In 2001, Chris Warner was back on Everest, guiding the North Ridge. On May 23 the team summited. Evelyne Binsack was the first Swiss woman to summit Everest. Ellen Miller was the first American woman to summit Everest from the North Ridge (a year later becoming the first American woman to summit Everest from the North and South). Naoki Ishikowa reached the "three poles" that year. Jaime Vinals climbed to his Seventh Summit. And Marco Siffredi made the first complete snow board descent of Everest. But in the end this expedition may best be remembered for the amazing rescue that unfolded following the last climbers and guides reaching the summit. 

A Note from Russell Brice, Expedition Leader

Here is a short note as I start my 11th expedition to Everest, 10 of which have been on the North side. I welcome the 10 clients, 3 other guides and 11 Sherpas who will all play an important part in the expedition over the next 2 months. I am pleased to report that I have an incredibly experienced team this year. The bio data of these members will appear else where, but 6 of the 10 clients have been on expeditions with Himalayan Experience before. Andy Lapkass and Chris Warner have both worked for Himalayan Experience as guides to Everest before, and Asmus Norreslet works with my sister company, Chamonix Experience, in France.

Seven of the 11 Sherpas have worked with Himalayan Experience before, some of the most senior Sherpas are now on their 15th expedition with me. This year we have some young Sherpas who will start their training with Himalayan Experience. They will hopefully become regular staff members of my expeditions in the future. Between the guides and Sherpa staff we have a total of 11 ascents of Mount Everest.

I also have a small team of Tibetan yak men who have been working for Himalayan Experience over the last few years.One of these men, Karsang climbed with us to North Col last year and then to the summit of Cho Oyo last autumn season. I hope that he will reach the summit of Everest with our team this year.

For the first time this year, Himalayan Experience is offering trips to North Col. I have one group of 4 and another of 6 who will embark on this program this season.

In order to support this large number of people it is necessary to bring almost 11,000kg of freight. There is 4,200kg of food, 5,000kg of equipment, 450kg of rope, and another 1,300kg of personal equipment. There will be approximately 120 yak loads to ABC, a two day journey.

So, I welcome you all to read about my 11th Everest expedition, with 11 nationalities, 11 Sherpas, 11 Everest summits between the staff, and with 11,000kg of equipment. I hope that our story is a successful and safe one.

Russell Brice

Himalayan Experience

Managing Director

Team of Himalayan Experience Everest Expedition 2001 

Fit to Climb...

Putting together a climbing team for an expedition is a tricky business. So many people would love to climb Everest, but you don't choose the team based on who would look best in the summit photos. You need to choose people who you can count on when the going gets rough. Each of us will be tied to other climbers. Our lives will be in their hands. With this in mind we have carefully chosen our team.

In the past, most Everest expeditions were nationalistic affairs, in which the stars of each country would be invited by the leader. Edmund Hillary was invited on the 1953 Everest Expedition, and although a strong climber, had very little Himalayan climbing experience. This year, we have a total of 11 Everest summits among the staff. Most of the clients have climbed other 8000 meter peaks (the 14 tallest mountains rise above the magical 8000 meter (26,200 ft.) level). As you read through their bios, you'll realize that every member of this team has much more experience than Edmund Hillary had.

Guides

	Expedition leader: Russell Brice, New Zealand Russ is the expedition leader and the owner of Himalayan Experience. This will be his 11th expedition to Everest. Russ has guided over 35 Himalayan expeditions and is a founder of IGO8000, the association that regulates commercial expeditions to 8,000-meter peaks. Guide Andy Lapkass, U.S.A Andy has been on more than 20 Himalayan expeditions and has summited Everest twice. This will be his second season as a guide on Russ' Everest expedition. Andy also competes in adventure races. He and Ellen Miller were on the same team in the Borneo Eco-Challenge, competing against Owen West.
	Guide Chris Warner, U.S.A. Chris has guided more than 70 international expeditions. He is the owner of Earth Treks' Climbing Center in Columbia, Md., the largest climbing gym and guide service on the East Coast of the United States. Chris has climbed Cho Oyu and has pioneered new routes on Ama Dablam and Shivling. He guided with Andy and Russ on Everest last year, but failed to summit due to poor weather conditions.
	Guide Asmuss , Danish Asmuss is the 4th guide on the trip. He summited Everest last year via the South Col. On an earlier trip, he did a number of first ascents in the Karakorum. Asmuss works as a guide in the Alps, living near Chamonix.

Climbers

Roy Tudor Hughes, UK

Roy climbed Cho Oyu with Russ in 1998 and has been on a number of other Himalayan expeditions including Broad Peak. He is a retired hotel owner.

Kieron Mackenzie, UK

Kieron owns New Heights, a group of outdoor equipment stores in Scotland. He also guides treks and expeditions to the Himalaya. Kieron was on Everest with us in 2000.

Owen West, U.S.A

Owen lives in New York City, trades natural gas on Wall Street, and is an author, Marine Corps veteran, and adventure racer. He has competed in three Eco-Challenges and was the lonely male on Team Playboy Extreme. You can read all about Owen's experience in the March 2001 issue of Playboy.

Ellen Miller, U.S.A

Ellen is an endurance athlete. She has run in the Tibetan Mountain Marathon, the Borneo Eco-Challenge and several other adventure races. She has climbed Kilimanjoro, Mount McKinley and Cho Oyu among other peaks.

Marco Siffredi, France

Marco is one of the world's leading extreme snowboarders. He has surfed Cho Oyu, Dorje Lhakpa, Tocloraju, Artensonraju and every unimaginable face in the Alps. Marco plans to snow board from the summit of Everest. He has been a hit in Lhasa, skateboarding around town.

Evelyne Binsack, Swiss

Evelyne is a certified mountain guide and helicopter pilot. She has climbed the North Face of the Eiger three times, including a winter ascent. This is her second trip to the Himalaya. She hopes to be the first Swiss woman to summit Everest via the North. She will be climbing with Robert Bosch.

Robert Bosch, Swiss

Robert is a certified mountain guide and a professional adventure photographer. He has been high on the Everest West Ridge and to 8,300 meters on the South Col. He has summited Broad Peak, Ama Dablam and many other Himalayan peaks. With a grin, Robert says he is here only to work. His hope is to capture Evelyn's climb on film.

Jaime Viñals, Guatemala

Jaime has climbed six of the seven summits. This is his fulltime job! This will be Jaime's third Everest expedition. He has written a Central American best-seller about his early climbing experiences.

Naoki Ishikawa, Japan

Naoki spent the last year traveling from the North Pole to the South Pole by skis, kayaks, bikes, boots and a plane (to hop the Drake Passage). He has also climbed six of the seven summits. He is writing a book about his expeditions to the "Three Poles".

Jess Stock, British

Jess is a professional adventure photographer. He commutes between homes in Wanaka, New Zealand and Chamonix, France. He has been on expeditions to Cho Oyu, Melungtse (with Bonnington), Mera Peak (which he skied with his wife), and the Golden Throne (on which he briefly held the high altitude ski record).

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Expedition Overview 

Russell Brice, of Himalayan Experience, and Chris Warner, of Earth Treks, will once again be leading a team of climbers on an expedition to Mount Everest. They will be following in the snow filled footsteps of Mallory and Irvine, climbing via the North Ridge, from Tibet. The expedition departs Katmandu on April 1st and hopes to put climbers on the summit by the end of May. During this expedition journals and photos will once again be sent back and posted on this page.

This year's team will be made up of 10 clients, 4 guides, 8 high altitude Sherpas, 4 cooks and 4 Tibetans. This is truly an international team, with climbers from New Zealand, South Africa, Guatemala, France, England, Switzerland, Scotland, Nepal, Tibet and the United States.

The team will establish Base Camp at 17,200 ft. in the Rongbuk Valley. Base Camp is literally placed at the end of the road. A convoy of jeeps and trucks will deposit the team and over 20,000 pounds of equipment, food, fuel and oxygen tanks at this point. Once ready, we will load the gear we need on the mountain (10-15,000 pounds) onto a yak train. Each yak can carry approximately 120 pounds. They will need two separate teams of approximately 60 yaks, to transport the gear on the two day journey to Advanced Base Camp (ABC) at 21,400 ft.

