Everest 2013: Climbers Arriving In Kathmandu As New Season Begins

Kathmandu is bracing itself for the onslaught of climbers and trekkers that will be arriving this over the next few days as the spring Himalayan climbing season is about to get underway. Over the next few days, the streets of the city will no doubt begin to swell with traffic as mountaineers from across the globe gather to connect with teammates, grab last minute gear purchases and put the finishing touches on their plans for the season ahead. It is a busy time in Nepal's capital where the energy and excitement of the adventures ahead is almost palpable.

Over the course of the next two months I'll be following a number of high profile teams and expeditions as they take on Everest, Lhotse, Ama Dablam and other high profile Himalayan peaks. As always, it'll be a season filled with highs and lows, with spectacular successes and inevitable failures. There will almost certainly be some tragedies along the way as it seems to come with the territory, but hopefully this will be a safe season in the mountains with fewer deaths than we had last year.

Amongst the first teams to arrive in Kathmandu are the IMG squad which is already preparing to begin the trek to Base Camp. They met with officials from Nepal's Ministry of Tourism on Sunday and received their permits to climb both Everest and Lhotse. Over the next couple of days, the mountaineer will go through a series of briefings, spend some time getting to know one another and rest up from the long flights. They should depart KTM on Thursday, weather permitting.


Speaking of weather, one of the IMG Sherpas also shared a photo of the snow that continues to fall in heavy amounts this year. Colder weather and plenty of snow is a good thing for the climbers and will hopefully help them to avoid some of the issues that arose last spring when the warm, dry conditions made for a lot of falling rocks and loose scree on the mountain. Hopefully the harsher winter will make for a safer climbing environment in the weeks ahead.

The RMI team is also gathering in Kathmandu, where most had arrived by yesterday but they were still waiting for their fearless leader, Dave Hahn, to get into town. His flight was delayed, causing some issues, but nearly everyone else is there and preparing to depart on the trek. For Dave, this will be another full season on Everest and if successful, he'll have 15 total ascents of the peak. That would extend his record for the most by a non-Sherpa.

Finally, the Adventure Consultants are busy sorting gear and getting ready for the arrival of their team at the end of the week. They have squads heading to both Everest and Lhotse, so at the moment they are sorting gear and prepping for departure to BC early next week. They have a large group of Sherpas already on site at Base Camp and they have been busy preparing their site for the arrival of the climbers. By the time they get there, a small tent-city will have been erected to welcome them and make them comfortable. Those tents will serve as their home for the next two months.

That's all for now. Expect coverage to continue to expand over the next week or so. Things are about to get very busy in the Himalaya.

Everest 2013: Season Begins As Teams Trek To BC

The 2013 spring climbing season in the Himalaya is about to get underway as scores of climbers and trekkers began to descend on Kathmandu this weekend. They arrive at that colorful and bustling city as their last stop over before beginning their trek to Everest Base Camp or starting their transition to Tibet for those climbing on the North Side. Ahead of them is two months of hard work that will hopefully culminate with a successful summit sometime in mid to late May.

Last week I mentioned that Base Camp on the Nepali side of the mountain was already open and teams were starting to erect their tents there. But more importantly than that, the famed Everest Ice Doctors had already performed their Puja ceremony and have started work on route through the treacherous Khumbu Icefall. That section is one of the most dangerous on the mountain and climber must navigate it multiple times throughout the season. The Ice Doctors create the route by placing ladders across open crevasses in the icefall, which the teams then use to safely traverse the crumbling glacier. It is slow, difficult work to create the route and it must be maintained and adjusted throughout the season, which makes the role of Ice Doctors extremely important to the success of anyone hoping to summit.

Over the weekend, Alan Arnette posted a new blog story that shares insights about the trek to Everest Base Camp. He indicates that several teams are already on the trail and starting the hike to EBC, which can take anywhere from 7-10 days to complete. He also mentions how important that trek can be to the acclimatization process which is also crucial to the success of any climber.

