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Posts for Everest from 05/2012

Mt. Everest Expedition: Route & Forecast are Looking Better

Posted by: Dave Hahn | May 08, 2012
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Everest
Elevation: 17,575'

Hello, this is Dave Hahn calling from Everest Base Camp. We’re resting and hiking and we’re watching the progress of the weather conditions. It has been snowing a little bit every day and it seems, from what we have been told, that conditions have gotten a little bit better on the upper mountain. There was significant progress yesterday. A team of climbers, sherpas made it to the South Col. The route is fixed all the way to 8,000 meters now.  Our sherpa team is going up tomorrow morning up to Camp 2 to check out conditions and see whether it makes sense for them to get on the wall to establish our Camp 3 and Camp 4. There is supposed to be, the next few days, supposed to be calm with continued light snow each day and we are seeing that is a good thing. Then the winds are supposed to come back, the jet stream is supposed to move into the mountains, but briefly, and then we are hoping for a break in conditions after the middle of the month. So it is going to be a little bit of a down time for the climbing team and we are keeping ourselves busy, like I say, with hiking and eating and resting and games. So far so good. Things seemed to have calmed down on Mt. Everest. Bye for now.

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

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Mt. Everest Expedition: Life at Base Camp

Posted by: Mark Tucker | May 06, 2012
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Everest
Elevation: 17,575'

Tent life continues. Zippers make my doors, frost wakes me in the morning as it rains down when I move about in my little constricted space. No complaints here, just a bit of longing for those creature comforts I appreciate for at least a week when I return home, till I once again settle in on expecting those niceties to be at my beck and call. We have been getting some snow showers, so don’t forget to shake the toilet tent before entering or there is a good chance of getting a pile and I mean pile of snow down the back of your coat prior to entry. Definitely avoid this scenario, take my word that those three or so minutes of melt freeze down the back is no fun. Thank goodness for all the miracle fabrics from First Ascent, rest assured warmth is just around the corner.We have the cush life here at base camp compared to trips like Denali or what is soon to come for the team on the upper mountain here at Everest.

The team went for a nice hike to Kala Patar today. A nearby ridge hike with beautiful views of the upper part of Everest. We are too near the base to see the upper mountain form here. Lam Babu and Pasang made a trip up to
Camp 2 to check in on how things are holding up. Last thing you want is a big surprise when you arrive at an upper camp on a move day. He reports everything is in good shape. Sounds like there will be a push toward Camp 4 and the South Col tomorrow. A strong team will put the needed ropes in place to allow for safe travels to the final camp before the summit push.

We will have a meeting with Lam Babu tomorrow and will go over the whats and whens to keep this expedition moving forward. Not yet the summit push but we are getting closer everyday. These rest days and upper mountain tactics have proven effective in the past. As the route gets better and the weather continues to improve so do our attitudes.The excitement of the summit is helping carry the minds and bodies of this terrific group of climbers
onward and upward.

All’s well at Everest Base Camp,
RMI Guide Mark Tucker

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Mt. Everest Expedition: Snowing at Base Camp is a Good Thing

Posted by: Dave Hahn | May 05, 2012
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Everest
Elevation: 17,575'

Snowy, cold and grey morning at Mt. Everest Basecamp.  Which is not entirely a bad thing.  In fact, we want it to keep snowing for a few days in order to change the dangerously icy conditions that exist up high on the mountain.  Of course, snow down here at 17,500 ft. doesn’t translate to snow up at 25,000 ft, but we can only hope.  The consensus between guides and expedition leaders on the mountain is that we need some sort of change before we can responsibly send climbers and Sherpas onto the rock-strafed flanks of Lhotse again.

This situation makes for a slightly tougher than normal mental game for Everest climbers.  Normally, in this first week of May we’d be putting the finishing touches on our conditioning and acclimatization in preparation for the summit.  And although we did what we could toward those goals on our last rotation up the hill, it wasn’t much without a day or two on the Lhotse Face.  But that could not be helped.  Unfortunately, we saw, heard of, and dealt with several instances of other climbers getting slammed by rock.  Such poor odds of success were not for us.  So now we are resting at basecamp and we are in limbo.  If the snow actually sticks to the blue ice of the Lhotse Face the chance of a rock blowing off the summit of the 4th highest mountain in the world and hurtling unimpeded down toward our fixed ropes would be greatly reduced and we’d be back in business.  If that happens sooner, then we might even have a chance to go back up for a more thorough acclimatization rotation before the summit bid.  If time drags on a bit before that snow sticks… we may be left with just a shot at the summit.  And if time drags on for several weeks without the change we need… a decent shot at the top is in doubt.