ABC is a wind swept place at the base of Mt. Changste. It literally is a swath of rubble, strewn like a thin veneer on top of the slowly moving East Rongbuk Glacier. Throughout the season, this strip will be filled by 4 large group tents (kitchen, storage, dining and communications), 20 sleeping tents and 2 toilet tents. Above and below, 20 or more teams will have a similar set up. Viewed from the North Ridge, ABC, with its colorful tents, is a veritable flowered choked meadow in comparison to the icy white and steel blue glaciers and the black and brown rock faces.

ABC is the base of operations for the climb. The team will live out of this camp, going off to work on the upper mountains for a few hours or days at a time. Two superb cooks will work around the clock to feed them. Despite the excellent food, they will each lose between 10 and 25 pounds. The cold, lack of oxygen and the hard work combined, burn off more calories than can be consumed in a day.

The trail from ABC ascends the ever more jumbled moraine to its highest reaches. From there they climb onto the glacier and traverse a plateau to the base of an icy headwall. They will string a series of fixed lines (ropes anchored in place and left for the duration of the climb) for more than 1,000 vertical feet to the col (saddle) between Changste and Everest. Here, at 23,000 ft. they will place Camp 1. The only shelter here is a large wall of ice, behind which will be placed 6 tents.

Now on the North Ridge, more fixed lines will lead to Camp 2 at 25,000 ft. The ridge is very exposed to high winds and they will be traveling as if dressed for the summit from Camp 1 on out. Last year, the team often encountered winds in excess of 50 mph and heavy snowfall on this section of the route. The climbing between Camps 1 and 2 is entirely on snow.

Camp 2 is literally a ledge carved out of the snow. Four or five tents will be placed here, the only protection afforded by a twisting of the ridgeline, funneling the snow over their heads.

Above Camp 2 the route follows a rocky ridgeline upwards to Camp 3 (26,000 ft.). Most parties actually place only 3 camps above ABC. Our team places 4 to better insure their chances. The climb from Camp 2 to 3 takes them past more than a dozen other groups, each with two or three tents perched on this wind scoured ridge.

Camp 3 is the site of the early British Expeditions' Camp 5. Last year, Chris found a piton believed to be hand forged and placed by the early British just below this camp. Russel found a ridgepole and upright poles from their tent, along with a weathered can of food. Chris also gathered a few other odds and ends from the tent, and brought these down as well.

Camp 4 (27,230 ft.) is the last stop before going for the summit. By the time this camp is established the team will have carried more than 18 tents, 50 oxygen bottles (13 pounds each), 35 sleeping bags, 70 foam mattresses, 18 cook sets, 100 fuel canisters and thousands of feet of rope up the mountain.

In order to aid acclimatization, each climber will climb to at least the height of Camp 3 during the prep phase of the expedition. Once the hill is prepped, and the climbers have had at least a few days rest in the oxygen rich, comparative luxury of Base Camp, the summit bids begin.

The climbers will move up the mountain, and weather permitting, move from camp to camp. Most climbers will begin using Oxygen at Camp 3. Statistically, most successful summit bids on the North Ridge occur in the second half of May.

Summit day begins at 1 a.m. with the melting of ice for hot drinks. Once dressed, the climbers set out for the top, using the ropes that are fixed, to follow a series of gullies and ledges to the ridge. There are three "steps" on the North Ridge, the hardest being the famed Second Step. In 1975 a Chinese expedition placed a ladder on the steepest of the three "pitches" that make up the 100 ft. tall step.

The North Ridge ends where the Third Step tops out on into a snow pyramid. Most climbers traverse up and right across this section, tackling the final climb, via a rock gully that tops the North Face. The summit is a stagger away.

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Everest 2001 Journal Entries

March 2001 The Spirit of Mountaineering: Why am I going back to Everest?

March 26 Columbia Maryland What does one do before leaving for Everest?

April 02 Kathmandu: The bags are packed and we're ready to go!!!

April 03 Winging it past Everest to Lhasa, Tibet

April 04 Lots to explore in Lhasa Tibetan culture

April 09 Arriving at Base Camp

April 11 Prepping for the Climb

April 16 On the Move: Leaving Base Camp and Establishing Advanced Base Camp

April 20 Advanced Base Camp has been established!

April 24 Chocolate cake and hard work are more reliable than luck!

April 25 So much for the weather reports

May 03 Just What's Up That Hill?

May 07 The Sherpas are heading back up

May 10 Moving Up

May 11 It's Snowing, Again.

May 11 One man's "slow and painful" ascent of Everest :) - by Owen West and

How Do You Deal with Knee Deep Snow? - by Chris Warner

May 13 Happy Mother's Day

May 15 Ellen Miller: Let Me Tell You About My Team

May 18 It's My Party and I'll Climb if I Want To

May 19 We're off to see the Wizard!

May 22 Last Journal before the Summit!

May 23-25 Reached the Summit and then prayer needed.

May 26 Mini Update - Summit and then Near Disaster

May 21-26 The Ascent, The Summit, Then Trouble Up High

June 7 Wrapping up and Final Notes

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The Spirit of Mountaineering: Why am I going back to Everest? 

Last June, Tony Kelly and I were trapped in a tent at 25,000 ft. The wind was gusting to over 100 mph; tossing grapefruit sized rocks and sheets of ice bigger than manhole covers though the air. The tent in front of ours was hit, the nylon covering torn and shredded, weakening this critical shelter. We spoke to our teammates in other tents, barely 5 feet away, by walkie-talkie. Even if we yelled from tent to tent, they couldn't hear over the screaming of the wind. The snow drifted between the tent walls and the snow slope, pressing down upon us. Every few hours, one of us would bundle up in our summit gear, crawl from the tent and shovel the snow into the wind. If we didn't, the snow would bury us, seal off the needed fresh air and slowly asphyxiate us.

Inside the tent, though, we were patiently waiting for the storm to peter out. It was warm, acting as a greenhouse during the day. It would only drop to minus 20 degrees after sunset. We had plenty of food, but little appetite. We melted snow to brew hot drinks. We dazed in and out of little naps.

The walkie-talkie began to buzz, slowly waking me up. "Pull whatever gear you can and escape at the first sign of the storm slowing," said Russel the expedition leader, to Andy a guide in the closest tent.

"Let me get this straight, we are abandoning the climb."

Tears formed, and my chest began to throb. What had they said: the climb is over, I am at 25,000 ft. trying for the summit a second time, feeling great and now my chances are over because of this storm? The tears rolled down my face. Tony, too, was crying, a glove hiding the stream of tears. Fifteen minutes passed before I could talk, pushing the button on the radio to say, "We are crying up here, Russ, but know that you are right. Let's just get off this mountain alive."

Eight hours later, during a lull in the storm, we escaped the tents at 25,000 ft. and struggled down to Advanced Base Camp at 21,400 ft. Despite the exhaustion and disappointment, I knew I would return to Everest the next spring, hoping to make my dream of climbing Everest come true.

Mountaineering is obviously a sport of great risk. I've been tumbled by avalanches, fallen 500 ft. through the air (I did bounce ...once), gone for days with little to no food and water, suffered frost bite on nine fingers, and rescued many other climbers who weren't as lucky as I am. It is also an expensive hobby, costing more than $35,000 to climb Everest and many thousands to climb any other peak in the Himalayas. Let's not forget the months of being away from home, two showers in two months, canned hot dogs for dinner, and a herd of exotic illnesses stampeding through my intestines.

There has got to be a reason why I return to the mountains time and time again. After all, I've been on more than 70 international expeditions.

Great athletes, artists, musicians, and thinkers all agree that happiness comes from within, a side effect of our pursuit of a fabulous dream. "The best moments occur when a person's body or mind is stretched to the limit in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile."-M. Csikszentmihalyi's Flow

When we set a goal, develop the skills to achieve it, then go and "just do it," we enter into what's called the championship zone, the flow state. Everest and most of the other mountains I climb provide me with the experience of being in the championship zone. And boy does that zone feel good. When you are in the zone, your mind is clear, actions flow effortlessly, super-human things seem to happen with ease. There is no fear, no emotions but satisfaction.

Imagine the sweet satisfaction that comes from solving the complex riddles of a life and death struggle. Once you've pulled that off, you carry that ability around with you. If you are wise, you'll apply these lessons to as many situations as you can.