It was on that trek in 1997 that Alan fell in love with the Himalaya. Little did he know that he would be back there on multiple occasions climbing several of those peaks – including Everest – himself. I'm sure he also had no idea that he would eventually be chronicling the expeditions to the mountain on an annual basis either. In this latest post, he shares his thoughts not only on the trek, but on an Everest climb as well. He talks about the camaraderie that is built with teammates on that adventure and the feeling of being in Base Camp when other climbers return, some triumphant and some defeated. it is a good read for those of us who will likely never get to experience that climb for ourselves and a nice piece to set the tone for the season to come.

Over the next week or so, there won't be a lot of news to report just yet. But as the teams arrive in BC on the South Side, they'll take very little time to rest before they start heading up the mountain. We're in the calm before the storm, but things are just about ready to get very busy indeed.

Everest 2013: South Side Base Camp Now Open!

A few days ago I mentioned that we were in a bit of a lull in the adventure world right now while we waited for the spring Himalayan season to commence. I indicated that things would really start to pick up around the first of April as the teams began arriving in Kathmandu. It seems I was a bit off on my estimation however, as one of the more prominent mountaineer companies has already established its place in Everest Base Camp on the South Side of the mountain.

In a blog post earlier today, Alan Arnette pointed out that IMG's Eric Simonson reported that his team had already established BC two days ago. The advance team of 14 Sherpas and 3 cooks are already on site and have staked out their campsite. They report that the area around Base Camp has changed even in the past few months as the Khumbu Glacier moves through the area. The staff has started to erect all the tents necessary for the IMG clients and will descend in a few days to pick-up more supplies as they arrive in Lukla.

IMG isn't the only team that is already in BC either. Eric indicated that the Sagarmartha Pollution Control Committee team is there as well and preparing to get started on their all important work. The SPCC is in charge of building the route through the Khumbu Icefall and their Sherpas, collectively known as the Ice Doctors, have already gone to work. The team held their Puja ceremony on Sunday and with that formality out of the way they are now cleared to begin moving up the mountain. They'll spend the next few weeks building a safe route through the icefall so that when the climbers begin arriving, they'll be able to move up to Camp 1 as soon as possible.

Alan also broke the news that Russian climbers Gleb Sokolov and Alexander Kirikov have cancelled their expedition to Everest this year. They had hoped to climb a new route along the East Face in alpine style and without oxygen but the duo were unable to find the funding that they needed. They hope to give it another go next year.

It seems early in the season to be getting reports from Base Camp already, but I believe this is the nature of Everest these days. Teams want to get their camps established as early as possible and they want their clients to be happy and comfortable when they arrive. The climbers won't begin to shuffle in until around the first of the month, or even later, but the Sherpas are already hard at work. I'm sure the streets of Kathmandu are jumping with anticipation at the moment as that city is about to be over run with climbers and trekkers. It's good to see the start of the season is so close now.

Alan Arnette Interviews Richard Salisbury - The Man Behind The Himalayan Database

As I've mentioned before, Alan Arnette is the best source of news and information on Everest, both leading up to the start of the spring season and while it is in full swing. As usual, Alan is getting us all ready for another year on the Big Hill by sharing some insightful interviews prior to the start of this year's expeditions. One of those interviews, posted earlier this week, is with a man you've probably never heard of, but whose impact on Himalayan mountaineering is undeniable.

The subject of Alan's latest interview is Richard Salisbury who works closely with the one and only Miss Elizabeth Hawley. For those who don't know Elizabeth Hawley, she is the preeminent expert on mountaineering the Himalaya, having spent more than 50 years in Kathmandu cataloging climbs and verifying just who has, and who hasn't summited. Quite frankly, if Miss Elizabeth says you haven't summited, no one else in the world is going to believe your story either.

Salisbury first met Hawley back in 1991 when he was planning a climb up Annapurna IV. At the time, he shared a spreadsheet he was using to keep track of the details of his climb, and he suggested that Hawley should start using a database to track all of the records that she was keeping of the big climbs in the Himalaya. She told him that she already had a grad student on that very project, but when the student moved to the U.S. to attend university, the project hit a wall.  In 1992, she and Salisbury reconnected and he began working on what would become the Himalayan Database, the most comprehensive expedition archive of the region.

