, down, down – one rock band ledge at a time, often slipping on the loose scree underfoot; but this had to be progress.

Travellers in the Night

It was not before too long that ahead of me I saw a figure moving down in the darkness! It was a climber; clearly without a headlamp moving down the rocks and scree on the butt of his down suit. I was unwaivered by the sight of him and simply accepted the fact he was there.

He too seemed driven by the same instinct I had to keep moving down. He did not look around despite me now keeping my headlamp shined on him offering light to his otherwise dark world. I took comfort in his presence if nothing more.

We climbed down for what was probably several hundred meters in altitude. The route started getting steeper and eventually he stopped. There were just three elements to our discussion. We exchanged names. We asked each what teams we were climbing on. And lastly, he asked me for oxygen!

I indicate I have no oxygen to give "I am out also" I told him, holding the mask now dangling around my neck.

He asked again for oxygen, and I responded the same and apologized I had nothing to offer.

We were both out of oxygen and with that realization, without any further conversation, we up and recommenced our descent. It was that simple.

For hours I have not checked my watch to check the time, but now I could see a steady stream of headlamps were ascending up from Camp 4 in our direction. These headlamps were obviously climbers starting out tonight on their summit attempt. This suggested it was somewhere between 8~10pm.The headlamps of the ascending climbers provided us with a further and closer reference point to descend towards.

Eventually I passed these oncoming climbers, and as I did so, looked down at the front of my suit – I was completely frosted over with ice – the bright red of my down suit almost unrecognizable. I think how shockingly ghostly and exhausted I must look to these approaching climbers in the dark of night.

Continuing on, I reached the bottom of the South Face where it transitions to a large snow field that slopes gently down to camp 4. The proper trail was visible in the snow. There were fixed lines in place, but being so exhausted I chose not to use them in what seemed a relatively lower risk section of the route.

In passing another oncoming climber, I stepped slightly off trail to the left and instantly fell into a hole up to my waist.

The oncoming climber was briefly terrified to see me fall, and quickly offered assistance throwing the safety line to help me get out. I was not phased at this point. Still on auto-pilot, my mind shifted immediately to getting to camp. I climbed out and offering a wave of thanks to the other climber, continued towards camp.

Reaching Camp

Reaching the outskirt of camp at the South Col, I was confronted with a mass of similar looking tents sprawled out over an area about the size of a football field.

I was now challenged with having to figure out which was our team's tent which I compelled to reach. It almost seemed too difficult a task to be bothered with. I was so exhausted by this time, having been climbing now for near 24 hours without any sleep and on just one liter of fluid. I was tempted to lie down and sleep on the rocky ground where I stood. I was so exhausted "It looks so, so comfortable" my mind was telling me.

I considered it. "No, I can't" I thought. "If I lie down I will not wake up".

"No, I can't! No! Get to the tent! No!"

"Maybe just a quick nap?"

"No! No don't. Get to the tent!"

"Go on. get to the tent!"

Thankfully instinct got the better of me to head for the tent for safety. Across the Col I staggered in the general direction of where I thought our tent to be.

Reaching the tent I called out "Andy, Anselm are you in there?".

I received no response.

Again…."Andy, Anselm are you in there?"

"Yeah, we're in here!"

They guys unzipped the tent door and I rolled inside. It was great to see them as silly as they looked with oxygen masks still strapped to their face!

I removed my crampons and brushed off the ice covering my down suit. The guys offered a hot orange drink which tasted so wonderfully good. It was the first fluids I had drank perhaps in 12 hours or more. They also assisted and offered a fresh bottle of oxygen on which I could now rest. I held the mask to my face and took some deep, slow breathes.

Checking my watch it was 9:37pm; I had been climbing almost 24 hours since leaving for the summit yesterday evening. I was surprised to hear that Anselm reached the tent not a great deal earlier than I did, and Andy I think about 1~1.5 hours earlier.

We chatted a bit about where Jamie and the Sherpas were, and about what we saw and what happened on our descents. No doubt we would share those same discussions in a lot more detail over the coming days, but right now I just wanted to sleep. I did; shortly thereafter, for what was without a doubt, one of the best night's sleep I'd ever had!

I would wake tomorrow, stoked on the thought of having summited Everest :)

Final Account - Part II (Summit)

2008-06-04T22:35:00.001-07:00

Hi Everyone, I will finish up with this blog writing now that the Everest climb is over, however I know a few of you are interested to read a final account of summit day. A lot happened on summit day, plenty of which remains very vivid in my recollection of events, however there are other elements that remain a little blurry given the oxygen deprived nature of my mind at the time!. I will endeavor to recite the whole summit day experience for you.

Below is the account and some pictures of the final ascent. I will post in the next few days an account of the eventful descent down from the summit to camp (and it was certainly a most eventful one in many respects) and then I hope to finish up this blog shortly thereafter with a few final reflections on the Everest experience. Cheers for now..David

Summit Day : 20-21 May 2008

Just hours before our departure for the summit we set the alarm for 830pm with the plan to depart at 10pm. It would take a good 1.5 hours to get prepared – force down some more food and fluids, and then organize our final gear for the summit – the objective being to travel as light as possible - suncream, mitts, inner gloves, camera, snacks, goggles, sunnies and water bottles (needed to be filled with hot water and kept in custom pockets on the inside of my down suit to prevent them from freezing). Outside we were distracted by the headlamps and sounds of other teams busy preparing for a slightly earlier start than us.

830pm soon came and by this time we had given up on any proper rest. It was now all go for Andy, Anselm and myself. Immediately we got the stove going to reheat some water and get some more noodles on the boil. Time passed quickly as we prepared. Before we knew it was time to get going.

Starting out for the summit we changed to a new oxygen bottle set at a flow of 2L/min; this would last us about 8 hours to about 6am tomorrow morning which will get us a good way to the summit. A final last check of gear, our harnesses, and lastly climbing out of the tent to fix our crampons, we paired up with our sherpas with a 1:1 ratio. We wandered through the campsite, past the glow of other tents, into darkness. Darkness that would lead us ever higher to the upper reaches of Everest.

The climb out of C4 starts out on a lightly crevassed snowfield, which initially, was a gentle slope heading directly upwards. But this continues to get ever steeper, and then for some 400m ascend directly up over a mix of rock, loose scree and snow. The steepness is unrelenting.

Towards the top of the face, the route traverses to the right over a right band then up a snow slope to The Balcony. The Balcony is a small flat platform which is slightly sheltered by a large bolder, and marks the start of the ridge which we will then ascend all the way to the South Summit, The Hillary Step and then onto Everest's summit. On the opposite of The Balcony, the ridge drops several thousand meters down the other side into Tibet.

Upon setting out, we could see well ahead of us up the route, a trail of headlamps of those climbers that left earlier. Even higher again was a small team of sherpas who would do the final fixing of the route from the South Summit to the true summit.

For summit day, as many other climbers do, I had a fresh pair of heavy woolen mountaineering socks to wear. Well I wasn't but a few hundred meters out of camp and I immediately noticed that my feet were especially loose in my boots. This bothered me, as being too loose could mean that my feet could get colder than what they would otherwise, possibly risking frostbite. Furthermore, without having a slightly snug foot it could make footing on more technical parts of the route, dangerously slippery. But I did not want to turn back to camp to change socks, we were underway now, so I could only hope these problems would not materialize perhaps jeopardizing the climb later on.

I was feeling good starting out on the trail. Oxygen was working better. I was feeling more comfortable with it with a good steady breathing pattern. I went ahead of rest of our team and my partnering sherpa, Zhangbu.

It was a great night; no wind and relatively mild temperatures (for 8,000m!). I made steady progress up the route; soon catching a number of slower climbers which were all part of a larger group. Every so often they would stop on the route and take some video footage. That did this several times and it was becoming annoying as this hindered my momentum up the route, and used up critical summit and oxygen time.

I managed to bypass this larger group, stepping out wide around numerous climbers. In passing, I could not identify their nationality. There was very little talking; everyone was in their little oxygen zone and focused on moving only upwards in their slow, steady state.

In the monotony of climbing in the dark, time passed without noticing. There were hours of climbing ahead of us. It was dark. Nothing to look at. The extent of my world at this time was only as far as the reach of my headlamp beam; usually focused on the fixed line immediately in front. To the left and right of the lines just more rock, and snow. Safety line, after safety line we moved along. The upward climb became mechanical like; switched on auto-pilot; the mind void of any thought otherwise. Thinking consumed valuable energy.

As we moved through some more technical sections of rock, the work effort became greater, and suddenly I would be gasping for breath. Suffocating behind the oxygen mask I would need to desperately pull it from my face to get my breath back before regaining composure.

Despite this though, I still felt that I was moving well. Looking back down at C4 it was evident I had gained quite a bit of altitude. I have no idea what time it was; I never thought about it and didn't care really. Looking back, I tried to identify fellow team members but could not in the glare of those oncoming climber's headlamps.

Every so often I would catch up to some slower climbers; usually at the rock steps and at changeover of fixed lines where it seemed that their sherpas would often do the clipping and unclipping for them onto the safety line. This was really hard to believe and showed some lack of basic skills of some people attempting Everest.