On one level, climbing Everest is a test I've chosen for myself. It is a test of the skills and abilities that I've developed over the years. Standing on the summit isn't so important really, but climbing the mountain is. A picture of me on the top would simply be a reminder of my time in the championship zone, just like a picture of an Olympic athlete with a medal around their neck. These are symbols of the commitment we make to achieve a goal and the hard work, often painful but satisfying, we endure in the process.

Climbing Everest is also more than playing in the zone. Friendships are made. Great books are read. The dusty villages and ancient monasteries of Tibet are explored. Scenes of immeasurable beauty unfold with every foot of elevation gained. I think these alone are great to experience, that time in the zone cetainly sweetens the deal.

-Chris Warner

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What does one do before leaving for Everest?

March 26th, 2001. Columbia, Maryland.

The sun is rising upon a complete mess. Piles of gear litter the floor, a cup of coffee is hidden among down jackets and solar panels, all of this needs to be crammed into duffle bags in the next few hours. I think I'm a bit behind schedule.

The last two weeks have simply flown by. From March 10-18, I was in Ecuador, working with a great group from the Wharton MBA program. That team was climbing Cotopaxi, their first big mountain, while exploring the theme of leadership. That trip was refreshing for me, allowing me to be in the mountains for all the right reasons: celebrating partnerships, pushing limits, exploring the lessons at the center of both mountaineering and business. Not only did it help me physically prepare for Everest, it helped my mind become centered on the Shared Summits Program.

We flew into National Airport late on Sunday and by 7 a.m. on Monday I was running to meetings. This past week I met with over 800 school kids, sharing stories from last year's Everest expedition, while prepping them for this year's challenge. It was so gratifying to be in the classrooms, watching some very suburban kids get caught up in the possibilities of climbing Everest. You could sense, from the lack of restraint, their excitement. The "fashion shows" were simply hilarious, especially as we dropped the rear ends of the climbing suit, revealing the answer to the age old question: "How do you go the bathroom up there?"

On Wednesday I ran from a photo shoot at the gym (check out the Everest Special in the April 8th edition of the Baltimore Sun) to a live web chat at Sunspot.net. Heavy rains slowed us down, but we arrived within a second or two of going live. I think I was breathing harder than I do above 8000 meters.

On Wednesday and Thursday nights I gave an Everest to Ama Dablam multimedia presentation at the Baileys Crossroads and Timonium REI stores. As always, fun audiences. We raised a few hundred dollars more for the Khijiphilate School Project. Thanks to that and an additional $1000 donation from a dear friend, we have raised over $7000 for that school. We now have enough to tear down the old school and build a new one (with toilets, windows, desks, books, teachers, etc.). This fund raising is one of the projects I am most proud of the Earth Treks' community for. Together we have made a tremendous impact on one of the poorest villages in the hills of Nepal.

On Friday, the folks at TEKSystems and Thingamajob.com invited me to a "Town Meeting". Over 150 folks wished us luck and presented me with the four laptops they have customized for our use. Being tech savvy they laughed through my tale of calling the help desk of one computer company while I was at Advanced Base Camp last year.

"Oh, sounds like you're hard drive is shot. Don't worry we have 24 hour service for anywhere in the world. Give us your address and we'll send a technician to fix it."

"Red Tent, Advanced Base Camp, Everest, Tibet. Sorry, but I don't know the zip code."

"W-W-Wait a second. Did you say Everest? We don't have a service technician for your region."

I wonder if defrosting the frozen screen, by holding it over a stove flame, voided any warranties.

On Saturday evening things got even hotter. Over 400 people joined us at the gym, for the second annual Everest Party. The Ellicott Mills Brewing Company brought kegs of micro-brewed beer. It was so good, we drained all of the kegs by 10 pm! A blues band rocked out in the Bouldering cave. A video of Ecuador, Cho Oyu, Ama Dablam, Everest, the 2000 bouldering comp and Holiday party was projected on a giant screen. Over $2000 worth of climbing gear, outdoor clothing and gift certificates were raffled off. Over 100 Shared Summits T shirts , with a beautiful design by teacher Andy Katz, were sold (call the gym 1-800-CLIMB-UP to order one). The folks from TASC, Inc. presented us with a check for $2000 to help cover Shared Summits' expenses. This now annual event was a huge success.

So, now that my family has gone home, the parties and presentations are over, the laptops and banners are collected, the packing can begin. I better find that cup of coffee, or I'll fall fast asleep on that mountain of socks.

Chris Warner

Kathmandu: The bags are packed and we're ready to go!!!

April 2, 2001

Kathmandu, Nepal

On the way to Kathmandu, Edmund Hillary and I flew past Everest, watching the traditional flag of blowing snow flutter from the summit. Everest looked almost void of snow, a welcome image in comparison to the snow cloaked peak we struggled with last year. (Tomorrow, our flight to Lhasa, Tibet will curve, like a fish hook, past the summit. This will allow us to trace our route and investigate the conditions from the warmth of the plane's cabin.)

Our good friends Ram and PB met me at the airport with garlands of marigolds and orchids. They whisked me through the crowds and off to the hotel. Russel (the expedition leader), Andy Lapkass (guide), the Sherpas and I had a quick reunion and then launched into the business of preparing for the climb.

Russel has a new base of operations in Kathmandu, a house on the outskirts of town. The place has been hopping for a week now. Shipments of propane, fresh vegetables, oxygen cylinders and more, enter into this "factory", are inspected, inventoried, sorted and packaged. The end result is a blue barrel, much like a garbage can with a lock-able lid, that is then stacked next to two hundred others. Two large trucks will transport these barrels to the Tibetan border, where they will be transferred to four Chinese trucks for the 4 day journey to base camp. Over 13,000 pounds of stuff will be shipped to base camp.

Our clients began to arrive two days ago. What a strong group!!! A few are mountain guides, most have climbed other 8,000 meter peaks and one has just traveled by ski, kayak, boots, bike (and a small plane flight) from the North Pole to the South Pole. Marco Saffreidi, the youngest of the team, is attempting to snow board from the summit. This should be no problem for him...he snow boarded from the summit of Cho Oyu, Artesonraju, Toclaraju and a gillion other peaks. I guess Russel discriminated against boring people when choosing this year's team.

In between packing barrels, wrestling with the computers and listening to my team mates' tales, I've been finding some time to enjoy my favorite Kathmandu haunts. As always, there is the fun of "bumping into" old friends and heroes. Of course everyone knows Russel, so just going to dinner becomes an arm chair mountaineers dream come true.

This afternoon I was invited, along with Lene Gammelgaard and Henry (her boyfriend) to lunch at PB's house. PB and Lene worked together on Everest '96. Lene was on Scot Fisher's team, while PB handled the logistics. Lene has written a fantastic book about her experience Climbing High: A Woman's Account of Surviving the Everest Tragedy. She has slowly weaned herself from climbing, but uses the lessons she learned the hardway to help corporations in Europe overcome the challenges they face.

We could have talked for days. Our topics jumped from the '96 expedition to public speaking to the deepest recesses of a climber's motivation. It was a rare moment to jump into the why's of this sport. The how to...well that comes down one's WILL.

Lene and I had actually met on Mt. Blanc in 1995. At the time she was training for her Everest climb. After meeting thousands of climbers, it is funny how we both could remember that meeting so many years ago.

I'll be reflecting on this afternoon for quite some time. I am now carrying a copy of her book to Everest with me.

The expedition is now ready to push off. We will be flying to Lhasa, Tibet early in the morning. I hope to send a team roster from there. We won't be able to send regular dispatches until base camp is established on the 9th or 10th of April. In the meantime, fret not, for we have over 60 pounds of French roasted, organically grown, Nepali coffee with us.

Chris Warner

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April 3, 2001

The year's first flight to Lhasa lifted off the Tarmac a bit late, but did not disappoint. Circling up and out of Kathmandu, we had great views of the city's brick red buildings and a dozen temples. The Monkey Temple, high on a hill, was the last to disappear.

Rising above the haze, the sky turned a cobalt blue, and mountain after mountain reached upwards. All of Nepal and Tibet's 8000-meter peaks were lining the flight path: first Dhaulagiri, then Annapurna, Manaslu, Shishapangma, Cho Oyu, Everest, Lhotse, Makalu and finally Kanchenjunga. Ama Dablam, Jannu, Melungtse, Mera and a hundred other peaks, all worth dreaming about, filled in the carpet of white and black peaks far below us.

