| Everest 2009 Recap Article |
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| Page Type: Article Activities: Mountaineering | Page By: Alan Arnette Created/Edited: May 24, 2009 / Jun 2, 2009 Object ID: 515705 Hits: 6409  Loading... Page Score: 89.63% - 39 Votes Loading... Vote: Log in to vote |
IntroductionThis is a summary of the 2009 spring climbing season on Everest. As some SP readers know, I have climbed on Everest three times reaching 27,200 as my highest.
Each year, I do a daily coverage of the expeditions where I try to provide some insight into what is going on. If you want to read the details on 2009 or any previous year since 2002, visit my site.
To be clear, my motivation is to raise awareness and research money for Alzheimer's disease. If you enjoy this article, please consider a donation.
For more information on my efforts with Alzheimer's or to join in climbing to raise money, visit this link
Climb On!
Alan
2009 Season SummaryThe summary is – it was a good year. Now for the details.
Overall this was one of the safest seasons in the past few years in spite of some difficult weather that created a long delay in early May. There were over 330 summits and sadly 5 deaths on Everest and one on Lhotse.
Similar to 2008, the Chinese Tibet Mountaineering Association (CTMA) changed rules and gave vague guidance to teams during the critical planning period resulting in almost all of the major north side operators making the switch to Nepal. That fueled speculation of overcrowding, bottlenecks and record summits and record deaths. And in the end it was just speculation.
While the route was crowded during the peak summit days of May 19th and 20th, it was somewhat orderly for such a potential mess. The Sherpas, Sirdars, veteran guides and expedition operators worked together to put in redundant fixed lines on the critical sections and even attached permanent bolts into the Yellow Band to improve safety and speed up the climbers.
Cheers went up in base camp when on May 5th; the fixed line was taken all the way to the summit by a consortium of Sherpas thus clearing the way for the masses to summit. British climber David Tait climbed along with them marking the first western summit of the season. Excited talk of an early summit year worked its way throughout the community.
However as always in mountaineering, the mountain and the weather have the last word.
This year it was the Icefall and a dangerous hanging serac that threatened climbers on every trip through the Khumbu Icefall. Report after report commented on the ominous threat and climbers adjusted their schedule to climb in the coldest and darkest part of the early morning to avoid being underneath it when the warming rays of the sun came out. It seemed that small avalanches were taking place daily somewhere on the route. Was global warming real and Everest a casualty?
And then it finally occurred and on May 7 it came crashing down directly onto the lower third of the Icefall sweeping away three climbers. Sadly Lhapka Sherpa, husband and father of three, was killed and his body never recovered. Several climbers were so shaken by this event they aborted their climbs.
Veteran Himalayan operator Russell Brice was so concerned about this danger that he had a different plan from day one. He allowed the majority of his team to enter the Icefall only twice – once for acclimatization to camp 3 and another during their summit bids. They did the rarely used approach of using a nearby trekking peak, Lobuche, for the majority of their acclimatization. In the end almost every member of the team summited.
After the serac fell, there was a slight feeling of relief since the obvious danger was now dramatically reduced. Climbers continued their acclimatization programs in earnest with endless sorties through the Icefall and the eventual night at camp 3 on the Lhotse Face.
When it all started to look good, the weather moved in and sat on Everest bringing everything to a screeching halt.
On the Tibet side it was abnormally quiet. Western teams dealt with delays crossing the boarder and receiving their final permits. But finally they made it to the Tibetan Chinese Base Camp in mid to late April. The CTMA took on the role of fixing the rope so the teams watched and waited while using the time by taking their acclimatization climbs to the North Col. Information was sparse and details, cryptic.
Teams on the south waited out the storms down valley in the teahouses and enjoyed the relative oxygen-rich air and sleeping off the ground. But they knew they had to return so one by one the teams all returned the base camp always glancing up to see what the day brought. The drama was notched up when two Nepalese cooks were reportedly poisoned by illegally brewed whiskey – one was saved but one died, Kaji Sherpa. A sad cloud dropped over base camp.
Weather windows started to appear but they were short and narrow. One small team from IMG bravely tried to squeeze into one and made an impressively quick climb to the South Col only to be turned back by howling winds. This false start gave everyone room for pause.
