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Upcoming Trips-

We try to keep the momentum going here at SummitClimb, so would like to mention a few upcoming trips:

We are now working toward our July trip to Mustagata, the world's easiest 7500 metre, 25,000 foot peak, which is perfect for snowshoeing, skiing, racquetting, and snowboarding. The leader is Mustagata expert Jon Otto, who has climbed it 8 times and speaks fluent English and Chinese. There is still time to join our team of men and women from around the world, if you hurry. Climbing Mustagata would qualify you for Mount Everest (photo right by Brad Jackson: Mustagata seen from acclimatization camp at 3600 metres/11,800 feet with Karakul Lake reflecting the mountain).

For the autumn, in September we encourage you to join us on Cho Oyu , the world's sixth highest and most accessible of the fourteen highest mountains, known as 8000 metre, 26,000 foot high mountains. Cho Oyu is located beside Mount Everest. Also in September we offer an expedition to Shishapangma, the lowest of the 8000 metre peaks, and located next to Cho Oyu. The leaders will be me, Dan Mazur and Samuli Mansikka, both of whom have multiple ascents of Cho Oyu, Shishapangma, and Everest. We are relaxed friendly and very competent and safe leaders. This is our 8th Cho Oyu expedition and our 3rd Shishapangma expedition. So please let us know and come on and join our fun group of men and women from around the world. Doing these climbs would qualify you for Mt. Everest. Oh by the way, we heard a rumour that a few members might want to ski these. Wow, that might be something to watch. back to top

In October, we offer the exciting climb of 7000 metre, 23,000 foot high, Mount Ama Dablam, known as Asia's most famous rock, ice, and snow peak. It's a technical mountain, but very climbable. We fix rope from camp 1 to the summit, and the hardest move is French 4, British severe, or North American 5.7 . Our leader is Summit Climb expert and all around nice guy Arnold Coster. This is our 12th Ama Dablam expedition and we have had great success with this peak. It's a really fun and accomplishable technical climb, there is no snow-slogging as basecamp is on grass. This has become a very popular climb for technical climbers who want to test their skills safely at altitude. So please come on and join our fun group of men and women from around the world. Climbing Ama Dablam would qualify you for Mt. Everest. back to top

Well, I could go on about exciting trips we have coming up in spring of 2009 like Lhakpa-Ri and the North-Col for those who want to try their hand at 7000 metre, 23,000 foot high peak climbing, get qualified for Mt Everest, or perhaps even transition right to Mount Everest or Cho Oyu immediately afterward. This has become a very popular trip for us. back to top

Today Mike Browder and the Sherpa rescue team returned to basecamp. Thank heavens Mike and the Sherpas seem to be OK. Tired but OK.

The Everest marathon began in basecamp yesterday with 146 participants (Dan Mallory).

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Latest update:

We were able to speak directly with Mike Browder. He and the sherpa rescue team are carefully and slowly working their way down the Lhotse face. His condition seems to be stable. We hope the team and Mike will reach camp 2 before nightfall. By the way, Mike Browder, Pasang, and Lakpa apparently did reach the summit of Mt Everest at 10:00 am on the morning of 28 May. Our congratulations. However, lets not get caught up in any kind of celebration just yet, until this rescue is over and the team is safely back in basecamp.

Thank you very much.

...

At 4:00 am this morning we heard that Mike is on the South Col with 4 sherpas and they are preparing to help Mike down the mountain to camps 3 and 2. We sent an additional sherpa, Tenzing, up with more supplies and oxygen to assist, so Mike will now have 5 sherpas helping him. We are doing all we can to get him down and send Mike and the rescue team all of our prayers. back to top

Additional members of the five-person rescue team reach Mike Browder, carrying extra oxygen, food, water, and medical supplies. The five person sherpa rescue team is made up of Sherpas Pasang Gyalu, Lakpa Gyalu, Jangbu, Gyalzen and Tenji. After summitting Everest, Mike may have been suffering from exhaustion, bronchitis, hypoxia, and night-snowblindness. (Mike Browder).

