Summit Fever and some North Side Summits
May 11,2006 - Summit Fever and some North Side Summits
The excitement is building for summits this weekend as teams anticipate continued good weather. But Tomas from Ski Everest writes "... people in base camp are getting frustrated, some even give up and leave to go home. But most people stay and I have a feeling there will be a massive summit attempt within days." He goes on to note the need for coordination ..."Most of the big group are getting tactical since they don't want to head up at the same day as everyone else risking crowds that could mean traffic jams in the technical and exposed passages (like the second step) high up, and maybe even trying to avoid having to take part in potential rescue actions of other climbers and thereby risking there own lifes." I hope Tomas can ski around all those climbers when he skis from the summit! Check out his ski pictures on Tomas' site.
In the midst of all this buzz, however, there are reports that several climbers summitted today on the north side.
My, my what a change from a few years ago! Then the buzz was all about crowds on the Hillary Step on the south side and the "congo" line up from the South Col. But with many teams now fosucing on the north the same congestion concerns have emerged. Remember that it is less expensive to climb on the north due to lower permit fees charged by the Chinese versus the Nepalese.Also the north side does not the infamous Khumbu Icefall but it has the notorious "steps" that are technically more difficult than the upper route on the south So in other words - pick your poison!
But not every team is anxious to jump in. Project Himalaya notes "... A
lot of people are moving up for early summit pushes. It should be very interesting
what happens ... We are going to be a little more conservative and
look towards a bit later in May. It may be a very good thing to let a
bunch of teams summit and then the rest of the season will be a lot
less crowded. There really are a lot of teams on the North side this
year." Wise words!
I commented on the south side teams retreating to lower levels, including Katmandu, to rest before their summit bids. Well the same thing happens on the north in spite of the lack of permanent villages nearby. From the Everest 2006 team site "...short walk down to the Base Camp village to have a coke and a change of scenery. This village has to be seen to be believed! It is made up of a number of temporary huts with yak dung burning stoves in the middle to heat the space. Local villagers come up here to live for the season and try to eek out a living by selling drinks and fossils from Everest." The picture on the right is one I took in 1997 of a Grandmother with her grandchild in their tent at a nomad camp near Tingri, Tibet.
And another travel log is from Ken Stalter on his longer trip via jeep "Although this involved some traveling it is much less boring than base camp. Everyone is hopeful to get back up for a quick summit but we have to be patient. Jangmu is an ugly place but our room is clean and able to get a warm shower yesterday for $3 per night."
A non-Everest note is the tragic report on MountEverest.net of seven deaths and four missing on Elbrus, one of the 7 Summits and highest is Europe. Details are unclear but they experience temperatures of -50C. It is easy to think that alpine mountaineering is simple and anyone can do it with all the publicity, technology and stories we read .. but the evidence challenges that view.
Also, yesterday was the 10 year anniversary of the 1996 disaster on Everest that took the lives of multiple climbers and world-class guides. One of the rescuers that year, David Breashears, is making a movie about the tragedy which should be in theaters in 2007.
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