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©EverestNews.com |
6 May, 2010: Hi, this is Dan Mazur, the
leader of the SummitClimb Everest Tibet expedition calling in a dispatch on 6
May at about 8:00 p.m.
Wow, it's been a long day. I'm on the North Col with the team. Today David,
John, Jangbu, Lakpa, Elizabeth, Gordon, and Laval went up to camp 2 at about
7600 metres/25,000 feet to get acclimatized. It was a beautiful day,
especially in the morning, with no winds. There was lots of new snow, maybe
about 30 centimetres.
A big group of 20 sherpas broke the trail and pulled out the old ropes, so it
was super safe. This afternoon a big storm came in with a lot more snow and
wind, so they went back down to basecamp.
Now there's a second wave of us up here at the North Col with a lot of people.
I think there are 13 of us including sherpas and members. We're going to get
up really early and check the weather. Things are looking good. We're going to
try to head up to camp 2 for acclimatization.
I just called Asu, our Chinese leader, and the North Col and ABC trek teams
have arrived in basecamp today. They are getting settled in and will stay
there for 3-4 days to get used to the altitude, eat and drink well, do some
hikes, and then slowly work their way up the valley towards advanced basecamp.
So we're looking forward to seeing them.
I can't really think of anything else I should say right now. I'm kind of out
of breath. Wish us well. We're hoping for good weather. There have been a lot
of conflicting weather forecasts. We've been really checking the different
sources and forecasts carefully. Arnold Coster has also sent us a great
weather forecast, so we've been looking at that one. Thanks Arnold!
We're hoping we get a couple of days of good weather. That's all we need to
get up to camp 2, so wish us well and we'll talk to you soon. Bye
Earlier: Hi, this is Janet Bull reporting for the
SummitClimb Everest Tibet
expedition on Monday morning, May 3rd.
The team is back in ABC having come down from the North Col/camp 1 during a
wild snow storm yesterday. Up on the North Col the wind was gusting, which
means that several tents were ripped apart. One tent from another team
actually flew down to the bottom of the col.
This morning at ABC it is sunny and there is about 6-8 inches of new snow on
the ground. Early in the day the team was treated with a view of the moon
setting over the North Col. It was very beautiful.
Hopefully in a day or 2 we will again return to the North Col and pick up
where we left off, trying to progress to camp 2. Overall everyone is well.
Hi to all who are following our dispatches. Hopefully you are enjoying them.
Hi also to Ally and Brian. Have a good day!
Earlier: Hi, this is Nick Crosland
calling in for the Everest Tibet expedition from the North Col at 7000
metres/23,000 feet. Today is May 1st and it’s 8:00 p.m.
We have staggered the group
slightly because camp 2 can only have 6 tents at the current moment. We had 4
members come up to the North Col on the 29th, 6 on the 30th,
and the remaining 5 came up on the 1st.
The weather has been
excellent so far. We’ve had a little wind and snow. The route is slightly
different due to the avalanche and is more difficult, but seems easier because
it’s our 2nd time coming up here.
We’ve had one member make
it up to camp 2 on the 30th, Laval. Unfortunately, Eli, who had the
stove, wasn’t able to make it up, so Laval was a bit dehydrated and came back
down today. We had 2 more members go to camp 2 today and tomorrow 5 more will
go up. The remaining will go up the following day and hopefully sleep there a
day or 2 and hike up to camp 3, depending on how everyone feels.
The food here has been
excellent thanks to our awesome cook, Kipa Sherpa. We’ve had delicious
noodles, chicken and all kinds of tasty things that have kept up everyone’s
moral.
There have been lots of new
people up here at camp 1 from other teams, which is quite exciting. Thanks for
following along our expedition. Bye
Hi, this is Dan Mazur the
leader for the SummitClimb Everest Tibet expedition with a dispatch for the 29th
of April.
