Once again we find teams all over the Khumbu. Many are down valley in the village of Periche enjoying some time at the teahouses and the richer oxygen environment but others are still high on the mountain. The weather continues to play havoc with those climbers. AAI reported an aborted attempt to reach camp 3 on the Lhotse Face due to high winds. They will try again on Tuesday, Nepal time.
But as usual, try the Sherpas rarely get a day off as described by Phil Crampton of Altitude Junkies:
Our Sherpas have been doing a fantastic job of getting the respective high camps stocked and ready for our anticipated summit bid hopefully in the coming days. On May 1st, six of our Sherpas collectively carried oxygen and tents to the South Col. The weather the following day was not so good so they rested at camp two with the help of our two full-time camp two cooks. May 3rd saw an improvement in the weather but Dorjee Sherpa and myself were concerned about the snow accumulation above the Yellow Band, so the Sherpas only climbed to camp three and dug the necessary tent platforms for our intended stay there. Today they completed another load carry to the South Col and will return to base camp later today for a well deserved rest and plenty of Tuborg beer.
They are looking at a summit window between May 13 through the 19th. IMG reports their Sherpas did make a carry to the North Col and expect to see the fixed lines to the summit in a few days.
We had 14 sherpas carry to camp 3 today to finish building that camp and support the move up there by the Hybrid team today, for their overnight. The rest of the team has split into three groups and is also moving up towards C3. Greg moved to C2 today with the lead group, we have more climbers at C1 tonight going to C2 tomorrow, and Justin moves up to C1 tomorrow with the last group. The sherpa plan for tomorrow is another big push to the South Col. We have Nima Karma, Phinjo Dorje and Phu Tshering along with 6 other sherpas from Himex and AAI that will try to fix up to the Balcony and then sleep on Col. They will then fix to the summit the next day (weather permitting).
The Adventure Peaks team on the north has tagged 7300m and is back at ABC on their way to BC before their summit bid. They also commented on the recent weather:
Stu has been in contact this morning to confirm his group have had a successful but wild and cold period of acclimatization on and above the North Col! He described their walk up the North Ridge to 7300m as the worst weather (cold and strong winds) he had ever experienced on Everest during his three previous expeditions. So well done to those who were able to complete their acclimatization.
If all goes well, they are looking at a summit on May 16th. Of note, four of their members have decided not to continue their climb based on the avalanche and death lat week on the North Col. This is a bit similar to what happened last year when an avalanche in the Khumbu Icefall discouraged several climbers as well.
Meanwhile back in Kathmandu, Billie Bierling with Himex and a Kathmandu resident reports on more problems in the capital:
While climbers are busy moving up and down Mount Everest to acclimatise to finally reach the summit, the Nepalese capital Kathmandu has completely shut down as the Maoists have called an indefinite strike. They are demanding the resignation of Prime Minister, Madhav Kumar Nepal, and the leadership of a national unity government.
Apparently most of the shops in the capital have closed down and only emergency vehicles are allowed onto the streets. “Thousands of people are demonstrating in support of the Maoists but the atmosphere is still quite peaceful,” my friend Alex reported from Kathmandu.
Hopefully things will settle down before the teams return for their flights home. But once again, this illustrates the instability in that par of the world.
Climb On!
Alan
