Everest Helicopter Landing CAANed.

Last Spring there was substantial controversy over whether a French helicopter landed on the summit of Mt Everest. The pilot said yes, eyewitnesses said yes (maybe) and the Nepalese Government said no (maybe). The climbing sites weighed in with in-depth reporting nothing short of a WMD investigation. So did the copter land or not? Today as reported by Nepaleyes, the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) said "We strongly refute the claim ... We have sent a letter to the FAI stating that the feat was never achieved." but the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) and Europcoter not only said yes but displayed the special aircraft at a show according to rotorhub.com (now that is a site name!). CAAN said it landed on the South Col and only hovered over the summit.

Will the North win again?

Mounteverest.net started their annual coverage of the spring Everest season by releasing the expedition lists. To no one's surprise there are significantly more expeditions on the north side than the traditional south. There are several reasons for this. First is Money: the Chinese Mountaineering Agency charges much less than the $70,000 permit from Nepal. Second is violence: with all the violence from the Maoists in Nepal, even the most courageous climber is having second thoughts when there is an alternative. Third is bragging rights: as absurd as it sounds, climbing Everest from the south is perceived, incorrectly, as as easy feat that anyone can do. The north side has the edge in the danger public relations war. And finally is organization. While the south side has always had large expeditions, they were usually under 10 clients. Organizers such as Himalayan Experience's Russell Brice and 7Summitts' Abramov and Kikstra are putting together monster teams. Last year Brice had 30 climbers and this year Abramov/Kikstra have 20 already. With all this power on the hill it allows smaller teams to "draft" off the fixed lines and routes. However, this drafting creates serious ill-will and negativity on the mountain. It will be interesting to see how it plays out this year. I will be covering it as usual at my Everest2006 page

But if you want both the North and South...

Then there are the climbers who are not satisfied with climbing Everest from the north or from the south, they want both! RussinaClimb.com reports a Russian/Polish team will attempt the Everest traverse - south to north -without supplemental oxygen this year. It was attempted last year by Piers Buck but stalled when the weather almost stopped all the summits from the south.

Patagonia - still a challenge

For a great read, visit climbing.com's report of 4 Belgian climbers successful summit of the Central Tower in the Torres del Paine. It is very well written with great pictures.