I finally reached the upper snow slope to climb up onto the ridge to reach The Balcony. There was already a huddle of climbers there; checking gear, taking a short rest, and some even changing oxygen bottles. There was not much chat, this was not the place for it; only a few short muffled hellos from beneath our oxygen masks.

This group soon moved on, and I remained. I wanted to wait for Zhangbu and the other guys to catch up but I could not see them. By now the sky was starting to lighten with the early rising sun. Starting still, waiting, I started to get extremely cold. Shivering. I could feel my feet and toes getting cold. I have to keep warm but at 8,400m standing on a ridge on Everest, there is no shelter. I was confident to continue climbing up alone. By now I could see clearly up the route all the way to the South Summit; numerous climbers strewn along the full length of the knife edge ridge.

It was upon reaching The Balcony that for the first time I gained a sense of being up high. Set behind C4 was Lhotse – the 4th tallest mountain in the world at 8,516m - now I was standing almost as high as it's summit looking across at it; incredible.

I continued with the steady pace moving up ridge. After perhaps an hour or so I started to keep an eye on my oxygen level. I was not in a rush to change the bottle until such time most of the oxygen had been consumed. By taking this approach, it would mean I could use my 2nd bottle later, which would then effectively last longer for the descent.

It was around 6am that I changed over to the second bottle. By this time, I had radioed to other guys to learn they were only 15-20 minutes behind me. I rested a little for both Anselm and Zhangbu to catch up and from here on, we continued to climb closer to each other.

It was a long this section that I noticed a bloke it his mid 40's perhaps climbing without oxygen, we spoke briefly and I was especially impressed by the fact he was climbing without oxygen at what was a pretty respectable pace, albeit it looked like bloody hard work, and his rest stops were particularly heavy. We continued on and upwards together – he setting a similar pace, every so often stopping for a well needed rest.

Also along this section was, we caught up to a large stocky climber in a blue suit and wearing a dark pair of Tom Cruise shades. He was particularly slow, and was struggling at each of the rocky sections. We were stuck behind him with no opportunity to pass, and other climbers were starting to catch up with us.

Part way up one of the rock sections the guy obviously fatigued and must of held him self to the fixed lines for 10 minutes or so. He was struggling. We attempted to climb past him on an older line (not the main line he was climbing on) and he yelled down to us to get off it! We respected his request, and waited patiently along with those other climbers behind us until he climbed up the rock band onto the snow slope above. It was there we were able to skirt by him.

Anselm climbed on ahead. The slope become quite steep and I knew we were nearing a high spot along the route as the route was no longer visible above.

I climbed up it, and not realizing it, had just climbed up onto the South Summit at 8,750m. There in front of me was the most impressive view, perhaps the most memorable of the whole climb, of the Hillary Step rising up to the jagged summit ridge of Everest – absolutely magically. It was at this point now that I knew the summit of Everest would be mine. I checked my watch and it was 8am – we had been climbing for 10 hours.

We took a good break on the South Summit; and sat there in awe of the breathtaking 360 degree views. A sensational dark blue sky. No wind to chill out bodies to the core. In fact the temperature seemed that of a warm spring day…..oh how deceiving Everest can be! When we were down at base camp these past weeks we were surrounded by numerous 7,500m peaks towering above our camp. Now, we were a good kilometer above those very same peaks, all of which now were barely recognizable as we looked down upon their summits.

Looking at the Hillary Step and towards the summit, a number of climbers could be seen moving up and down the route; some already on their way back from the summit. We heard of traffic jams on the Hillary Step as climbers try to pass each other on this very exposed section of the route, but none were evident.

From the South Summit it was a short steep climb down, before then ascending up the Hillary Step.

The Step was covered in a tangle of fixed lines which have been there from previous years climbing. To trust any of these older lines was too risky. Instead I would apply some simple science of looking for the newest looking line (likely this year's) and along with it, grab some of the older lines and hoist myself up the route. Ascending the Hillary Step in this fashion was relatively easy; about 3-4 steps – one cramponed foot on the rock, and one behind me wedged into the snow and I was up one of the steepest sections.

The route then moved back onto snow for what was the final summit approach, the RHS of which faced Tibet and was very heavily corniced with massive exposure.

To the summit it was a slow, steady plod; the prayer flags of the summit clearly visible. Be patient I thought. One step at a time. The route went no higher; I could only see blue sky. I had reached the summit of Everest!

………(to be continued)

Final Account - Part I (Approach)

2008-06-02T08:37:00.000-07:00

Hi Folks

Well back in Dalian, China now having arrived here on Saturday and wasted no time catching up with a few good friends and indulging in a few cold Qingdao beers and some great seafood that Dalian has to offer. Right now I do not see this indulgence stopping anytime soon......

View from C3 looking down Western Cwm

Our trip down from base camp down to Kathmandu was fast, if not uneventful. We were motivated by the prospect of back to Kathmandu to do the rounds of all the good lil' restaurants tucked away in the alleys of Thamel, Kathmandu that serve all sorts of delicious of international cuisine for just a few bucks! One of the first stops included an awesome juicy hamburger at New Orleans, and a couple of cold beers at the Rum Doodle bar to sign our name on the summiters board alongside Sir Ed!

Whilst in the haste of returning to Kathmandu, I did not get any chance to summarise the events of our summit push, so here is an account of those few days......

17 May 2008 (Rest Day at C2)

We hung out at C2 today for a rest on our final summit attempt. Our Sherpa team did a carry up to C4 today and report that a pack, an oxygen bottle and a pair of sunglasses had come hurtling down the Lhotse Face today. For a while there was a lot of speculation that a climber had fallen however, fotunately, this does not look to the be the case.

18 May 2008 (Had Better Days - Fail to Reach C3)

Anselm, James, Jamie, Andy and I headed for C3 today, however, for whatever reason, both Andy and I were seriously lacking the energy and motivation needed to get ourselves up the Lhotse Face to C3 safely. Sometimes you have good days and bad ones; I guess this is what they call a bad one! One hour out of C2 we cust our losses and decided to return to C2 and give C3 another shot tomorrow. I was disappointed to be lacking the energy knowing that the climbing over the coming days was only going to get progressveily harder. Oh well......it was motivation to bounce back (somehow?) stronger tomorrow.

19 May 2008 (C2 to C3)

It was a good decision yesterday to return to C2. Today, I climbed with a lot of new energy and made C3 in reasonable time, there meeting up with Anselm, James and Jamie.

More rest - cramped conditions in C3

We made it a point to drink well, and eat what we could managed to digest for tomorrow's climb upto the South Col. We were getting closer, but the real tough climbing was still ahead of us.

20 May 2008 (C3 to C4)

Today we departed C3 about 9am after waiting for the sun to hit the tent, which on Lhotse Face is a little later than we were accustomed to at lower camps. We anticipated it would take us 5-6 hours to reach C4, therefore getting there mid afternoon allowing a few hours to rest prior to heading for the summit later tonight.

Getting started early in the morning, was taking progressively longer, because at altitude, we just get a little slower at everything we do!

Today, we start using oxygen for the first time on the expedition so this took a little extra time getting it set up for the first time. Unfortunately, using oxygen often eels caustrophobic until such time that you can get into a regular breathing pattern. Despite having used oxygen back on Cho Oyu in 2006 I did not feel any less discomfort putting it on this morning. I knew it would be difficult for the other guys on the team who will be using it for their first time today.

Climbing from C3 to C4

We managed to get out of the tent on time, and immediately out of camp we had a 8m vertical wall to climb, with large deep steps kicked into wall and which demanded good strength to pull oneself up the fixed lines. I managed to get up it, but the extra work requried to do so, only made the oxygen mask seeem more suffocating. Once I got to the top, it had left me completely exhuasted. Shit, I hope the rest of the day is going to be a bit easier than this!

About 20 minutes later my breathing pattern was starting to settle comfortably into a synchronised monotony....one breath, one step, one breath, one step.....it seemed to work well. I looked behind and see that James was struggling with his breathing and was sitting down to the side of the fixed lines. He was too far back to yell out to, but Jamie soon came up to his assistance. I hope he would be ok.

I continued on with the same speed as those other climbers on the fixed line. The route headed directly up above C3 for several hundred meter before traversing across the Lhotse Face to reach the Yellow Band some several hours later.

Traversing across the Lhotse Face to the Yellow Band

The upward steps remained monotonous, as was the breathing and the connecting to each fixed line; but the monotony at times was comfort and meant progress in the right (upwards) direction! I kept reminding myself that climbing mountains was all about gaining altitude, and a quick glimpse of my altimeter every so often verified that on this steep ground, altitude was being gained!

After climbing up through the Yellow Band, Andy, Jamie and I tool a good rest. Anselm had sped on ahead tagging behind a faster group of climbers. jamie informed us here that James had decided to turn around back to C3 as he was finding the ascent difficult. (As it turns out he decided to abandoned his attempt completely at this point and has since returned back
home to Ireland).

From here we could now see the route continuing on up to traverse a large rocky spur called the Geneva Spur, and then disappear up over the top to what was hopefully the South Col. Again, we continued on for another hour or so and rested at the bottom of the Geneva Spur, where we also removed our crampons to facilitate easier travel over the rock. It is here we realised that the climb to the South Col was going to take longer than expected and cut into valuable resting time we had planned at the South Col before heading for the summit later tonight.