In our favor, the jet stream winds that were raking the mountain (and setting free thousands of precariously perched rocks up high) have eased.  The word is that the jet is to the South of the mountain now and that relatively low winds are going to be with us… which normally allows for cloud formation and some daily snow.  In our favor, there are still teams willing to risk the rockfall (and now snow sluffs) of the Lhotse Face and so we’ll get daily reports as to conditions up high and perhaps the route will still get scratched in despite the hazards.  We certainly wouldn’t ask anyone to endure these conditions, but we aren’t so proud and stubborn that we wouldn’t take advantage of the good results of such labor when conditions turn favorable.

It is hang loose time.  Cards, books, movies, naps, meals, get-togethers with other climbers, walks out to “Icy Cyber” (the position ten minutes out in the glacier that gets 3G service), conversations about the weather, the icefall, the fixed ropes and the helicopters… incidentally, there are none today and it is quiet like back in the old days, thanks to the snow.

Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn

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Mt. Everest Expedition: Practicing Patience

Posted by: Melissa Arnot | May 03, 2012
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Everest
Elevation: 17,575'

Arriving back at Base Camp always comes with a sigh of relief. Today was no different, except perhaps the sigh was bigger.  We spent five days and four nights at Camp 2, deep in the Western Cwm. The jet stream was sitting very near the top of Everest, which sounds an awful lot like a freight train roaring in the night. The purpose of this rotation was for our team to acclimatize and further prepare for our summit bid. We set out with the hopes of sleeping at Camp 2 and walking to Camp 3. Like always, you have to pause and listen to what the mountain is telling you. This season has been very windy and dry, and as we have been making plans to get high on the mountain, we have been hearing stories of rockfall coming from above. A certain amount of flexibility has been a vital part of our plan. Yesterday, we set out for a walk towards a new path up the Lhotse Face. The fixed line and route were just being established as we arrived, providing a seemingly safer way to access Camp 3. We enjoyed our walk (actually, that is a slight lie, as it was very very windy, but it did the trick of getting us some exercise) and headed back to our camp for lunch. The route has proven to us that it is dry and not welcoming travelers. It is the beginning of May. We need some new snow. Now we wait, now we listen. I am ready for some rest right now, as is the the team. So, for now I can find gratitude in being down at Base Camp, out of the wind, but back in the waiting game.

RMI Guide Melissa Arnot

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Mt. Everest Expedition: Acclimatizing at ABC

Posted by: Dave Hahn, Melissa Arnot | May 02, 2012
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Everest
Elevation: 21,300'

Hello,

This is Dave Hahn calling from Advanced Base Camp on Mt. Everest.  Beautiful day today, it was kind of windy last night and wind continued during the day.  Roaring up above and just gusting down below where we were.  We went for a hike, a roped up hike with crampons and ice axes, exploring the upper end of the Western Cwm.  We went up to the start of a new climbing route, a new way of accessing the Lhotse face that a number of friends of ours were working hard to put in today.  We wanted to check out their efforts and get a look at the terrain over there.  So this a bit several hundred meters to one side of the existing route where it crosses the Bergschrund at the base of the face which is a little too active in rock fall in the conditions that we have right now.  So this is an effort to try to find an alternative.  It was a good outing for us.  We were out for about 3 hours and enjoyed working against the altitude and working in the cold wind and seeing things from a little bit different angle.  We came back and spent the afternoon in camp.

Consensus is that conditions are pretty dry and dangerous on the Lhotse face.  So many teams were not having their members or Sherpa go up on the standard route, but others were. Our intention now, not being able to safely climb at the moment without some new snow or some change, is to head down to Base Camp in the morning.  So that is what we are looking to do – up early and heading down.
That’s all for now.

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

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Mt. Everest Expedition: Team Continues to Acclimatize at ABC

Posted by: Melissa Arnot, Mark Tucker, Dave Hahn | May 01, 2012
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Everest
Elevation: 21,300'

Happy Anniversary to the first American Summit team on Mt. Everest!
That climb happened forty-nine years ago today.  Thanks to all the teams of the past for the valuable insight on how to climb this mountain as safe and smart as possible. 
Dave Hahn and the RMI team remained at Camp 2 (ABC) for another night. All is well up there as they adjust slowly to these extreme altitudes. Conditions on the upper mountain are rough with the jet stream still over top and limited tracks in the upper route for now.  Dave is the master at making the best use of their time up high and when they return to Base Camp I’m sure they will be ready for some rest down here in the thick air of 17,575’.

We are now in the meat of the Mt. Everest climbing season.  There are teams all over the mountain and everybody is at a little different stage in their schedule to get themselves ready for the summit. The cooperation between the teams this year has been fantastic and the resolve and commitment to work together is outstanding.  It is a small community here and everybody pulling together is making for a very enjoyable season.
Lots of work ahead and many more amazing photos to be taken. Hold on - summit time is just around the corner because it’s the month of MAY!

Happy May Day!
RMI Guide Mark Tucker

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