ExplorersWeb on a Roll: Discredits ‘First Swim at North Pole’

Earlier this year Lewis Gordon Pugh made a pitch for global warming . He allegedly took the first swim at the Geographic North Pole citing that this endeavor could not have been done 10 years ago, but that the melting ice attributed to global warming had now made this feasable.

The Adventurist reported on this as well right after it happened.  ExplorersWeb reported on the swim–but then quickly retracted the story.  Nobody knew why until now.

It seems that ExplorersWeb has found information that this attempt may have actually not been the first actual swim at the North Pole.  Actually it looks as if this has actually taken place a number of seperate times with plenty of witnesses to boot.

For some reason ExplorersWeb has been on a role with some of these adventure “Firsts” and making sure credit is being given when due.  They cite that Lewis Gordon Pugh’s website claims that he was indeed the first to swim at the North Pole, yet they have many claims otherwise by different individuals–at least going back as far as 1996.

I encourage all of you to swing on over and read their account of this event and the sudden controversy surrounding it. 

Lewis Gordon Pugh SWIMS at North Pole

Lewis Gordon Pugh, 37, A british adventure swimmer, has become the first person to ever swim at the North Pole.  Doing the stunt to bring awareness to Global Warming in the Arctic, Pugh dove into the 29 degree water.

His swim lasted aproximately 18 minutes and 50 seconds and went for a distance of 0.6 miles.  The water, at 29 degrees, is the coldest known temperature that a human has ever been able to swim in.

I hope my swim will inspire world leaders to take climate change seriously. The decisions which they make over the next few years will determine the biodiversity of our world.

I want my children, and their children, to know that polar bears are still living in the Arctic. These creatures are on the front line up here.

I am obviously ecstatic to have succeeded, but this swim is a triumph and a tragedy: a triumph that I could swim in such ferocious conditions but a tragedy that it’s possible to swim at the North Pole.

Pugh’s swim was conducted in a free-flowing waterhole.  The hole was used to demonstrate the effects the climate has been having on the arctic.  He went on to explain that over the next years, waterholes like these will become more prevelent in the Arctic.

Lewis Gordon Pugh is best known for having swam on 5 of the seven known continents of the world, as well as being the first person to ever swim the Sognefjord, Norway’s longest fjord.

The Adventurist: A Call to All Outdoor Writers and Photographers!

I have just put the finishing touches on a new “Submit & Contact” Page here at The Adventurist.  I am hoping that this new feature will be accepted and used by all of my great readers.

This page goes into detail about a few things I am looking for here at The Adventurist–and ways you might be able to get involved.

Do you love Adventure Writing or perhaps Great Outdoors Photography?–Help me share your incredible talents with a much bigger audience!

Head on Over to the “Submit & Contact” Page, found on a tab right up above this article, and Share your Adventures with the World!

Also, if you are looking to put me to work, there is info there as well….

Cheers-

J. Alan Hendricks, Editor

Everest 2007 Update: Summit Push Winding Down

The huge summit push to the top of the world’s highest peak is finally beginning to wind down with a major storm forecast for tomorrow.

Both Basecamps are starting to empty as the vast amount of teams that have already went up are packing their bags and heading home, but that doesn’t mean all of the action is over just yet..

In the past day there have been a few more summits of note.

Paul Adler Finally Makes the Top

Paul Adler has finally completed his journey to the summit that began with his first venture to Everest in 2006.  He did run in to a few problems upon the descent though including a bad bout with snowblindness, some O2 problems, and a case of altitude sickness-But Paul made it and is safely back down to BC after going through the Khumbu Icefall lastnight.

A Few Double Summits of Note

It doesn’t happen very often but this season has seen quite a few people go up and summit more than once..

Willie Benegas from Mountain Madness made his second successful summit bid as he led two more to the summit yesterday, Tendi Sherpa and Brian Smith.  Willie went back up for a second summit after two of his clients had seemingly fell behind everyone else–good job on making it a success!