We pushed on. At the top of the spur we had a short vertical scramble over rock, snow and ice which then accessed a flat rocky trail to our relief. This trail weaved it's way into C4 where we finally arrived some 8 hours after leaving C3. It was now 5pm and we would be leaving forthe summit in just 5 hours (at 10pm).

Top of the Geneva Spur with view of Everest face

At the South Col, despite it's notorious reputation, the temperature was relatively mild and a real plus is there was no wind. The weather forecast of no winds was thankfully holding true! A few tents had already been set up already by teams planning to attempt the summit tonight, other teams had stashed their C4 supplies in white mesh bags in preparation for their teams
arrival.

I wandered across camp and found our team tents and our Sherpa team busy making final preparations. Exhausted after the 8 hour trip from C3, I climbed inside the tent and it was first priority to boil and drink some water to hydrate, and force down a few noodles. Anslem who had arrived 1 hour earlier, liked particularly plain food, and he insisted the noodles be free of any satchel flavorings or liquid soup - eating was bland and difficult, but we managed.

C4 - The South Col

After eating, we all lied there resting, and catching any sleep we could before the summit attempt. However for me it was impossible to sleep any, or rest properly as my mind raced ahead with the anticipation that in just a few hours we would be heading off on the final round trip to the summit of Everest!

.................(to be continued in the next few days)

Team Quote II

2008-05-26T04:56:00.001-07:00

“This is all testosterone fuelled, macho bullshit.” - Sharon (Andy’s wife)talking about climbing big mountains

“You mum likes the website, but she dislikes the pictures with the ladders.” - Pat (James’s father)

“Let’s play a game of Gin Rummy to see who carries the sleeping bag to camp 4.” - the Team talking about the one sleeping bag we will all share at Camp 4

“What happens at Camp 4 stays at Camp 4” - James

“I have paid all this money to sit next to a flatulent Irishman” - Anselm

“We will have to try and get the better quality SPAM next time” - Jamie

“This is making me want to die” – Anselm wanting desperately a card game to finish

“The women all though anyone who puts their life in peril were crazy; the men all understood the thrill of pushing themselves to the limit – I guess that is why they say women are from Venus and men are from Mars!” - conclusions of a NY dinner party when talking about climbing Everest

“I even lathered my pits twice” – David

“You’re getting up a lot earlier, but you’re just not as bright as what you need to be” – David to Andy early one morning

“Which direction will I point the solar panel?” - Andy

“When our climbers are strong, the Sherpas are happy!” – an unhappy Sirdar, Dewa Sherpa

“Andy, whatever are you doing up there you silly f!@#$%?” a text msg received by Andy from Simon

Summit Day Events.....

2008-05-26T04:56:00.000-07:00

Hi Folks

It has been a few days since our summit now and there are a few aspects of summit day that are little blurry (depending on how much oxygen we were on at the time!). We continue to recall the sequence of events that occurred over the course of the 24 hour climb and more details come to light. We have to get started on the trek back to Kathmandu today (Sunday), but I plan in the 1^st week of June to provide a bit more details for those of you that have followed along on this climb including reaching the South Summit and the realization of being able to reach the summit, the Hillary Step, how we saw the rescue dramas unfolding high on the summit, the descent in darkness down to C4, and the weary descent down to C3 the following day.

Bye for now…..David

Summited 21st May 2008

2008-05-24T09:40:00.001-07:00

Hi Folks,

Andy, Anselm, Jamie, and myself, along with supporting Sherpas Pasang Gumbu, Zhang Bu, and Chewang Sherpa all successfully reached the summit of Mount Everest just after 11am on 21^st May 2008 and returned safely to Camp 4 – refer to www.project-himalaya.com for latest dispatch and summit picture.

It was a near 24hr round trip to the summit in good (warm and windless) conditions however we are completely exhausted for it. Gina, Jamie, and Raphael have abandoned their summit attempt.

The summit day was not without incident for other unfortunate climbers (on other teams) in which a Swiss climber died (attempting to summit without oxygen), and the rescue of an Omanian and Korean climber. These events unfolded upon the descent - more info can be read at www.mounteverest.net. Jamie supported these rescue efforts.

We are all safe and have just arrived back at Base Camp today (Sat 24^th May) after a 3 day descent from the South Col, having traveled through the Ice Fall for the final time!

We will celebrate with our Sherpa team tonight here at BC over a carton of beer; then tomorrow we all start packing up camp for the 3 day journey back to Kathmandu and the much now talked about, onward flight home!

Bye for now……David

The Final Summit Push

2008-05-15T00:18:00.000-07:00

Hi Folks

Well we sat around the table until 10pm Tuesday night (13^th May) in our BC dining tent discussing all possible summit push options. Technical weather forecasts downloaded from the internet over the past 48 hours have not been showing the most ideal conditions for the coming week, creating a lot of discussion on what we think is the best option to pursue.

Contrary to the weather forecasts showing less than ideal summit conditions, actual conditions we are waking to each day reflect perfect summit conditions; this morning we woke to a most sensational Himalayan day – crystal clear white snow peaks shimmering against a cloudless, and windless dark blue sky!

Our lead Sirdar, Dewa Sherpa participated in those discussions last night and indicated that fixed lines from C4 to the summit had not yet been put in place, however both Jamie and he will be attending a meeting later this afternoon (Wednesday) to discuss which teams will have final responsibility for fixing lines above C4. It is anticipated these lines will be fixed within the next few days. There are reportedly some 30 expeditions on Everest this year (about 270 registered climbers or thereabouts), and each of the larger expedition team has to contribute either fixed line supplies (ropes, ice screws, stakes etc) for the route, and/or strong and experienced Sherpas for fixing the route.

We are all a bit anxious to get moving on the final summit push now that we have rested here at BC for a few days. Given the last few good days of weather, with clear skies and minimal wind, we are going to commence the push for the summit this Friday morning with an anticipated summit day, all going well, around the 21^st ~ 22^nd of May. As it turns out, 20^th May is will be a full moon and generally weather conditions around this date tends to be more favorable, albeit it colder, with clearer skies and the possibility of a moonlight night to guide the way to the summit!

It is a 7 day round trip from BC to the summit and back. The tentative schedule we will be targeting for over the coming week is as follows:

May 16 BC to C2 (6400m)

May 17 C2 Rest Day

May 18 C2 to C3 (7150m)

May 19 C3 Rest Day

May 20 C3 to C4 (known as the South Col)

May 21 Target Summit Day (full moon)

May 22 Target Summit Day

May 23 C4 to C2

May 24 C2 to BC

The tentative summit date of the 21~22^nd May is exactly that – it’s tentative! Any variables such as the final dates for fixed lines being put in place above C4, and especially any changes in the weather conditions over the course of the week could change this schedule around somewhat. This for us could mean a bit more sitting around at any one of the higher camps literally on standby waiting for that best window to go for it.

Our strategy above C3 up to the South Col and the Summit

At this point, the strategy is to spend one extra night at C3 just to better acclimatize, because at this point none of us have slept there. C3 is lower than expected this year at 7,150m, which at this elevation, does not really necessitate oxygen – it is around 7,500m that the pros vs cons come into play of carrying oxygen. At any time, when on oxygen, a climber must carrying two 4L oxygen bottles, which, when full, weigh some 3.7kg each – that’s a total of 7.4kg to carry which feels a heck of a lot heavier when climbing above 7,000m. The alternative is not to be on oxygen (yep - harder work on the lungs), however in doing so, we would not have to carry the extra weight of the bottles (thus less work on the lungs). It will become a personal choice whether or not we choose to be on oxygen from C3 or from higher above C3.

We can sense the excitement in our motivated Sherpa team of an approaching summit day. This is their livelihood for which we have them to thank so gratefully! They left BC this morning for C2, and then over the following days will then be making 2 trips from C2 up to C4 to stock the South Col camp.

Now the South Col (C4) is a barren, and often extremely windy camp which necessitates that all tents be well anchored down to prevent them from being blown away. The Sherpas will bury all supplies (tents, oxygen, food, fuel and stoves) in bags at C4 in preparation for our arrival on around 20^th May.

From C3, we will move further up, and then traverse the Lhotse Face through a section called the Yellow Rock Band, and then on up, one grueling step at a time, to the South Col which we might expect to take some 6 to 8 hours. We will arrive at the South Col late afternoon, and then muster what energy we can (everything at this altitude is so bloody tough and slow to do), to make it a priority to boil snow to hydrate and cook some simple foods to replenish our bodies of those depleted calories.

We plan to rest at the South Col for about 6-8 hours and then step at around 10pm make our first steps for the summit, some 850m above us. Climbing up along the ridgeline, the route is fixed most of the way. We will pass over the South summit (~8,750m), thereafter climb up the 40m Hillary Step (~8,810m) as the last final crux, and about 1 hour later, all climbing well, and weather remaining on our side, can expect to reach the summit of Everest some 10 hours or so after leaving the South Col.

