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 Mt Everest 2005: Australian Rex Pemberton: Moving up! | ||||||||
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| Update: Tuesday 17 May 2005 Dear All! This is Caroline (Rex's younger sister) at Everest Base Camp writing on behalf of Rex. This morning at about 5am Rex ate a quick but substantial breakfast and prepared to head up through the ice fall. He left base camp at around 6am. Rex decided to head up the mountain for his summit push last night in response to some serious discussion. The climbing season is fast coming to a close at the end of May when the monsoon comes in, and that perfect break in the weather doesn't look like it will come at all. It has now become a question of picking the best of the bad! The forecasts show extremely high winds, as high as 80-90knots on the summit over the next week or so, perhaps with a small window on the 21st or 22nd where the wind may drop to about 30-40knots. However the various forecasts that are going around base camp often contradict each other so it becomes very confusing. Rex has decided that he will place himself at camp 2 which will allow him to either take any window that may come along and push for the summit. If a window doesn't appear, or the weather continues to decline he will come back down to base camp. Unfortunately the weather and situation dictates that Rex will only have a single attempt at the summit. Last night he stuffed his pack full of protein snacks, energy goo satchels, water bottles, some fairly serious medications and a first aid kit as well as some odd bits-and-bobs that he shall need (or hopefully not in some cases!) for his summit push. Most of his equipment, including oxygen is already stored at camp 2, 3 and the South Col. The IMG Sherpas have fixed ropes up to the balcony which is probably about 4-5 hours from the summit, so logistically things are falling into place, everything except the weather and the wind that is! Every climber in base camp is preparing to head up in the next few days and there were a load of people climbing through the ice fall this morning heading upward. The mountain will be crowded but that is expected every year. Hopefully Rex will not get stuck behind a whole group of people on the night/morning of his ascent and if he does hopefully there will be opportunities to pass them. It becomes quite messy on the mountain when everybody is pushing for the summit at the same time, and you can find yourself on a rope with thirty other people. A kicked block of ice or a falling oxygen bottle could easily lead to a domino effect of falling people! Furthermore waiting at the bottom of the Hilary step for your turn would be extremely frustrating for anybody especially as you want to be up and off that mountain as quickly and as safely as possible. The most important thing for Rex will be his awareness of his own physical condition and the conditions around him on summit day. He will need to run through mentally every few minutes all the things that could possibly be wrong. How cold are my toes and fingers? Is my oxygen flowing freely and there is no ice in the tube? Is the wind going to be too strong? How much oxygen have I got left? Am I running to schedule with enough time to descend? Is all my equipment and clothing functioning? Every little detail is important and any red flags that come up, Rex will have to assess whether they can be handled effectively and if they can't he must make the impossible decision to turn around. The summit is not worth an ultimate gamble for anyone and any little problems with equipment or your body, at that altitude can quickly turn fatal. I can not even begin to imagine the difficultly in keeping track of everything up at an altitude where you are bound to be hypoxic and the summit may only be a few hundred feet away but you have to make the decision to turn around. Hopefully everything will go to plan and although it will be a little breezy, Rex will be able to successfully summit and then make his way back down. Rex checked in on the 2way radio a few minutes ago to let us know that he has made it successfully through the ice fall and through the avalanche devastated camp one and will arrive in camp 2 at around lunch time. Rex moves extremely quickly and strongly on the mountain which is a wonderful sign but then again it becomes a totally new ball game up high, carrying oxygen as well. He is in a good position having already reached the yellow band without oxygen and hopefully that will serve him well with acclimitisation and moving effectively on the mountain. If there is a break in the high winds around the 21st/22nd May Rex's schedule will be as follows: 17th May - arrive Camp 2 This is subject to change and it is extremely likely that it will, it all depends on the wind and the weather which fluctuates and changes at the drop of a hat. Lets pray that the weather is good, the winds low and that Rex remains safe and is successful. I will be keeping you all updated regularly as the final leg of Rex's adventure unfolds. Cheers guys Rex Pemberton is a motivational Speaker also! Background Twenty-year-old Australian Rex Pemberton has a dream. Already an experienced Alpine climber, Rex has set his sights on Mt Everest and hopes to become the youngest Australian to stand atop the world's tallest mountain by summiting in 2005. By the age of 10 Rex wanted to climb every hill and mountain he could find, by 16 Rex was on an expedition to Bolivia and Peru where he climbed 6,025-meter Mt. Huclca Huclca. In addition he has already climbed on six of the seven continents including famous ascents of Mt. Cook and Mt. Aspiring in New Zealand. He's stood atop Mt. Blanc, the Matterhorn and 14 other 4,000-meter peaks in the European Alps. If things go according to plan and corporate funding falls into place Rex will lead an expedition to Nepal in the spring of next year. It's not a cheap venture, as any Everest veteran will tell you. Rex, who runs his own development company and works with corporate trainers Peak Times, is looking to raise at least $65,000AU for his expedition. It's a venture that Rex believes will pay big dividends for the Australian corporation that funds his expedition. He expects a lot of interest and publicity during his attempt at the Australian record for youngest Everest summiter. As he works toward completing his dream Rex continues train and maintains a rigorous schedule of running, gym workouts and stair climbing to keep in top shape for the challenge ahead.
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