The London School of Business is also reporting that Rob Casserly and Kenton Cool have made a successful second summit as well, having doing so within the same week.

Cauldwell Extreme Doctors Summit

The Expedition to study how altitude plays on the human body–has also landed a few of the Docs on the summit.  Here is a report coming from them:

Dr Mike Grocott, Dr Sundeep Dhillon (Climbing Leader), Dr Daniel Martin, Mr Chris Imray and Dr Nigel Hart from Britain summitted yesterday (May 23) and Dr Jeremy Windsor from Britain and Dr Roger McMorrow and Dr Mick O’Dwyer from Ireland summitted today (May 24). Dr Paul Gunning from Britain also reached 8,400 metres (27,600 feet) today but turned back.

The scientists and doctors are investigating hypoxia – a deficiency of oxygen in the blood - to help future patients in intensive care and have set a world record by taking arterial blood samples near the summit of the world’s highest mountain. The samples were taken on the Balcony at 8,400 metres rather than the summit for safety reasons, due to low temperatures and high winds. In addition, the Caudwell Xtreme Everest team constructed the world’s highest laboratory at 8,000 metres (26,246 feet) on the mountain’s South Col.

Project Himalaya

The Project Himalaya Expedtion has effectly called off their summit bids at this point.  They were planning on a summit push today but with the weather coming in they have decided to try to wait it out and make a late push around June 2nd.

The Weather

As has been predicted, the large weather window that has seen well over 450 summits this past week has began to close.  There are reports of a large weather system moving in and deteriorating conditions higher up Everest.  Lungevity has reported in excess of 130 MPH winds at the higher camp–and this is before the storm.  A couple of teams are going to try to stick around and make a late summit push–but other than these few, most are now packing up and heading home. 

One Expedition of note, Conrad Anker’s attempt to recreate the 1924 George Mallory Expedition is still on track and scheduled to begin at the beginning of June, pending the weather.  He will be climbing in the same general gear as Mallory on this attempt in order to see if a summit was actually a feasable option in 1924 as some have suggested.

2007 Everest Season Not Quite Over–but Almost

Some sites have already began to do their yearly look back at the 2007 Mt. Everest Summit season.  Alan Arnette has done an exceptional recap of what has happened thus far, calling it a “normal year”. 

I will be making my own wrap-up to this season towards the beginning of June and discussing some of the major stories that have come off the world’s highest peak.  Until then, I will try to feature what I can about what is going on on Everest–but with the storm coming in, it probably won’t amount to much..I guess we will all have to wait till the beginning of June for any more major summit news.

Everest 2007 Update: Summits, Summits, and More Summits

Yesterday I posted an Interview with David Tait as well as Alan Arnette’s BIG Announcement–both of these items were pretty big news.  I didn’t post my usual update yesterday with all the previously mentioned stuff going on…so guess what.  That means this is going to be one HUGE update covering the events that has been going on for the last couple of days.

Before I get in to that though, I would first like to post a fair warning for anyone coming by this site from the Television Without Pity forum.  There will be at least one Everest: Beyond the Limit spoiler here today.  So if you don’t want to know what has happened–either skip this post, or come back tomorrow.  I do appreciate all of you stopping by though.

Alright, Let’s get to it:

David Hahn Summits for a Record 9th Time

David Hahn, climbing with IMG, has successfully summited Mt. Everest for his record 9th time.  This puts David as the single most productive Everest Summiter ever that is a non-sherpa climber.  Don’t fear though, I am pretty sure that Apa Sherpa’s current record of 17 will be holding for quite a few more years to come.

