Everest 2009: The Alan Arnette Interviews, Everest: Beyond the Limit III, Russell Brice, and More…
March 12, 2009
Momentum for the 2009 Spring Everest climbing season continues to build. Information about the upcoming season began filtering out back in February and more news and information is being released on an almost daily basis. I am going to try to put together a quick run-down of what we can expect for the upcoming Everest climbing season. Continue reading for the latest news and information.
Everest: Beyond the Limit Returns For Season III (With a twist.)
I have already mentioned the return of Everest: Beyond the Limit in a previous post, but new information has come to light that the successful Discovery Channel series will be changing things up a bit for 2009.
Two big changes could have a profound effect on the overall series and give everyone a glimpse into a different aspect of climbing Mt. Everest. For the first time in the series history, all the action will be taking place from the South Side of Everest. Everest’s South Side is famous for the Khumbu Icefall…perhaps the single deadliest feature on Everest. Besides that, you also have the Hillary Step that climbers will be trying to scramble over and around during their bids for the summit.
Discovery Channel has opted to go the South Col route after China has once again made allegations that the North side of Everest could be closed off to climbers till at least April 1st. When China closed the North side last season (for the famed Olympic Torch summit bid), Discovery Channel and HiMex were forced to suspend the Everest: Beyond the Limit series due to logistical issues for the South that the team did not have time to address. Rather than go through the same problems this time around, a decision was made to opt for the South and climb from Nepal.
Along with the new route comes news that Everest: Beyond the Limit and the Discovery Channel film team will be following two teams this season. The first will be Russell Brice’s Himex team. The same team that has been followed in years past. Brice knows the routine, has worked extensively with the Discovery film crew, and should bring more of his expertise to the project. That expertise may be stretched a bit on the South. Brice usually leads his team on the North, but says that he is up for a new challenge.
The second team to be filmed for the Everest: Beyond the Limit third season will be IMG. IMG is lead by guide Eric Simonson and will feature a team of 24 climbers. International Mountain Guides are not new to Everest and Simonson has the experience to make this a successful and lucrative endeavor for his team and company. With two rather large expeditions being filmed at the same time on Everest, it will be intersting to see how this plays out with the other teams and the interactions that will be involved.
The Alan Arnette Interviews
My good friend Alan Arnette has been doing an amazing job of interviewing people that will be taking part in the upcoming Everest season. When most of us are waiting to launch our Everest coverage in March/April, Alan jumped the gun on all of us and has been delivering news and information, along with his interviews since back in February. Last season seen Alan taking part in his own Everest expedition. It will be nice having him back in the reporter’s chair for 2009.
Alan has been busy interviewing some of the top names and personalities that will be taking part in expeditions on Everest in 2009. His list of interviews is quite incredible: David Tait, Eugene Constant, David Liano, Dr. Luane Freer (From Everest +ER), Tomsky Arnold (who is attempting the 7 Summits), Dawa Stephen Sherpa, Bill Burke (South to North Everest Traverse), The guys from Everest Weather, Bud Allen, Bill Bierling (Journalist on Everest), Alec Turner (also attempting the 7 Summits), Dr. Hargrove (Institute for Altitude Medicine), Andrew Lock, and Himex leader Russell Brice (wow!), Eric Simonson (IMG, Everest: Beyond the Limit), Phil Crampton, . You can see that Alan has been pretty busy leading up to this year’s climb. You can read all the interviews and the latest news and Everest information by going to www.alanarnette.com, or just click here.
Russell Brice Interview
I just mentioned that Alan Arnette had the opportunity to interview Russell Brice. Brice is one of those figures that is hard to grasp. You either love him or you hate him. He has an impeccable safety record on Everest (has never lost a climber), leads one of the largest and most well-known teams on Everest year-after-year, but has also been shrouded in controversy. Much of that controversy has resulted in Russell not giving interviews like many others. Perhaps that adds to the intrigue of what makes Russell Brice …well Russell Brice. His focus is totally the job at hand.
Alan Arnette landed one of the very rare opportunities to interview Russell and get his thoughts on a few things. These thoughts range from the upcoming season, the switch to the South Side of Everest, Green climbing, and even Everest: Beyond the Limit. Go check it out.
Ed Viesturs and Dave Hahn Return to Mt. Everest–Together.
Ed Viesturs will be returning to Mt. Everest in 2009. This time Ed will be guiding on Everest rather than climbing, and he will be doing so with the man who has more Everest summits than any non-sherpa– Mr. Dave Hahn. The two have launched their own guiding company (that will also be used to help launch a brand of clothing for Eddie Bauer). The guide company is called The First Ascent Guide Team and will also be lead by Peter Whitaker. Whittaker is the nephew of Jim Whittaker, who became part of the first American team to conquer Mt. Everest. Seriously, with these three legends involved, can this new endeavor go wrong? Ed Viesturs was the first (and only) American to summit all 14 8,000 meter peaks without supplemental oxygen.
More Everest Notes for 2009
Along with Viesturs, Hahn, Brice, Whittaker, and a whole slew of other climbers that are becoming synonymous with Mt. Everest, I have been given word that Apa Sherpa will be returning to Everest to go after his incredible 18th summit attempt. It has been noted that Apa my be pursuing the magic number of ‘20′ before he ends his Everest climbing career.
This year’s climbing season will include two Americans going after rather large records–the youngest American to summit (17, and female) and The first American woman to summit without supplemental O2. Both attempts will occur with the First Ascent Guide Team.
David Tait made the idea of an Everest traverse famous in 2007 when he atempted to become the first person to do a double-traverse. Since David’s attempt, the idea has caught on with a few others. This season will see two individuals atempt a South to North traverse–something that has never been done before.
Right now, there are no fewer than 25 teams scheduled to take part in the Spring 2009 Everest climbing season from the South Side. Last season was a record year on the South with numbers ranging between 450-500 individual climbers. This season could break that record once again. One team is thought to include close to 60 individuals. With the Khumbu Icefall, lack of climbers on the North, and some teams atempting the South for the first time, this season could be very interesting to witness how the crowds and film crews will be managed once things start kicking in.
Five teams will still be trying for a North Side summit, if China allows. China will (supposedly) open the North on April 1st. If everything goes well, the North could see some action this season, but I wouldn’t keep your hopes up. China has a way of disappointing people at he last second. Remember the mess last year?
Side Note- As is customary with my coverage of the Mt. Everest climbing season–this is my third year of covering the Spring climbing action—if you are a frequent visitor to this site, you may witness SPOILERS to the Everest: Beyond the Limit series. If you don’t want o know what is going on, or rather wait to watch the series on Discovery Channel, I would suggest that you don’t stop by this site for the next 3 months. Just a fair warning!
From The Adventurist Vault:
Written by Jason A. Hendricks · Filed Under Everest 2009 |
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