The team is all comfortable
in ABC. 4 members went up to the North Col to get a head start on
acclimatization trips to camp 2. Our sherpas have carried many loads up there.
We’ve got lots of oxygen, food, epi gas, stoves, equipment and everything up
there.
Things are looking good.
The weather’s been great. We had a little snow last night, but today the
weather has been really perfect. There’s not much wind. It’s warm and there
are a few puffy clouds.
We’d like to say best of
luck to Jesse Hall and Dan Marino who left our trip and we’re really going to
miss them. They are a couple of great guys and we’re sorry that they’re no
longer with us. They’ve gone back to Kathmandu.
In addition, we located
Lopsang, the Tibetan climber out on the glacier yesterday at 6200 metres and
he called Sweden to the summit climbers he was with on Everest in 2006 when he
froze his fingers. That was Martin Letzter and Olaf Sundström. They have
generously sent funds to Lopsang as kind of a summit bonus and also to show
their regret that he froze his fingers. So we passed Losang the very generous
amount of money that Martin and Olaf gave yesterday. We took some photos and,
as one of his Tibetan climbing colleagues said, it was Lopsang’s lucky day
yesterday.
We’re all up here resting
and hopefully all of us are going to go for the North Col tomorrow and on up
to camp 2. We’ll spend a couple of nights and get acclimatized. Our sherpas
have been working so hard and have really impressed the group we have this
year.
Our Chinese leader, Asu,
has gone down to Tingri. He’s going to meet the Nroth Col team and the Everest
ABC trekkers and slowly help them come up to basecamp, ABC, and on to the
North Col.
Another update we have is
the route to the North Col has been moved and climbs away from the original
spot where there was the tragedy a few days ago. Some ice fell down and there
was a horrible accident, so it’s really good that the Tibetan climbers have
moved the route.
Thanks for following our
expedition. Bye.
Earlier: 26 April, 2010: Today began with a lazy, but huge breakfast.
Then we checked email and hung out with friends from other teams and told
stories, then had a huge delicious lunch of fresh vegetables, potatoes, salad,
fresh meat, fresh fruit, cakes, tea, sprite, and coke.
After lunch our satphones and mobile phones began ringing wildly, and our
Sherpa Pasang, who has been with us in basecamp and was out visiting other bc
teams when he heard, stormed into camp with an announcement. Apparently there
was an accident today on the face of the North Col. An avalanche swept down
and may have torn out some ropes and may have killed one or more climbers.
There may have been sherpas involved in the accident as well. Oh my god, this
is horrible news. None of our team members were involved in the accident as
all are at basecamp. We are not sure if any of our Sherpas were involved in
the accident (God Forbid), but from what we heard, this unfortunate accident
occurred to a team from a different company. Our sincere condolences to the
team and its members and sherpas. We are very sorry to hear this and will be
going up the mountain tomorrow and will tell you more as soon as we find out.
25 April, 2010: Today the team rested in basecamp and it was Anzac day. We
payed tribute to the Australia New Zealand Army Corps, may God rest their
souls. Our team celebrated by toasting the Anzacs, singing songs, telling
stories, speaking loudly, gesticulating wildly, and visiting other teams with
members from Australia and New Zealand. Each afternoon of our rest period, big
billowy clouds from Nepal have poured over the top of Mount Everest, and it
looks quite stormy on the mountain. Some of our members stayed up late to
watch DVDs and craved popcorn. The wind has gusted from time to time, but no
snow has fallen on basecamp.
Earlier: 21 April, 2010: Hi this is a dispatch for the SummitClimb
Everest Tibet expedition. The time is 7:15 p.m., local Tibet time.
I'm calling you from the top of the North Col. The elevation is about 7000
metres/23,000 feet up here. The North Col is also known as the Chang La.
Today we got up and had breakfast made by our amazing cook up here on the
North Col, Kipa Sherpa. Everybody had kind of a rough first night up here at
7000 metres, which was to be expected. Then we kind of greeted the sun and
stretched our legs a bit.