Here is a post that Dave made to his expedition website GreatOutdoors:

Hey Great Outdoors, hey this is Dave and I’m on the summit of Mount Everest, it’s let’s see, see if I can see my watch here, it’s 6:40 now we got here 15 minutes ago. Beautiful morning. Beautiful morning. We beat the crowd, and it gave us some trouble, aggravating coming up in the dark at sunrise up the step part of the South Summit, but everybody rested on the South Summit and me and Phinjo Dorge from . . . right there and we got the jump and then had the traverse and Hillary Steps to ourselves, splendid morning, beautiful shadows, casting big shadow of Everest out to the horizon. Just beautiful, really very thrilling, and uh going to give you another call in a minute here, oh boy, it’s exciting to be here. Think I can see as far as I ever have been able to, Makalu, Kangchenchugka, Shishapangma, maybe that’s Manaslu back there, Cho Oyu, Lhotse, beautiful. Beautiful. Okay call you back in a few minutes when my fingers thaw out again.

Sounds like a great view from the top of the World’s Highest Peak, Mt. Everest.

Gavin Bate’s Near Death Experience…Summit Denied

Gavin Bate, who was trying to pull off his own successful traverse of Everest, going North to South, had to call off his climb after nearly dying at 8300 meters.

To begin to put this into perspective, David was planning on traversing Everest with his “shadow” Sherpa Pasang Tendi, using the bare minimum of essentials–a light-weight single-skin tent, a small stove and bivi sack, and whatever else he could manage to get into his backpack.  Now let’s go to the details of what transpired as he attempted to reach the summit.  First, from May 19: Read more

The Adventurist: The David Tait Interview Pt. 2, Post Everest 2007

In March of this year, The Adventurist had the priviledge of interviewing David Tait before he set off to climb Mt. Everest.  David’s ambitions were made very clear.  He wanted to become the first person to ever “Double-Traverse” Mt. Everest in the same season. 

He was well prepared.  David had summited Mt. Everest previously in 2006 and was feeling in such great shape afterwards that he made a commitment to dedicate himself to the world’s first ever double-traverse of Everest in 2007, all the while donating every penny earned to the NSPCC and trying to draw some much needed attention for his latest life mission– helping children who have been the victims of abuse in his native land.

David’s attempt garnered alot of attention this season.  He was a member of the much touted and often ridiculed Himex Team that is being led by Russell Brice–and who, by chance, was also being followed along by The Discovery Channel Team in hopes of filming their second season of Everest: Beyond the Limit.

Through David’s Expedition Blog this season we were given the rare opportunity to take a look at what goes on behind the scenes.  David’s thoughts, concerns, and daily routine were not only followed by myself, but by thousands of people around the world.  In effect, this attention has garnered David something that he has been trying to get accomplished for well over a year now–and that is helping the NSPCC.

Through David Tait’s great assault on Everest this season, we were all able to learn a little bit about ourselves.  David’s journey began strong.  He put himself in place to make a successful first summit and in essence, he did just that.  Half of his goal was accomplished.  Now all he had to do was go back down the opposite side of Mt. Everest, take a 7-10 day rest, and do it all over again from the South Col.

What surprised alot of people in the world was what happened next.  Upon reaching Camp on the South, David made an announcement that his double-traverse was essentially off–

Over the next couple of days, David would go on to explain his reasonings behind this decision.  He felt that Phurba Sherpa, his climbing partner this season, should be given the credit he was due.  If anyone should be the “first” to do something, David noted, It should be the Sherpa who have been an integeral part of every climbing expedition on Mt. Everest.

Over the past season, David has been looked upon as perhaps a little cocky.  David has been seen, as one climber put it, as the “007″ on Everest this season.  Discovery Channel found in David someone who they originally thought would make for great TV..he was good-looking, well prepared, well spoken, and at times could be a bit controversial..someone the american audiences would surely fall in love with.  But David had other plans…

David Tait is his own man.  From the beginning David stayed focused and knew where he was going.  He had goals and he stuck to them..and in a suprise move David Tait showed the World something that alot of us foresake….humility.

In David’s humility, as much as the decision was so hard for  alot of us to comprehend at the time–David still became the first person to EVER traverse Everest, North to South, from his native UK as well as the first Person to ever do so from Europe.