The flight seems designed for Everest climbers. We inched up to it, along the southern side, approaching from the west. Then we began our turn north on the side of Makalu, angling north and a bit west again. The West Ridge, South Col, Kangshung Face, NNE Ridge and North Ridge were all in sight at one point or another. Conditions looked perfect. There wasn't even a plume of wind blown snow coming off the summit. Marco, our young French snow boarder, sat just in front of me, pestering incessantly with the one question that mattered most: "Is there enough snow to go from the summit?" I think so.

Chris Warner

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Lots to explore in Lhasa Tibet

April 4, 2001. Lhasa.

Lhasa, the city of a rumored 1 million people, 60 percent Chinese, is the capital of Tibet. It sits (at 3,600 meters/ 11,800 feet) in a wide valley with tall peaks lining the sides (5,000 meters/16,500 feet). Like the Tibetan plateau, Lhasa is an arid place. In spite of a large river flowing through the city and valley, there is little vegetation, except in the cultivated fields. The lure of Lhasa is the Tibetan culture. Today we visited the Potala, the traditional home of the Dalai Lamas and the administrative center of the old Tibetan nation. It is a massive building, the architecture among the most important in the East. Andy and I spent the morning doing a Kora, or pilgrimage, along with a few thousand Tibetans. We circumambulated the building, spinning the prayer wheels and stopping to hear the monks chant. I shot a few roles of film, trying to capture the faces of the Tibetans and the spirit of the Potala.

In the afternoon we visited the Sera Monastery and were witness to the "debates". Hundreds of young monks gathered in an outside courtyard, each with shaved heads and dressed in the traditional maroon robes. One monk would sit on the ground, while the other stood above him. Rocking forward on one foot and slapping his hands together, the standing monk would shout out a question. Immediately the sitting monk would calmly offer a reply. This debate is essentially a word game, in which the sitting monk proved their knowledge by offering sarcastic or obtuse answers. With the slapping and rocking and yelling, at first it seemed like one monk was beating the other: quite a contrast to the Buddhist belief in non-violence. In fact, the debates are more like a game show, in which the winner gets eternal peace, instead of a Caribbean cruise. Lhasa is rarely what is seems to be at first glance.

On April 5th, we will explore a few more of Lhasa's sites. In the afternoon, Andy, Asmuss and I will head into the market to buy the expedition's meat supply. We will need nearly 450 pounds/200 kilograms of Yak meat and 66 pounds/30 kilograms of chicken. By the way, on last count we had 20,000 pounds/9,218 kilograms of gear being shipped to base camp.

On April 6th we depart Lhasa and travel overland to Xigatse. On the 7th we will travel on to Tingri, where we will spend two nights. Early on the 9th we will leave Tingri, drive over the Panang La and descend into the Rongbuk valley.

Base camp is in the upper Rongbuk, where the road ends. At this stage everyone on the trip is doing really well. We have been enjoying each other's company. The strength and diversity of this group has boosted everyone's confidence and enthusiasm.

Chris Warner

April 9th

The jeeps rolled across the Tibetan Plateau, climbing up dusty hills, passing streamers of prayer flags, and after a quick new view, dropping down the other side. Eagles and ravens circled above the passes. Yak men, driving their herds toward fresh pastures, scarcely noticed our passing. The winds were howling, but the movement of jeeps, yaks and eagles signaled the return of spring.

We entered the Rongbuk Valley, four-wheeling up the dirt and boulder strewn road. Streams crisscrossed the road, but each river crossing was easily passed on a bridge of ice. We rolled up to the Rongbuk Monastery and paid our respects to the Buddhist Monks and Nuns who live in this desolate place. At 16,500 ft. it is at the limits of year round human habitation. The Rinpoche, who is the abbot of this monastery, has been reincarnated many times. The wisdom gained from those lifetimes may explain why he is in Katmandu right now, not awaiting Spring's arrival in this beautiful but unheated collection of buildings.

A few miles above the monastery, the valley flattens out. It is on this outwash plain of the Rongbuk glacier's terminal moraine, that base camp is established. Russel and the Sherpas arrived a day earlier than us, only to find that our usual base camp had been taken by the Australian Army. We settled for a site, a bit closer to the mountain and on the lee side of a small hill.

The 5 large base camp tents were set up and the cooks (Lacchu, Ram and Kuhl Bahadur a.k.a. "Koobadoo" ) had lunch ready and waiting. The luxuries of Russ' expeditions were obvious: the barrels of potato chips, the boxes of candy bars, the CD player, and the thermoses of freshly roasted, organically grown coffee. The list could go on. Each climber has his/her own tent, complete with thick foam mattresses. At 7 a.m. a Sherpa visits each tent with a steaming mug of tea. Dessert last night was fresh baked apple pie with a whipped cream topping.

Chris Warner

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Prepping for the Climb 

April 11th

It is considered a bad omen to climb above base camp before having a puja ceremony. This Buddhist blessing is a sacred act to the Sherpas and to those of us who will be climbing on Chomolungma (the goddess mother of the earth), as Mt. Everest is known to the Tibetans. Upon arrival, the Sherpas visited the monastary, giving an offering of 20 fleece jackets, to find out which day was the most auspicious for our puja. This morning two monks walked into camp and the preparations began. A stone altar was built. Piles of food, pyramids of beer and soda, burning juniper and all of our ice axes, were strategically placed on the altar. The two monks sat up front, while we gathered behind them. The chanting began, "Om mani padhme om."

Everest stood above us, shining in the sun light. The wind hardly blew until we needed it to flutter the prayer flags, sending good wishes to the heavens. Following custom, we smeared barley wheat (tsampa) on each other's cheeks and threw handfuls of blessed rice over our shoulders. The black birds hovered over head, awaiting the puja's end to feed on the rice. With a final chant, the ceremony ended and the food and drinks were passed around.

We are now ready to head to advanced base camp (ABC). Well, almost. Most of the loads had to be reorganized. The village head man has decided that each yak can only carry 40 kilos, down 10 kilos from last year and 20 kilos since 1999. Of course this means that we will need more yaks, with no discount being offered. We had been planning on 50 kilo loads and packed accordingly.

While base camp was being set up, the loads re-organized, and the communication systems re-engineered, the climbers have been getting themselves acclimated to this new altitude (17,200 ft./5200m.). There are so many great hikes from our valley. In the next few days, each of us will climb peaks that rise to 21,000 ft./6400m. Most of these can be done in light-weight hiking boots. In between hikes, the cooks will serve us carrot cake and pizza, or yak steaks and french fries. Take your pick.

A quick note on the weather: It has been seasonable so far. A few hours each day, high winds (50-80 mph/100-160kph) have been blasting the summit, even though the jet stream is not in our area. In base camp, the wind seems to blow lightly through the afternoon. Temperatures here are mild: highs of 60 F/ 14 C and lows well below freezing. Everest, like most of the peaks, is quite bare of snow. This should make our climbing easier, although will make Marco's snowboard descent even more spectacular.

Chris Warner

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On the Move: Leaving Base Camp and Establishing Advanced Base Camp

April 16th

126 yaks, each loaded with over 40 kilos (88 lbs.) of equipment, food, propane gas cylinders, rope and oxygen bottles are plying the pathways of the Rongbuk and East Rongbulk glaciers this week. Our team is moving up the hill.

The journey from Base Camp to ABC follows a 22 km (13 mile) trail, climbing to 6400 m. (21,000 ft.). ABC is situated along a thin strip of rock covered glacier, perhaps 50 meters wide and 300 meters long. This leaves hardly enough room for the 26 expeditions that hope to climb Everest this year. With a shortage of space in mind, Karsang, one of our Sherpas, ran from BC to ABC on the day he arrived, claiming a choice piece of real estate for our team.

Four days later, the rest of the climbing Sherpas and the first group of 60 yaks began their two day journey to ABC. Today, a third of the climbing team left BC for interim camp, a camp we place half way along the route. Tomorrow, six more climbers, Russ, Asmus and 60 more yaks will leave. On April 18th, Chris and four North Col trekkers will finally wave goodbye to the relative warmth and comfort of BC.

Advanced Base Camp is really the launching point for the climb. This camp is the highest place that the yaks can climb to. It is probably the highest place in the world accessed by yaks. (Camels climb a bit higher on Mustagh Ata, a mountain in Kashgar.)

