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Everest and Himalaya daily wrap-up: First teams in BC and Maoists on strike
Apr 4, 2005 11: 51 EST
You can plan as much as you want sometimes, stuff can still catch up with you.
The uneasy political situation in Nepal had many climbers to turn to Everest Tibetan side. The plan: Get off the plane, drive five hours to the Tibetan border and switch countries.
However, whilst South (Nepal) side teams began reaching BC this weekend, some North-bound climbers are having problems on their way to the Tibetan border: Maoists have called a general strike and threaten to block the road.
Everest North
7 Summit’s club/Alpindustria Adventure Team
Harry Kikstra reported yesterday from KTM:
“Alex (Abramov) picked us up and we raced through the always busy streets of Kathmandu. There are fewer tourists than normally, but still the atmosphere is great as ever.
“The Maoist problem is getting stronger though and we might have to find a new solution for getting our gear to the border which was planned in the next few days. But the Maoists have called a strike and are getting more aggressively lately, so we must take care.”
Today, Alexander Abramov reported on team members arriving in Nepal’s capital from Russia: “Dmitry brought a snowboard with him, and Sergey has taken skis - the guys are planning to make a sky-ski descent from the North Col!”
“On April, 5th the first group - Nikolay Cherny, Andrey Selivanov and 11 sherpas - are leaving for Tibet to set BC before the rest of the team arrives. They expect to leave Kathmandu by April, 7th. “However there are rumors about the possible Maoists' strikes - so the departure could be postponed.”
Esplugues al Everest
The Catalans reached Namche Bazaar in heavy snow yesterday. The team will be climbing Everest through the North Col route, but prior to the climb they will trek up to the Khumbu side of Everest BC and climb island Peak to acclimatize. Afterwards they will return to Kathmandu and move on to Tibet.
Everest South
Gabriel Filippi
Gabriel got to Base Camp on March 30. He is currently resting in BC and trekking nearby hills to acclimatize.
A report from his home team: “The ladders have not been installed yet in the Khumbu Icefalls so nobody will be climbing before the 9th of April. Very few expeditions are at base camp yet, he is one of the few foreigners around. He picked a great spot for his tent, right at the foot of the glacier, overlooking the whole base camp. There is about 1 hour walking from the entry of base Camp to his tent... The guy is not helping himself getting visitors.”
During his trek, Gabriel helped a lady who was coughing badly. The woman was suffering from HAPE and was immediately evacuated down the valley.
Adventure consultants
AC climbing team has reached Lukla; they are currently spending the night in Phakding Village, at 2610 meters. Tomorrow they will hike the steep hill to Namche Bazaar, where they will spend two rest days.
Alpine Ascents
Both the climbing team and the trekking group visited a buddhist monastery on their way to Khumjung yesterday:
“We were privileged to have our own private audience with the Rinpoche. Rinpoche Nawang Tempel Gylzen presented us all with schrungis (a small red cord tied around one’s neck to bring luck and protection to the wearer) and blessed our khatas (a white or cream colored scarf embossed with Buddhist good luck symbols) and placed them around our necks."
"My view of an Everest expedition is that one can use all the good luck one can get from any and every source! Later, on our way to Khumjung, the beautiful clear weather gave way on this walk to thick clouds and snow, and we greatly enjoyed walking amidst the freshly snow covered forest.”
Today the team enjoyed clear skies and wonderful views of Ama Dablam on their way to the Rhododendron forest of Deboche.
Team Exploradus
The team was delayed one day in Kathmandu, but they expected to get on a helicopter to Lukla yesterday.
Dirk Stephan and Keith Woodhouse
Dirk and Keith reached BC on March 31. It’s cold there, but otherwise things seem to be going great. Not so lucky are some other members in their team. This is Keith’s latest, reported yesterday:
“Last night was very cold, at least -20 degrees off the scale. Getting used to these conditions over the next few days will be a challenge. Our group is one of the first in Base Camp and Yak trains are arriving by the hour.”
“Over the next few days I'll introduce the other members of our team starting today with Quan Tang, a Vietnamese American engineer living in Orange State California. Quan is in his forties and finding it difficult to acclimatize. If he is to have any chance on this climb I think he will have to descend to Lobuche for a few days, although even then I doubt he can make the work rate necessary. Fingers crossed that this does not happen to me.”
University of Singapore’s Centennial Expedition
The team reached Everest Base Camp (5,300m) yesterday.
Leipzigers without O2
The team has finally recovered their cargo and can afford to relax and enjoy the trek. They are currently acclimatizing in Namche.
Annapurna
South side: Piotr Pustelnik´s team
According to the expedition´s home team, the original plan to go to C1 is one day delayed: “Today the group including Piotr Pustelnik, Piotr Morawski, two sherpas (Rita and Nawang) and the cook Jagat are going up to set ABC. The Sherpas will return to the base and the next day, together with Marcin Miotek and Vlad Strba, they will carry more equipment to ABC. On Tuesday Piotr Pustelnik and Piort Morawski will start fixing ropes on the way to Camp 1.”
North side: Silvio Mondinelli´s team
The team is resting in BC after carrying gear up to C2’s location. They must now also decide on the route: Here's Silvio’s latest dispatch:
“The place we’ve chosen to set Camp 2 is the best starting point to three possible routes we are studying: The normal (French) one, the Dutch and the Polish. We will wait until the Camp is fixed and supplied to take a decision, depending on the snow conditions.”
Adventure Consultants | Gabriel Filippi’s reports through Peak Freak | 7 Summits/Harry Kikstra’s dispatches | Esplugues al Everest | Singapore Mountaineers w/o O2 | Singapore NUS Centennial expedition´s reports | Ed Viesturs' website | Alpine Ascents Cybercasts| Shaunna Burke and Ben Webster’s dispatches| Jim Williams’ Exploradus dispatches| Dirk Stephan and Keith Woodhouse’s reports| International Mountain Guides dispatches| Sigrid Hammer’s website| Everest Vitesse 2005| Inaki Ochoa| Ivan Vallejo| Leipzig expedition´s news | Silvio ‘Gnaro’ Mondinelli Mountain Madness dispatches | Jagged Globe dispatches | Climbing for a Cure’s dispatches | Japanese Team Honda’s website | Canadian Kanatek expedition’s diary |
Live image over Contact 3.0 of Alpine Ascents on their way to Khumjung, courtesy of Alpine Ascents.
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