Two new records, a successful traverse of the world’s tallest peak–and tons and tons of humility…that is David Tait.

It is with great pleasure that I can bring to you the first In-Depth Interview with David since his decision to call off his Double-Traverse.  You will see, undoubtedly, how this all unfolded just days ago.

I will let you make up your own minds on who David Tait is and what he represents, as well as perhaps, show you what part of being great entails.

The Adventurist Interviews David Tait

 

The Adventurist:  When I first interviewed you for The Adventurist back in March, you were
just preparing to head off to Mt. Everest.  It has now been two and a half months and you have successfully summited Mt. Everest for a second time. How are you feeling right now and what is your general condition?

David Tait:  I’m feeling more than a little tired -I keep dozing off, but considering i’m still sitting in solitary confinement at the hotel Tibet in Katmandu, i’ve little else to do but read and sleep. I have started to reflect on the successes of the expedition and i’m quite content.

The Adventurist:  This marks the second Expedition to Mt. Everest that you have been on with Himex.  This season was a little bit different though as The Discovery Channel Film Crew was on hand to record what was going on.  Can you elaborate a bit on this experience, and did it in any way influence your day to day activities and preparation?

David Tait:  Yes, I found the film crew to be a nice sociable bunch, but in an ideal world I would have prefered to climb without them. This is for two reasons - firstly, I believe [my opinion only] that they became a little disappointed with the ordinaryiness of the participants, and desperately wanted something to “spice things up”…. i bored them senseless with interviews in which i only referred to the climb and my charity work. i think they hoped for a lot more than this. Secondly, in my opinion again, there was disproportionate attention given to two memebers of the expedition, one complete [literally] novice lady, and one larger than life, but ultimately offensive semi-experienced man. It was clear to me, owing to the coverage that these two got, that the essence of the program [reality tv] would fail without their presence. I found this a little depressing at times.

The Adventurist:  As your summit attempt was taking shape, Russell Brice met with you and
Phurba Sherpa giving you  the go-ahead to start your ascent.  First, can you tell us about this meeting and second, why were you given the go-ahead so far in advance of the rest of the Himex crew?

David Tait:  ———-The meeting was help on the “tigerdome” in the presence once again
of the cameras. Russ, Phurba and i discussed firstly the current state of the fixed ropes, the imminent plans to fix higher, ultimately to the summit, the plans for moving or removing bodies [with permission] from the route, and finally the plans for our traverse/s - this included oxygen, and other minor logisitcs. We had the go ahead to leave earlier owing to the intention of double-traversing inside the proscribed time limit of the end of the season.

The Adventurist:  Upon beginning your ascent there were varied accounts of the projected
“Weather Window” for the summit.  You essentially took a chance by taking off a bit
earlier than everyone else.  Was this planned to beat the crowds or were there other factors involved?

David Tait:  The principal factor was to allow for a second return attempt - hence the early departure. The weather looked a little didgy when we left abc, but in the end it was ideal. We realized there would likely be crowds, but as we both move very fast, we were confident we could outpace most - as we manged.

The Adventurist:  Once you had finally made your successful summit from the North and began to head down the South, did you have any idea that you would be fixing ropes and breaking trail on your descent?  Also, for the uninitiated, can you explain what you had to do and the toll that it eventually took?

David Tait:  Yes, we were aware that the south-side sherpas had only fixed rope to the “balcony”. However, as both of us hadn’t  seen the south-side before, we had no real idea where the balcony was, or how hard it would be to reach. We set off from the summit somewhat blind, moving very slowly and carefully, digging footholds, one at a time, so that the snow wouldn’t mini-avalanche,taking one of us with it. We were joined together by 25 m of rope for safety, and belay-relayed ourselves along the ridge to the Hilary
step. Somehow my oxygen got turned off by hitting the wall, and I thought I was suffocating - I dont know how. Phurba checked for me and turned it back on. That was a weird 10 mins. We were also carrying 150m of rope for possible permanent fixing. We fixed line from the Hillary step, across and up to the south summit - this took an age owing to the need to creep slowly across the ridge-line, cutting footholds. From the south summit to the balcony was
fairly routine, but with quite deep shifting snow. Once at the balcony we discovered the fixed rope….it took us from 6.30 until 11 am approx. to
negotiate the distance from the summit to the balcony….many times longer than it would have done under normal circumstances.