Worrisome news:

Mike Browder seems to be in trouble on the south summit. He's with Pasang Sherpa and Lakpa Sherpa, two of our best. It seems he is snow blind, and they are trying to get him down. As soon as we heard the news, we sent two more sherpas, Gyelzen and Sangay up from camp 2 to camp 4 with extra oxygen, food, water, and emergency equipment. We are very worried and doing everything possible to get Mike down safely. Our prayers go out to Mr. Browder and the entire sherpa team. We will keep you informed.

Earlier:

At 6:00 am, Mike Browder, Pasang Gyalu Sherpa, and Lakpa Gyalu Sherpa radioed to say they were on the South Summit. We send all of our prayers and thoughts for their safe ascent to the summit, as well as descent. back to top

Laura Mallory and Pasang Sherpa summitted this morning at 9:00 am. The weather was perfect, sunny and calm. They returned to the south col at 4:30 pm. We congratulate them.

Mike Browder, Pasang (2) Sherpa, and Lakpa (2) Sherpa are camped on the South Col now and plan to head for the summit tonight at 8:00 pm. We pray for their safety and success. back to top

Arnold reports in live (click here to listen)

Hello SummitClimb news. This is Arnold again calling from camp 2 with some more good news.

This morning Laura Mallory summited at 9:00 a.m., which I think is really good. All of the Mallorys have made it to the summit now. Right now the Dan, Adam and Alan are back in camp 2 together with Linda.

Tonight Michael is still lined up for the summit with Lakpa Gyalu and Pasang Gyalu. Michael is going to be the last member from our team to try for the summit, so I wish him all of the best of luck. He is very strong, I have a lot of confidence in him, and I think tomorrow I will be calling in our last summit before we start packing up. So that’s it for now. Bye, bye. back to top

Hello SummitClimb news. This is Arnold calling again from camp 2.

First of all, I’d like to say that all of our members who summited on the 21st are safely back in camp 2. They all arrived yesterday afternoon. Matt, UK John, Irish John, Sophie, and Ken are all back here in camp 2 now.

I received good news this morning. Eric, Christian, Agnieska, Andrew, together with Phurba, Lakpa Norbu, and Dorje summited Everest this morning. Congratulations to them! It’s great news we are so successful in summiting this year.

Linda left camp 2 this morning to go for her summit attempt and Laura is trying to reach the South Col today. So in the next 2 days we will get some more summits hopefully. Once I have some more detailed news I will call in again. That’s it for now. Bye, bye. back to top

Hello SummitClimb news readers.

Today we got the official news the Chinese summited! That means all our restrictions to climb Everest and Lhotse are gone!

Tomorrow Ken, UK John, Irish John, Jo, Harris, Linda and Sofie will go to camp 2 to join Matt, Berry and the Mallory family, who are already on the way to C2. Camp 3 will be fixed on the 9th and our tents will probably be in place on the 10th or 11th (photo right by Aldas Baltutis: Arnold in Everest basecamp in 2007).

Everybody is very happy to start climbing again and spirits are very high.

On the 10th, Laura, Eric, Christian, Michael, Andrew, the Polish couple, Arnold and Maya will go up to C2. This way we have enough tent space in C3 and everybody will have a good night there.

Most members will come down after sleeping In C3 at 7200 metres/23,600 feet to have their final rest in basecamp before pushing to the summit.

So everybody is fine and we are all excited to start the final stage of our expedition! Cheers, Arnold. back to top

Hello Summitclimb news readers.

Today Our liaison officer in basecamp told us that 50 Chinese are in camp 3 right now to push to the summit tonight. They hope to summit on the 8th. This means if they summit tommorow we can move around freely again.

Tomorrow Matt and Berry will climb to camp 2 and the four Mallory´s go to camp 1 and then camp 2. 11 of our Sherpa's are in camp 2 waiting to get the "go" to fix camp 3. I think we will have it ready on the 10th, so we are only a little behind schedule and will catch up.

Slowly, through the following days, all members will go up and try to sleep in camp 3 at 7200 metres/23,600 feet. After this we will rest a final time in basecamp and try for the summit when the weather is good. Traditionally this is between the 20-25th of May, but we will see how the conditions are around that time.

We are working closely together with other team and will make the route to the summit together.

Wishing the team all of the best for a safe and successful ascent!!

All our members all healthy and strong and everybody wants to climb higher on the mountain soon! back to top

Hi Everyone.

