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South Col Expedition Dispatches

Tejas

Prittie

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The Sound of Ice Falls
Monday, May 29, 2000
"...it's also been three days of the valley reverberating in the sound of ice falls off the massive ice cliffs, along the sides of the upper Khumbu Valley..."

It's Just Us and the Goraks
Friday, May 26, 2000
"It's always a happy and a sad thing when a good expedition is over because it's been a good time, but there are things in the future that we of course all need to get back to...."

Sucking on Oxygen the Real Way
Wednesday, May 24, 2000
"It is really good to be down here and be off bottled oxygen. We are just looking forward to a wonderful evening..."

Summit Night: Play by Play from Base Camp
Wednesday, May 24, 2000
"For myself, this has to be one of the hardest nights/days I've ever spent. I start monitoring the radio at about 8:30pm, about an hour before the team left the South Col...."

Al Hanna Pleased with South Summit
Wednesday, May 24, 2000
"Boy, talk about a happy Al Hanna. He was smokin' on his way down...."

Vern Tejas Reports on Summit Attempt
Tuesday, May 23, 2000  6:06pm Nepal Time
"...We're very pleased we had a successful climb and Al Hanna is happy to make the South Summit, as am I and it's Willi's first time as well...."

Team Safely Back at South Col
Tuesday, May 23, 2000  3:32pm Nepal Time
"We just got the call from Camp IV up at the South Col that everybody has now returned to the South Col...."

Hanna Turns Around at South Summit
Tuesday, May 23, 2000  1:24pm Nepal Time
"The big news is that Al Hanna made it as far as the South Summit..."

Approaching the South Summit
Tuesday, May 23, 2000  7:36am Nepal Time
"...I'm assuming that they're moving on ahead and we'll hear from them again shortly...."

Team Reaches Balcony
Tuesday, May 23, 2000  4:11am Nepal Time
"...this is Willi reporting from 27,500 feet [Unintelligible] the Southeast Ridge [Unintelligible] difficult conditions today, lots of deep snow, lots of trail breaking..."

Team Just Below the Balcony
Tuesday, May 23, 2000  2:30am Nepal Time
"We just heard a brief call from Willi, it was hard to hear him...But Dawa relayed through from Camp II and it sounds like they're still below the Balcony...."

Off on the Big Event
Monday, May 22, 2000
"Everybody is definitely pysched... and ready to go, so we're off on the big event here...."

May Summit Within Hours
Monday, May 22, 2000
"...although it's snowing here at base Camp, they are right at the top of the clouds and are planning to leave in about two hours for the summit...."

Sound Asleep at Camp IV
Sunday, May 21, 2000
"...We have not heard from the climbing team at 9:30, so we're assuming that they're all sound asleep plugged into their oxygen bottles. So we're going to do the same here...."

Snow May Delay Summit Tonight
Sunday, May 21, 2000
"...in a couple hours we'll be talking to them and seeing if the weather has changed at all. But at this point it looks like it's pretty well settled in, and we're not expecting really to see a summit attempt tonight, but we'll find out for sure...."

Team Reaches South Col
Sunday, May 21, 2000
"...We're at the South Col. ...between two high points, the high points in this case are Lhotse and Mount Everest...Unfortunately, we've been...we 've got wind, we've got snow just drifting around..."

Toward the Yellow Band
Sunday, May 21, 2000
"...We are traversing to the Yellow Band now, which is a very famous, prominent feature, below the Geneva Spur, which is in turn below the South Col..."

The Difference a Little Oxygen Makes
Sunday, May 21, 2000
"...We will be climbing on oxygen as well today, so that should ease the task of getting up to 8000 meters..."

Moving Up, Slowly but Surely
Saturday, May 20, 2000
"...we're moving up slowly but surely...all day after climbing up steep, blue ice..."

Countdown to Summit: 3 Days
Friday, May 19, 2000
" Summit anticipation is growing, excitement is growing, and we're definitely ready for the next few days. So the plan tomorrow is to head up to Camp III and the following day..."

Sleep Mandatory at 21,000 Feet
Thursday, May 18, 2000
"Sleep is ever, ever important and it's actually very hard to do up here...."

Intense Sun at Camp I
Wednesday, May 17, 2000
"...we actually were able to watch a black plastic bag — outside at Camp I — melt in the sun. Never quite seen that before, but we were definitely glad when the clouds rolled in..."

Rare Chopper Medevac
Tuesday, May 16, 2000
"Boy has it been exciting around here. Why, just yesterday we had a chopper fly in and do a medevac, take a guy out who had a blood clot in his leg..."

Korean Team Summits
Tuesday, May 16, 2000
"We've had a pretty good boost to that psychological preparation: today the first team has actually, finally, summitted Mount Everest..."

Happy Mother's Day
Sunday, May 14, 2000
"The big thing is, we'd just like to say hello to all of our mothers out there and wish you a Happy Mother's Day..."

Back to Base Camp
Saturday, May 13, 2000
"We hope to be making Base Camp this afternoon again after our rest and acclimation foray down to low elevation...."

Weather May Finally Allow Summits
Friday, May 12, 2000
"And we're believing that some people are heading toward the summit today, which could be good because that would get a few of the other groups up and out of our way so that we could be up there with no traffic come the Hillary Step...."

Recovering in Dingboche
Thursday, May 11, 2000
"...we are resting and recuperating. We are so recuperated that our pulse rates have dropped and our oxygen saturations have come up..."

