Mt. Everest 2005: Alpine Ascents Everest 2005: More Avalanche details

Update: Everest Base Camp
    
Hello friends, family and loved ones, At 5:15 this morning a huge avalanche ripped through Camp I. A massive chunk of ice broke loose from a hanging glacier 5,000 feet above the camp, on the West ridge of Everest. Terror in the form of boulders of rock and ice shredded the twenty so tents that comprised the camp. Fortunately few climbers were in residence. One team bore the brunt of the trauma with one Sherpa seriously injured. Three others got raked across the glacier as they tried to flee from their tent. They were lucky to escape with lacerations, contusions, bruised liver, a broken ankle and their lives. A French Canadian and a solo Polish climber got pummeled but survived. Ironically the whole Iranian Women’s team were spared the destruction by camping slightly farther away from the main camp. They left for camp two without even knowing that the rest of camp was flattened under feet of snow.

We were lucky none of our team were hurt. Half of our team were already back in base camp recovering from our acclimatization up to camp 3 (23,700ft or 7,222m). Our second half was descending to Camp I, just two hours after the accident. Willi and Dave split the scene in two and each triaged the survivors in their sector. They organized medical aid and packaging and transport of patients. Team members comforted stricken climbers with food and drink. The team members at base camp sent their crampons and harnesses up with our Sherpa team to replace those lost under snows above. Our Sherpas hand carried the litter through the serious terrain of the Khumbu Icefall. And our very own Base camp manager, Ellie, orchestrated the whole rescue over our new radio system. Many other teams, guides, and Sherpas contributed to the effort. All worked together well and by mid afternoon all survivors were in the base camp.

We are thinking of you all back home and thank you for your love and best wishes.

Sincerely,
Vern Tejas

Dispatches

Vern Tejas, Willi Prittie, Dave Morton, Jose Luis Peralvo, and Lakpa Rita Sherpa will lead the Alpine Ascent team on Everest this Spring. They will attempt the standard South East ridge route.

GUIDE STAFF (BIOS)
Lakpa Rita Sherpa Senior Guide & Sirdar	Vern Tejas Senior Guide	Willi Prittie Senior Guide
Dave Morton Senior Guide	Jose Luis Peralvo Senior Guide	Ellie Henke Base Camp Manager
CLIMBERS
Nigel Clark	Esther Colwill	Ron Farb
Kevin Grant	Cathy Groninger	Kent Groninger
Mostafa Mahmoud	Jeanne Stawiecki	Dianette Strange-Wells
Tony Van Marken	David Liano	Danielle Fisher

Built to handle a myriad of different climbing pursuits, the Ultralight Universal is our best selling crampon. This crampon lives for trekking, glacier travel, or steep couloirs and snowfields. Totally adjustable Zytel straps make this crampon durable and easy to use. Fits everything from moon boots to flip-flops, our lightest crampon available. Weight: 590g Points: 10. See more here.

   Ascenders

   Atlas snowshoes

   Atomic

   Black Diamond

   Botas

   Brunton

   Carabiners

   CaVa Climbing Shoes

   Chaco

   Clearance

   Clif Bar

   Cloudveil

   CMI

   Crampons

   Edelweiss ropes
   Eureka Tents

   Exofficio

   Featured

   FoxRiver

   Garmin

   Granite Gear

   Harnesses
   Headlamps

   Hestra
   Helmets

   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

   Patagonia

   Pelican

   Petzl

   PowerBar

   Princeton Tec

   Prescription Glacier

   Glasses

   Primus

   Rope Bags

   Salomon

   Scarpa

   Seattle Sports

   Serius
   Sleeping Bags

   Stubai

   Suunto

   Tents

   Teva

   Thermarest

   Trango

   Tool Logic

   Trekking Poles
   Yaktrax
   and more here