We can expect to make the descent back down to arrive at the South Col by 2pm to rest there for the night on oxygen before then descending down to C2 the following day. Summit day we leave C4 with 2x 4L bottle of oxygen, each of which is expected to last 6~8 hours. A 3^rd bottle will be stashed at the South Summit in case additional oxygen is needed on the descent.

Typically there is about a 40% success rate of summiting Everest from the south side.

During our summit push, Jamie plans to post brief updates via sat phone to this same blog you are now reading www.spiritofeverest.blogspot.com. Also, he hopes to post the same updates to www.project-himalaya.com

This is all the blogging I now expect to do until after the summit attempt.

As one final note, I would like to personally thank you all following along this blog for the best and safe wishes you have emailed to me here at BC or posted on the website guestbook. Your supporting comments are a motivating force in my efforts, along with those of fellow team members, in attempting to summit Everest and return safely.

Bye for now……David

Chinese Summit, Lhotse Face, & Weather

2008-05-13T07:42:00.000-07:00

Hi folks, well after the third progressively higher ascent up the route to C3, most of us have just arrived back in base camp for the final time prior to making the final summit push. Here is a summary of these past few days:

(Wednesday May 7) – Gripes to an early start / Move to C1

After getting off to a cold, early 3am start today, to which Andy begrudgingly detested, most of us headed back up into the ice fall aiming for C1. Most of the load carrying sherpas also leave around this time, however they would quickly overpass us slower souls! The appeal of moving so early in the morning is the snow under foot is much firmer enabling more efficient and safer movement, and also that the ice fall is at it’s most stable.

It had been about 10 days since we were in the ice fall last and in numerous sections the route had clearly changed. In the middle of the ice fall, one section had collapsed across the former route necessitating we scrambled over large fallen ice blocks. Higher up on the ice fall, once section had completely collapsed down upon itself. One crevasse is also noticeably getting wider - upon our first ascent up the ice fall the crevasse necessitated 2 ladders to span it’s breath. This crevasse has now widened to some 4 ladders (you can see plenty of pics now on www.project-himalaya.com), and continues get wider every day. Despite all these changes in the ice fall, we are all a lot more comfortable moving through it albeit we are moving a heck of a lot faster – by capability, but also by choice!

This being the 3^rd time up the ice fall, I was able to do it in record time of 4 hours which was further encouragement of getting better acclimatized and moving faster. We timed our arrival for sunrise at C1, and the moment the sun rose above Everest to the east, we were immediately struck by the unbearable heat of C1; draining us of energy to do anything really; especially melting snow to rehydrate or cooking food. Nevertheless we stuck it out for the day, lying outside for a couple of hours under sleeping mats to gain protection from the scoldering sun, but at the same time, enjoying the coldness of a slight breeze. James and I promised ourselves, due to these unbearable conditions at C1, to bypass C1 in favor of C2 on all future re-ascents.

(Thursday May 8) – Beat the heat / Move to C2 / Chinese Summit

After having lied awake for several hours today at C1, I was motivated to get to C2 asap before the heat of the day struck us again. What was also most appealing about getting an early start was the prospect of getting to C2 for a proper cooked breakfast prepared by our 2^nd team cook, Tawa Sherpa at C2 kitchen. James also concurred with the idea of breakfast cooked for us, and was quickly onboard for us to make an early departure at 6am for C2.

On the hike up to C2, most striking was the unappealing weather on Everest – a dense, dark lenticular cloud loomed over the summit of Everest and neighboring Lhotse with high, fast winds swirling up any snow on their peaks into streaming clouds.

A plane circling the summit of Everest above suggested, that despite these nasty looking weather conditions, that the Chinese Olympic team were making another summit attempt.

We hiked for about 2 hours reaching C2 in good time and enjoyed a hot breakfast and few hot drinks, thanks to Tawa Sherpa. Bathing in the milder temperatures of C2, the plane continued to circle above. At 11am news came through over the radio that the Chinese had summited Mount Everest at 910am!

Word on the Chinese Olympic team spread quickly up and down to all camps and to all climbing teams. Within a short time all restrictions on our team were immediately lifted and we were now free to move up and down the mountain at free will, and especially above C2 which was previously forbidden. The Nepalese army whom had established a presence at both BC and C2 immediately withdrew.

Everest was now open to all climbing teams. It was now open to our team to summit at will.

We now have no more excuses!

(Friday May 9) – Easy Day

Today was, by choice, a relatively easy day with a slow stroll up to the bottom of Lhotse Face with James and Anselm.

These two lads chose to go a little higher onto the Lhotse Face, whilst I was content to have an easier day and return to C2, with intent to go all the way to C3 the following day.

(Saturday May 10) – A taste of the Lhotse Face

Well with an early breakfast this morning, James and Anselm would return down to BC, whilst Andy, Raphael and I would set out for the Lhotse Face. Setting out at 6am, a clear trail of climbers could be already seen well up the Lhotse Face. As it turns out, this would be both sherpas heading up to establish C3 tents, and also other climbers heading up to acclimatize at the higher elevation.

The Lhotse Face perhaps is the most prolonged exposed section of the whole south side route – some 800m of often hard blue ice, with slope angles varying from 45 to 70 degrees. To move safely up and across the Lhotse Face, and along other exposed parts of the route, fixed lines are established in advanced by experienced Sherpa teams. Climbers then clip a safety line attached to their harness, onto these fixed lines as a safety precaution from taking a slip or fall.

Compared to yesterday, I got to the start of the Lhotse Face in just 1.5hrs which was another good sign of moving faster. I then turned to the start of the Lhotse Face and after attaching my jumar to the fixed line, started to kick one step up in front of the other – gravity never felt so darn heavy. (The jumar is a device attached to your climbing harness that is slide up the fixed line and then automatically locks onto the line to prevent you from slipping back down the fixed line - handy indeed).

In starting up the Lhotse Face, I was immediately overcome by the steepness of the route : the hard blue ice often necessitated kicking the crampons (attached to my boots) into the ice, multiple times, to get a decent hold. The thought of a crampon coming loose became an immediate concern, and prompted me to recheck their attachment to my boots; a lost crampon is not a scenario to contemplate so I am happy to check and recheck every so often!

Two fixed lines were available to climb up. The reason for the two lines is one being for those climbers ascending, and one line for those descending. Having two lines is a lot safer than just having one fixed line as it enables climbers, firstly to travel faster in any given direction, and secondly enables climbers to remain clipped in when passing others traveling in the opposite direction.

On this relatively steep slope, I would gain altitude quickly; which was a good thing as climbing is all about gaining altitude. However a safety hazard to contend with was the constant showering of ice projectiles falling from above – kicked loose by other climber’s kicking decent steps with their crampons above. Whilst these ice particles are not that large, it is the sheer speed with which they fall from high above that makes them potentially dangerous – wearing a helmet and decent eye protection is an appropriate safety precaution taken along this section of the route.

The climb up the Lhotse Face was constant – climbing some 300m up to C3. I made reasonable speed on a number of other climbers above, although the Sherpas will always kick my butt! One noticeable group that I caught up to was one of the larger commercial expeditions. These larger commercial groups are not uncommon on Everest, however one of the problems these larger groups can create for smaller expeditions and independent climbers is that the larger groups often travel together along the fixed lines in a tightly packed group which makes them difficult to pass. This can lead to traffic jams on the fixed lines; especially where only one fixed line is available. Whilst on the Lhotse Face this is manageable given there are two fixed lines, these traffic jams caused by larger groups or slower climbers presents a concern; especially up higher if bad weather is to move in quickly. It is something we are well aware of, and must take into consideration and watch out for on summit day. When seeing these larger commercial groups, the attraction of traveling in a smaller expedition such as that which I am on now; one that allows us to move up and down the mountain at our own pace, either with fellow team members or independently, is of great appeal!

I reached C3 at 1030am, moving well, breathing well, and feeling strong. C3 is located half way up the Lhotse Face at 7150m. Our Sherpa team had arrived their just 30 minutes before and had already got to work carving out 3 tent platforms for our team’s future use.

A noticeable feature of C3 is that there are multiple lines placed at ground level between and around all tens at C3 – these lines serve as safety clip in points to prevent any climbers from slipping off the Lhotse Face (this occurred to one climber a few years ago who apparently wandered to far from his tent one night to go to the toilet). All our team members would prefer to make maximum use of their “pee bottle” at night in favor of such an excursion!

After hanging out at C3 for about 1hr I descended back to C2, this time rappelling down steeper sections on the fixed lines. I was back to C2 just in time for lunch to catch up with the rest of our team. We decided that afternoon we would return to BC tomorrow for the final time before the summit push. Gina arrived at C2 today and would remain here to head for C3 tomorrow.

(Sunday May 11) – Return to Base Camp for Final Summit Push

Jamie, Raphael, Andy and myself had a hearty breakfast and set out at 730am today for BC. We stopped in at C1 for 1 hour to clean up and check on the tents there.

We have returned to BC today with the intent to rest for few days in preparation for the final summit push – it seemed that we have been here for weeks without making much progress, but now all of a sudden we were on the verge of making that final summit push.

