Posted: May 26, 2008 12:40 pm EDT
(MountEverest.net) Safely back in BC, Everest climbers now share stories of success but also hairy situations and tragedies on the high slopes of the world's tallest mountain.

On Annapurna, rescuers have been airlifted to Kathmandu. following a tense weekend descending the demanding south wall.

On Makalu, Australian Andrew Lock has summited his 13th 8000er while on Everest, Norbert Joos could be done with the 14x8000ers list by now.

Everest summit reports: ”Tim, this guy is a dead man”

“There is so much to say about this year on Everest,” reported Peak Freaks team member Scott Mortensen from Dingboche. “There will be a whole new batch of controversy, blame, and negativity. Before it all hits though, I would like to say that there are also shining stars in the darkness," said Scott and offered a few examples from his own summit day:

”On our way down from the summit, Tim and I came across a disoriented man from the Korean team. He was out of oxygen and still trying to push for the summit.’Tim, this guy is a dead man’ I said after inspecting his pressure gage."

" ’So am I if I don't get out of here soon.’ Tim replied. I checked the medicine in his bottle. He was at lower liters than me, but still took the time wrangle two Sherpas to help the man out by providing more oxygen. Meanwhile, I tried to convince the Korean that the summit was in the opposite direction---DOWN--to no avail. He staggered and stretched for a summit that was still an hour away. A radio call interrupted my ineffective ruse."

“’Tim, this is Sultan. I am at the South Summit. I am very dehydrated. I need help.’ ‘Okay, borrow some water from someone we're on our way down.’ Tim assured him. Later we passed Faruq who was still heading towards the summit with his personal Sherpa, Mingma. I thought someone would turn him around. It was way too late to push forward....or maybe not???? Though I didn't trust it, the weather was absolutely perfect.

’Tim, I want to get the hell off this mountain.’ I said after another lengthy delay waiting for a man ahead of us to take ten minutes to swing his leg over a rock. My sense of unease was now an absolute feeling of impending doom. ’Me too.’ Tim said.”

”The harrowing events that followed may change my life forever,” ended up Scott, who ensures he will write a complete report in upcoming days.

James Balfour: "Martins pupils had completely dilated covering his iris's"

“On 23rd May at 5.30am, I completed a life long ambition of climbing to the summit of Mount Everest,” reported James Balfour. “I was the third person to reach the summit that day behind David (expedition leader) and Pasang Tenzing Sherpa. It was only when I was back in Camp 4 that we heard that two Koreans had died on the way up, and three others had perished on the day before.” (Ed note: Today, May 26, only one casualty has been confirmed.)

Recounting the summit day, James also describes how a few steps beyond the South Summit, “Martin went totally blind.”

“He didn't know what to do and in searching for help he began to climb over the cornice to a 12,000ft drop. Ian screamed at him to stop. When he caught him he noticed Martins pupils has completely dilated covering his iris's, making his eyes appear black. Ian and Tschering together placed each of Martin's feet until he was back onto the South Summit. Tschering then led him down where 30 mins later Martin regained partial sight. He was so close to reaching the top, but the altitude stole his vision and almost his life.”

The climber was Martin Mcgarvey, who some time after posted his own report.

“I started along the ridge but part way along my vision went and I was only able to make out shapes,” he reported. “Tshering, at only 19 years old, was brilliant and got me back along the ridge to the South Summit and down a few hundred meters where my vision started to return. He made sure I clipped in properly to the fixed line and got my feet placements verified as we negotiated some steep and very exposed terrain, he truly was a hero. Half way between the South Summit and the Balcony my vision returned and I could make own way down.”

Back in BC, Martin reports: “Despite losing 10kg I physically felt pretty good and am happy to be safe, however I am gutted to have got so close," he wrote. "I have to realize that without the support of my team mates and Sherpas I could have been like one of the 5 climbers that didn't make it down on the day before and the day after our summit day.”

Norbert Joos on his 14th 8000er!

Swiss Norbert Joos is currently on Everest. He launched a summit push on the 21st, hoping to reach the top yesterday. While news is still expected on the attempt’s outcome, should Joos succeed, he would become the next climber to complete the 14x8000ers list.

Shortly before leaving BC, Norbert also mentioned Kari Kobler’s group had summited that day at about 8:00 am. Kobler’s team suffered the death of Manny Golz, a seasoned 8000+ climber and mountain guide who passed away shortly after reaching C4 on descent, after climbing on Everest without supplementary oxygen.

Summit log

“This morning at 8:00 a.m. local time, Dan, Alan, and Adam Mallory summited Everest,” reported SummitClimb guide Arnold Coster earlier today from C2. “Today Michael left for camp 3 and he’s going for his summit attempt too,” he added. “The weather is good and it’s getting warmer with spring coming. People are still leaving camp 2 to go for the summit. So let’s see what happens.”