The Adventurist:  In the beginning of this journey, your goal was to “Double-Traverse” the
world’s highest mountain, but after your first successful summit and crossing over to the South you changed your mind.  Can you take us through this process and the reasonings behind your change of mind?

David Tait:  The reasons I changed my mind are twofold. Firstly, and most importantly,  as I mentioned on my site, the only way I was personally going to claim “first to double traverse” was if i asked a superior climber and human being [Phurba] to effectively “step-aside” and let me ” win”. This has been gnawing away at me for months. Having watched Phurba fix ropes to the
summit on April 30th, and then descend to bc in 6 hours, i knew in my heart that he deserved all plaudits. He is an extrordinary chap, honest,
generous, patient and modest to a point that the Dalai Lama could learn things from him. There was no way, especially in the context of my charity work, that I could pretend to supercede him.
The second thing, closely connected was that I was also very tired from the descent - much more than I had anticipated. In the context of not wanting to usurp Phurba, I knew that there was little if any point in forcing my way over this mountain yet again, to come in second. I also feel strongly that such “titles” are there for the sherpas to take and legitimately own….. they
are streets ahead of ALL westerners, so I contented myself with “the first Brit” or if i’m lucky ” the first westerner” to traverse north-south.[ maybe you could help me with a clearer verification? I'd be grateful]. I’ve been told by many many informed people that im the first brit, but id like to know for dead-sure?

The Adventurist:  How different was this experience compared to your first successful summit? Was it easier or harder?

David Tait:   Harder - only in as much as I underestimated the south side descent…. 17 hours of arm-wrapping in both snow-storms and blazing sun - in a down suit….

The Adventurist:  Looking back, is there anything you would have done differently on this
Expedition, or did everything pretty much go as planned?

David Tait:  Everything went better than planned - I managed to summit/traverse after
only 35 days of acclimatization, and the summit day climb was relatively easy…I was suprised.

The Adventurist:  The NSPCC, your charity that you were doing this for, has been able to gain
alot of publicity through yourself and The Discovery Film Team.  If you had a few words for these kids you are trying to help, what would you say?

David Tait:   For the abused kids out there : you have a choice, as I once did. Your life can go south or it can go north - the choice is up to you. Stop blaming others and focus on yourself. I carried my secrets for 30 years - a wasted thirty years. let things go, and start climbing life.

The Adventurist:  Well, Once again David, I will congratulate you on a great climb and a successful second Mt. Everest summit!  It has been a pleasure to follow along with you on this fantastic journey and we are all looking forward to hearing more from you soon.  Hope your recovery goes well.. I am sure Vanessa can’t wait to see you!!  Now hurry Home…Safely!

 Bonus Questions

The Adventurist:  Since this is now over, do you think you will ever try Everest again?

David Tait:  Maybe, if my son or daughter wanted company etc…. but not for
any other reason.

The Adventurist:  In your opinion, what website brings the best “Adventure” coverage in
the world?    This may or may not be published depending on answer.  Ha,ha.

 David Tait:  You definately have a great site - i’m honestly only familiar with you and Ex-web. Yours is far more interesting owing to the manner in which you apparently obtain your info.  You are accurate, Ex-web isnt….dt

Editor’s Note:  At this time, David Tait has been confirmed as being the first person from the UK to make a successful Traverse of  Mt. Everest. 

I would also like to make a point to say that the opinions and viewpoints represented on The Adventurist are not neccessarily those of this site. In the context of  representing all viewpoints in the most accurate fashion, nothing has been left out, and except for a couple of minor spelling changes..everything is being presented as it was.