Our sherpa team remained at C2 tonight and would have a big day tomorrow to move supplies (tents, oxygen, food, stove, and fuel) up to the South Col (Camp 4 at 7.090m).

(Monday May 12) – Weather forecast expected to slow final summit push

We have woken today to quite a bit of snow. The weather outside is not looking good – both down the valley and higher up on the mountain. Jamie has radioed up to C2 to check the conditions there and our sherpa team reported heavy snowfall which has prevented their progress up to C4 earlier today.

Jamie downloaded the latest weather forecast and the outlook is for preciptation through until 16^th May or so. This is not necessarily good for the Sherpas establishing C4.

A good weather window is now the most critical factor to us making a successful summit attempt, so over the comign days we will be watching closely the latest Everest weather forecasts available.

For the actually push to the summit it is a 7 day round trip from base camp. The outlook at the moment is as follows, however this is completely tentative, and is expected to change, pending how the weather works to our favor:

May 17 BC to Camp 2 (6400m)

May 18 Sleep 2nd night Camp 2

May 19 Camp 2 to Camp 3 (7100m)

May 20 Sleep 2nd night Camp 3

May 21 Camp 3 to Camp 4 (South Col 7900m on oxygen)

May 22 Camp 4 to Summit to Camp 4

May 23 Camp 4 to Camp 2

May 24 Camp 2 to Base Camp !

(Tuesday May 13) – Out for Lunch

The weather forecast is not improving. Andy, James and myself decided to head down to Gorek Shep (a 1 hr hike) and have indluged there in a lunch of sizeable proportions – 1x Rara noodle soup with egg, 1x fried vegetable momos, 1x plate of boiled potatos, 1x tuna/cheese pizza, 1x tomato/cheese pizza and 1x Coke in favor of a cold dry Asahi beer (because we consider ourselves a disciplined bunch).

Team Quotes I

2008-05-12T20:02:00.001-07:00

Nothing like a few memorable quotes of fellow team members and climbers …………

"Do the radios work down crevasses?" Raphael.

"What do you want me to do, kiss it better?" Dr. James O’Leary when asked to give medical advice.

"We may as well throw you down a crevasse!" Dr. Jamie McGuiness when asked to give medical advice.

“It should take you between 3 and 5 hours”. Jamie talking about how long it should take to get up the ice fall. 1st time up the team averaged about 9 hrs!

"That was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life." Anselm after having climbed the ice fall for the first time.

"If you think the ice fall was hard, wait until you try the Lhotse Face!" Alan Arnette.

"There's camp II. That's only 1/2 hour away!" Andy.

"There's a lot of negative people here. They all need to go back to NY." Anonymous climber at Camp II

"If I take any pictures over a crevasse, I will be taking extra precautions with 2 safety lines." David.

"I think everyone at base camp is going to hate me!" The American removed from base camp by the Nepalese army for conducting a "Free Tibet" protest.

"I never really laughed at Inspector Clouseau until I moved to the USA." Raphael.

"You missed a great party last night." Jamie's opening comment on 1st radio call from BC to Camp I.

"You win the prize for most disgusting meal consumed on the trip so far." David to Andy after Andy consumed 2 serves of dehydrated smoked texas hickory chicken at C1.

“I didn’t think the ice fall would be so steep!” David.

“Do you have any Pringles?” Anselm.

“I asked for a masculine Sherpa, and I got one that spends all his time doing laundry, grooming himself, and drinking from a pink water bottle”. Gina.

“I am a cola connoisseur”. Anselm.

“I’ve lost so much weight I’ve got no hips left to hang my harness off.” David.

“I do not eat potatoes twice a day.” Raphael.

“The Peak Freak team’s shower is much nicer because it has a separate change room.” Raphael known on the team to be rather indulgent in the use of BC shower facilities (as opposed to all other team members!)

“I’m so dumb”. Jamie. “Do you want a 2nd opinion?” Andy.

Camp 3 at 7,150m

2008-05-12T19:59:00.001-07:00

Hi Folks

Over the past week we managed to push up to Camp 3 at 7150m on the Lhotse Face for what we hope is the final acclimatization push.

Most of us are now back and resting at base camp (Sunday May 11) for a few days and as final plans are made, and supplies put in place at C3 and C4 by our strong Sherpa team for the for the final summit attempt.

Jamie has managed to iron out a few technical bugs and has now posted numerous team dispatches and a bunch of photos to the website http://www.project-himalaya.com/. These pictures and dispatches can be found under latest news. There are some superb pictures of all team members and sherpas, and of the ice fall and higher camps.

The next day or so I will post an update on the last week in review and outlook for our summit bid.

Bye for now…David

Baking bread on top of the world

2008-05-12T19:59:00.000-07:00

Living at Everest Base Camp for some 2 months often desirable food comes up as a discussion point amongst fellow team members.

Our team is fortunate enough to have Phurba Sarki Sherpa cooking for us in our base camp kitchen and so far he has turned out for our hungry team healthy portions of pumpkin pie, lemon cake, hot custard, chocalate pudding and cinnamon and apple rolls.

For those other teams not so fortunate to have a skilled cook inhouse, there so happens to be a make-shift bakery set up here at Everest Base Camp to satisfy those lusting appetites.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/2/hi/south_asia/7387335.stm

Waiting for the Chinese

2008-05-07T03:54:00.001-07:00

Hi Folks

(Monday 5^th May) There is not a lot going on right now on Everest south side. Everyone is waiting, waiting, waiting for the Chinese to summit on the North side with the Olympic torch.

Until such time, restrictions have been enforced on the South side by the Nepalese army present here at BC and up at Camp II. Officially at least, only persons registered on climbing permits are permitted to stay at BC, and all visitors, trekkers, spouses, support doctors and team leaders are supposed to leave base camp.

Furthermore, all teams are forbidden from being above base camp at all on the 1st & 2nd May anticipating the Chinese would summit by then. That has not happened.

From what we understand, the Chinese team is at Advanced BC on the North side (6,400m) and waiting for a good weather window. The last few days there has been heavy cloud coverage, snowfall and high winds preventing the Chinese from reaching the summit. There is rumor they will summit now around 6th~8th May. No one can make such a predication. It will happen when it happens!

This is a little frustrating for all of us here at BC as by having to stay at lower altitude, we lose valuable acclimatization already gained by having been up to Camp I & II. Furthermore for every day the Chinese torch team do not summit, all teams are getting pushed into a smaller summit/weather window later in the month potentially creating greater congestion on the mountain.

All we can do right now is hope for good weather, and the Chinese to gain favorable conditions to summit asap so all teams can recommence their push up the mountain.

At the moment none of the route above Camp II is fixed. Apparently it will be fixed by a Sherpa team on the 8th and 9th May in readiness for teams to progress to higher camps and towards the summit.

Andy and I arrived back at BC today (Monday May 5) after spending a few nights down the valley in Dingboche at lower altitude. We feel a lot stronger for it and charged with a new energy arriving back at BC.

So, from a quite and idle Everest BC.....bye for now, David.

All bright and cheery......

2008-05-07T03:54:00.000-07:00

Wednesday 7th May, 3am

Andy writes:

Dave has just raised me from my sleeping bag at an ungodly hour. He has
decided (and we seem to have acquiesced) that we (Andy, James, Raphael,
Anselm and David) are going to tackle the icefall this morning, and that we
are going to do so early! The conditions look good for an acclimatization
push, but the route above C2 has not yet been fixed, and therefore it is
likely to be a two day dash to C2, and then back to base for tea and medals!

In the dining room, Dave has refused to light the fire and so it remains
cold. James is wondering how to put his harness on, and I am generally
complaining that it is cold and early.

Wish us luck...

Camp II 6,500m / Back at BC

2008-05-01T09:18:00.000-07:00

Hi Folks Well you might be wondering why no updates over the past week or so?

Two reasons mainly - firstly, all teams have been under communication restrictions (with a presence of Military at BC, and Camp II) in the lead up to the Olympic torch being carried to the summit of Everest, and secondly, all our team has been up on the 2nd push up the route to Camp II.

I spent a few days at Camp I, feeling a lot better for it, and returning up the ice fall with the Sherpas leaving 330am and arriving Camp I at 8am - a lot faster than the first time up the ice fall which was a good sign of moving more efficiently at the higher altitudes.

At Camp I, I joined Jamie, Andy, Marty, and Tim, and the following day (~26th April) we all made a leisurely 4 hour hike further up into the Western Cwm to Camp II, taking in the spectacular views.

An oversight made by myself was in stopping and balancing halfway across a crevasse crossing to take a photo, only to have a Sherpa point out that I failed to attach the safety line. One week prior, Zangbu Sherpa from our team was crossing one of the crevasses without a safety line (as the young confident Sherpas often do), and he lost his balance, the ladder toppled to one side, but he was most fortunate to be able to wrap his arm quickly around the fixed safety line to prevent a sure fatal fall. Both these incidents were a good reminder of safety as a priority at all sections along the route, no matter how exposed or exposed they may seem.

Camp II is located on rocky terrain on the edge of the glacier and sits at the foot of Everest 2,200m south west face. From Camp II the summit itself is now clearly visible, looming high above us, but at least now it seemed within striking distance.

