South Summit

The Team has made the South Summit at 28,700 feet!! They are reporting some good winds up there, but they pressed on through the night and have made great time. Daylight is just arriving as they break for food and water before traversing to the Hillary Step and then on to the Summit. They are only a 300 vertical feet from the Summit, but the traverse and climbing the Hillary Step will still take up to a few more hours.

Here is a picture of Everest's South East Ridge from the summit of Lhotse. You can see the Triangular Face on the lower third of the mountain, followed by the South East Ridge leading up to the South Summit, and finally the traverse to the Hillary Step and the Summit. Many thanks to Michael Horst for the great picture from last years Everest Lhotse link-up and a huge congratulations to Ben Jones who reached the summit of Lhotse at 11:11am yesterday morning!

Joe

Above the Balcony

The team has made it above the Balcony.  The winds have kicked up and the going is a bit slow, but the weather is clear and the team is pushing on.  The South East Ridge is not as steep as the Triangular Face although it can be a fairly exposed at times and there are still several more hours of climbing from the Balcony to the South Summit.  There are nearly two more hours until the first rays of sunlight begin to reach Mt. Everest.  Our climbers are doing some great work up there, so let’s wish them the best through these final hours of the night.

Joe

It is time!

It is time!  It is 9pm and our climbers are just waking up to “breakfast” and hot drinks before departing on their summit push.  They will check in with me periodically through the night as they make there way up the mountain and I will be checking in with you. 

 

Their first task will be to make it up the Triangular Face to the Balcony at 27,300 feet.  The Triangular face is a section of fairly steep climbing that begins 400 feet above the South Col.  It will take the climbers four to five hours to reach the Balcony where they will take an extended break for some snacks and fluids before heading up the South East Ridge toward the Summit.  We wish them all the best on their climb and big a big thanks to everyone out there for following along and supporting us as they go!!

 

Lhotse Fixing

The team is doing well in the South Col and are enjoying hot drinks in their tents this morning.  They will be resting through the day today and leaving for their Summit bid around 10pm tonight.  The sky is perfectly clear this morning with some light breeze currently at the South Col.

 

Alpine Ascents Guide Ben Jones is in the region doing a little personal high altitude climbing.  He is currently fixing lines on Lhotse with Damion Benegas.  They departed early this morning and are making great progress, fixing the lines as they go.  At 27,940 feet, Lhotse is the 4th highest mountain in the world, and its proximity to Mt. Everest provides the opportunity to link two 8,000 meter peaks in under 24 hours.  Currently only three people have managed the task; Alpines Ascents Guides Garrett Madison and Mike Horst, and Alpine Ascents climber Tom Halliday.  Garrett Madison is hoping to repeat the feat this year along with climbers Leanna Shuttleworth and Mark Shuttleworth.  They would become the 4th and 5th people to do so and Leanna would be the first female to climb two 8,000 meter peaks in under 24 hours.  Thanks to Ben and Damion for their hard work preparing the route and we look forward to following our climbers’ progress.

 

First things first…Mt. Everest.   The team has the full day still to rest and prepare for tonight’s climb!!

Stay tuned,

 

Joe

 

Summit Fixing Completed!

Summit!! Everest has just seen its first summits of the year by 7 Sherpa who have fixed lines for all climbing teams to use. Alpine Ascents Guide Lakpa Rita has been coordinating the fixing from high on the mountain and Alpine Ascents' Sherpa Kami Rita is among today's summiteers. The fixing Sherpa enjoyed perfectly calm, sunny weather for most of their fixing effort. Our Team is currently moving to Camp 4 in the same beautiful weather. They have passed the Yellow Band, a geological layer of marbled yellow rock visible across many of the highest mountains in the Himalaya, and will be approaching the Geneva Spur soon.

There are numerous other teams climbing to the South Col along side us at the moment.  Alpine Ascents schedules our team members to enjoy a full rest day in Camp 4 before making their summit bid. This provides our climbers with 24 extra hours of well deserved rest and allows us the flexibility to choose our summit date from the highest camp on the mountain.

The Prayer flags are hardly moving with the calm winds and we are enjoying the sunny weather here in Base Camp :-)

Joe

Everest Summit Fixing

It continued to be a beautiful day here on Everest.  Camp 3 sits at 23,000 feet, higher than any mountain outside of Asia!  Surprisingly, even at such great elevation, the chief hardship of the afternoon was escaping from the heat.  The winds were completely calm all afternoon and it can really heat up with the sun reflecting off all sides of the Western Cwm.

Lakpa Rita has been coordinating Summit fixing for all teams on the mountain.  Lakpa’s brother and Assistant Sirdar Kami Rita is on the fixing team and just called in saying the lines are fixed to the Balcony.  All the ropes, ice screws and pickets are in place at the Balconey to complete the Summit Fixing. This means Everest should see its first summit of the season tomorrow and that the path will be laid for our climbers to make their push on Saturday night!

The weather forecast is looking favorable for our summit push and we look forward to following our team up to the top of the world.

Standing by at Base Camp,

 

Joe

 

Team to Camp 3

The team moved to Camp 3 today and are enjoying some hot drinks and resting on oxygen. Garrett described the weather at Camp 3 as the best he has ever seen. It is perfectly calm, sunny and warm. The team will move to Camp 4 tomorrow, putting them in position for their Summit bid in two days time.

Jenny and I have been entertaining ourselves here in base camp with bouldering, ice climbing and some guitar playing with the Sherpa. During the Drop Back, we were even able to squeeze in a quick trip to Imja Tse (Island Peak), a beautiful 20,308 foot peak in the Khumbu Valley that can be incorporated into our Alpine Ascents Everest Base Camp Trek. After gaining the steep headwall and traversing the summit ridge to the top, we were rewarded with great views of Ama Dablam, Thamserku, and Kangtega to the South and Nuptse, Lhotse, and Makalu to the North.

Joe