It will be good to move above BC. While it is lower, warmer and more hospitable in most ways, we are here to climb some this hill we've been gazing at for a week now. A lot of us are getting antsy here, despite the excellent peaks we have been climbing and the wonderful moments of relaxation we have earned, (it is hard to beat the simple pleasure of laying in a sun warmed tent, reading a book). Most of us feel as if we are getting too fat, here. The food has been so good, and Russ has stocked up on all sorts of goodies. While we have plenty of potato chips, fresh yak meat and chocolate covered Easter eggs, we are consuming over .5 kilos of coffee every day. Do the math: we brought 25 kilos for a 60 day expedition.

By the evening of April 2Oth all of the climbers will be in ABC. I'd imagine that by that time, some of our Sherpas will have struck out for higher camps, establishing at least a simple tent at each of the four high camps, weather permitting, in barely a week. Meanwhile the rest of us will start the long, hard process of stocking each camp with the sleeping bags, oxygen, stoves, cook sets, medical supplies and other gadgets we will need.

At this stage in the expedition, everyone is healthy and happy. Not even a cough can be heard among us. We're cautiously optimistic.

A quick weather report: we arrived to a black mountain, with the thinnest of snow cover in the deepest couliors and barely any snow patches on the faces. Two days ago it snowed, dumping 3 inches in BC, but over a foot high on the mountain. Since then a little more snow has fallen. High winds have blown some of the faces clean, while creating cornices on many of the ridgelines. The high winds would prevent any work from being done high on the hill either yesterday or today. Base camp is clear of snow, windy but warm.

Chris Warner

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Advanced Base Camp has been established!

April 20th

The last of the climbing team arrived at Advanced Base Camp (ABC) on April 19th. The Sherpas arrived on the 16th, and with the help of Kharsang, who had arrived a few days earlier, scraped a fantastic campsite from the rock covered glacier.

Hiking to ABC was a challenge for each of us. It took two days to hike the 22km (13 mile) trail, gaining over 1300 m. (4000 ft), on a rock covered glacier. The only trail markers were the ever present clods of yak dung. Getting lost, no matter how mind numbed the altitude was making you, was nearly impossible. Just follow your nose.

The trail is exquisitely beautiful, with towers of ice stretching 20 m (65 ft.) into the air. These castle-like formations have been wind sculpted for hundreds of years and no where in the world are they as tall as here. Everest stood above us, and on the 19th the wind barely blew from its summit, making it appear so gentle in comparison to the wind swept days we had been witnessing. (I hope you like the juxtaposition of the yak poop and the high alpine beauty.)

ABC is a wild place, a strip of moraine, about 100 ft (30 m.) wide and 2000 ft. (650 m.) long. Just a few feet or inches beneath this layer of rock, is the glacier. At this point, the East Rongbuk glacier is a few hundred feet thick. Crevasses criss cross the moraine, a few even radiate through our site. One false step out of the toilet tent and ......well we have the gear to rescue you.

A number of teams have been active on the hill already. Fixed ropes now stretch to almost 8200 meters. This is much earlier than previous years. Last year only a handful of us fixed any of the rope, and the rope we did fix was super strong, 11 mm static line, that survived the harsh summer, fall and winter weather. Our friends from the IGO8000 (International Guides and Operators on the 8000 meter peaks) company- International Mountain Guides- arrived a few weeks before us. They were able to string new rope up to the North Col and then along the north ridge to 7500 meters, where they intersected our old ropes.

With all of this rope in place, and the winds blowing up high, our Sherpas have been able to stock Camp 1 at the North Col, with most of the gear needed for the 4 high camps.

In the next few days, our members will begin to climb up to Camp 1. Each person will carry a light load, perhaps just a sleeping bag. Our first objective is to allow everyone to become acclimated to 7000 meters, while refining their climbing skills. Oddly enough, except on the highest peaks, most mountaineers will never use fixed ropes. That aspect of climbing is new to a few of our team members.

I'm crossing my fingers as I write this part: ABC is warmer this year than last. There is a stream running across the top of the glacier, giving us easy access to drinking water. Last year we were chopping and melting ice until late May. Last night, my first at ABC, seemed quite warm. I even stayed up until 10:30 pm, and the Spanish team camped below us, stayed up even later, watching a DVD. Last year, you needed to be deeply buried in your sleeping bag by 7:30 pm.

The morale of the team is still very high. We have a wonderful stone deck in front of our dining tent and it has been fun to sit down upon it, sip coffee and listen to Russell tell stories about the NNE Ridge or Rudy's Coulior, or to listen to Evelyne tell stories of long-line, helicopter rescues on the North Face of the Eiger. With a group like this, it is easy to be entertained (especially watching Robert' s reaction to Jello, a dessert he had never wiggled before).

Chris Warner

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Almost all of us, including two "trekkers", have climbed to the North Col, the site of our Camp 1. This climb can be pretty tough: over 600 meters (2000 ft) of altitude is gained by using a series of fixed lines up the steep headwall. The terrain definitely keeps your attention, more than a dozen crevasses are crossed, steep sections exceed 50 degrees, and the single line of ropes, is clogged in places by climbers heading up or down against the flow of traffic.

Climbing to the North Col is another major step in the physical and psychological battle for the summit. If you can't make it, or do so after a bitter struggle, you're left with well deserved doubts. Are you fit enough, are you acclimatized, is your heart really into it?

Having been on Everest for nearly three weeks, there are plenty of signs of teams crumbling and individuals struggling. Within hours of arriving we rushed to save one Sherpa's life: he had been stuffed into a Gamow bag (a hyperbaric chamber) and his friends stopped pumping fresh air into the air tight balloon. Suffering from asphyxiation, his panic spread to the group. One of the Sherpas ran into our tent and we followed him to the scene. We depressurized the chamber and soon learned that he was suffering from a stomach bug, not from the altitude. He was lucky to be alive. The misdiagnosis was compounded by this group of Sherpas, supporting a well funded team, having been sent to base camp without any medical supplies. The Gamow bag, even though it was almost used as a weapon, had been borrowed.

The fiascoes continue with a climber on a commercial expedition suffering from Cerebral Edema for five days, before his guides sought the services of an Australian doctor. This commercial expedition had none of the commonly carried medications, and their Gamow bag failed. The Australian doctor organized an evac, taking two days to get the climber back to base camp. One of that expedition's members came by to complain that her two private Sherpas are involved in the rescue and now her schedule is all messed up.

Then there is the story of the European climber driving into base camp on oxygen and that same vehicle being used to evacuate two other climbers (who happened to be suffering from Acute Mountain Sickness) from that team, leaving the oxygen sucking climber sitting on a propane tank, surrounded by duffels, but seemingly helpless.

All of these stories, and I'm holding my tongue, leave me wondering what lies and misinformation people tell themselves. Everest is a big, dangerous mountain. It attracts fools, even more powerfully then it attracts skilled, motivated and talented climbers. It will be interesting to see the dramas unfold this year. Sad, but predictable.

Of course no one is immortal and luck can not be carried in a backpack, but it is obvious as one looks around that some teams are prepared and some aren't. (In fact just minutes ago a team reported that they were running low on food, barely half way through the expedition.) Tents, too old or cheap, have already been destroyed by the daily winds at Camp 1. And among the greatest acts of stupidity are the three teams (one a well funded clean up expedition) that are camped in the ABC water supply. I'm sure that the view from the toilet seat, of the babbling brook, is just delightful.

We are among the prepared, and it is paying off. Almost all of our team members have climbed to Camp 1, seizing that objective and benefiting from the psychological and physical boost that comes from reaching that goal. We are all healthy. All of our high altitude gear is now at or above Camp 1. Two members are now camped there, and all of the Sherpas are heading up tomorrow to set up Camps 2, 3 and 4. If the weather cooperates, all of the climbers should have camped up high and hopefully touched Camp 3 (7900 m), within a week's time.

The prevailing theme of self inflicted misery, that is sprinkled through ABC, has actually contributed to our feeling of well being. You can sense it as even our "trekkers" passed climbers on the ropes to the North Col (only a single Sherpa passed them). And who wouldn't be fired up by Marco Siffredi, our snow boarder in residence, as we watched him carving turns down the headwall from the North Col.

We are ready to go, climbing Everest by putting one foot in front of the other, and drowning out the tales of hunger and misfortune by chomping on a nice piece of fresh baked chocolate cake.

