Transcribed approximately 6 am EST. The intent of this dispatch is to fill in some of the details of the hours immediately after the summit and through the descent. As you know, upon reaching the summit, the American climbers decided to work with the lone Czech climber for the descent. The Americans found the Czech around the area of the summit cone lying down. The Americans assisted him down to their tent at Camp 4 where the four men shared the three-man tent for the evening. They also determined that he was hypothermic and worked to warm his body through the night.

Saturday, 9:30 pm local time (12:30 pm EST). The day was a long and steady one. As you have previously read, one of the memorable stories of yesterday was the successful summit of a lone Czech Republic climber, Libor Uher, via the Cesen Route. During his descent off the summit, it appears that American Team Leader Chris Warner offered to have Libor join the Americans for the descent.  This was done out of a concern for the Czech's exertion on the ascent, considering the absence of support, and with respect for his tremendous effort. Libor accepted and is now working as a team with the Americans. The Czech also benefited from shelter at Camp 4 within the American tent.

Saturday, 11 am local time (2 am EST).  Our team, the Americans, have started the descent from Camp 4. Chris, Don and Bruce are continuing to make good decisions and are moving slowly to best secure their safety. They are watching the weather and are balancing the need to get to down before weather deteriorates with the next storm against moving too quickly on difficult terrain.  The expectation is that they will be staying at higher camps tonight, Camp 3 or 2, hopefully making Base Camp tomorrow.  We will continue to keep you updated.

While the Teams rest for the upcoming descent our friends out on the web wrote a nice summary of the day. -Chris Everett

A Magic Summit Night on the Mountaineers' Mountain

09:25 pm EST Jul 20, 2007 (Courtesy K2climb.net). It was a magic summit night. Together, free climbers from all nations pushed through deep snow, to the top of the world's most dangerous mountain.

"Americans and Koreans on Bottleneck!" read one headline. "Americans and Russians on the Traverse!" read the next. "The independent Iranian is with them," came a note. And then, "K2 SUMMITS - Russians: More - Americans, Koreans, Kazem, Daniele and Joao - Czech from the Cesen route!" [ More ]

or Why is it called "Shared Summits" anyway? 

From the Motivation Education Shared Summits Program at Lime Kiln Middle School Blog: [ Click here ]

This blog is in honor of the K2 climbing team and the leadership youth group that followed them to the summit. We thank you for a thrilling time. (Summit day July 20, 2007)

More on the Shared Summits Mission [ Click here ]

It is with great sadness that the Shared Summits Team confirms a story originally reported on ExplorersWeb.com.

Sometime before dawn, below the bottleneck, a Sherpa with the Korean team fell. The fall is reported as un-survivable. At that time Chris, Bruce and Don were climbing above the Korean Team, in the bottleneck or above.

More details are available on ExplorersWeb.com. [ Click here ] 

Friday 9:46 pm local time (12:46 pm EST). All three American climbers have arrived at Camp 4. They are tired but safe. Tomorrow they will finish descending to Base Camp. They have been told of the extraordinary outpouring of well wishes, congratulations and admiration, and are measurably grateful for the love and support you have shown them throughout this truly shared summit experience. Stay tuned for more details.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Karakoram Range, Pakistan, Friday July 20, 2007, 4:36 pm local time

Friday 4:36 pm local time (7:36 am EST). Chris Warner and Bruce Normand have summited. Don Bowie followed shortly after at 4:42 pm. As of this writing, four Russians (Nikolay Kadoshnikov, Victor Afanasyev, Aleksander Eliseev, and Roman Gubanov) , the one Korean woman and two Sherpas, one Korean man, one Iranian (Kazem Faridian), Daniele Nardi from Italy, and Joao Garcia from Portugal have summited.  With each new summit, applause, cheering and laughter erupt from camps along The Strip. Perhaps one of the most amazing feats was the successful summit of a lone Czech, Libor Uher, by the Cesen Route. More to follow.

Friday 2:36 pm local time (5:36 am EST). Chris radioed to Base Camp, they are about 250 vertical feet below the summit, and about one hour away. Joao Garcia is currently setting the pace and along with Chris, Don and Bruce (the Americans), the rest of the group includes one Italian, a Korean women with two Sherpas, two Korean men, one Iranian and four Russians.