If you are interested in reading David’s first interview, just days before he began this incredible journey in March, you may do so by clicking HERE.

And Lastly, David Tait is currently in Kathmandu awaiting the arrival of his equipment so that he may leave for home.  David has mentioned that there just may be a book in the works about his two successful summits of Mt. Everest as well his work with the NSPCC…We will keep our eyes out for this project and I will bring more to you when I find out further.

Everest 2007 Update: More Summits, Another Confirmed Death, and News of a New World Record Holder!

Death of Czech Climber, Libor Kozak, Confirmed 

Recent dispatches have been circulating a rumored death on Mt. Everest for the past couple of days.  Today we can positively confirm that this death did take place and did involve a Czech climber.

Libor Kozak, 47, had been climbing on the North Side of Mt. Everest, pushing for the summit when he began to feel bad.  He decided to head back to Camp at 8300 meters in an attempt to get possible help and rest.  Libor Kozak ended up being sicker than what some had thought and ended up dying at this point.

This news was originally posted on an Expedition Update by Alex Abramov and the 7Summits Expedition, but over the next couple of days the story had quieted down.

Two days later, EverestNews made a post saying a confirmation of the death would be coming in, but it never came as they were awaiting word that the family of the climber had been notified of his passing and his name was never released.

CzechClimbing.com Originally made the assumption of who the climber was, based on their information that there was only one Czech Climber climbing from the North this season, Libor Kozak.  On a post to their site, a friend of Libor Kozak’s family confirmed the news and mentioned that the family had been notified. 

A New World’s Youngest 7 Summitter

Samantha Larson, 18, from Long Beach, CA has just become the youngest person in the world to climb the highest mountain on all 7 continents.

She made this new record after summiting Mt. Everest on Thurday with her father, David Larson.  Her record now surpasses the previous record for the youngest 7Summiter held by 20 year old British climber, Rhys Miles Jones.

Samantha Larson began her assault on the 7 Summits record at the Ripe Old Age of 13, when she first reached the summit of South America’s Tallest peak Mt. Aconcagua.  Then the following year she successfully climbed Africa’s tallest Peak, Mt. Kilimanjaro.

Samantha Larson graduated from Long Beach Poly High School last year and amazingly carried a 4.43 Grade point average throughout her high school career.  Upon graduation, Samantha took a year off, in order to climb some of the world’s tallest peaks, before heading off to Stanford University.

Samantha Larson made contact with her Mother,to inform her of the news, after reaching Camp 2 upon her descent.

A Big Congratulations goes out to this young lady from The Adventurist.

The World’s youngest Mt. Everest summiter happens to be a Sherpa who scaled the mountain at the age of 15.

More Summits Today

Alex Abramov’s first group from the 7 Summits Expedition has officially made the summit.  This first wave involved 12 individuals–with a second group currently heading up as well.

Alex Abramov did mention the following news though, and we will have to keep an eye out on this situation:

Only our guide Sergey Kofanov continues to work on the route. . He has found out near to the camp of 8300 meters an Italian climber in very bad condition. As appeared, he has spent two days near the camp of 8300 meters, probably out of tent. Sergey Kofanov has collected small group of rescue: they are two French girls and one Sherpa. They accompany the Italian downwards. In the beginning he could not even move at all and could not speak. Sergey made an injection of deximetazon, then have moved him in a tent, gave him water. In result, Italian climber now can go down on one`s own, but very slowly. We hope, that they can lower him today down to the camp on North Col.

Adventure Consultants Summit 5

Adventure Consultants has announced that 5 members of their team have successfully summited today.  Here is a report from their Expedition as well:

Astounding us with their speed and grace, our climbers reached the summit at 5.00am today, just as the first rays of the sun also arrived. Sherpas Lhakpa Dorjee, Nima Dorjee and Pasang Bhote reached the top first, followed by Mike Roberts and Cedric Hayden, accompanied by cheering on the radio from Basecamp! CONGRATULATIONS GUYS!