5 of our team members are still in Dingboche resting, while all of the others are here. No one is allowed to climb to camp 3 yet, therefore the route is not fixed. Today we had a very good good Puja with the SummitClimb Lhotse team. They will go camp 1 tomorrow. The Everest members are bored, but we brought some refreshments from Pangboche to cheer them up. Maybe we will have a party in basecamp! back to top

Hello Summitclimb news. Here is the latest from Everest.

We have found out that camp 2 is opened up again, but we still have to wait for the Chinese to summit until we can go to camp 3. Right now they might try again on the 6th, from what we've heard.

The teams that are going to fix the route to camp 3 have already been made. Also, all ropes and other equipment are now in camp 2 ready to extend the route upwards. As soon as we can go it will just be a matter of one day to finish the route to the South Col.

Right now some of our members are resting in a lower village of Dingboche, while others are trying to stay busy in basecamp. In a couple of days, some of our members will go up to sleep in camp 2. Linda and the Mallory family still have to stay some more nights there before they can go up to camp 3.

So for most of us, we''re just waiting for the Chinese until we can continue our schedule. Thanks. Arnold. back to top

The Everest team is all down from the mountain. Everyone is doing well.

Linda has recovered and is feeling better, so she plans to move up with her Sherpa. Mike is our leader-in-training. He is doing a great job. Matt is feeling strong. Berry is feeling much better, after coming up to basecamp a bit too fast (his bags were lost in Heathrow Terminal 5 and have now arrived). Jo is feeling strong. Sophie is well. The Ottos are ok. The Mallory's have been working their way up the mountain, and Laura Mallory was looking very strong in Camp 2, go Laura! Laura Ross has been quite focused on staying healthy and getting properly acclimated. Andrew is staying the course. John from England is quite keen. John from Ireland is waiting for his chance. Agnieszka and Maciek are staying the course. Haris (who has not been able to speak his native greek to anyone for three weeks) is excited that he has another countryman to speak with, as Stefanos has just arrived with the Lhotse team. Ken wants to stay in basecamp and be ready when his turn comes. Most of the team are moving down to lower villages for a rest.

Many will go down to Dingoche. Arnold and Maya went to Pangboche for a much needed rest. Its been a tough year to lead the Everest team (and difficult to be a member of course), with all of the Olympic torch closures. Foriegn military jets are seen flying over the summit. A helicopter landed in basecamp with embassy officials on board, for an inspection of the basecamp.

There are checkpoints in the Khumbu where our team's luggage is being searched for communications equipment, cameras, flags, etcetera. Our Lhotse team is moving up, between Dughla and Lobuche, and they are looking strong. Go Lhotse team!

Down in Kathmandu our office has been contacting the ministries and embassies to monitor the situation. Ropes on the Tibet side of Everest are fixed to 8300 metres / 27,224 feet. Yesterday was too windy to summit, so the team is hoping to go for the summit on 2-3 May. After the Tibet-side team summits, then the mountain should theoretically reopen in short order. If they don't summit on 3 May, then they are hoping for another weather window on the 6th of May. Various officials are saying that the Nepal side of Everest could remain closed until 10 May, so no teams above basecamp until after 10 May. No one knows if that will be enforced. Everyone hopes this will not be the case. We will be monitoring the situation daily. back to top

The team is currently acclimating in camp 2.

All of of our members, except the Mallorys and Linda, made it to camp 2. They are all healthy and strong. The Mallorys are a little bit behind schedule, but they are sleeping in camp 1 right now and tomorrow they will come up to camp 2 for a short visit before returning to camp 1.

Unfortunately, Linda had a chest infection and couldn't make it to camp 2. Right now she is resting in a lower village with one of our kitchen staff to take care of her. We send her our best and hope she will recover soon.

So everybody is doing fine. This year, due to the Chinese Torch Parade on Everest, our dispatches are a bit less frequent, but don't worry, everyone is doing well so far. back to top

A view of our comfortable camp 2 looking up towards the Lhotse face (Bruce manning, 2007). Members wave in the Western Cwm between camp 1 and camp 2 (Dan Mazur, 2007).

This morning Ken, Andrew, John Shelton-Smith, John Dowd, Sophie, Matt, Tenji(1), Dawa, Tenji(2) and Ang Sherpa went to camp 1 and are planning to go to camp 2 tommorow!

