SummitClimb Pumori 2005: Others happenings

Dear friends and readers of EverestNews. Thanks for your very kind help in telling the world the story of our Pumori expedition.

As you have heard, we lost our dear friends, Alex Chen and Phurba Tamang in a tragic accident a week ago.

We would like to take this chance to inform you of the other happenings on those few days.

9 members of our team reached the summit of Pumori:

Alex Chen

Tunc Findik

Liga Hartmane

Daniel Mazur

Mark Merwin

Jangbu Sherpa

Phuri Sherpa

Tenzing Sherpa

Phurba Tamang

A group consisting of Jay, Elselien, Kirk, Matt, Edwin, John, Reinhold, Karlis, Viesturs and Philip was scheduled to move to Camp 1 on the 22nd of March. Unfortunately, they had bad weather and stayed in ABC and hence lost a day. The following day dawned sunny, but very cold and windy and they moved up the mountain to Camp 1 - hoping the weather would improve, so they could move to Camp 2 the next day and the summit the day after - the 25th.

They experienced very high winds all night in Camp 1 and woke to a very ugly day the next morning. Cloud, ground blizzard, limited visibility and temperatures with wind chill exceeding negative 40 degrees Celsius. It was not possible to go to Camp 2 that day. The date was now the 24th March. Our yaks were coming on the 26th and we were due to leave Base camp on the morning of the 27th. From our position in Camp 1, we still needed 3 full days on the mountain in order to get to the summit and back to Basecamp. The sums didn't add up - we were simply out of time.

The other consideration was the worsening weather. Jay looked out of the tent door and saw a high level flat-bottomed black cloud barrelling up the valley consuming everything in it's path. This was the exact type of cloud that caused a 3 day storm on Ama Dablam in 2003.

With the worsening weather threatening for all the world to dump a lot of snow, We made a decision to descend with to Basecamp.

Our decision was based on 2 main reasons.

A - We were out of time.

B - We felt it safer to descend immediately, rather than wait for the storm to dump it's load and possibly have someone lost in an avalanche.

Of course, Murphy's Law states that when you run away from a storm, the weather will improve - and that's exactly what happened the following day.

Unfortunate, but...that's mountain climbing....

We have been very busy in Kathmandu since our return on the 30th March, and do apologize for the delay in communicating with you.

We send our condolences to the families of Alex Chen and Phurba Tamang.

We understand that many people have been very worried, but assure you the surviving members of the International Pumori Expedition are healthy and well in Kathmandu. In fact, many of them are now on their way home to loved ones.

This has been a challenging expedition. However, we did enjoy some summit success and record breaking by placing the first Turkish person, the first Latvian woman, and although Alex vanished on the way down, he did in his last moments, relish in being the first Panamanian on the summit of Pumori.

Thank you from Jay Reilly and all of us at SummitClimb.com

Previous Update SummitClimb Pumori 2005: Our Sincere Condolences

Dispatches

Millet One Sport Everest Boot  has made some minor changes by adding more Kevlar. USES Expeditions / High altitude / Mountaineering in extremely cold conditions / Isothermal to -75°F Gore-Tex® Top dry / Evazote Reinforcements with aramid threads. Avg. Weight: 5 lbs 13 oz Sizes: 5 - 14 DESCRIPTION Boot with semi-rigid shell and built-in Gore-Tex® gaiter reinforced by aramid threads, and removable inner slipper Automatic crampon attachment Non-compressive fastening Double zip, so easier to put on Microcellular midsole to increase insulation Removable inner slipper in aluminized alveolate Fiberglass and carbon footbed Cordura + Evazote upper Elasticated collar. Expedition footwear for mountaineering in conditions of extreme cold.  NOTE US SIZES LISTED. See more here.

A cold weather, high altitude double boot for extreme conditions The Olympus Mons is the perfect choice for 8000-meter peaks. This super lightweight double boot has a PE thermal insulating inner boot that is coupled with a thermo-reflective outer boot with an integrated gaiter. We used a super insulating lightweight PE outsole to keep the weight down and the TPU midsole is excellent for crampon compatibility and stability on steep terrain. WEIGHT: 39.86 oz • 1130 g LAST: Olympus Mons CONSTRUCTION: Inner: Slip lasted Outer: Board Lasted OUTER BOOT: Cordura® upper lined with dual-density PE micro-cellular thermal insulating closed cell foam and thermo-reflective aluminium facing/ Insulated removable footbed/ Vibram® rubber rand See more here.

   Ascenders

   Atlas snowshoes

   Atomic

   Big Agnes

   Black Diamond

   Brunton

   Carabiners

   Chaco

   Cloudveil

   Columbia
   CMI

   Crampons

   Edelweiss ropes
   Eureka Tents

   Exofficio

   FiveTen

   Featured

   FoxRiver

   Gregory

   Granite Gear

   Harnesses
   Headlamps

   Hestra
   Helmets

   Helly Hansen

   HighGear

   HornyToad
   Ice Axes

   Julbo

   Kavu Eyewear

   Katadyn

   Kelty

   Kong

   Lekisport

   Life is Good

   Lowa

   Lowe Alpine

   Lowepro

   Millet

   Motorola

   Mountain Hardwear

   Mountainsmith

   MSR

   Nalgene

   New England Ropes

   Nikwax

   Omega

   Osprey

   Outdoor Research
   Patagonia

   Pelican

   Petzl

   Prana

   Princeton Tec

   Primus

   Rope Bags

   Royal Robbins

   Salomon

   Scarpa

   Scott

   Seattle Sports

   Serius
   Sleeping Bags

   Sterling Rope

   Stubai

   Suunto

   Tents

   Teva

   Thermarest

   Trango

   Tool Logic

   Trekking Poles
   Yaktrax
   and more here