Getting this far has been both physically and mentally draining, but with each descent and re-ascent we feel stronger in both capacities for the hard effort required in the final summit push.

About a further 2 hours on from Camp II at the end of the Western Cwm the Lhotse face is also clearly visible. The Lhotse face looks most intimidating - a 400m ascent in hard ice of 50-60 degrees. It is part way up the Lhotse face at 7,300m above the yellow rock band that Camp III will be precariously perched.

At Camp II conditions are marginally better than at Camp I. We have a basic kitchen set up, with food typically consisting of chapatis, cereals, eggs, and lots of noodle soups and pasta.

After spending 3-5 nights at Camp II we all returned to BC on Wed 30 April, again to rest, and recover before pushing back up the route again.

For the most part, all team members have adjusted well to the altitude and are in good spirit. Numerous team members (including myself) have developed a constant coughing known as the "Khumbu Cough" which results from breathing cold, dry air and the agitation this puts on the throat. The next few days will be critical for overcoming this ailment as best as possible.

As at today, 1st May, the outlook is as follows:

2-3rd May : there is a small weather window in which the Chinese may summit Everest with the Olympic torch. Everyone is hoping this will happen. (The past couple of days which we suspect is the Chinese)

5-6th May - a tropical cyclone is coming up from Bay of Bengal and expected to bring snowfall and high winds until about the 9th May

After 9th May weather forecast suggests near windless conditions for a number of days - creating, what looks at this time, to be favorable summit conditions

Tomorrow (2nd May) - Andy, and myself will descend on an 5 hour hike down to Dingboche (4,410m) for a couple of nights to recharge ourselves on the lower altitude, and also rebuild our energy reserves with a good food intake, and for myself to try and shake the Khumbu cough. We will then return to BC to rejoin the team (James, Anselm, Gina, Raphael and Jamie) and then make the ascent back up to Camp I & Camp II for what could well be either a slow, final summit push around 9th May, or a push up to touch Camp III, descend back to BC for rest and recovery an then make a final summit push later in May. It all really depends now on how quickly the Chinese summit, and how the weather situation unfolds.

Today (Thursday) is a rest day for everyone and a good chance to catch up on laundry (although after one month now, clothes still rinse dirty), play a few (more) games of cards, or perhaps to even indulge in a shower which has just been set up. Raphael was the first to use the shower yesterday and he reported at breakfast this morning he was not feeling so good/had a bad night sleep. We all agreed it was a likely allergic reaction to having a shower and being so clean!

Bye for now....David

Camp I at 6,050m

2008-04-30T20:24:00.000-07:00

Sunday 20th April - climbing team and Sherpa team members held traditional Pujah ceremony which all teams conducted prior to stepping foot on the mountain. All ice axes, crampons and climbing harness placed at the bottom of the stupa and on each piece of equipment a dob of butter placed for good luck & safe travel. Numerous prayers recited from Bhuddist scriptures, and the ceremony finished with throwing both rice and dhampa flour into the air, then generous shots of whisky to all members. With this ceremony behind us, everyone feeling energized that the real climbing can now begin.

Monday 21st April - 5am start, James, Ansolm, Namgal Sherpa and myself set out for Camp 1 up through the ice fall. Under a near full moon, mild temperatures and no wind, conditions were perfect. The route weaved it's way for hours up through a field of fallen ice, and crevasses. Crossing the crevasses on ladders required a good degree of balance and one had to be careful of accurate foot between the ladder rungs, not catching a crampon. For most of the route, we moved along on fixed lines for safety. In numerous places there were vertical sections with some 5-6 ladders roped together. The up and down climbing over the ice in the ice fall just seemed relentless and was physically exhausting - we were not mentally prepared. What we anticipated would be a 4 hour climb ended up taking us 9 hours arriving at Camp 1 at 2pm. We discussed the appeal of beach holidays on numerous occasions along the way. We eventually fell into the tents at Camp I, pleased to have arrived but would now have to deal with the soaring heat of camp (with sun glare off the snow) and throbbing headaches for the large jump in altitude from 5,364m to 6,050m. From Camp I we had a good view of the route up the Western Cwm and could see the Lhotse Face and the ridge of Everest up close for the first time.

Tuesday 22nd April - feel like crap from the altitude. Throbbing headache, hydrating difficult, and absolutely no appetite. Stayed in tent the whole day, hoping things would get better. James & Ansolm doing ok. Camp II at 6,400m expected to be set up tomorrow. Definitely had better days.

Wednesday 23rd April - the headache and loss of appetite persists despite being hungry. Drinking is difficult. I know I am not ready to advance to Camp II. James & Ansolm will go up tomorrow. Staying here at Camp I only makes me weak so I decided to return to Base Camp to rest, eat and recover for a few days. I followed the Sherpas down through the ice fall leaving Camp I at 2pm and arrived at BC by 5pm to meet up with other team mates - Andy, Raphael, Gina and Jamie who will all head up to Camp I for the first time tomorrow. It is amazing just how much better you feel for dropping 600m in altitude, the headache has started to dissipate already and a bowl of corn flakes never tasted so good. I will spend the next few days hanging out at base camp and hopefully catching up with some climbing buddy's from Cho Oyu back in 2006. As soon as I am feeling stronger will head back up to Camp I & II for further acclimatization. This acclimatization process for each member is the most critical to the future summit attempt and may require going up and down to Camp I & II some 2-3 times before the summit (the fewer times the better though).

BTW - have recovered from dog bite thankfully! Health doing ok, same for other team members as good as can be expected adjusting to change in diet and environment.

Bye for now...David

Email / Team Updates

2008-04-19T06:13:00.002-07:00

Team dispatches of our expedition are now being posted to
www.project-himalaya.com website - look for the dispatches web page.

This is contrary to my earlier advice team dispatches were to be posted to
www.mounteverest.net.

You can also send emails to base camp by sending to our general email
account everest@project-himalaya.com

Arrived at Base Camp 5,360m

2008-04-19T06:13:00.001-07:00

Hi folks, well we finally made it to base camp, arriving here on April 16.

The week prior, James and I (very) slowly made our way up from Namche Bazaar
up the valley towards Gokyo. As opposed to the numerous trekkers along the
walking route, late starts and short 2~3hr days were a high priority; as was
making the most most of our apetites along the way. It seemed that most
lodge owners were happy to have us stay longer given the amount of money we
would spend on food. Noodle soup, potatoes, and eggs generally become the
staple dish with the occasional piece of home made apple pie. All the lodges
are small, family run operations, offering extremely basic ammenities. A hot
shower was a luxury usually at about $3 each and was typically a bucket of
luke warm water with holes in it above a small shed located outside the
lodge.

Our longest day was crossing over the Cho La pass which we underestimated to
be an easy 5hr walk. Well as we reached the top of what we thought was the
pass, we were shocked to see in front of us the trail descent down several
hundred meters across and rocky glacier moraine, only then to sharply ascent
up a steep and rocky headwall - the real Cho La pass! We kicked one step at
a time up the loose, slippery scree slope finally reaching the top of the
pass several hours later. On the other side, we were greeted by an equally
steep descent down the other side through snow, and rock. The altitude got
the better of me, with a severe headache from the altitude - something which
one just has to get use to going to alititude. Pretty much like a bad
hangover that never goes away. We reached the valley on the other side of
the pass and now felt a lot close to Everest. We then turned north up the
valley and settled in for the night in the vilalge of Lobuche, feeling
absolutely whipped, some 8.5 hours after starting out that day.

The following day we made our way up to Gorak Shep, and from here we were
now within 3hrs walk of Everest Base Camp; however at this point we Mount
Everest was still out of view.

To see Everest, we climbed in the evening light, to the top of Kalar Patar,
a nearby peak of 5,600m.

From the summit of Kalar Pater there was no mistaking the Everest - it's
prominent pyramid shape towering above the surrounding peaks in all it's
glory in the setting sun. Our objective now after several weeks of making
the approach, now seemed all the more real.

We arrived in base camp the following day, and quickly found our sherpa team
all busy setting up our base camp which is located at the foot of the Khumbu
Ice Fall which rised some 600m above our camp site. Base camp itself it set
in a cirque with a number of peaks rising steeply above us to 7,500m.

All our other team members have also arrived these past 2 days, and everyone
now is resting and eating well. In fact there is not much else to do here.
It is critical for all of us to get well acclimatised before heading further
up the mountain.

Night time temperatures in the tent are -11C however the moment the sun
rises over the surrounding peaks and hits the tents, the temperatures soar
to 30C, and there is no escape from the heat. When clouds pass in front of
the sun the temperature immediately drops and everyone grabs for their down
jackets for the brief time the sun is obstructed. Our camp is set up on the
glacier ice which we can constantly hear cracking and creaking beneath us.
At night time, avalanche activity is at it's peak and often we are awoken by
the sound of snow, ice and rock avalanches on the surrounding peaks.

The sherpas were busy yesterday building a stupa for the "Puja" ceromony
which will be held on Sunday. The Puja is a ceremony that all Nepalese
sherpas and our whole climb team will participate in before stepping foot on
the mountain. As a team we will all congregate around the stupa, laying our
ice axes and crampons at it's base, along with food offering to the mountain
gods, and in Nepalese, prayers will be made offering respect to the
mountain, and requesting safe passage of travel for all climbing members.
Thereafter the real climbing begins.