The past three days our Sherpa's have been very busy carrying supplies to C2. We will have a small basecamp there.

Tommorow Laura, Linda, Arnold, Christian, Jo, Eric, Berry, Mike, Maciek, Agnieszka, Pasang (1), Pasang (2), Dorje and Maya Sherpa will go to C1 and on to C2. The Mallory's and Haris will follow on Sunday.

The mountain is probably going to be closed from the 1st of May until the Chinese Olympic Torch team summits, so we are just in time to get some more acclimatization. back to top

Hello Summitclimb news readers. This is Arnold again calling from Gorak Shep.

Most of our members have now slept in camp 1, at about 6000 metres/19,700 feet, and everybody did fine.

Our last 4 members, "the Mallory's", arrived in basecamp two days ago. They look strong and healthy.

Today they are trekking to Pumori ABC at about 5700 metres/18,700 feet to get some more altitude. After this they will probably practice on the ropes and ladder on the lower part of the ice-fall to get comfortable with this obstacle, before going to camp 1.

Right now the members who slept in camp 1 are resting, taking showers, and washing clothes. Normal basecamp life!

This morning 14 Sherpa's went up to pitch camp 2. They will put a full kitchen and about 16 tents there. This is going to be our 2nd Summitclimb village on the mountain. It will probably take about three days before our camp 2 is fully operational and our members can sleep there. Until then we will probably do small walks around basecamp.

We are not in a rush, as we are still a long way from climbing to the summit of Everest and Lhotse.

Cheers, Arnold back to top

We would like to send our sincere thanks to the Nepal Army for coordinating communications and assisting in the rescue of the ill sherpa. Things went very smoothly, thanks to them. We are grateful. back to top

The sherpa's rescue helicopter has arrived in Kathmandu. Many thanks to all of the sherpas and team members who helped out. Also a very heartfelt thank you and our deepest appreciation to the Nepal Air Force for a brilliant helicopter-rescue.

The doctor examined Gyelzen Sherpa and said he is OK, he just needs some rest. Gyelzen is able to walk, speak, eat, drink, and seems fine. He went back to his village to be with his family and the doctor will conduct a follow-up exam tomorrow. We wish him all of the best. Thank God. It seems this was not a very serious accident, and could have been much worse.

Today and tomorrow our entire Everest team plans to move into camp 1, and we wish them all of the best for a safe and successful journey through the Khumbu Icefall. back to top

A team members going up the fixed rope in the icefall towards camp 1 (Dan Mazur).

Mrs. Nima Sherpani telephoned us this morning to report that our team worked through the night to carry the ill sherpa down to Pheriche hospital.

Mr. Murari Sharma telephoned from Kathmandu airport to say the helicopter will takeoff shortly to bring the sherpa back to Kathmandu, where he will be immediately transferred to the Kathmandu hospital for further examination and treatment. back to top

On a worrisome note: A sherpa, Gyelzen (1) Sherpa, has suffered an apparent stroke at 11:00 am on 17 April, 2008 at the top of the icefall. He was going up to camp 1, but did not reach there. Instead, he lay down on the trail at around 5800 metres/19,000 feet and complained he could not feel the right side of his body. He is unable to walk and his right side seems to be paralysed. 20 sherpas working together carried him back to basecamp and we are sending a helicopter for him now. We are very concerned about his safety and are working to evacuate him to the hospital in Kathmandu as soon as possible.

We are very mysified that this happened, as he climbed to the summit of Everest in 2006 and 2007 with no trouble. In addition, during today's journey to camp 1, he was not carrying a partcularly heavy rucksack, nor was he climbing too fast, as he was together with the group. His age is 39 years old.

On a more upbeat note (not to diminish in any way the tragic happenings of the day), 5 members and three sherpas moved to camp 1 at 5950 metres/19,500 feet, where they are safely spending the night. These are:

• Ken,
• Haris,
• Andrew,
• John Dowd,
• John Shelton-Smith,
• Dawa Sherpa,
• Tenji (1) Sherpa,
• Phurba Sherpa.

Sending our best wishes to the team and everyone in Everest basecamp, especially to all of those who lent their kind help. back to top

Hi SummitClimb news readers.

