Everest 2007 Update: Two High Altitude Rescues, More Summits, and a Possible Weather Change?

Over the past day, two amazing rescues have occured at high-altitude, one each on the North and the South.  One rescue is cause for concern though, as we will see:

Female Nepali Climber Abandoned at 27,500 Feet

An Unknown female climber with the Democratic Nepal Everest Expedition was seemingly left for dead by her own team near the Balcony at 27,500 feet on Everest’s South Side yesterday.  At this time, this is all that is known of the actual incident other than details from the IMG Expedition Team who went up to try to make a high-altitude rescue.

Dave Hahn–who incidentally has some of the most famous High-Altitude rescues ever to his credit–went back up with both Mike and Casey from the Coleman Everest 2007 Expedition on an attempt to save this female climber.  Here are the details coming from the IMG Expedition website:

Dave, Mike N., Mike H., and Casey have descended to Camp 2. On the way they helped a climber from another team, who had been abandoned at the Balcony (27,500′,) and who was in very bad shape. They managed to get her to Camp 3, where she was turned over to climbers from the Everest Expreme (medical research) team. We are proud of these guys for doing a great job on the way up, and the way down!! We’ll keep you posted!

This comes on the heels of a tragedy that occured last season when a similar incident occured with climber David Sharp…the difference this year?  People went back up to help and the climber was saved.  The David Sharp incident last season brought International attention to climber ethics and how these rescues were handled on Mt. Everest.  Over the past few weeks, we have all witnessed some great high altitude rescues taking place…and all I can attribute that to is the memory of David Sharp…

While I am talking about IMG, today they are reporting that their final team has successfully made the summit today and will shortly be heading back to basecamp. This is great news that has seen well over 33 IMG team members make the summit this year.  Congratulations!

Italian Climber Found Near Death at High Camp

An Italian Climber on North Everest was found today near the Camp at 8300 Meters.  Marco, as he has simply been known thus far, was found unconscience and had apparently spent close to 48 hours lying in the snow before he was discovered by members of Alex Abramov’s 7Summits Expedition.  Here is what 7Summits reported:

Italian mountaineer Marco, spent 2 days unconscious in the snow next to camp 8300. He was found by the guide of 7 Summits Club expedition Sergey Kofanov. Sergey quickly organized the rescue operation and got Marco down to North Col. That saved Marco`s life.

To this day, it is still very hard to believe that someone can survive more than a day in these very harsh elements, with the barest of essentials.  Almost every year though brings a new situation where such a survival has occured.  Most famously has probably been Beck Weathers who survived the ordeal during that harsh tragedy of 1996.  Lincoln Hall’s miraculous survival last season just goes to show what the human body is capable of withstanding when Death comes knocking.

Alpine Ascents Summits 22 in one night

One Expedition that we have not talked much about is the team from Alpine Ascents.  It seems like they were just waiting….and waiting…for both the right weather window, as well as some of the crowds to get on up and out of the way.

Well, AAI as they are commonly known, made their push for the summit lastnight and had success with 22 different climbers in one night.  That is some push but a great job none the less!

One AAI climber made a very big personal statement yesterday though:

Jeanne Stawiecki Claims 7th Summit!

Jeanne Stawiecki successfully completed her mission of climbing the highest peak on each of the 7 continents when she made her successful Mt. Everest Summit lastnight.  This final hurdle in her journey also placed her in the record books.  Jeanne has now successfully ran a marathon as well as summited the highest peak on all 7 continents–and done so within 1 hour of beginning her goal!  Way to go on a Big Dream Realized!

Willie Benegas Going for Second Summit This Season?

Reports from Mountain Madness are suggesting that Willie Benegas is going to be going for a second summit attempt in a matter of days.  He has already successfully summited Everest once this season and will be going for the repeat.  Tagging along for this journey will also be his Sherpa companion, Tendi, who will also be going for his second summit.  And if this news isn’t crazy enough…

Phurba Sherpa Going Up for #3

Phurba Sherpa, from the Himex Team, will also be looking for his 3rd successful summit this season.  Phurba, who accompanied David Tait on his succesful traverse less than a week ago–which included fixing ropes as well as breaking trail on the South Col–has already made a successful second summit and will shortly be going back up with another Himex Team.

The Weather Window

The Weather on Mt. Everest has held surprisingly steady for over a week now–but an upcoming change is expected as the winds will be picking up close to 20 knots a day over the weekend.

Even with nearly 400 summits already taking place, we have to keep in mind that there are still quite a few teams to make that final push.  Many of them are banking on the next day or so to begin their push.

Record Summits this Season?

So what is the record for most summits in one year?  For that record, we only have to look at last season in which 486 successfully summited the world’s highest peak.  At the current rate, it is going to be very, very close to that record this year, if not a few more.  We will have to keep our eyes open and see if this record falls for a second consecutive season.