It was really windy last night. We talked to ABC on the radio and heard it was
super windy down there. Our big dining tent was partially blown down. We need
to go look at that, but they were able to repair it, so that's good.
After a delicious lunch a group of members decided they were ready to go down
and that one night was enough for them. That was Roland, Sri and the 2
brothers led by our amazing Chinese guide, Asu.
A group of us hiked up towards camp 2 to check out the route. It was super
windy up there. It was really quite amazing conditions with the high winds and
we had to wear our down suits. Meanwhile, our sherpas who are with us strung
up a bunch of prayer flags all over the camp.
I just wanted to let you know that we're the only team up here on the North
Col. I don't know where everybody is, but we're the only team. Tomorrow we're
headed back down to ABC. Then we'll go back down to basecamp for a couple days
of well deserved rest after this acclimatization mission.
Everyone has done so well acclimatizing and we're really proud of them. Thanks
for listening to our dispatches and take care. Bye, bye.
Everest Tibet: 20 April, 2010
Hi, this is a dispatch for the SummitClimb Everest Tibet and North Col
expedition for the 19th and 20th of April.
On the 19th we had a big prayer ceremony with all of the sherpas, kitchen boys
and members in ABC. We strung up a bunch of prayer flags, burned incense and
made a cake shaped like Mount Everest, which we ate. There were 2 lamas that
did a lot of praying. We had a bunch of singing and dancing by the sherpas and
Tibetan kitchen boys. A lot of drinks were passed around like Coke, Sprite and
tea. Then we went to bed early.
We got up early on the morning of the 20th and hiked up to the North Col,
where I'm calling you from right now. It's at about 7000 metres/23,000 feet.
It was snowy and windy. Everybody is in their tents. We have our awesome cook
up here, Kipa Sherpa, who is cooking us food and filling our water bottles, so
we're comfortable here in our camp 1.
Carl didn't come up to the North Col. He's trying to shake a cold. Fiko went
down from the North Col. He figured it was high enough for him, so dropped a
load and went back down to ABC.
We'll update you tomorrow. Wish us all the best. Thank you very much. Bye,
bye.
Earlier: Everest Tibet: 16 April, 2010: Hi this is Tom Javrin calling in for the
SummitClimb North Col 2010 trip. I’m leaving my report now because I’m heading
down from ABC to basecamp.
I left the group about 6 days ago to do an accelerated acclimatization due to
me needing to get a flight home to the UK on the 18th. It was quite hard work
to acclimatize with 2 days in each camp.
Yesterday the goal was to get up to the North Col and back with Jimpa and
Thile, my 2 sherpas. We managed to do it, so that was a fantastic ending for
me on this trip and personally a really great achievement.
It’s been an amazing 2 ½ weeks for me. I’m going to be sad to go home, but I
am ready for some creature comforts. The other part of the trip that’s been
fantastic has been meeting the other members. They’re a great group of people
and they all deserve to get to whatever their objective might be, either the
North Col or the summit. I wish them a very safe climb. Thanks. Bye.
Earlier:
15 April, 2010:
Hi this is Dan calling for SummitClimb and SummitTrek. Today's date is the
15th of April and the time is 20 minutes past 11:00 a.m. Tibet time.
I'm calling you from interim basecamp at 5800 metres/19,000 feet. The weather
is very sunny, there is no wind and the temperature is around freezing.
Right now I'm sitting on top of a high rock moraine looking down at our camp
about 50 metres below me. I can see a lot of ice pilgrims, glacier all around
me and as I look out to the left, I can see some other interim camps and herds
of yaks working their way up towards advanced basecamp.
First of all, I wanted to mention that everyone in our team is okay. We heard
there was an earthquake about 250 kilometres to the northwest of us, perhaps
over on the Qinghai/Tibet border. We'd like to send our condolences to
everyone who was affected by the earthquake. We did not feel the effects of
the earthquake here. Everyone on our team is okay.