The army gave us permission to go on, so we are planning to install camp 1 and sleep there tomorrow with the first group of 5. Today most members relaxed, took a day hike to explore the hills around basecamp or went into the icefall to perfect their skills.

So I don't have much news right now, but tomorrow I should have more. Arnold back to top

15 April, 2008

Today we had the big meeting with the military.

This is what they said:

• Radios are allowed, but we have to give them one so they can listen in on our conversations.
• No Sat-phones or Rbgan until 10th of May. They want us to hand them over.
• No camera's or video until the 10th of May.
• We can't climb above camp 2 until the 10th of May, but Sherpa's are allowed to fix ropes up to the South Col between 06:00 a.m. and 18:00 p.m.
• Everybody will get a liaison officer but they are delayed in arriving in basecamp because of the elections. They will inspect our camp for sat phones, Rbgans, etc., but they will respect the privacy of our member's tents.
• There will be a check post at Gorak Shep and all trekkers will be checked and are not allowed to bring their camera's to basecamp.
• If the Chinese torch team summits early then we can just go ahead before the 10th of May. Right now the Chinese are planning to summit on 28 April.

Dear SummitClimb news readers,

Today we went into the Khumbu Icefall for the first time. I think the route is great and a lot easier than previous times I was here. All of the members enjoyed playing with the ropes and ladders a lot.

Yesterday most of our members went to Pumori ABC, which lies at about 5700 metres/18,700 feet, thus making today's walk in the icefall a lot easier.

We are not allowed yet to climb to camp 1 until the army arrives here. They are going to keep an eye on the climbers here on the south side, so nobody does anything bad to the torch climb on the other side of Everest.

I think tomorrow we will have another meeting in basecamp and then be able to proceed to C1.

That is all for now. I'll write again as soon I have more news. back to top

Practicing on ropes and ladders in the icefall (Arnold Coster).
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Hello Summitclimb news readers.

Today our plan was to walk to Kala Patar and see the nice views of Everest, but when we woke up this morning it was snowing. So we decided to spend our day training and learning different rope techniques. We climbed some ice, trained rappelling and, most importantly, we practiced how to walk on the ladders in the Khumbu Icefall.

Everybody enjoyed getting their equipment out of their duffle bags to finally climb something.

Also, Berry arrived in basecamp today. He was stuck in Kathmandu because his luggage had not arrived yet. He looks healthy and strong and it's good to have him on the team with us.

Now our plan is to go to Kala Patar tomorrow if the weather is nice. If not, we will play around in the icefall again. The 'Icefall Doctors' haven’t finished fixing the icefall with ladders and ropes, so we can't go to C1 safely as of yet.

That is it for now. back to top

Hello Summitclimb news readers.

We have been in basecamp for two days and are enjoying the comforts.

People are washing clothes and taking showers. Our basecamp is very big with about 35 personal tents for staff and members. Each member has their own private tent that does not have to be shared. We have one huge and comfortable dining tent for members, one for staff, two kitchens, two showers and three toilets (Photo right by Arnold Coster: The view of the mountains after fresh snow).

Yesterday we had a big "puja" ceremony and our expedition got blessed by a Lama (Buddhist priest). It was also a social gathering for staff and members. We had some drinks and snacks, relaxed and celebrated the start of our expedition.

Today we did some medical training. We practiced with the gamow bag. This is a portable hyperbaric pressure chamber. In this bag we can simulate a descent of 1500 metres/5000 feet if members become ill from altitude. We also talked about high altitude medicine.

Tomorrow we will go for an acclimatization hike to Kala Patar, a rocky 5545 metre/18,200 foot high outcrop near basecamp. From here we will have a good view of our climbing route.

So everybody is fine and I think we have a great team! back to top

Our puja ceremony in basecamp and members resting afterwards (Arnold Coster).

Hello SummitClimb news.

On our walk from Pangboche to Pheriche we got about 3 inches of fresh snow, which made it pretty tough, but it was also a great adventure. Luckily, when we arrived in Pheriche, there was a hot stove waiting for us and our cooks prepared us an excellent meal.

After a good night's sleep in Pheriche, we woke up in the morning and the sun was shining again, with all of the high peaks around us covered in a fresh layer of snow. We had a beautiful hike to Dughla with nobody having any trouble with the altitude.