Chris Warner

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So much for the weather reports

April 25th

As I read the weather report, my palms began to sweat. The summit was in reach, as the winds were to drop, the temperatures would rise and settled weather would descend upon us. The Sherpas were preparing to move up to Camp 1 and then boldly establish Camps 2, 3 and 4. Owen and Ellen were spending the night at Camp 1, hoping to climb to Camp 2 on a sunny, barely breezy day.

I was shaken from my sleep, just past dawn, to the ripping of my tent's outer layer. I had tied my tent to another, which having been recently been evacuated by our departing trekkers, was pried loose from the rocks it was lashed too. Filled with only a few foam pads, the tent was picked up by a fierce gust of wind, tore itself free of my tent and flew more than two hundred meters down valley.

I jumped out of my sleeping bag, pulled on a down coat and pair of boots and chased after the tent. As I ran through Advanced Base Camp, other tents and plastic barrels were being torn and pushed about. I saw an expedition's large kitchen tent literally be sucked upwards, exposing the poor cook boy and his pile of pots and pans to the winds. Toilet tents were toppled. Cheap dome tents were squished.

A poor Sherpa, trying to find a quiet boulder to use as a toilet, was hit by our flying tent. Luckily, this gifted athlete maintained his grip on the flying tent, while pulling up his pants.

Above us, black clouds were swirling around the summit of Everest. Asmuss radioed Ellen and Owen, who were sheltered by the ice wall at Camp 1. Owen later tested the weather and the two decided to descend. They were among the last to leave the North Col and described it as an eerie ghost town, with the black cloud hovering overhead.

Their retreat was eventful, the descent along the fixed lines the easy part. Once on the flat glacier, the winds kept knocking Ellen over and the 200 pound Owen had to lean into the wind and fight to stay upright.

As lunch approached, the snow began to fall. This is the Everest I remember from last year, flexing her muscles to remind us who is in charge.

Well, our casualties are limited: one tent destroyed and two others with torn outer coverings. The snow is piling up around us. Our Colombian neighbors have their DVD player on its highest volume, providing a dramatic soundtrack to the storm. And I'm making perfect use of a snow day, getting all caught up in Owen West's soon to be published novel, "Sharkman Six."

Sometimes I think I come to Everest for days like this: a mini drama followed by hours curled up with a book.

Chris Warner

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Just What's Up That Hill?

May 3

"Where have we been?" Can't you tell by the coughing, wheezing, bloodied noses, lip and gum infections that we've been having fun on the slopes of Mt. Everest? We've been climbing, putting one crampon in front of the other, sliding our jumars up the fixed lines, and hyperventilating to the beat of a country and western song. We even, quite dramatically, lifted our heads and took in the sweep of mountains on the horizon, but only for a second, of course. Always have to get back to the important task of hyperventilating.

Owen, Ellen, Marco, Roy and I left ABC on April 28th and climbed to Camp 1. It was a really nice day. We each crawled into a nest of two sleeping bags and settled in for the night. By 8:30, Owen, Marco, Ellen and I headed off for Camp 2. Roy, at the wise age of 62, headed back to ABC to save his strength.

The route to Camp 2 follows a long snowy ridgeline, from the North Col at 7,000 meters to the rocky part of the ridge at 7,500 meters. Barely 30 meters wide, and with the wind sculpting from the west, the ridge is a frozen wave of snow, with a huge overhanging (or pouting) east lip. Once you leave the security of Camp 1, there is no shelter. You either push into the wind or turn back. This ridge has been the scene of many epics. Storms appear out of no where. Our policy: you dress for the ridge, as if you are climbing to the summit- down suits, summit boots, mittens, face masks, etc.

The climb is a long one, even though it is only 1650 vertical feet. In the Andes this would take no more than 2 hours, but at this altitude times range from 3.5 hours (Marco) to over 6.

The Sherpas, who are always a few days ahead of the climbers, have established a few tent platforms out of the snow to form Camp 2. When we arrive, there are two tents standing. Marco and I crawl into one and Ellen and Owen into the other. I was having a rough day, I could keep pushing, but never felt strong. This was a surprise, since last year I spent 6 days at Camp 2, always feeling wound up for more action. I laid in the rear of the tent and Marco keep handing me mugs of tea and asking me why I wasn't eating.

As we were moving to Camp 2, Andy, Asmuss, Jamie, Keiron, Evelyne, Robert and Naoki, climbed to Camp 1, following in our spindrift covered foot steps. Our team goal was to get everyone to sleep at Camp 2 and hopefully climb above it. This would meet the acclimatization schedule we had set for ourselves. Once this was accomplished we could all limp back to base camp, to rest up for our summit attempts.

On the 30th, Marco woke first and immediately started to melt ice into water. He had big plans, to snowboard down the North Ridge to the North Col and finally down to the flat East Rongbuk Glacier. This descent of 1000m/3300 ft., with dips of 50 degrees looked fantastic. The setting was perfect, but the savings in time and energy was priceless.

Nothing could hold him back. By 7 a.m. he had his pack on and was standing on his board. I watched the first five seconds of his ten minute descent. Three turns and he was below the crest of the top dome of snow. I could hear the shouts at Camp 1 over the radio. He glided down the ridgeline, cutting close to the rocks where crevasses crisscrossed the slope.

Now it was time for the rest of us to move. The sun, which rose early, was now behind a cloud and my toes and fingers were freezing, even while I was in the tent. Going up seemed foolish, so we shouldered our packs and headed down (Owen did turn the corner to snap a few pictures of the upper North Face).

We raced down to Camp 1, passing Andy and the gang on their way up. At the North Col, we changed out of our summit gear, into more leisurely climbing clothes. Our high altitude gear is kept at Camp 1, allowing us to travel lighter to and from the North Col.

Marco was of course in ABC enjoying a cup of cocoa, Andy and his gang were struggling up the North Ridge, and I could barely stay awake, laying in the warm sunlight at the North Col. Ellen and Owen, ready to go, prodded me into action. They clipped into the ropes and descended and I stumbled behind them. Halfway down the headwall, I radioed Russ that I was sick, having trouble breathing.

Hanging from the last ropes, I yelled down to Ellen to wait for me. Finally unclipping I began to stumble down the low angled slopes to the flat glacier. My lung capacity was about 15% of normal, and the world's grossest, most disgusting, revolting, cover-your-eyes-kids-you-might-puke, clumps of hardened, dark brown phlegm were pinballing through my throat and escaping past my teeth in an explosion of UUUGGHHHH!!!!! (Ladies and gentlemen, did you know that Peter Hillary actually passed out, choking on a phlegm ball, at 27,000 ft on Everest? His partner's were wise enough, despite the altitude to give him the Hiemlich Maneuver. A record the Red Cross hasn't yet given due credit for.)

Owen carried my pack, Ellen guided me down the path, and a Sherpa was sent up with a bottle of Oxygen to help out the sick man. In 18 years of working as a guide/wilderness instructor it was the only time, in memory, that I've handed over my pack. I couldn't believe it, stumbling, hacking up phlegm balls, being stared at by teams of Russians, Japanese and Americans. I declined the oxygen, preferring to pace myself.

A stethoscope confirmed our fears, I had a rapidly growing chest infection. After a cocktail of antibiotics, pain killers and decongestants, I slipped into a two day fevered sleep.

Meanwhile, the fit and good looking were settling into Camp 2. Roy was heading for BC and Owen, Ellen and Marco were celebrating the end of this phase of the trip.

By the time Roy reached BC, he had sized up his Everest and decided his wife was cuter and his bed warmer. I'm sure that this decision was hard for him, but the more pronounced our limps and gravely our voices, the more we respected his decision. Its the journey, after all, not the summit.

Roy is the second team member to head home. Jess Stock left in mid April, being wise enough to come to the same conclusions about a cute wife and warm bed, even before Roy. There are 4 married men left and everyone's afraid to share pictures of our wives. Once the defenses are weakened, its hard to hold back. (My wife, in an effort to keep a certain temperature balance in the relationship, is in Africa right now. Going home would be pretty lonely.)

Well, back to climbing. Andy and the gang passed a night at Camp 2. Evelyne, showing off, was back at ABC by 8 a.m. The rest trickled in throughout the day. Robert, actually braved the high winds and climbed to Camp 3 at 7,900 meters.