Adventure Consultants team summited on at 6:53am. Summiteers were Robyn Faike, Ang Dorjee Sherpa, Cheryl Bart and daughter Nikki Bart, Victor Saunders, Philip Drowley, Steven Novick, Hedd-wynn Williams, Carol Masheter, Michael Roberts, Lydia Bradey, Lhakpa Dorjee Sherpa, Phu Tashi Sherpa, Dawa Zangbu Sherpa, Sangay Dorjee Sherpa, Ang Sona Sherpa, Temba Sherpa, Pemba Choti Sherpa, Tendi Sherpa, Namgyal Sherpa, Passang Bhote #1, Passang Bhote #2, and Nima Tenzing Sherpa.

Canadians from Quebec François-Guy Thivierge and Sébastien Audy also summited on May 22 at 9:00 am.

A group of Vancouver climbers, led by owner of Canada West Mountain School and Certified ACMG/IFMGA Mountain Guide Brian Jones and John Furneaux (Canada West Mountain School instructor), reached the top of Mount Everest on Sunday, May 25th. It was their first attempt at climbing the mountain. Brian Jones, John Furneaux, Then Dorje Sherpa, Minga Sherpa, Pasang Sherpa, and Chedden Sherpa, reached the top of Mount Everest at approximately 9:30 a.m. Nepal time, some 13 hours after setting off from Camp 4.

Sebastien Sasseville is a Vancouver climber diagnosed with Type One Diabetes in 2002. He has now become the first Canadian with Type One Diabetes to reach the top of Mount Everest.

IMG reported on member Val and Phunuru, Tim Warren and Phinjo, Mike and Dasona, and Passang Sherpa summitting on May 23. Another group comprising Dave and Nicky hoped to reach the top today, although yesterday night it was a little bit too windy at the South Col, where the climbers were.

AA team topped out on May 24. Summiteers were guides Vern Tejas, Lakpa Rita Sherpa, and Jose Luis Peralvo; members Dianette Wells, Charlie Hyde, Armand Musey, Jim Curtain, John Soebbing, RC Scull, Greg Konrath, and Mark Luscher; and Sherpas Thapkee, Chewang Nima, Dorjee, Ang Passang, Da Nuru, Mingma Tsering, Pa-Rita, and Passang Tsering.

Danish Everest team members Henrik Kristiansen and Søren Smidt summited at 7:00 am, local time on May 25. Tim Warren has summited as well.

Aborted attempts and second shots

News is expected from UK-based outfitter Jagged Globe. Irish climbers Ian Taylor (29) reportedly summited on Friday, while his mate Graham Kinch (29) turned around at the South summit.

Strong wind and cold made Silvio Mondinelli and Marco Confortola to hold in C4 on May 24, while Michele Enzio attempted the summit without supplementary O2. He turned around at the fore-summit, according to the Italian team.

Stephan Keck aborted his expedition after learning about the death of his friend, Swiss Gianni Goltz.

Mountain trip team aborted their summit bid on May 24, due to the late hour. “By the time we made it to the bottom of the South Summit we had been moving for over 6 hrs and we were in danger of running out of oxygen, so I decided to call it a day,” the team leader reported.

Also British Adventurer Ranulph (Fiennes) and US Astronaut Scott have aborted their attempts, for health reasons.

Brazilian Rodrigo Raineri has decided to use O2 on his attempt. He reported over sat phone today that the winds are very strong and many teams were turned back yesterday. One of the Sherpas who supported the 76-year old Nepali reportedly froze all his fingers. Eduardo Keppke and Rodrigo Raineri will make an attempt for the summit tonight, reports Elias Luiz from extremos.com.br.

The first day of the rest of Andrew’s life

Andrew Brash is also back in BC, after bagging the summit on Friday – and crossing the Khumbu Icefall for the last time. “The problem with this mountain is that it isn't just a casual stroll to the bottom. I was feeling an urgency to get down. Unfortunately there were a number of people heading in that same direction. Most of them were porters, many carrying stunningly big loads as teams begin to clear up their high camps. As a result, there were traffic jams at several unfortunate points."

“Obviously I got through once again. Sitting on my backpack after exiting the icefall I kind of thought to myself, 'hey, this is the first day of the rest of your life'.”

Annapurna: All rescuers enroute to Kathmandu; medals ahead

Iñaki Ochoa died in Annapurna’s C4 on Friday morning. The 14 climbers who had been trying to reach him now faced a snow storm and highly dangerous conditions on the wall.

Romanian Alex Gavan got lost for a few hours in the fog, Don Bowie reported constant avalanches, Ueli Steck insisted on climbing down alone from C4 (where he had tried to keep Iñaki alive until the end), while Alexey, Denis and Serguey were stuck in C3 in a storm. Saturday night, all climbers had managed to descend safely, except for some of the Sherpas who were still in C2. Today at last, all could be airlifted out of BC.

“Most of the people have got to Kathmandu today,” reported rescuer Mihnea Radulescu earlier today. “Dennis, Serguey, Horia, and Nancy are still in Pokhara, reporting to the police and the Liaison Officer (Ed. Note: Nancy is Iñaki’s girlfriend, who remained in BC. Story edited May 27, 6:07am: Mihnea Radulescu is not a female climber as we previously wrote.)

