Posted: Sep 09, 2007 06:51 pm EDT
Steve Fossett has gone missing; Kazakh young guns were forced to abort a monstrous K2 NW ridge battle; and K2's north face is at stake. Among the good news - official word at last on the state of climbing during the Olympic torch; a rock concert in Everest BC this October; a fall Everest expedition; and a Byron Smith lawsuit update.

Other news - Tim Cope's 6,000 mile horseback ride in the hoofprints of Genghis Khan is closing after 3 years; and Jason Lewis global circumnavigation will be finished in less than a month - after 13 years of human-powered travel.

K2 NW ridge: Maxut and Vassily retreat after five days in the deathzone 5 days of high winds, an unclimbable rock wall, and chest-deep snow high above 8000 meters finally forced Maxut and Vassily to surrender, only 100 meters below the summit.

Bronchitis puts K2 north face attempt at risk Denis Urubko and Serguey Samoilov’s attempt to open a new route up K2’s north face may be at stake; Serguey has come down with bronchitis.

Record pilot Steve Fossett missing The American aviator adventurer is reported missing after failing to return to an airstrip at a southern Nevada ranch while piloting a light aircraft solo. Aircraft and ground teams are searching the areas of his likely course.

ExWeb Olympic Everest Summit Report - official word from China/Nepal on 2008 climbing President of the Nepal Mountaineering Association, Asian Trekking's Ang Tshering, has been made the official spokesman for CTMA/CMA and told ExWeb last week that the Olympic team has not yet decided if climbing will be restricted during their summit push from the North Side. "We will have to wait for them to make an official decision on this matter. However, there is no restriction on the south side," he reported.

China will be strictly vetting each and every expedition so that they will only have 'quality' expeditions, Ang Tshering further said. 3 nationalities per expedition including Nepali staff are allowed, all documentation has to be sent at least two and a half months in advance, and only well organized, well supported and fully equipped teams will be allowed to climb is the word.

Everest ROCKS - 40 musicians to south side BC for huge gig The acoustic gig at the foot of Mt Everest, led by Mike Peters and James Chippendale this October will be captured by a documentary team headed by Alex Coletti (producer of MTV’s ‘Unplugged’ series); and include musicians such as Slim Jim Phantom (Stray Cats), Nick Harper, Glenn Tilbrook (Squeeze), Cy Curnin (The Fixx) - but also Mike Peters (The Alarm), a cancer Survivor and Co Founder of the Love Hope Strength Foundation that organizes the event. Also, several of the trekkers are Everest summiteers and cancer survivors (Alan Hobson, Sean Swarner). Everest summiteer Jake Norton is another familiar name.

Byron Smith update The following note recently appeared in the AAC E-news: “Finally, you may remember that, in 2005, Byron Smith brought a lawsuit against the American Alpine Club over data entered in our publication The Himalayan Database. I am pleased to report that on August 21, 2007, Mr. Smith's case was "Dismissed with Prejudice" by the U.S. District Court in Colorado."

Thai climbers going for Everest this fall Against all odds, Everest won’t be deserted this fall season after all: An expedition from Thailand has been launched on Everest's south side to commemorate the King of Thailand.

The quest must go on: Another Viking sky-skier for Himalaya In 2006, the climbing community was shattered when Swedish extreme skier Tomas Olsson vanished on his ski-descent of Everest's Great Couloir. As always though, a new generation takes over to continue what's left undone. This week, another Swedish extreme skier, Fredrik Ericsson, has arrived Nepal - to attempt the first ever ski descent of Dhaulagiri (8167).

Jamie McGuinness on KTM bomb blasts Parts of his team already en route to Shisha BC; expedition leader Jamie McGuinness reported on recent events in Kathmandu: “Currently the political parties are gearing up for the Constituent Assembly (CA) elections, scheduled for November 22nd. However, there are many people who don't want the elections to go ahead. Earlier this week, there were several bomb blasts in Kathmandu that killed numerous people. A previously unknown Terai group claimed the responsibility, along with another small group from the same region.”

Dutch Dhaulagiri expedition: The mother of all landslides “Because of the heavy rainfall, the road towards the start of our trek (Beni) is littered with landslides,” Edwin Klerkx and Tomas van Hoek reported. “Yesterday our bus got stopped by a huge one. We carried all the material over the landslide with the help of porters and take a new bus on the other side of the landslide.”