Prague Mayor Summits!

Pavel Bem, the mayor from Prague that subsequently was turned away from attempting the North Ridge Route by the Chinese, has successfully summited from the South.  Pavel Bem, climbing with his two personal Sherpas made his successful summit today.

Alan Arnette

Alan Arnette’s magnificent Mt. Everest website has some news of note today.  Actually, two pieces. 

The first involves the female chinese climber that was reportedly killed while trying to ascend Mt. Everest two nights ago. 

The good news is that she is still alive and made it successfully to ABC..and seems to be coming along fine.

The second news of note found on Alan’s site is the story of four Italian Climbers that seemingly got into trouble on Everest and the story that ensued.  I reccommend all of you stopping over and checking out this piece and while you are at it, join Alan’s Climbing Forum dedicated to Mt. Everest and Mountain Climbing in general.  By the way, if you stop by his place, tell him I sent you–

Bear Grylls

The Adventure Blog has posted news of Bear Grylls making his successful flight to the height of Mt. Everest and beyond.  A couple of days ago I posted a piece about an unexpected “encounter” with Bear Grylls by one of the Expedition teams.  You may find this story HERE as well.

Everest 2007 Second Update, May 15, 2007: 50 Summits Reported Today..David Tait Update…and more

David Tait Update

David Tait has made it to lower ground on the South Side, arriving at Camp 2, along with his Sherpa Phurba Tashi, after successfully reaching the summit of Mt. Everest around 1:30 am this morning.

Adventure Consultants, The team that will run David’s logistics on the South, are reporting that David and Phurba Tashi Sherpa are both very excited to have the first leg of the Double-Traverse finished and are now enjoying some time in the Dining tent celebrating.  Here is what the Adventure Consultants Team had to say:

“All members of the AC Team wish to offer massive congratulations to English climber David Tait and Phurba Tashi Sherpa who successfully traversed Mt Everest today from North to South. This is a huge and rarely accomplished feat. David and Phurba Tashi are members of the Himalayan Experience Expedition (HIMEX) on the North Side of Everest. Adventure Consultants are providing logistical support on the South Side. As David and Phurba Tashi sit in our heated C2 dining tent, they are elated and understandably, exhausted. Tomorrow they will have their first experience of the Khumbu Icefall as they descend to BC.”

50 Summits Reported Today

ExplorersWeb is reporting 50 summits thus far today from the North Side alone.  We all knew it would come fast and furious when it hit–and it definately has…

At this time, I can not confirm all 50 but that is definately not saying it hasn’t happened.  I am just waiting to recieve confirmation.

The South Side

Climbers on the South Side are gearing up for their first projected summit attempts tonight..SuperSherpas will be leading the way with Apa and Lhakpa Gelu Sherpa set to arrive at the Summit around 7 pm–this will be their combined 30th summit of Everest!

The Weather Window

Earlier today, I had the opportunity to ask Alan Arnette how big of a weather window the climbers had before the forthcoming bad weather comes in that we have all been hearing about…

From his own site, here is what he had to say:

“Looks like the winds will be tolerable for the next 24 hours at least so expect a big push on both sides. What worries me is that they are forecasted to increase again on the 18th (48 hours from right now - 7:00AM GMT -7 or MDT) and a lot of teams are still low on the mountain. If they push to catch the tail end of this window, they could get caught. But they are there and I am in Colorado so they know best!”

Let’s just all hope that everyone can be safe and make it through this window in one piece, and at least be at a safe place when the weather does decide to come back.

Everest 2007 Update: DAVID TAIT SUMMITS, SummitClimb Summits 6..and more heading up!

David Tait Makes First of Two Summits!! 

At 1:30 am this morning I recieved a new dispatch from David Tait.

