Daily Everest Updates – 19th May
Updates from the slopes of Everest by Individuals and teams on the mountain – 19th May
“The group decided not to go down, not to lose altitude, and stayed overnight in camp 2 (6500m). They’ll wait out the weather there.
“Today, they held another oxygen class to eliminate all surprises at the summit climb. The group members walked to the Lhotse Wall and back with additional oxygen.
“In a day, it is planned to go to the third camp and then to the summit. Alex Abramov decided to abandon the oxygen-free ascent, more important the success of the entire team, which he leads. The Lhotse group and part of the Everest group are at the base camp, today they walked down the valley.
“The schedule of their start on the ascent will also be determined by the leader of the expedition, depending on the weather situation and the forecast.”
.
“Waiting For Good Weather for Everest summit push.
“As the weather forecast has been revised, the climbers will spend an additional day at Camp 2, one day at Camp 3 and another day [on May 21] at Camp 4 before they begin the summit push at midnight.”
“Five years ago today on May 19th, 2016 I stood on top of the world. A lot has happened in the past years, but this memory is as fresh as if it were yesterday.
“At the time I didn’t know if I’d ever come back to Everest. But now I sit at the base of this mighty mountain waiting for good weather to shine and to hopefully get another shot to stand up top.
“Here’s to the adventures and lessons of the past five years, and to the many adventures the next five years will certainly hold.”
“For all that we are itching to start our climb, the weather is just not doing what we need it to do! So, we keep ourselves busy with runs and hikes up, down and around the peaks surrounding @the_edelweiss_pheriche
“It’s really cool to see how different these training sessions feel to those I did when I arrived at the beginning of April. How the body acclimatises to altitude over time is fascinating…and appreciated!”
“In the mountains, any mistake tends to be life threatening.
“Yesterday, we lost Pembi Tashi Sherpa to a crevasse between camps 1 and 2. The first Sherpa loss. It really hit our team when we found out he is the brother of one of our team lead Sherpas, who is a strong leader and complete gentlemen. There seems to be no escape to the danger on this mountain, especially as this was an experienced Sherpa with 5 summits of Everest. It is said that he didn’t click his carabiner into one fixed line. That’s all it takes. I’ve done it, but I’ll never do it again. Also, making sure your carabiner is locked plus all your rope knots and harness are fixed in tight ready for any big fall. If you fall into a crevasse, you may have to hang there for extended periods of time before being rescued, hence everything has to be dialled in 💯
“Events like this are devastating because they are avoidable. There are many layers of redundancy built into fixed rope climbs. Anchor systems be constructed of multiple components, so if one fails there is a fallback. The redundancy only applies if we clip in at all times including double safeties in dangerous sections. Following these rules is key, even when exhausted, ‘foggy’ or rushing, they can never be skipped.
“We lost a life yesterday and we are all taking a pause to honor his life. Let’s make sure this is the last loss of this kind, and we remain diligent when passing through these imminent dangers.”
“The weather window is slowly opening, its a waiting game at Everest Basecamp at the moment but we keep positive and stay smiling.
“Sharpening my crampons ready to rock and roll on Everest and Lhotse!”
Heimer Hallgrimsson and Siggi Bjarni
“The boys feel good in C2. Find an obvious day difference in being in an oxygen-depleted environment, only 40% oxygen at sea level.
“They are looking at an unconfirmed weather window on May 23. Meanwhile, they eat dried fish and salami and are curious about the collection.
“It gives us a lot of energy in this waiting situation to hear about companies and individuals joining the collection for Umhyggja.”
“More than 200 climbers have reached Camp 2 including Our Team Members and all are likely to begin their summit push on May 21.”
“Just arrived at C3. It’s quite a challenge this face of the Lhotse.
“Unfortunately it’s just the 2 Jon’s left.
“Yandi had to give up.”
“Today we climbed up from Camp II to Camp III. We are currently in Camp III. Happy to be here on the Lhotse Face. It’s been a stormy day – very blustery, lots of snow fall, and high wind gusts throughout the day. We got up here to our camp and spent the first three hours digging out our tents which had been consumed and covered in fresh snow and spin drift blowing by the wind. Once we got moved into our tents, got our stoves going and made some water, we had dinner. Everyone is getting to bed now.
“The weather changed a bit. We were hoping to head up to Camp IV tomorrow, but with the new forecast and the inclement and blustery weather on the way tomorrow, our plan is to hunker down here in Camp III and take a rest day and wait out the weather and then move up to Camp IV the following day on the 21st of May.
“Everyone’s doing well here. We had a great day. It was a big push coming up in the tough weather, the high winds, and the snow. But everyone did wonderful. I’m very proud of the team. We’re looking forward to tomorrow up here at Camp III. Hopefully we’ll get a few breaks in the weather and get to enjoy some nice views.”
“At Camp 1.
“Today is one of those days that even my coffee needs a coffee.”
“Tomorrow we head back to EBC to redo what has already been done; crossing the crevasses of the Khumbu, the grind up the Lhotse ice wall and the scariest place on earth, South Col.
“Grateful to be here and in a position to give it a second shot, let’s hope the weather hold and allows for a summit push.”
“Finally, the weather window looms at the end of May!
“This year Everest is not easy for everyone. Even the most experienced Everest climbers do not remember such a meager season for the weather window.
“The problem is that the longer you sit and wait, the less resources the body has left for the assault. The risk of getting seriously ill is also growing. Covid is raging in full swing at Base Camp and has already mowed many of the participants and Sherpas.
“Some expeditions decided not to risk it and fold their camps.”
“Because of the cyclone forecast and 5 new cm of falling snow, we decided we should remain in Camp 2 today.
“Our plan is to move to c3 on 20 may (tomorrow), c4 on 21 may, rest in c4 on 22 May, and then ascend the summit on night of 22 and morning of 23 May.
“According to the 4 weather forecasts we checked, that’s when the winds should be the most quiet.
“Lets hope it has stopped snowing by then, otherwise it would be like walking in a huge blizzard.
“Fingers Crossed!”
