Mt. Everest 2005: American Expedition 2005 Update One

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Update: See here

Background

Two brothers, Mike and Chris O’Brien are hoping to become the first American brothers to reach the summit of Mount Everest together in spring of 2005. Their goal is to raise funds for the Hereditary Disease Foundation. The HDF provides money for scientific research seeking cures for hereditary diseases such as Huntington’s, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. The Hereditary Disease Foundation is significant to Mike and Chris because they have lost several family members to Huntington’s disease.

A close friend of the brothers, Daniel Mazur will be the expedition organizer and leader. Dan has climbed many of the world’s highest peaks including Everest and K2. Although Dan has successfully and safely helped many people to high summits throughout the world, he does not consider himself to be a “guiding service”. This means Chris and Mike will be responsible for themselves; they will set up camps, carry loads and help to fix lines. They are planning a low cost, self supporting expedition. This is the way they believe climbing was meant to be.

Mike and Dan have been training in Washington on the slopes of Mt. Rainer, as well as testing their gear and practicing their climbing technique. Meanwhile, Chris is back in Philadelphia working towards his MD/PhD. If all goes well on Everest, Chris will be running down the mountain to Katmandu, in order to catch a flight to his graduation.

Dispatches

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