Everest 2008: The Wait Begins For the Summit Window

Most expeditions are currently sitting at base camp. The acclimatization process before the final summit bid has been completed and now climbers are just waiting it out, trying to get refreshed and renewed. Ropes are currently heading up to the South Summit, and should be set any day now.

Peak Freaks suggest that they may try their summit push around the 17th or 18th of May, allowing plenty of time for the team to rest. They also mention that the Indian Army Team may be in the best position to begin a summit push on May 17th, leading the way for others to follow.

With up to 500 climbers on the south side of Mt. Everest this season, many are worried about the crowds. Long waits have been reported through the Khumbu Icefalls, as well as near the Lhotse Face. To help curb this problem a bit, double lines of ropes have been set along certain stretches just to make sure all goes smoothly. With that many climbers all going at varying paces up and down Mt. Everest, we can all see that it might get a bit frustrating and tricky as teams make their final push. These double lines should help quicken the process a bit, but I am sure there will still be a few issues.

With Peak Freaks giving a rough guesstimate to the dates of their final push, other teams will be waiting it out, hoping for a bid around the 20th. Recent weather factors in the area suggest that a new weather system may be moving in from the Bay of Bengal, although it is suppose to go around Mt. Everest, with that many teams heading up, you can ever be to careful. Many of us witnessed what could go wrong by watching the recent PBS Special “Storm Over Everest” involving that fateful 1996 expedition–no one is wanting to relive that nightmare in any way, shape, or form.

The next few days on Mt. Everest should be pretty quiet. If anything major comes about, I will definitely update, but we can keep our fingers crossed that I won’t have to do that There are other Himalayan peaks in the area that are providing plenty of action, as I will be posting in a bit, including more summits on Manaslu.

Before I end this post, there was something of interest I ran across late lastnight. USA Today had an article saying that there were roads leading in to Everest base camp that had been either blocked, or destroyed by the recent Earthquake that has devastated a pretty good chunk of China. I am not hearing much about this today from the climbing expeditions, but perhaps they are not aware of the extensive damage, as well. Also, I have not seen any reports from the climbers on or around the Mt. Everest region in regards to the earthquake. Not known if it was felt there or not. With all of the tragedy, including nearly 1,000 teachers and kids in one school that collapsed, let’s keep them in our thoughts and prayers. Please remember that just because a country has specific beliefs that we disagree with, does not mean the country as a whole is evil. We should show them the same support that we, ourselves, would expect if something of that magnitude rocked our world.