Meanwhile, our Sherpas were cruising up and down the mountain. On the 30th, four of them climbed from Camp 1 to Camp 3, two staying and two descending. On May 1st, Dawa and Chuldim, each carrying nearly 60 pounds/25 kilos of rope, climbed to Camp 4 at 8,300 meters. Our Sherpas had been there before, setting up tents and stashing oxygen, etc.

Back at ABC, Russ did some math, consulted the weather and it was decided that all of the Sherpas and members would descend to BC to rest, recuperate and wait.

Almost all of us are here now, at BC. After two weeks above 6400m./21,400 ft., we do have the scars, chapped lips and runny noses to prove we've been tossed about by the altitude. Marco even needed a little dental surgery, coordinated by Dr. Drewyer in Burtonsville, Maryland. A piece of popcorn was lodged under the gum, had become infected and the tough snow boarder, with the pierced tongue, was reduced to childlike antics to avoid the knife. "But Chris, I saved your life at Camp 2."

What's our plan? Well, with the winds whipping the mountain (a giant Lenticular cloud rests on the summit right now) and with snowfall predicted, no real work can be done for a few days. Once the forecast is good, the Sherpas have two load carries each, to Camp 4, on their schedule (32 man days of work from ABC). Robert and Evelyne will hopefully be right behind them, Evelyne hoping to be the first Swiss women to the top. The rest of us will head back up soon enough. I'll keep you posted. Hopefully, during this lull of activity, after the antibiotics finish their work, I'll get around to telling some of the silly stories and maybe even edit a video of Marco snowboarding.

A quick wrap-up: Everyone is doing very well. In fact, I don't know if we have a lens wide enough for the summit shot. Morale is very high. Jaime and Owen, in particular, seem to get stronger with each foot of altitude gained. Andy is a source of strength for all of us: patient, comments-well-thought, smiling. Ellen and Evelyne are such strong, confident and fun women, brightening up each meal with their laughter (plus they are babes). Robert, when not climbing, is amazed by Jello. Naoki is putting aside the draft of his new book often enough to look like a Sherpa. Keiron, now the remaining United Kingdom representative did defend the Queen's honor yesterday. Asmuss coughs the least, laughs the most and rejected his role as Robin to Owen's Batman. Russ is just fine, he has a new suit hanging in the comms tent at BC, having recently been off to visit the Governor of Lhasa. And myself, after the first feverish day, I started to eat, on the second I walked to BC (22km/13miles), and now I'm waiting to hit the showers. The recovery period for all of our aches and pains is quick.

Chris Warner

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The Sherpas are heading back up

May 7

Clouds are racing past the summit, changing directions every few hours and dumping thin layers of snow on the mountain every evening. Some mornings we awake to a dusting of snow, some afternoons a mini cold front races through camp, dumping three or four inches. The weather has not been stable.

The first few days of the unsettled weather has been a blessing for most of us, allowing us to recuperate from our sore throats and limps. Now, after nearly a week in base camp, patience (not being a patient) is the problem. We want our chance to climb.

Before we can really make a true summit bid, we need to finish stocking the camps, a job that falls on the shoulders of the Sherpas. This morning, they headed back up the hill. Tonight they will be back with Russ and Ram at ABC. Tomorrow will be a rest day. Then, on the 9th, they'll be heading up with big loads, stocking the upper camps.

The rest of us will begin heading up on the 9th or 10th, hoping to get all of us to ABC on the 11th. Once there, we'll wait for a good weather report before beginning our first attempt.

In the meantime, we really have had little problem keeping ourselves entertained. Marco is trying to learn all about east vs. west coast rap from Professor West. Robert and Evelyne have been working with Swiss TV, part 2 of the 3 part series they are doing on Evelyne's summit bid (remember that if she summits, she'll be the 1st Swiss woman). The rest of us have been getting up the courage to clean our socks, or lacking that, been reading book after book.

One boring morning, a neighboring expedition's kitchen tent caught on fire. That was exciting. Grown men standing around and laughing at their own misfortune: until they remembered the propane tanks.

Even as we speak, there really is very little action on the hill. A few groups have been establishing their camp 2, but most have been in BC with us. I think that, like us, most groups are recuperating this week. By week's end, the hill will be alive with groups stocking camps and the most hopeful will be setting themselves up for the first of the season's summit attempts.

Despite the turmoil in the upper atmosphere and the torpor at base camp, it is getting warmer. Spring is approaching, making us even more anxious to head back up the hill.

Chris Warner

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Moving up 

May 10

As I write the radio is crackling with the voices of the Sherpas and Russ. Early this morning, 7 Sherpas left Camp 1 at the North Col and headed up the mountain. They are carrying the last loads of Oxygen bottles to Camp 4 at 8300m/27400 ft.

In total we will have 95 bottles of Oxygen on the mountain, a few reserved just for medical emergencies. Each bottle weighs 3 kilos/10 lb. and costs us $380 to buy, fill and transport to ABC. By the time they reach Camp 4, a bottle must be worth $450-500. Oxygen bottles are worth their weight in gold, especially when you factor in the safety and performance they offer. Each climber will sleep on a bottle at Camp 3 (7900m/26000ft.), then climb on a second bottle from Camp 3 to 4. That bottle will be set at a flow rate (1 to 2 liters per minute) that will allow us to nap, etc., at high camp.

We will each use three bottles on summit day (most groups use two). The additional oxygen should allow all of us to climb a bit quicker and stay warmer. In fact, the most obvious benefit of Oxygen is relative to staying warm. The normal shortage of Oxygen at extreme altitudes forces our body to send the Oxygen where it is needed most (brains and other vital organs), leaving the toes and fingers to shiver.

With these loads being dumped, there is no need to go back to Camp 4 until we are headed for the summit. This is a big leap forward for the team.

Meanwhile, Keiron, Naoki, Jamie and Marco are heading to Interim camp. Robert and Evelyne are on the move to ABC. The rest of us will push to ABC from BC tomorrow. The 22km/13mi. journey takes a minimum of 6 hours and is pretty tiring.

Our hope is to get everyone in ABC on the night of the 11th. A big strategy powwow will follow, using the data (route conditions, logistics, etc.) gathered by the Sherpas. It will also involve a lot of self assessment among the members. Without a crystal ball, everyone's input is critical.

Some quick and interesting tid bits: Almost all of the team has been out of email contact for the last week or so. The email set up is in ABC, while most of us have been in BC. So if you've been awaiting a reply, these should start to flow tomorrow.

Someone's been sleeping in our tents. Camp 2 has been the sight of guests. Too bad they did not have the decency to ask permission or simply let us know. No one's done an inventory, but let's hope they did not steal from our food supplies or use our stove fuel (odds are they did).

OK enough typing. It's climbing time.

Chris Warner

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Its Snowing, Again. 

May 11

Snow seems to be the theme of the last 24 hours. The Sherpas, climbing from Camp 3 to Camp 4 plowed, despite the fatigue and lack of Oxygen, through knee deep snow. The two hour climb took over 4 and only 3 of the 7 Sherpas made it all the way.

The delay in climbing up made the descent even worse, as an afternoon storm hit them at high camp. They battled back down, arriving in ABC after 7p.m. For the Sherpas it was a long and tiring day.

Meanwhile, Evelyne and Robert hiked back up to ABC. Keiron, Jamie, Naoki and Marco went to Interim camp. The rest of us delayed our hike, hoping to go in one shot from BC to ABC on the 11th.

The alarm was set for 5:30 a.m., needlessly, as small avalanches slid off the tent roofs, all night, waking us at regular intervals. 6 inches (15cm) fell through the night. Now, at 6:30 a.m. it is still snowing and the view up valley is of black clouds.

The folks at Interim will certainly move up, despite the snow. Interim is a bit too spartan a place to pass a leisurely day. Those of us at BC will wait to see if any trains of yaks are headed up. In these conditions, the route, a rock and yak poop strewn mess in the best of times, will be a slippery, wet obstacle course. It certainly wouldn't be worth the added hours and the risk of a sprained ankle to push ourselves up the hill.

Of course this storm will put a halt to all progress on the hill. I imagine that the folks on the South Side are also holing up. This is mountaineering: hurry up and wait.