“To all you happy followers out there – David reached the summit at about 1.30 am this morning!! Through the fierce noise of the wind, he sounded jubilant as you could imagine. Fingers crossed as he makes his way back down the south please.

I’ll keep you posted. “

This is great news as David has been contemplating an earlier attempt at the summit than most. 

David is currently heading down the South Col Route where he plans to take a rest at BC and then head back up the South in an attempt to double-traverse Everest and earn his spot in the Mt. Everest Record Book.

I have not recieved word yet that David has made it back to camp but I did send him a congratulatory email and wished him the best.

SummitClimb Summits 6-

Six members of the SummitClimb team have also made the summit of Everest according to a new dispatch on their site…

The summiters included four climbers and two sherpas.  They are as follows:  Pemba Sherpa, Jangbu Sherpa, Stein Tant, Aldas Baltutis, Bjorn Vandewege, and Stephen Maginelle.

The Push is ON!!

It is also being reported that two others have now summited as well…no word yet as to who they are but details will be coming shortly…

UPDATE:  One of the two summiters is Ken Noguchi, leader of an environmental group that has been working to clean-up Everest the past couple of months…

AT LEAST 7 More Heading for the Summit…

It is also being noted that 7 others are currently heading to the summit on the North Side as well today..and I am sure many others will be following since the news of the successes happening from the North will be hitting camp fast and furious.

UPDATE:  The other 7 climbers mentioned to be heading to the summit is the other half of the SummitClimb Team.  They have decided to go up in two seperate parties.

APA and Lhakpa Gelu Sherpa from SuperSherpas On Summit drive from South Side!

Apa and Lhakpa Gelu Sherpa, after counseling with Tashi Tenzing (Grandson of Norgay Tenzing, first summiter of Everest with Sir Edmund Hillary) from the North Side, decided to begin an earlier push for the summit after the great summit weather on the North was being reported.  We are looking to hear from the Supersherpas Camp at 10 am this morning for more details on this summit push…Right now their plan to summit looks to be around 7 pm if all stays well and conditions don’t change.

If Apa and Lhakpa Gelu Sherpa are succesfull this will mark the first summits from the South this season as well as the 17th summit for Apa and the 13th for Lhakpa Gelu.  A total of 30 summits between them both.  Simply Amazing!

The Weather Debate

All of this activity is great news coming from Mt. Everest today as teams have been constantly worried about the poor weather conditions over the past two weeks.  This is bound to set off a flurry of further activity if conditions stay consistent.

Tashi Tenzing

With Tashi Tenzing consulting with the SuperSherpas Team about the good North Side weather, don’t be surprised if he makes his attempt as well today.  The Sherpas have an advantage over other climbers and don’t have to rely on resting at each camp as their bodies are more adjusted to the acclimatization..if he decides to go for it, it will be a fast push..

The Adventurist

I will try to keep everyone up to date as I can.  The news may come fast and furious though so please check back often for the latest updates.

CONGRATULATIONS

I would like to congratulate all of the climbers in their success today as well as wish everyone a safe and happy return!  Great Job Guys!

Special Word of Note:  Thank-you Alan Arnette, ExplorersWeb and EverestNews for your great reports!

 

David Sharp HAD to Die on Everest

People die on Mt. Everest.  That is a fact.  In fact until the last few years the statistic was that for every four people to make the summit, one would die.  In recent times (the 2007 Everest climbing season involves close to 1,000 individuals) that number has grown to one in twenty.

Last season brought the tragic death of David Sharp and the controversy of climbers not helping a fellow climber in need to the forefront of media institutions around the world.  Perhaps this is because people never  really knew what went on at 28,000 ft. or they never really thought about it until the media picked up the story.

I am not going to go in to detail on what happened to David Sharp.  By now the world over knows this story and  a year later it still lingers in the minds and bemoans an outpouring of controversy.  Everyone has an opinion.  I will leave it at that.

What I would like to mention is that David Sharp has not been the only climber to be left behind.  It has happened before and more than likely it will happen again.  Read more

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