We had a team meeting today, going over events for the next few weeks. We
anticipate we will all travel 3 times through the ice fall. The sherpas will
begin carrying loads up to camp I and camp II. James and I are somewhat
acclimatised to base camp altitude and we shall accompany the sherpas Monday
morning, climbing through the ice fall aiming to reach camp I. We shall
spend a couple of nights there and then ascend higher to camp II and stay
there for a couple of days, climbing perhaps to ~7300m before returning to
base camp for rest, only to repeat this process again. Fun, fun, fun!

Bye for now...David

Some more pics.....

2008-04-09T20:27:00.001-07:00

Here is a map of the Everest region in which we are trekkin gand making the final apporach to Everest base camp. In about 1 hour we are heading off from Namche for Dole, up to Gokyo, over Cho La pass then up to BC taking about 5 days.

On the move again....

2008-04-09T10:07:00.000-07:00

Namaste.

Still in Namche. Yesterday was an eventful day when a walk through the local village of Khumjang at 3,860m resulted in a dog taking a good bite of the back of my leg – the last thing I needed due to the risk of getting an infection. Whilst a little bruised and sore, some 24hrs later it looks to be healing ok but will need to be keeping an eye on it over the next few days as we move higher.

Today consisted of another hike back to the same village (avoding any dog of course). There, James and I dropped into the Sir Edmund Hillary School to see the great contributions Sir Ed has made to the local sherpa community building this school, and providing access to basic education and health services. His recent passing away was a great loss to the sherpas.

The rest of our team members arrived today so we all got to know each other a bit. Everyone now is focused on eating, drinking and relaxing well for the weeks ahead; taking in the simplicity of sherpa village life.

James and I have sufficiently acclimatized here at Namche and will depart tomorrow heading further up the valley towards Everest; heading first for the village of Dole at 4,200m, about a 5 hour hike. We have added a bit of a variation to our approach by planning to climb up and over the Cho La pass which will take about 8 hours and get us to an altitude of 5,330m (more acclimatization) before dropping down to about 4,600m in the next valley across. From there we will continue to make our way slowly up towards Everest base camp where we will meet up with the rest of our team once the have acclimatized proper. We all have to time our arrival at base camp with the arrival of all equipment and supplies which we are assured are now in transit. This is taking a little longer than expected because on 10th April the country will come to a stop with national elections, plus porters and yaks are in short demand due to last minute approval of expedition permits for many teams now in transit to base camp.

Not sure where I will be updating you from next as we move into higher and more remote areas…but for the moment…bye for now…..David

Namche Bazaar 3,440m

2008-04-07T01:02:00.000-07:00

(Monday) Mingpu Sherpa, Tawa Sherpa and I left Lukla yesterday morning around 830am headed for Namchee Bazaar for what was to be an 8 hr hike. However from the outset of leaving, it rained the whole way, making the trail muddy, slippery and slow going. We took our time, every couple of hours stopping in at the tea houses dotted along the trail for a cup of tea. Mingpu was obviously a local and they all greeted him with offers of welcoming hospitality. We finally settled in at a village called Monju, at 2,860m arriving aorund 4pm. There we met up with a 15 member strong Indian team also climbing Everest. We departed Monju this morning after a leisurely breakfast and headed up the valley towards Namche. We gained our first glimpse of Everest some 50km further up the valley, towering over all surrounding peaks. It's hard to imagine that is where we are eventually heading - all the snow capped mountains around us look so cold and barren; Everest will be more so. We crossed over a number of suspension bridges high above the Dud Koshi river, and then did the 800m ascent up into Namche Bazaar, and arriving before lunch where a yak steak, fries and banana pancake filled the spot! Namche Bazaar is a "small" town which is the heart of this region providing the gateway to the high trading pass into China, to the Everest region, and to the lower valley of Lukla where we have just walked from. I met up with James also on our team who has been trekking up in this area for the past few weeks with his father. We will now stay here for a couple of days doing some day hikes to higher altitudes, and wait for the rest of our team to arrive, by which time we will be itching to keep going higher. We still have another 50km to walk. The outlook for us now is to be fully acclimitised and arriving at base camp around the 16th May. Bye for now...David

(Photo: Kathmandu with Serki, MingMa & Dewa Sherpa - Dewa is our lead sherpa)
(Photo : Lukla - typical village house along the trail)

(Photo: The take off at Lukla - no second chance)

(Photo: Nepalese boy with attitude)

Cell Phone / Team Updates

2008-04-05T06:05:00.000-07:00

I hope to have Nepal cell phone working from tomorrow thru to 11th April. Tel +(977) 98037 41014. Reception is expected to be on and off passing from village to village.

Our team progress reports will be posted on www.mounteverest.net under “PROJECT HIMALAYA” team. These posts will not commence until after we are set up at base camp with computers and sat phone around the 11-13th April.

When is a yak not a yak?

2008-04-05T05:45:00.001-07:00

Today (Saturday) was a rest day; time to eat well and stroll around Lukla. The highlight of every morning here for the locals is to watch the numerous flights land and take off at the airport which is right in the center of town.

Now in Lukla are more members of our Sherpa team making final preparations to advance up the valley. About 1.5tn of food has been purchased. All our personal climbing equipment arrives from Kathmandu by a chartered aircraft early next week for portering up to Namche Bazaar and then onto base camp by yaks. Oxygen is helicoptered into an airport higher up the mountain at 3700m. Everything is coming together.

This afternoon I made a 4hr acclimatization hike up behind Lukla to 3500m in rainy conditions, just reaching the snowline. In making that hike, it was immediately evident to see the relatively simple existence the local Nepalese live here in the Himalayas. It was not uncommon to pass children on the trail as young as 6-8 years old portering heavy loads of wood on their backs with the weight being taken by a single strap across the top of their forehead - I am not sure school is a part of their daily routine. All village homes would welcome passers-by, selling hot tea, drinks and snacks. Inside each home is little more than a clay floor, a few simple wooden chairs and tables, some pots and pans, and the walls blackened by the wood fired stove that is kept constantly burning for heating and cooking purposes. The sleeping quarters were no more elaborate. However despite these harsh conditons the people seem resilien and enduring, always passing you on the trail with a friendly "Namaste" (hellow in Nepali).

Tomorrow is a big day – about a 15-20km walk up the valley passing through numerous villages before a final gruelling 800m zig zag ascent up into the town of Namche Bazaar at 3,440m.

And when is a yak not a yak? .......when it is a female (a nak). Do not believe the trail side signs selling "yak cheese".

Bye for now..David

The Flight of Your Life

2008-04-04T05:20:00.000-07:00

Arrived in Lukla yesterday and the flight lived up to it's reputation. Firstly, we were going at speed down the runway at Katmandu to take off only to have the pilot power down and return back to the terminal. We were all a little nervous at first thinking a possible failure of some sort (definitely not what you want flying into Lukla) but as it turned out, Lukla was that moment temporarily closed due to poor weather. About 2hrs later we were taking off again, in what was still pretty cloudy conditions as we flew higher up into Everest region with mountains on either side of the aircraft actually being higher than the height at which the plane was flying. At times the mountains were so, so close - it seemed close enough to clip the wings of the plane. The plane bounced around a lot as it passed through clouds. 14 passengers in total all sitting in single seats. To my right was a local Nepalese women who had a firm grip across the ailseway of my shirt and was in tears terrified by the approach. As the plane came up hard against a peak, at the last minute it took sharp turn to the right and there in sight was the short runway of Lukla, literally hanging to the cliffside. Before we knew it we had touched down and pulled up hard at the end of the 400m runway…….we had made it to Lukla!

In Kathmandu / Final Prep

2008-04-03T02:05:00.000-07:00

Arrived in Kathmandu last night at about 10pm local time and greeted by our hosting trip organisers. On the drive from the airport to the downtown Thamel area, a striking observation was the lack of any people or traffic on the roads. Our driver reported this was partly due to an increase in security patrol and encouraging people to be off the streets in the lead up to the upcoming Nepalese elections on 10th of April.

This morning woke to the usual hustle of Kathmandu where the narrowness of streets is exemplified by the motorbikes, small cars, rickshaws and pedestrians going about their daily activities. Traders opening up their stalls to sell a range of different wares - fabric materials, blankets, household plastics, locally made jewelery and crafts, traditional Nepalese knives, vegetables and spices, to a selection of fresh (or not so fresh) cuts off meat street side.

After a fully stacked breakfast, Jamie McGuininess (our expedition organiser/leader of Project Himlaya) and I caught up for the first time to get to know each other and go over a final gear check, and then later met up with some of our key team members - seen from left to right in this picture - "Dawa" (Team Lead Sherpa), "Sarki" (Head Cook), and "Ming Ma Lapa Sherpa". Dawa is well respected in the sherpa community having been on Everest several times, and he will see to coordinating activities and logistics on the mountain with other team sherpas. As for Sarki, as head cook, the pressure is on him to churn out a range of hearty good tasting food for the team in base camp kitchen.