I'd like to just mention what we did on previous days as well.
On the 12th of April Alex Welles, our ABC trekking member left the team and
went back to Kathmandu and we miss him very much. It was great to have him
around. What an interesting person and he will be missed. We wish him all the
best in his journey back home.
On the 12th of April we walked up to interim basecamp. It took 4 hours for
some, but everyone arrived safely. We came to our comfortable camp among the
ice pilgrims at 5800 metres/19,000 feet and had a delicious dinner.
On the 13th we rested in interim basecamp. Some of us took some
acclimatization hikes around on the local ridges and explored the terrain.
It's gorgeous up here, especially with the dusting of new snow. We saw many
birds swarming around and watched herds of yaks walking by. It's quite a
picturesque area being high in these mountains on this amazing East Rongbuk
Glacier.
On the 14th, we took another rest day to get used to the high 5800
metres/19,000 feet elevation. Some of us wandered around amongst the moraine.
We explored a little bit towards the Far East Rongbuk. Our interim basecamp
was located right at the junction of the Far East Rongbuk Glacier and the East
Rongbuk Glacier.
This morning on the 15th, as I'm calling you, we're heading up towards
advanced basecamp. Most of our team is going. 1 or 2 of our members aren't
feeling quite so well, so are going to stay and rest in interim camp. The rest
of us are walking up towards advanced basecamp. It's a big day hiking along
the moraines of the East Rongbuk Glacier. We'll be taking our time. It
probably takes about 4-8 hours to walk up there, depending. The elevation up
there is quite high at 6400 metres/21,000 feet. We're looking forward to
reconnecting with one of our members, Tom Javrin and his 2 sherpas, Thile
Sherpa and Sano Jangbu Sherpa, and hearing how their progress is going trying
to reach the North Col.
Our team will be resting up in advanced basecamp for another 3-5 days. We'll
be practicing ice climbing and we may try to make an ascent on to the North
Col.
So wish us well and thanks for following our expedition at SummitClimb and
SummitTrek. This is Dan Mazur signing off. All of the best for now. Cheers.
Bye, bye.
Earlier:
Today we awoke early and after breakfast drove from Nyalam to Tingri. The road
is in very good condition and the visibility was clear so we could see a lot.
We crossed the 5000 metre/16,400 foot Yakri Shong La pass and saw lovely
unobstructed views of mount Shishapangma, 14th highest in the world and the
only 8000 metre peak located entirely in Tibet. Finally we have reached the
mighty Tibetan plateau and it showed all of its dry high elevation.
Surprisingly there is almost no road traffic, proving the point that Tibet is
still nearly closed. So we feel very fortunate to be here. Along the highway,
we saw two groups of native wild asses, and a pair of huge Tibetan cranes
wading in a pool near the road. This is such a rare siting of a bird that is
rapidly approaching extinction. As we zoomed along the smooth ribbon of tarmac
in our comfortable bus and land cruisers, donkey carts and Himalayan snow
pheasants scooted out of our way. Rounding a corner near Gutsuo town the
plateau spread her arms wide and luckily we saw mounts Cho
Oyu and Everest in all their glory. Everest stood proud over the highway and
we couldn't help but notice an enormous 5-10 kilometre wind plume screaming
from the summit. Finally we arrived in dusty and frontier like Tingri town at
noon, and we were assigned our rooms at the local inn. While awaiting lunch,
the members broke out a football (soccer ball) kindly purchased by David
O'Brien and challenged our sherpas to a football match. By the time the lunch
bell rang, the members had scored 1 goal and the sherpas 6!! At
lunch, we celebrated Gavin Vickers 40th birthday and Shri Lakshmi presented
him a pair of tiger embroidered cotton briefs and Gavin went back to his room
and much to everyone's dismay, modeled the briefs around the dining room.
Shocking!!