Climbers en route to camps through a made-over Tibet En route to Cho Oyu and Shisha’s BC, teams are reporting from Tibet’s Friendship Highway. Climbers type about red-tape; and sweeping construction work aimed to give Tibet a make-over before the upcoming Olympic Torch’s trip to Everest.

Singaporean female-team Cho Oyu’s frontline Ahead of the rest, the Singaporean lady climbers have completed a first climb to Cho Oyu’s C1. Several other expeditions reached ABC by the end of the week.

Prezelj, House, Anderson tick K7 West Marko Prezelj, Steve House and Vince Anderson succeeded in making the first ascent of K7 West (6858m) on September 3, Alpinist reported. They still hope to make the first ascent of K6 West (7100m), their primary objective, later this trip.

Youth is the time... Meet Muzna Archer - the youngest kid on K2 On July 24, Muzna Archer arrived K2 Base Camp at the tender age of 2 years, 9 months and 16 days. In less than three years, little Muzna has already lived a lifetime: Surviving a mega earthquake and going to K2. We can't even imagine what stories she'll have when she turns four.

Troillet’s team: Home-bound After aborting their attempt on Broad peak, Jean Troillet’s team started the trek back to Skardu on August 31st.

AdventureStats update: The Three Poles In a recent interview with ExWeb, American Eric Larsen said he'll try to reach the three poles within just one year in 2009. Brit Adrian Hayes announced he would attempt his third pole this season. Few Everest climbers are found in polar regions and even fewer polar explorers try to summit the highest peak on earth. Check out ExWeb's special on the fairly unknown Three Poles quest.

In the wake of the Belgica: Dixie Dansercoer’s Antarctica sailing expedition What's Belgica? You're not alone to ask: The importance of the Belgian expedition was soon over-shadowed by two of the crew members' upcoming fame - Roald Amundsen's and Frederick Cook's. After skiing across a sizeable chunk of the Arctic ice this past spring, Belgian Dixie Dansercoer is now headed for the opposite side of earth - swapping skis for sails. Leading a small crew, Dixie hopes to retrace Adrien de Gerlache’s 1897-99 expedition, and bag some first ascents on the way.

Earl de Blonville’s 2008 expedition – Greenland camp to foster future advocates of environment Some experts predict that climate change will make Australia the worst-affected country on Earth. Australian citizen and adventurer Earl de Blonville believes time has come for some radical action. His project aims to develop a new generation of climate change leaders. Training will include a special Field University located in a remote area of Australia, plus cruises along the coast of East Greenland on Earl's expedition ship.

Jason Lewis one month from finish line After riding across the troubled horn of Africa and crossing illegally from Sudan to Egypt by paddling in the night along lake Nasser, the last European leg of Jason's trip involves "short, fat, balding men wearing wife-beater vests surrounded by scantily clad females dressed up like porn stars." Go check ExWeb for Jason's current location.

Mars Ocean Odyssey update: All you need is love – and sprouts 3 years out at sea without touching land seems incredibly boring to some. But out on their 133rd day at sea, Reid and Soanya keep themselves busy repairing shooner 'Anne', feeding on lovin' feelings (and sprout salads) while trying hard to keep the course of a heart.

Happy ending to a long, human powered voyage: Colin and Julie tie the knot Following Colin's illness and later separation from original partner Tim - Julie finally stepped in, turning from the expedition webmaster to Colin’s real-life traveling-mate on his northern hemisphere circumnavigation. "Five months on a rowboat must be the ultimate marriage litmus test, has been said more than once. Well, I guess we agreed (and passed) because this month Colin and I did get married,” Julie reported last week.

Tim Cope’s 6,000 mile ride in the hoofsteps of Genghis Khan 800 years after Genghis Khan ruled Mongolia’s steppes all the way to Eastern Europe; Tim Cope, 28, has followed the Mongol emperor’s tracks on horse-back for 3 years. Not bad, considering that this is Tim's first time in the saddle. Tim’s solo ride will be remembered as having launched the modern age of equestrian travel, the Long Rider’s Guild say, “Tim has proved that anyone can take a life-changing equestrian journey.” Check out Tim's story and pics, along with ExWeb's interesting special on Genghis Khan.

Read these stories - and more! - at ExplorersWeb.com.

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