This database has become the definitive work and lasting legacy of Elizabeth Hawley and it is used by climbers, guides, media outlets, writers and numerous other people to keep track of what happens on Everest and the other big Himalayan peaks each year. In the interview, Richard talks about the origins of the project, problems with false summits, how Everest has become increasingly safer to climb and a whole lot more.

For Everest junkies this will be a fascinating read. Lots of good insight and statistical information from a man who has a long history of climbing and trekking in the Himalaya and working with a woman who knows more than probably anyone else on the subject.

Everest Icefall Doctor Ang Nima Sherpa Passes Away

I'd be remiss if I didn't post the news that renowned Everest Icefall Doctor Ang Nima Sherpa has passed away. According to a statement posted on the Asian Trekking website, he died in his home village of Pangboche on January 25 at the age of 59.

For years, Ang Nima was the lead Icefall Doctor, a group of Sherpas whose job it is to find, build and maintain a safe path through the Khumbu Icefall each climbing season on Everest and Lhotse. The Icefall is the most dangerous section of the mountain and without the tireless efforts of the "doctors" it would be virtually impossible for most climbers to even attempt Everest or its neighbor. The team of Sherpas works early in the season to find a stable route through the dangerous section of the climb, located just above Base Camp. Using carefully placed ladders and ropes, the Docs create a route through to the other side. But the icefall shifts and moves on an almost daily basis, which means they must constantly check their route and make sure that it is passable at all times.

As you can imagine, this is an extremely dangerous job and more climbers have lost their lives in the icefall than on any other section of the mountain. In addition to being tough and hard working, these Sherpas have nerves of steal while operating in an environment that requires a calm presence at all times. Ang Nima Sherpa was the best of the best of these men and his leadership will be missed in the upcoming Everest season.

My condolences to his friends and family, not to mention the entire mountaineering community, for this loss.

Irish Adventurers Complete Epic Journey From Istanbul To Shanghai

There has been a lot of chatter lately about the overuse of the word "epic." If you want to know the true definition of that word, then look no further than this story about two Irish adventurers who made an incredible journey from Istanbul, Turkey to Shanghai, China – finishing up yesterday.

Maghnus Collins and David Burns set out on their long distance odyssey last March with a plan to cover the 14,000 km (8700 miles) on bike, foot and water. Their journey took them along the old Silk Road trade route between Europe and Asia, crossing over the Himalaya and rafting down one of the most iconic rivers in the world – the Yangtze. Along the way they helped raise nearly €25,000 ($33,450) for Self Help Africa, an organization dedicated to helping rural Africa gain economic strength.

Collins and Burns' called their expedition Sand2Snow Adventures. The duo rode their bikes across the first stage, covering 8000 km (4970 miles) from Istanbul to Kathmandu before transitioning to foot. They then proceeded to run an additional 1000 km (621 miles), at one point running 25 marathons in 27 days across the Himalaya and Tibetan Plateau. Finally, they finished up their journey by rafting more than 6300 km (3914 miles) down the Yangtze, ending on the Bund in Shanghai. That was quite a contrast to earlier sections of the journey when they encountered no other living souls for days on end. At one point, while on the river, they actually traveled for 17 straight days without seeing another person. 

On this excursion the two men faced a host of challenges in addition to the physical, mental and geographical ones that you would expect. For instance, at one point they lost their raft that included much of their gear, including Collins' passport. While running through the Himalaya they also wore "appalling blisters" on their feet and after one particular run Collins was even pissing blood. In the end, they were even racing the clock, as their Chinese visas were set to expire in just a few days and it was important that they reach the finish line before they did.

Sounds like it was an amazing experience and I'm sorry I wasn't following it more closely when it was going on. Better late than never I suppose. Congratulations to Maghnus and David on a job well done.