After lunch our sherpa team rang from basecamp to say that they and the two
trucks had arrived, but where was the truck with our Tibetan and Chinese staff
and all of the food and kitchen equipment being brought down from Lhasa? Our
sherpas were hungry! In the meantime us members back in Tingri met to work out
the schedule of the North Col members and ABC trekkers, then we met with the
basecamp translator in order to place our yak order.
Apparently we have been assigned 168 yaks. Our equipment is up in basecamp, so
lets get a few of those yaks moving towards advanced basecamp (ABC)! A bit
later in the day, our Tibetan convoy rang from Shegar to say that someone had
smashed their truck's windscreen during the night and they had to get a new
one sent over from Shigatse. Finally the Tibet convoy did reach basecamp at
9pm, so our Nepali sherpas and Tibetan and Chinese staff were at last united
and all is well. In the evening, after dinner, we walked up the hill above
Tingri town and enjoyed the view across the Tibetan plateau toward Everest and
Cho Oyu (now in cloud) from the impressive granite monument built to honour
Chomolungma Mount Everest. On the way down we strolled through Tingri's one
dusty street, and dodged barking dog packs to head for the Lhasa hotel and a
delicious cup of tea beside a warm sheep-dung
fired stove. Just another "normal" day in Tibet I guess!
Everest Tibet:
- Dan Mazur (leader) - US/UK
- David O'Brien (assistant leader) - UK
- Asu (assistant leader) - China
- Gavin Vickers (leader-in-training) -
Australia
- Ms. Elizabeth Tertil - Canada
- Ms. Janet Bull - USA
- Mark Delstanche - UK
- Carl Lindstrom - USA
- Thorbjørn Lundsgaard - Norway
- Laval St Germain - Canada
- John Kazanas - Australia
- Peter Kinloch - UK
- Dan Marino - Australia
- Fiko Karacic - Australia
- Gordon Hopper - UK
- Nick Crosland - USA
- Enriquez Rodriguez - USA
- Frank Irnich - Germany
- Jesse Hall (basic member) - USA
- Eli Hall (basic member) - USA
North Col Mar-Apr:
- Ms. Srilakshmi Sharma - UK
- Roland Svensson - Sweden
- Thomas Javrin - UK
ABC Trek Mar-Apr:
Everest Tibet Staff:
- Lhakpa Sherpa Lama
- Phurba Sherpa
- Ang Babu Sherpa
- Jangbu Sherpa
- Gyalje Sherpa
- Jangbu Sherpa (2)
- Dawa Jangbu Sherpa
- Kipa Sherpa - cook
- Samdien - cook
27 March, 2010
Several of us, Dan and
Enrique, met on the Cathay Pacific flight. We had an 8 hour layover in Hong
Kong. It was a beautiful cool day and we explored the peak tram, escalators,
zoo, and botanical garden.Then on the Dragon Air flight to Kathmandu, we ran
into Amer, so that was fun. We arrived in Kathmandu very late at night (11:30
pm).
29 March, 2010
Today we met with all of the leaders of Everest Glacier School, Everest
Basecamp trek, Everest Nepal climb, Everest Tibet climb, Lhotse climb, Cho Oyu
climb, North Col climb. We reviewed the medical equipment and supplies, and
all of the packing lists, we met the members as they arrived and have begun to
check their equipment. We had dinner together with the team. A very busy and
productive day.
30 March, 2010
Today we worked hard on
sat phones, walkie-talkies, med kits, high altitude food, and meeting with the
teams and leaders. Josette went to the ministry for the permit briefing. They
gave her a standing ovation, as she is the only woman leading an Everest
expedition this year. It rained hard before dinner. Nepal needs the rain. Hope
it does not interfere with our expedition's departure. Thanks for following
our news.
31 March, 2010
Today we had our
briefing for the Nepal Everest Lhotse expedition, and also for the Everest
View Glacier School and Everest Basecamp Trek. It looks like it will be a
brilliant team this year. It rained hard and long again this evening. So that
is very good for Nepal, cleaning up the air and putting more water in the
reservoirs, which have become alarmingly low.