Tomorrow morning the real adventure begins - we have an early start at 6am to head to the airport and catch the infamous flight to Lukla where we will spend one night, and all feeling well, head for Namche Bazaar the following day; moving with the porters at a casual pace in what is a most spectacular setting in the heart of the Everest Himalayan region. From there these guys will likely go on ahead. Over the course of the next week I will be making my way towards base camp slowly gaining altitude to ensure proper acclimatisaton. From Lukla to Everest Base Camp it is about a 50km trek.

One member of our team, James, is already up in this region trekking to acclimatise, and the remainder of our team members will be arriving in Kathmandu on 6th April note being able to get here early due to heavily booked flights from Europe and USA.

The Everest season in Nepal is all go now - the climb begins! http://www.mounteverest.net/news.php?id=17176

Bye for now...David

China - Challenge of Another Kind

2008-03-31T02:28:00.000-07:00

To all of you back at PAT Dalian, another challenge was posed today by one of our team members.

18 months ago after returning from the last Himalayan expedition on Cho Oyu, I lost a considerable amout of weight - a result of living at sustained altitudes, despite the amount of food I managed to have an apetite for.

Well the challenge that our jovial Eric Liu has gladly subscribed to today is that he will reduce his body weight by a greater amount than I will lose, returning from Everest!

If you know Eric that is a tough call (for him) - but he is happy about it!

The official "weigh in" date has been set for 12th June 2008. Good luck Eric!

All go - we have a team

2008-03-29T20:38:00.001-07:00

Confirmed today our team will consist of the following climbing members:

Jamie McGuiness - Kiwi (expedition leader / organiser)
James - Irish (a doctor)
Andy Falgate - Brit
Gineth - USA / Costa Rica
David Cole - Aussie, Aussie, Aussie
Raphael - USA / French
Anselm - Irish

...plus of course our great Sherpa team for their efforts to make this expedition possible.

Joining us also for Base Camp support will be:

Marty - Kiwi
Giannina - Dutch
Tim - USA

All up a small team (originally 14 climbing members) but this will enable us to be more focused on the challenge that lie before us. We all fly to Kathmandu, Nepal next week to start breaking trail with about a week long trek up to base camp. Bye for now. David

Everest is back on

2008-03-28T20:24:00.000-07:00

Well some awesome news today!

Jamie McGuiness our expedition organiser who has been in Nepal these past weeks trying to make through the confusing and frustrations over no permits being issues, contacted us advising that a climbing permit has been granted to our team by the Nepalese government enabling us to climb Everest from the Nepalese side.

Wow..talk about a pick me up!

This is most positive news after Tibet and Everest will be closed from the North side and we were faced with the grim prospect of waiting atleast another year to try again.

We are to get to Nepal before end of next week to immediately commence the expedition.

So, lots of organising gear this weekend in final preparation.

My website http://www.spiritofeverest.com/ will be updated over the next few days to reflect these change in plans and also have detailed route information for those of you interested to follow along.

Bye for now. David

Training prevails...just!

2008-03-16T19:57:00.000-07:00

Despite the uncertainty of whether or not our expedition will still go ahead, training still continues (it has to), all though motivation is a heck of a lot harder to come by.

Today I repeated last weeks training session doing 7 successive ascents of Da Hei Shan, climbing a total of 2300m in 4 hours carrying a 20kg pack and 2kg of weights on each leg....feeling a lot stronger than last week.

Training also continues throughout the week with a minimum 1.5hrs at the gym every night doing strength building exercises and intensive cardio work outs.

Bye for now. David

Disappointment

2008-03-14T04:39:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago in Dalian I was introduced to a Chinese guy also named David who happened to be climbing Everest this year; a real coincident when in a city of 6 million people there is only one other person in Dalian to ever have summited Everest and this year there would be two of us attempting.

David called me tonight, clearly upset asking if I had heard about Everest being closed. Dave received notice that his attempt at Everest, also from the Tibet/China side, was cancelled due to the closure of the mountain. Any chance he had to summit Everest this year were dashed.

We tried to see the positive side of things (although that is hard to come by when you've trained so hard and so long for this once in a lifetime shot) and made a pact to get together next week for a few glasses of notorious Chinese bai-jiu (white liquor).

I am still waiting to here the status of our expedition - optimistic with reservations.

Bye for now. David

North side closed this season

2008-03-11T19:54:00.000-07:00

North side being closed??

2008-03-10T19:54:00.000-07:00

This cannot be good news for our expedition......see full story...

http://www.mounteverest.net/news.php?id=17091

Training on a Chinese work horse

2008-03-09T19:52:00.000-07:00

Well just 5 weeks to go now, and I think I am looking forward more to finishing the daily training routine more so than starting the expedition!

With these last remaining weeks, today I have shifted the training program to a greater bias towards hill climbing on Da Hei Shan (Big Black Mountain) which is an impressive backdrop to the Dalian downtown area seen in this picture:

The hill climbing started at 7am this morning, for 4.5 hours with a loaded 20kg pack, and 2kg weights strapped to each ankle; these weights replicating the weight of the high altitude boots & crampons we will wear climbing above 6000m.

Now Da Hei Shan is only 400m or so from the base to the summit, definitely more a hill than a mountain, and certainly not too much to get excited about for training, although it does make a pleasant stroll every weekend for the local Chinese ladies in high heel shoes! But, with the help of a local motorcycle taxi guy "Zhan" hired for a few hours, things worked out a lot better.

I would hike from the bottom of the mountain up along the road to the summit, and Zhan would "rev the rings" out of his Chinese workhorse winding his way up to the summit meeting me there about 25 min later. There I would be touted by the local corner drink vendor selling cold drinks to avid hill climbers, then jump on the back and we'd head back down to the base, riding the front brake lining all the way, and then do it all over again - a total of seven #$%^#* times!

Have faith right in the saying "No pain, no gain"? Bye for now. David

Edmund Hillary dies at 88

2008-01-11T19:48:00.000-08:00

Everest conqueror Sir Edmund Hillary has died, New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark announced today. He died this morning at the age of 88.

Sir Edmund became the first person to stand on Mt Everest, the world's highest peak, May 29, 1953.

His chance to make his mark in history came when selected for the 1953 British expedition to climb Mt Everest, led by former commando Colonel John Hunt, later Lord Hunt.

On the mountain, the first assault team that tried to reach the 8848m summit was driven back by altitude sickness.

Hillary, who was renowned for his fitness and speed, was chosen along with Sherpa Tenzing to try next.

As he and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay descended from the May 29 attempt on the mountain, Hillary told fellow climbers: "We knocked the bastard off.''

Ms Clark said today that the passing of Hillary was a profound loss to New Zealand.

"My thoughts are with Lady Hillary, Sir Edmund's children, wider family, and close friends at this sad time," she said in a statement.

"Sir Ed described himself as an average New Zealander with modest abilities. In reality, he was a colossus. He was a heroic figure who not only 'knocked off' Everest but lived a life of determination, humility, and generosity.

"The legendary mountaineer, adventurer, and philanthropist is the best-known New Zealander ever to have lived. But most of all he was a quintessential Kiwi. He was ours - from his craggy appearance and laconic style to his directness and honesty. All New Zealanders will deeply mourn his passing.

"Sir Ed's 1953 ascent of Mt Everest brought him world-wide fame. Thereafter he set out to support development for the Sherpa people of the Himalayas. His lifetime's humanitarian work there is of huge significance and lasting benefit.

"Sir Ed was not one to bask idly in celebrity. He drew on his international prestige to highlight issues and values which he held dear. His enduring commitment to and respect for the Sherpa people reflects the best of what we as New Zealanders can contribute, from our small developed nation helping another less privileged one.

"Sir Edmund established the Himalayan Trust in the early 1960s and worked tirelessly until his death to raise funds and build schools and hospitals in the mountains.

"The legacy of Sir Edmund Hillary will live on. His exploits continue to inspire new generations of New Zealanders, as they have for more than half a century already," she said.

AAP/stuff.co.nz

Team outlook

2008-01-07T19:24:00.000-08:00

Currently seven climbers on our 2008 Project Himalaya NE Ridge Everest Expedition. There are a couple more climbers seriously interested but who have not yet committed. We also have a New Zealand mountain guide and his private client joining us for base camp support. So we are good-sized team and will have plenty of backup.

Who is on the team? There are three climbers who have previously been on expedition with Project Himalaya, and four people who have been 7000m high previously, most of them very recently. So far there is only one woman booked, but there is a reasonable chance one more will book, perhaps as part of a private group.

The crew have already started working on the Everest expedition, we have a new base camp kitchen tent just ordered, some gear and oxygen will be packed in the next few days, then most of the crew are going back to their village (they all come from the same village, or close by, anyway) for a break to see family.

In Kathmandu politically there is increasing pressure on the current government to call elections and get a constitutional assembly elections over with. The problem is most of the parties think they will not do very well, and so say they want elections but really do not want to face the electorate. Currently they are talking about elections in March next year. If this does go ahead, Nepal will very likely be in the news just before the Everest expedition, and not all of it will be very pretty.

However it is very unlikely that personal security is affected at all.

Bye for now. David