The Downside of Acclimatization
Wednesday, May 10, 2000
"So we are taking a vacation from Base Camp here at 14,500 feet. The air is not only thicker..."

South Col Climbers Turned Back
Monday, May 8, 2000
"The weather here continues to be a pretty mixed bag and all parties today who have tried to summit from the South Col have actually been turned back due to deep snow on the route below 27,000 feet...."

Feeling Acclimatized and Philosophical
Sunday, May 7, 2000
"This morning we were blessed with a great philosophical discussion over breakfast, led by Al Hanna himself, who happens to be the chief emcee of philosophical discussions on the mountain...."

Sherpa Makes Summit Attempt
Saturday, May 6, 2000
"As far as movement on the climbing route on the upper mountain, we did have a report from our staff at Camp II that Babu Chirri Sherpa actually did try a summit attempt today and was turned back..."

Step by Step to Camp III
Thursday, May 4, 2000
"...one step at a time it was today as we climbed from Camp II to Camp III, up the Lhotse Face. We're perched now at Camp III..."

Weather Fluctuates at Camp II
Wednesday, May 3, 2000
"So if these conditions continue, obviously we won't be going up. But we're hoping we'll have moderately good weather tomorrow so we can continue advancing up the mountain...."

The Real Action from Base Camp
Wednesday, May 3, 2000
"A typical day begins with one of us having to grit our teeth and roll out of our nice warm sleeping bag a full 20 minutes before the sun hits to answer the 7:15am radio call..."

Climbers at a Standstill
Tuesday, May 2, 2000
"The whole mountain has come to a standstill, no one is climbing, only a few people have descended from Camp III...."

Camp II: Listening to the Glacier
Tuesday, May 2, 2000
"And all of our camps so far...are in fact on actively moving, live glaciers right now. That's also brought home during the night, while you're sleeping, there's a lot of groans and pops and cracks of the natural, audible evidence of the ice as it flows, moving down valley..."

Through the Icefall to Camp I
Sunday, April 30, 2000
"Unlike the last week where we've been acclimatizing down low, we actually did some climbing today back up through the Icefall to Camp I..."

Team to Move to Camp I
Sunday, April 30, 2000
"...we are heading out this morning, and our plan is one night at Camp I, two nights at Camp II, and one night at Camp III..."

Keeping in Control at Base Camp
Friday, April 28, 2000
"...we're still trying to keep ourselves under control, and making sure that we spend plenty of time laying a good acclimation base..."

Learning to Think Backwards
Thursday, April 27, 2000
"It's absurd, crazy to think that you are going to go up to altitude and have the correct mental functions and then have to think backwards..."

Weather, Acclimatization on Upswing
Thursday, April 27, 2000
"But for the moment, we're still trying to keep ourselves under control, and making sure that we spend plenty of time laying a good acclimation base, and making sure that we don't get up too high too soon..."

Undertaking the Challenge of a Lifetime
Wednesday, April 26, 2000
"...we are getting ready to undertake one of the most challenging things we've done in our lives...."

Trail Covered with Snow
Tuesday, April 25, 2000
"The Icefall, of course, changed somewhat with the new snowfall — things were falling over — and we made haste where we could..."

A Sunny Easter Day at 21,000 Feet
Sunday, April 23, 2000
"We're at about 6,400 meters. The acclimation day's activities almost began with a disaster, kite flying was interrupted as the 50 pound test cord snapped in the gust...."

Looking up the Lhotse Wall
Saturday, April 22, 2000
"From where we camp now at Camp II at 6,450 meters above sea level, we can look up the Lhotse wall, it rises above us for thousands of feet...."

Expedition Update and Bird Report
Friday, April 21, 2000
"I was hoping to see Tibetan snow cocks when we passed through Gorak Shep. We've seen them there before but this time no luck. They are a spectacular large bird..."

Al Hanna: Climbing for the Love of Climbing
Thursday, April 20, 2000
Dan Morrison Interview of Al Hanna at Base Camp: "Sometimes it's all worth it, and this seems the perfect career. Like today, when I got to meet Al Hanna... he hopes to reach the summit just a few weeks before his 70th birthday..."

Glorious Climb to Camp I
Thursday, April 20, 2000
"We are dispatching via radio from Camp I at 6035 meters, approximately up in the base of the Western Cwm. We had an absolutely glorious trip up...."

Anticipating the Khumbu Icefall
Wednesday, April 19, 2000
"Tomorrow the plan is to start very early, get up at 4 o'clock and out at 5, go up through the Khumbu Icefall, get through the danger sections before the sun comes out and starts warming things up..."

Ladder Training and Patience
Tuesday, April 18, 2000
"The acclimatization process takes time, and of course all of us climbers want to start climbing almost immediately...But today, I will patiently take a little bit of a hike...."

Surrealistic Landscape of the Icefall
Monday, April 17, 2000
"...to actually climb over these ladders spanning these crevasses... it's a very different experience than using the same ladder to clean the leaves out of the gutter at home...."

Climbers Check Their Gear
Sunday, April 16, 2000
"...you have to walk on top of these things wearing crampons and a full pack. It's a bit tricky...."

Khumbu in Good Shape
Saturday, April 15, 2000
"The icefall looks to be in very good condition — the Khumbu — as over the last few years it has gotten a little more benign...."

Base Camp Birthday
Friday, April 14, 2000
"...we are at Everest Base Camp, a very large milestone on our way to what we hope will be the summit...."

GO TO DISPATCHES: April 1-13, 2000; Trekking to Base Camp