The kid climbed Everest, imagine that
May 25, 2004 00: 17 EST
We had never been on the other side. We do expeditions and our families and friends do the worry. Well tonight, the table was turned. And it was worse than being out there. Dave is special to our team. He was here when we got our new office. He installed the sound system and the lights. The lights were those cheap clip-on spots you buy in Chinatown. We fixed them to the sprinkles, hundreds of them, and then the fire department came.
It was around this time last year that he taped over the original video we had of Babu's summit. All it showed now were some OLN/Global Extremes Everest stuff. Luckily, we had a spare. We thought about all this as we paced the floor in the office tonight. We lit a candle for him, and we waited. And waited. Zillion thoughts went through our minds. Could we trust the forecasts? What about the winds? Why didn't he call...
We prepared the place for a sleepover. Ordered some Chinese takeout. And waited. We worked a little, checked our mails for voice messages, checked Montagnas site for any news on Gnaro. Nothing. We thought about how we'd met at Everest in 1999 and the kid just wouldn't leave us alone. We were Everest summiteers, he was a trekker. We were his heroes, and he wanted to join our world. He monitored our expeditions, and made the news. The team grew. We remembered the fights ("check your spelling goddamit!") the dreams and the frustrations. And then, all of a sudden, it was his turn to go.
His dispatches were the best. The North Side Caravan, I am here & I am here, The Watermelon dinner. Then came the videos. And it was so cool that he went with Abramov. Yes, we were all so proud of our mate.
When the phone rang we ran around the office to get it. "I've decided to turn around...
...cause that's what you are supposed to do at the summit!!!"
The men shouted and the women wept. Dave, our Dave, was on the summit of Mount Everest.
Congratulations, our hero.
Dave summited with American Marshall Ulrich, Pemba Sherpa and two Italian climbers at 10 AM local time. The weather was beautiful.
Search this site for "Dave D'Angelo" for more of Dave's stories. Video: Live Audio from tonight's summit edited with ExWeb archive images.
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