1 April, 2010
Today all of our Nepal
side expeditions and treks went to the Ktm airport. The climbers were
successful and arrived in Lukla and trekked to Phakding.
The trekkers were turned
back due to technical problems with their plane. So they spent another night
in ktm. We had the briefing for our Tibet side expeditions and treks. Everyone
is very excited for the departure. We heard a rumour that we will receive the
permit and get our visas for Tibet on 2 April and be able to enter on 3 April.
We hope it is true. We spent the day packing, preparing, checking equipment,
etcetera. The weather is unusually hot and sunny at the moment.
2 April, 2010
The Nepal side trekkers flew out to Lukla again
this morning. This time they arrived. Yeah! Our Tibet side teams received
their permits and visas. Yay! So we will be going to Tibet in the morning.
What a relief. Today was an extremely busy day of packing and preparation. We
are really relieved to be going to Tibet and with a minimal delay, so we feel
very fortunate. Wish us luck! Thank you very much.
3 April, 2010
Greetings SummitClimbNews
readers. Thanks for following us! Today we met in the lobby of the Beijing
Hotel at 3am. We packed the trucks and buses carefully for our trip to Tibet
on the friendship highway. We swung past the Annapurna Hotel and picked up the
rest of our members and finished loading the bus. Then we began the long drive
to Kodari, reaching there around 11am. Fortunately the weather was good and
the road was in good shape. The countryside looked unusually dry, evidence of
Nepal's drought.
Our sherpas unloaded the
bus while the rest of us enjoyed a delicious breakfast in the Mount Kailash
hotel. Then all of us members, sherpas and local porters crossed the
friendship bridge border into Tibet, reloaded our stuff onto Tibetan trucks
and ourselves into Tibetan buses, jeeps and taxis and went up to Zhangmu town.
The road was under construction in places so this took a while. We had lunch
in Hotel Gange and stayed in the comfortable gange hotel in Zhangmu that
night.
4 April, 2010
Today we awoke very early in Tingri and had breakfast at Hotel Gange at 9am
Chinese time. Then we boarded our bus and jeeps and all of us members and
sherpas and trucks set off for Nyalam town. The weather was stunning and we
were treated to amazing views of the Bote Khosi gorge (grand canyon of the
friendship highway) with monstrous cliffs, lush hemlock and fur forests and
towering giant icy-rocky mountains high above our heads. Finally we reached
Nyalam around noon, and settled into the Snowland Hotel.
We had a delicious lunch at Snowland
restaurant. Some of the members decided to go for walks on the surrounding
hills. Everyone is excited to be in Tibet and we are wandering around the
village, enjoying the rugged open slopes and high snowy mountains looming
above.
In the afternoon, our expedition leader David
O'Brien met with Tashi, the hotel's owner and he suggested we move to a newer
and better hotel, so we did. The new hotel is also called Snowland and it's
very nice.
In the late afternoon, clouds rolled in and a
wind driven snow blizzard ensued and it was quite humbling, reminding all of
us how cold and stormy it can be in Tibet. The storm finally abated and we
went to Base Camp restaurant for dinner. After dinner, several of us sat
around the woodstove in the resaurant reminiscing about our good fortune in
being able to come to Tibet.
The expedition leaders met later in the
evening with our climbing sherpa leader Jangbu and we discussed plans and
progress. The leaders are Gavin, David, and Dan. Also around the dinner hour
our Chinese leader Asu called and we had a long discussion on the phone with
Asu and our Tibetan cook Samdien. They have loaded one truck with supplies in
Lhasa and are driving it down and plan to meet our sherpas in basecamp on the
6th of April, so that when the team members arrive in basecamp on the 8th,
everything will be fully setup. So, in its own very differently organised
Tibetan way, everything seems to be coming together
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