Then weather forecasters far away from Everest gave the green light for summits starting on May 19th – and they were right. For the next four days, team after team made the long cold climb from the South Col to the summit. Overall the climbers enjoyed a safe season but a few climbers needed help and a few rescues took place. It felt like there were a few more helicopter evacuations from base camp than in prior years.
While every climber is special, a few stood out with their achievements. Apa Sherpa made his 19th summit – the most ever; Dave Hahn – his 11th, the most of a non-Sherpa. Sir Ranulph Fiennes – the British exploration legend who made it on his third try at age 65. Dawes Eddy at 66 became the oldest American to summit but then Bill Burke reset the record the next day at age 67. And then we had a covey of 17 year-olds make the top as well.
Korean Park Young-seok opened a new route variation on the Southwest Face after three previous failed attempts since 1991. Mr. Park is another rare adventurer with the true Grand Slam under his belt - North and South Poles plus all 14 of the 8000m peaks.
A mystery was the Kazakhstan team who was looking to do the first true traverse from Lhotse to Everest and back down the West ridge. Theirs was a world-class team. Reports were sketchy throughout their climb and maybe ended with a fuzzy message about "...It doesn't matter, who's summited and what has he summited. We need only the team success. Somebody was already looking at himself as on the winner...". After the last south side effort of the 2009 season, they surrendered to bad weather on May 26 and returned to base camp. One climber, Serguey Samoilov, reportedly died on the Lhotse climb. Eleven climbers died across various peaks this spring season in the Himalayas.
This year’s commercial guides performed well. Asian Trekking’s Eco Everest effort removed tons of garbage from the Nepal side through a “cash for trash” program. Peak Freaks continued to set the bar for green climbing. And safety was also front and center with the larger teams such as Adventure Consultants, IMG, Jagged Globe, Himex, Alpine Ascents all putting their climbers on the summit and getting them back safely without drama. It felt like safety was the top priority for almost every team this year - well done.
Then there were the independents such as the Finnish Ranger Club who made a successful expedition without the traditional Sherpa support. Great effort you guys!
Back on the north, summits started on May 14 with success by the Chinese and Japanese. That was followed by a few more international teams but death hit once again with Czech climber, M. Veslav Chrzaszcz, who died during his summit bid. Then German, living in Canada, Frank Ziebarth, died during his descent after summiting without bottled oxygen. This made three deaths on that side including a Chinese climber who died earlier in the season.
With wave after wave racing against the weather, the final push took place from the south on May 22nd with more than 50 climbers making it to the top of the world in the season’s most difficult conditions. We were allowed to share in their climb courtesy of an Eddie Bauer sponsored team for their First Ascent clothing line – all this provided the money to broadcast incredible video and audio during the summit attempts.
And speaking of technology, the Discovery Channel was also there in 2009 filming another of their series, Everest: Beyond the Limits. They followed climbers with IMG and Himalayan Experience with high-tech infrared cameras, microwave links and Sherpa-cams. With hair combed and jackets straight, the teams felt the presence of cameras all around them. The series is supposed to start airing in November 2009.
But with the high tech and excellent updates from the professionals it is always the unfiltered personal accounts that bring us in. A few come to mind: David Tait, Lance Fox, Bill Burke, Christophe Vandele, Dave Hahn, Gilad Stern, Billi Bierling, and Bud Allen. And then we were teased by Gavin Bate, Tim Rippel and Scott Paraszynski who tweeted during their climbs! Thanks for including us and being generous with your time and thoughts.
To wrap up the season the 17 member Serbian team refused to give up. Climbing on the north, they stayed through very difficult weather conditions and eventually climbed to camp 2 in a sprawling storm. After the rescue of Norweign Jarle Trå and other fast retreats, most the climbers returned to the safety of ABC and called it over on May 29th. A strong effort in harsh conditions. However as of June 1, Canadian Gabriel Filippi plus 4 other climbers and 3 Sherpas were at ABC holding out hope for a last minute push.
Another season of Everest climbing is now almost complete. Not as many summits as I thought there would be. Thankfully not as many deaths as there have been in previous years – but even one is too many. Hundreds of climbers saw their dreams come true. Hundreds of Sherpas made enough money to last until the next climb. Hundreds of friends and families wait with open arms for their climber to come home.
Yes, it was a good year. Images
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