The tremendous rescue effort has caught the hearts of Iñaki’s home town in northern Spain. “A few minutes ago Navarra's government agreed to give all the climbers involved - and Iñaki - the Gold Medal to Merits in Sport," reported Inaki's webmaster Jorge Nagore. "It is the most important honorific award to be given to the region’s sportsmen. Congrats.”

The climbers are Romanians Horia Colibasanu, Alex Gavan and Mihnea Radulescu; Swiss Ueli Steck and Simon Anthamatten; Russians Alexey Bolotov and Serguey Bogomolov; Kazakh Denis Urubko; Canadian Don Bowie; Polish Robert Szymczak and five Sherpas.

Makalu: Lock bags his lucky 13th: Atkins and Jaros on top too

”At 11.15am, 21 May 08, I stood on the summit of Mt Makalu: 8470m, the world's 5th highest mountain and the 13th summit in my quest to climb all 14 of the world's '8000ers',” reported Australian Andrew Lock after he returned to BC on May 23.

”Unfortunately neither Hector nor Neil were able to join me on top […] From the start from C4 (7950m) on May 21 Hector suffered extreme exhaustion, probably a combination of altitude and all the ailments that had afflicted him throughout the expedition. It was a great disappointment to see him turn around at about 8100 meters. I continued on with 2 other climbers, Ted Atkins (UK) and Radek Jaros (Czech Republic). We reached the pointed, true summit, 7 1/2 hours after setting out from c4.”

(Ed. Note: Czech Radek Jaros originally planned to attempt Annapurna, after summiting Dhaulagiri some weeks ago).

Lhotse: DCXP on top and Pauner’s chopper grounded

It's the 25th May and “DCXP managed to put 6 members on top of Lhotse on May 25,” the home team reported. “With 700m of climbing from our high camp to reach the summit, Paul (who had renounced to attempt the summit) gave his oxygen supply to Mal Haskins and Richard Moriarty. This enabled both clients to climb on maximum flow rates, through cold windy conditions and deep snow drifts. They reached the summit at mid-day.” Escorting Mal and Richard were Sherpas Pasang, Ang Kami and Pasang Nuru.

Carlos Pauner and Javier Perez who expected to be airlifted from Everest BC yesterday had to spend another night at altitude, since the chopper remained grounded due to bad weather. According to the climbers’ latest contact, they hoped to leave today.

Links to teams on Everest and Himalaya:

Everest


Irish Everest/Graham and Ian
Klimb for kids/Tim Warren
James Balfour
No guts know glory/Rob Hill
Lee Farmer
Adventure Peaks
Peak Freaks
IMG
Alpine Ascents
Adventure Consultants
Summit Climb
Alaskan Granite
Danish Everest
Cordoba Everest
Nepalese 77 year old
Eco Everest/Dawa Sherpa
Coldfeat Fiennes/Cool
Mountain Madness
Jagged Globe
Lincoln Hall rescuers Andrew Brash, Myles Osborne and Dan Mazur
MountainTrip dispatches
Project-Himalaya Everest dispatches
Cheryl and Nikki Bart
Miura senior (Japanese)
Alan Arnette
David Tait
Rodrigo Raineri (Vitor Negrete's mate) and Eduardo Keppke (no 02)
Gnaro's Share Everest
www.marcoconfortola.it
Andalusian Lina
www.stephan-keck.at
Keck at www.alpinist.at
Francois Guy Thivierge
SpaceRef.com carrying news of Scott Parazynski
Scott Parazynski blog
Martin McGarvey's blog
Vietnam Everest
Norbert Joos' Everest diary
Kari kobler's expedition blog
OTHER HIMALYA

Makalu

UK Royal Navy
Waldemar Niclevicz and Irivan Gustavo Burda
Andrew Lock
French Makalu
Santiago Quintero
Blair Falahey
Joao Garcia
Ralf Dujmovits' updates
Spanish paper covering Lolo Gonzales
Andalusia/Basques and Lolo Gonzales dispatches
Latvia:Atis Plakans (leader), Liga Plakane, and Kaspars Klapkalns
News on Juanito on Marca.com
Alex Gavan's website

Manaslu

Dutch team expedition website
Katja Staartjes
Menno Boermans
Amical
Maxut's updates on Mount.kz (Russian)

Dhaulagiri

Dhaulagiri west face Babanov/Nick Totmjanin
news on the Argentinean team
Martin Minarik
Radek Jaros and Zdenek Hruby
Kinga and Kasia
Gerlinde
Ivan Vallejo
Polish Dhaula with Artur Hajzer and Ryszard Pawlowski
Himalaya Maestrat
Lithuanian expedition
News on Al filo team on S.Alvaro's blog
Radek Jaros and Zdenek Hruby

Annapurna

Inaki Ochoa
Horia Colibasanu
Don Bowie
Piotr Pustelnik's dispatches
Peter Hamor's website
Piotr Morawski's website
Bogomolov updates on RussianClimb
Ueli Steck
Annapurna 4 ski expedition


Lhotse

DCXP
Rosa's updates on LNE
Mario Merelli's website
Carlos Pauner

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