Tag Archive for: weather

More summits from our team on Mount Everest!  Today Kenton, Ben, Mark, along with our Sherpas made the summit of Mount Everest and reported great conditions. They are now safe in  South Col also known as Camp 4. Their team will spend tonight there and will head down tomorrow to Camp 2.

Additionally , Our main team of climbers with Garrett, Conan, & Sid are heading up to Camp 4 today. They will climb up the steep ice of the Lhotse Face, over the Yellow Band and the Geneva Spur. Their plan is to rest tomorrow and go for the summit push on the evening of May 17th , if the weather is good.

Also, The Team of Ed & Ant are safely on their way down to Everest base camp.

Our team of Ed & Ant along with our Sherpas Dawa & Sangbu have reached South Col and staying there tonight! They have good conditions and are planning to come down tomorrow to Everest Basecamp.

Additionally, Our second team of Kenton, Ben, & Mark are planning to move up from Camp 3 to Camp 4 today in preparation for their summit attempt!

Also, Our main team members of Garrett, Conan, Sid, Matt, Tym, David, Josh, & Randy are resting in Camp 2 . They are evaluating the weather conditions and preparing to head up to Camp 3 for the summit push tomorrow.

Tonight our main team of climbers are heading up to Camp 2 on our “Mount Everest (summit) final rotation”, then we will assess the weather and monitor the progress of our Sherpas who are doing the rope fixing from the South Col high camp (Camp 4). Some of our climbers (advance team) have moved up to Camp 3 on the Lhotse Face in preparation for an early summit just after the rope fixing project is completed, as May 13th and May 14th look like perfect summit days. Our second team of climbers is in Camp 2 at the moment and preparing to climb to Camp 3 tomorrow.

The last few days have been very windy on Mount Everest, however, this upcoming weather window looks very reasonable for making summit attempts! Our main team of climbers is eyeing a later weather window sometime between May 17-19, as we are in no need to rush up the mountain because we have plenty of resources, time, and energy to choose what we think will be the best summit day with the least amount of climbers from other teams on the route. Last year we summitted Mount Everest on May 23rd and had the entire route to ourselves as no other teams decided to climb that day.

We hope we are fortunate enough to again have a good summit day where we can enjoy the solitude of the mountain and the spectacular views from the top! We look forward to climbing up the Lhotse Face and onward to the Camp 3, the Yellow Band, Geneva Spur, to the South Col high camp (Camp 4)! Then preparing for the final climb to the summit of Mount Everest!

Rope Fixing Update!

Our rope fixing team of Sherpas at the South Col high camp (Camp 4) made great progress yesterday fixing lines all the way up to the balcony. Today the winds were very strong on Mount Everest and they had to stay in high camp (Camp 4) because conditions were not suitable for climbing or rope fixing. Our plan is for them to continue fixing lines tomorrow as the weather looks much better and hopefully they will make it all the way to the summit of Mount Everest, thereby opening the route for all teams here on Mount Everest wishing to make a summit attempt!

Ready To Move For Summit Push!

Today our madison everest team climbers with guides Garrett Madison, Conan Bliss, & Sid Pattison along with climbers Josh, Matt, Randy, Tym, & David are resting in base camp up . They are waiting to begin the summit rotation, this is the final rotation on Mount Everest and hopefully will culminate in reaching the summit! The weather has been windy, more so than the specialized weather forecasts have predicted. So, we have been conservative in our decision making and decided to hold here in base camp until the weather trend looks suitable for us to move us.

Then our Everest climbers will climb from Everest base camp through the Khumbu Icefall and negotiate the many ladders which span crevasses, sometimes about 20 ft. (6m) in width, along with the steep ice and vertical sections of the route. We will go up past Camp 1 through the Western CWM (Valley) to Camp 2, our Advanced Base Camp and from there take a rest day to re evaluate the weather, route conditions, etc.

Our 2 advance teams are already enroute on the final summit rotation! Ed & Ant, our first team, are at Camp 2, having moved up from Everest base camp 2 days ago, and are assessing the mountain conditions which includes the weather, the rope fixing progress, etc.

Our second advance team with Kenton, Ben, and Mark left Everest base camp yesterday and are currently also at Camp 2. They reported very good conditions in the Khumbu Icefall and after arriving at Camp 2 are also reassessing the mountain conditions in preparation for moving up higher on Everest.

Rope Fixing Update!

Our rope fixing Sherpas moved up to the South Col (Camp 4) yesterday in preparation to fix ropes from there to the Balcony (27,500 ft. / 8,333m), despite strong winds on the Lhotse Face. Yesterday we had a huge wind storm on Everest that lasted through the night and many teams lost tents at Camp 2, fortunately we had our entire Sherpa team (22 Sherpas plus camp staff) in our Camp 2 (Advanced Base Camp) so they were able to secure and protect our camp during this massive wind event. Thankfully, our Sherpas reached the South Col (Camp 4) and established a camp there, and then commenced the first part of the rope fixing project today, reaching the Balcony (27,500 ft. / 8333m).

Weather & Other Update!

If the weather is good, and mountain conditions are favorable (they reported deep snow on the route), and our team has the physical energy and mental fortitude, then hopefully our Sherpas will be able to finish the summit rope fixing and open the route by the end of May 12th, so that the route will be open for all climbers on Mount Everest by May 13th.

This is our plan, and with determination and good luck we expect our 4 teams of climbers (Sherpa rope fixing team, advance team of Ed & Ant, second team of Kenton / Ben/ Mark, and third team of Garrett / Conan / Sid with Josh / Matt / Tym / Randy / David to be reaching the summit of Mount Everest between May 12th and May 18th, weather pending! Fortunately the weather forecast looks good through May 21st, so we have a very good weather window in which to make our summit attempts. Thanks for your kind thoughts and prayers! We hope Mount Everest (‘Sagarmatha’ in Nepal) will grant us safe passage to the top of her peak and back!