Chris Warner

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One man's "slow and painful" ascent of Everest :) - by Owen West

May 11

All activity on the mountain self-arrested today when a snowstorm plowed in, dumping knee-deep (well, for Ellen, that is) snow on ABC and several inches on Base Camp. Chris, Andy, Asmus, Ellen and Owen are thus spending their eleventh day "resting" at BC--an Everest code word for "inflating the jowls" --and plan to hike the 15 miles to ABC tomorrow. The other half of the crew found itself covered in snow at interim camp this morning but decided to plunge ahead to ABC when Jaime happened to see some text from Naoki's book: "All work and no play makes Naoki a bad boy" is apparently scrawled throughout the tome and when the others saw it, they fled. The capricious weather affects people differently.

Though we are hearing rumours (highly brittle but we have no other news source: last week we heard about our own deaths and the week before some of the older guys were crushed when we heard the false rumour -- that Brittany Spears was engaged) some expeditions are considering packing up and calling it a season, the snow might actually speed our summit attempt if the wild weather settles for a few days so a trail can be broken and packed down. Or so I'm told; the guides are consummately positive and I'm convinced that if I were caught in a slab avalanche with Warner he'd shout, "This isn't that bad! This thing could be about a foot thicker, then we'd be in REAL trouble!"

So in a few days the entire team should be poised at the foot of the gate (the awesome North Col) in full battle dress waiting for that elusive window to open--or, if we're already at 25,000 feet when it closes, armed with the professional decision-making capability and a fit enough team to smash it and pour through to high camp (27,250') if it looks like it may open again soon.

From ABC, we are four days of climbing from the summit attempt, moving hard from camp to camp in an initial climb that will take us from 21,000 feet to 27,250 feet (all the camps have been established by the Sherpas over the last few weeks in an incredible display of high altitude endurance and strength that has left the members totally awestruck). Most accounts of Everest summit attempts start at the high camp, but there is a huge volume of work to be done before then and as a novice to serious altitude I thought I'd write a tad about our acclimatization so far and my two cents on the experience with the thin air.

(NOTE--since I first started typing 30 minutes ago, the temperature has gone from 50f and bright sun to 35f and windy, nasty snow to 65f and thick haze)

Everest is difficult from the moment you arrive at Base Camp (17,000') and, as we have witnessed around us, any movement higher can be downright dangerous without proper acclimatization. It's quite arduous just to reach 25,500' for a solid training platform on which to base a summit attempt, so there are some rough climbs waiting for anyone who wishes to get the chance at the top. Fortunately, the HIMEX schedule allowed us a lengthy acclimatization and our problems were limited to the typical symptoms of climbing high: headaches, loss of appetite, lethargy, loss of personality (helpful in some cases), excess hair growth.

We spent three nights at 12,000', a night at 13,000', and two nights at 14,000' before arriving at BC. Most of the group took daily training hikes during this warm-up phase but a bout of bronchitis limited me to struggling up Tibetan hotel stairs so it's probably useful to skip the experience here. Then it was six days at 17,000' --and three tough training hikes--where the initial sensation was hyperventilation. I simply couldn't believe how heavily I was breathing compared to my snail's rate of movement during these hikes, lungs heaving, spittle flying, legs sagging. I stared at my feet and wondered where all the fuel--and the months of training--had gone. I followed Andy and Ellen to a personal high point of 20,500' on these hikes (they always went higher, these descendents of Yaks), each time learning a bit more about the level of oxygen at my disposal. For instance, just after a rest break I took a big step up onto a rock platform and found myself gasping for air, totally winded. It took me five minutes before I recovered enough to realize that 1) you never, ever hold your breath up here while you're on the move (even drinking must be done in tiny sips) and 2) you need to take many rapid breaths before any deep knee movement in an attempt at saturation, however small. Even before you stand up in the morning it helps to suck in some air in preparation.

We moved to 19,000' (interim camp) and 21,000' (ABC) during a two-day hike. The training worked: I felt good--able to keep up with this strong group--and just had tiny headaches each night. After five days at ABC, we climbed to 23,000' (North Col) and descended immediately. Hyperventilation wasn't an issue--my lungs were used to the rate--but rest breaks were. Whereas a training hike to 21,000' could be completed without many breaks, here, on the steep wall of snow, rest breaks were coming rapid-fire. I followed the guides' advice but even using straight-legged rest steps and upper body expansions (the tendency is to bend over the ski pole/ice axe and heave for air, cutting its flow and potential--the slopes are littered with exhausted climbers succumbing to this), I was soon taking a rest every ten meters, then five, and finally one as we crested the ridge. Still, our time was good (under four hours) and we were enthusiastic considering it was a fledgling attempt and would be our slowest.

Three days later, we spent a night at the Col and descended the following morning. We felt much better, were much faster (3.25 hours), and had an easy night of rest.

On Day Twelve at ABC, we climbed the Col, slept, and went to 25,000' the next morning to spend the night. The climb to what is our Camp 2 is deceiving: it looks like it should take two hours but for some it can take eight. Chris had warned us to just press on, no matter how much rest we needed to take between steps, or it could be a long day. A VERY long day. This route can be the windiest on the entire mountain--the wind rips over the ridge and can fold climbers to the ground--and the weather changes are so sudden here that we set off in full summit gear (sans oxygen). The way I can best describe this part of the climb is that a deep sense of exhaustion sets in immediately as you approach 24,000'...and the lethargy eats at your endurance and willpower as you get higher. It was as if I had just run a marathon and someone spun me around at the finish and said, "Do another." So, for 4 hours you slog higher, thighs burning, a step at a time, struggling to find a rhythm that will prove totally elusive. No matter what you try--continous baby steps with lots of breath, hyperventilation and a few big steps, a step-a breath-a step--you find yourself thrown out of kilter, forced to just put your head down and keep driving into the wind. You need to believe the suffering will end. And it does. And you suddenly have more red blood cells and the confidence to give the top slice of the pyramid a shot.

The following morning, we climbed a bit above 25,000', then descended (over 2 days) to BC for the rest we're experiencing. Now we're chomping at the bit to get up there again. Once we catch some more rays down here, that is.

Owen West

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How Do You Deal with Knee Deep Snow? 

May 11

While our comrades fought their way uphill, wading through knee deep snow to reach ABC, those of us at BC perservered through our own torturous day.

Lacchu made us pizza for lunch. And Ellen and Chris baked a carrot cake to die for.

Happily we survived this gastronomic challenge. Everest isn't all that bad.

Chris Warner

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Happy Mother's Day 

May 13

Can you imagine the embarrassment of any mom, if they had to see their grown children celebrating Mother's Day by wearing Russian aviator masks and goggles w/ long hoses stretching to an oxygen cylinder? I was embarrassed to just be among this group of Halloween rejects. Seriously folks, dressing up like that is a bit absurd if it weren't "learn how to climb on Oxygen day."

To an Everest climber, today is the second most important holiday in the month of May. Simply a coincidence that it fell on Mother's Day, the most important holiday. Think of the gift of grey hair and sleepless nights that we've given our moms. Pretty thoughtful, eh!!

But none the less, it was the perfect day to play with our oxygen sets. We all gathered on the "verandah" in front of the dining and comms tent, enjoying the warmth of the sun, while listening to Russ' expert advice on fitting and managing the oxygen system.

Ellen and I are even going to bake another carrot cake: a fitting tribute to our mom's. We do miss those hip chicks. In addition to the wonderful conversations, who wouldn't love a nice home cooked meal right now, perhaps a pot roast with mashed potatoes. We did have canned luncheon tongue for lunch. That made us all miss our mom's cooking all the more.

Well....we really aren't sitting around feeling sorry for ourselves all day. We have actually been enjoying a perfect day. The sun has been shining and there is no wind. We've been busy with "projects" from charging video batteries, to airing out wet gear. So many folks have been stopping by for a visit. It is a front porch kind of day.

Yesterday was almost as nice, except that Owen, Asmuss, Ellen, Andy and I hiked for 7.5 hours from BC to ABC, often having to forge the trail through the snow. It was a beautiful day, with superb early morning light. It was great to get back to ABC, both to our personal belongings in our tents, but mostly to be reunited with our team mates. This team really likes each other and even short separations begin and end with a "knoodle" (Swiss for a warm hug).

Together in the dining tent, we dove right into the discussion of summit attempts and strategy. Now, as funny as this sounds, we've been forced to avoid all strategy discussions by radio, because other teams are monitoring our frequency. While there is no great magic involved in the development of our plan, we d