We had a good meal and sat around the stove again. After a good night's sleep we walked to Lobuche, where we plan to stay tonight. We saw our first views of Everest, Nuptse, Lhotse, and Pumori here. Everybody is getting very excited to reach basecamp tomorrow.

Tomorrow is going to be a tough walk, taking about 8 hours to reach basecamp. There are rumors that basecamp is not very busy, which is good for us and I'm sure our sherpas have reserved a very nice spot for us. So until we reach basecamp, that's it for now. Everybody is doing great and we're having a good time. I'll call you again from basecamp. This was Arnold. Bye, bye. back to top

Hello SummitClimb news. This is Arnold, the leader of the Everest/Lhotse Expedition 2008.

I'm calling from Pangboche at about 3950 metres/13,000 feet and it's a snowy day. All of the members have left and are walking to Pheriche today, 4200 metres/13,900 feet. Everybody is doing fine and we are strong and healthy.

Yesterday we had a big puja ceremony led by the lama here in Pangboche and the expedition got blessed, so we are good to go now to base camp. We decided to stay one extra night in Pangboche because we had some problems getting enough porters and yaks. All of the teams are moving up at the same time because of the permits being issued so late this year. While creating some minor logistical problems in the valley for others, it's not going to affect our expedition at all.

Mr. Kaji Tamang, our field supervisor telephoned today. Due to heavy snowfall, the team stayed put in Pangboche today, and did not move up.

Hopefully the snow will clear so the team can move up tomorrow. Thanks for reading.

Hello SummitClimb news readers, I am Arnold the leader of the Everest / Lhotse expedition.

On 1 April, after a rainy start in Lukla, we all arrived dry in Phakding the same day. Everybody was very happy to be on the trail in the fresh mountain air!

After a quiet night of good sleep, the whole team walked up to Namche Bazar at about 3500 metres on 2 April. Although this is a steep hike, the whole team did great. I think we have a strong group this year.

On 3 April we spent our day relaxing in Namche Bazar. This is the last big village on the way to basecamp. It has a nice market some good restaurants and bars, and the hiking around town is great with some good views of Ama Dablam, Everest and Lhotse.

On 4 April, we will walk to Pangboche, which is about a 6 hour walk from Namche. On the way we will pass the monastary of Tengboche. This will be an interesting stop on the way.

We will stay in a nice lodge with great views of Ama Dablam and the south face of Nuptse and Lhotse.

So everything is going well and all of our team members are having a great time.

The team made it to Namche Bazaar. It was a beautiful trek. They plan to rest tomorrow. Thanks for reading!

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Our team flew to Lukla today on a beautiful sunny morning. Everyone was very pleased to be getting out of Kathmandu and beginning their expedition.

Looking forward to an enjoyable trek to basecamp. back to top

Our team boarding the plane for Lukla (Dan Mazur).

Today we gathered the entire group together and had a nice breakfast and then all of our expedition and trek leaders, as well as office staff presented an orientation session to the members and helped them finish their shopping and packing. We are ready to go! We had a delicious final banquet, said goodbye to our new friends in Kathmandu and went back to the hotel to get to bed early.

Tomorrow, April 1st, we will fly up to Lukla first thing in the morning to begin our trek. Kathmandu has been lovely, warm and peaceful, a very interesting city, and we will miss it very much. However, we will look forward to the next chapter: trekking to bascamp. We will keep in touch. Thanks for reading! back to top

Hello, this is Dan Mazur from SummitClimb.com writing to you from a beautiful and peaceful Kathmandu.

More of our team members are arriving in Kathmandu, and our staff has been meeting their flights and bringing them to the hotel. We have been checking the members equipment and clothing, as well as helping them purchase/hire any missing bits and pieces. We all went out to dinner and had lots of fun. Our team orientation is scheduled for tomorrow morning, and we are looking forward to having our team all together.

We fly to Lukla tomorrow, on the 1st of April to begin our trek to basecamp. Thanks for reading and we will send more news tomorrow. back to top

Hello, this is Dan Mazur from SummitClimb.com writing to you.

Our team members are arriving in Kathmandu, and our staff has been meeting their flights and bringing them to the hotel. We all went out to dinner last night and had lots of fun. More members are due to arrive tomorrow, and our expedition orientation meeting is scheduled for the morning of the 31st.