Sherpas on Cho Oyu had to dig around the tents to serve the "morning tea." Live image sent yesterday over Contact 3.0 courtesy of Adventure Consultants (click to enlarge).
Edurne's team members Asier (left) and Esther spent all morning shoveling snow and fixing the flattened tents at Shisha's South side BC. Image courtesy of edurne Pasaban (click to enlarge).
Everest's north face BC was also covered in snow yesterday, as Ferran Latorre shows. Image courtesy of Spanish BBK Hornbein team (click to enlarge).
An angry snow-woman guards AA team's BC. Live image over Contact 3.0 courtesy of Alpine Ascents (click to enlarge).
Climbers reported on the first patches of blue skies appearing yesterday afternoon. Image of Shisha Pangma's BC in clearing weather courtesy of Jamie McGuinness/Project-Himalaya (click to enlarge).
The Polish team is currently trekking under the rain on their way to Dhaulagiri. Luckily, there are some relaxing spots on the way, such as this "beauty parlor" at Tatopani. Image courtesy of the Polish team/HiMountain (click to enlage).
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Everest & Himalaya wrap-up: Climbers losing patience in buried camps and roaring avalanches
Posted: Sep 26, 2006 11:13 am EDT
(MountEverest.net) Manaslu, Shisha, Cho Oyu… climbers in all Himalayan base camps tell the same story: Rumbling avalanches and snow burying the tents. Good news are ahead though; some teams are seeing first patches of blue tearing at the grey - Everest south side reports clear skies at Camp 2 late pm today. But the slopes will need time to return to safe climbing conditions; even with clearing weather - acclimatization climbs and summit pushes will have to hold. Not all climbers have the time to wait however, and many also worry about their caches in high camps.
Today’s live pictures from Himalaya feature an endless gallery of buried tents and white landscapes.
Everest
Spanish BBK Everest north Hornbein team: Push delayed
Juan, Ferrán and Alberto are enjoying their “mandatory rest” brought on by the snow and bad weather. Back in BC after spending the weekend in Tashifhon village; persistent snow fall has thwarted all plans for a summit push. Even after the weather improves though, the snow packed couloirs will need time to get back in stable condition.
BAI Everest south: Sherpas weathered the storm in C2
“It’s been 5 days now that we’ve been down here in BC,” reported Wally yesterday. “The Camp 2 guys (Sherpas) are holding fort up there; they are doing a great job keeping the camp intact. Actually now at 4:00pm they just reported to me they have clear skies at Camp 2.”
Manaslu
Jean Noel: Buried high camps and three more teams
“Weather is awful but at least I had time to do some trips up and down the mountain,” reported French Jean Noel Urban, who hopes to ski down the Japanese route on the West side. Urban spent the night in C2 on September 21, right before bad weather forced him down.
“Currently we’re all in BC waiting for better days, and hoping the abundant snow won’t damage our tents up on the mountain,” JN said. “Besides us, there are two Japanese expeditions, and one Czech team here.”
Dhaulagiri
Polish: It's pouring!
“Left Kathmandu evening of September 22,” reported Silwya. “Rain has kept pouring on our heads throurough the entire trek.”
Shisha Pangma
Edurne Pasaban: Buried!
A call from team mate Asier woke up Edurne yesterday morning. “I opened the zip of the tent to find a wall of snow,” Edurne reported. “I was buried!”
“I put on my boots and kicked my way out. Asier was looking for Esther’s tent, but we couldn’t find it. We called her name out loud, but she wouldn’t answer. Finally we spotted a flap of her tent, digged around it and opened the door. Only then she showed her head - she was asleep and hadn't noticed - for a moment we had been worried sick for her.”
“Our dining tent was flattened too. We spent all morning shoveling snow to put everything in place again. Our main concern is advanced camp, where we have all our gear stocked. Well, there is nothing we can do now but wait. Not a chance to climb - avalanches are roaring above us. Let’s see what we find when weather improves.”
Project-Himalaya: Bad conditions not over yet
“This is our sixth day waiting at ABC and it won't be the last,” reported Jamie McGuinness. “At least we have seen a hint of our Camp 1 tents, so they are buried but still up.”
“One team (not us) who would rather not be named had their communal sherpa sleeping tent collapse and they cut themselves out, but there were no other dramas that we have heard.”
“We have plenty of time and can wait until conditions get better, not so for most other teams so some hard decisions will be made in the next day or two.”
Cho Oyu
Camilo Lopez: “Free Tibet” not so free
“The weather is still the same: snow, snow, snow,” reports Colombian Camilo. “There is only one thing to do: Wait. Many people who are not used to expeditions are getting desperate, and thus starting their summit bids in the middle of the storm.” Camilo also mentions teams quitting in a hurry and leaving behind large amounts of trash.
“My chosen route (“Free Tibet”) is full of snow and it has a huge cornice at the top of the couloir. It looks quite dangerous, but I'm still going to wait until the snow stops and the sun comes out. Maybe the cornice will fall, freeing the way to the summit.”
HiMex: Bored of Monopoly
“According to our original plan we should have summited today,” wrote a HiMex member. “Monopoly gets boring after a few games; it is getting hard to keep the spirits up.”
Adventure Consultants: Asking for some team work
“Our Sirdar, Ang Tsering has been coming here for fourteen years and hasn’t seen so much snow at Base Camp before,” reported AC team member Paul. Kevin and Phil have already quit the expedition. “Luis has been establishing contact with other groups on the mountain to co-ordinate the breaking of a trail to camp one. This will be no mean task.”
Romanians: Women and climbing, a sensitive topic
”Weather forecasts from Kathmandu, Beijing and Europe are contradictory,” reports the climbers. (Ed. Note: Other teams have reported on skies clearing somewhat yesterday afternoon - forecasts from various teams announced improving conditions, but they don’t agree on the dates).
“People are socializing in mess tents; some of them are playing cards - not an activity I enjoy too much,” wrote team member Alex. “Besides that, there are endless discussions about women and climbing, women vs. Climbing...and trust me, this is a sensitive topic for all of us here in ABC.”
Othewise, the expedition is over for Sergiu, who showed symptoms of HAPE during a previous acclimatization trip.
Himalaya fall 2006 expeditions homepages:
Everest:
Berg Adventures Everest dispatches | News on Spanish Hornbein team on BBK (Spanish)
Annapurna:
Mondinelli’s website (Italian)
Dhaulagiri:
Ivan Vallejo’s website (Spanish) | Kari Kobler’s team Dhaula dispatches (German) | News on Polish teams on HiMountain
Manaslu:
JN Urban's Sky-ski attempt (French) | News on French teams - Manaslu, Nuptse, Melungtse on FFME (French)
Shisha Pangma:
Edurne Pasaban’s website (Spanish) | Joao Garcia’s blog on Sic/Sapo (Portuguese) | Tom Torkelson’s blog | Norwegian Hamar team’s blog (Norwegian) | Inaki Ochoa’s website (Spanish) | Project-Himalaya’s Shisha dispatches | HiMex Shisha & Cho Oyu dispatches
Cho Oyu:
Tom Avery’s Ski Cho Oyu dispatches |D.Benegas’ dispatches |Alpine Ascents’ dispatches |Adventure Consultants’ dispatches | Kari Kobler’s team dispatches (German)| Mountain Madness’ dispatches | IMG’s dispatches | Polish expedition’s website (Polish) | Romanian expedition’s dispatches | Dutch expedition | Malaga Cho Oyu's reports (Spanish) | FPMEE Philippine team
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