September 18, 2010

IMG Leader Mike Hamill reports that the weather has improved a bit and the TMA team got the injured Tibetan climber out last night and he is stable with just a broken rib.  We are hoping to get some climbers back up to finish the fixing above C3 once the slopes have stabilized from the recent snowfall.  Mike says that if the weather and conditions continue to improve, the IMG team is on track to launch their summit bid in the next few days.  Our weather forecaster Michael Fagin at http://www.everestweather.com reports that there is still a lot of moisture associated with the monsoon to the south, in Nepal, and we are still getting weak pulses of moisture pushing up from this weather system.  Hopefully the winds will keep shifting more to westerly, which will cut off the moisture flow and dry things out for the climbers.  We’ll keep you posted!

Eric Simonson

Photo from Government of Nepal Meteorological Forecasting Division for Sept 18, 2010

September 17, 2010

Cho Oyu Advanced Base Camp, 18,500'

IMG leader Mike Hamill reports from ABC that the weather at Cho Oyu is bad today, with wind and snowfall.  Our team members are at ABC hanging out, where there has not been too much accumulation of snow.  Mike reports that several of the TMA climbers were trying to fix in the Yellow Band above C3 this morning (Tibet time) and were caught in an avalanche and injured.  They are currently being evacuated, and we’ll keep our fingers crossed for them.

Eric Simonson

September 16, 2010

Cho Oyu with climbing route visible in the snow.

Mike Hamill reports: “The team has now returned to ABC from a successful acclimatization rotation to C2. The weather has been excellent but after returning the wind picked up and we’ve had snow since.  We are now hoping to head up on a summit bid after 4 days of rest, weather depending.  6 Sherpa are carrying 2 oxygen bottles each to C2 today. TMA was supposed to fix to the summit today but the weather is too bad. Hopefully the weather will improve and they’ll be able to get the route in soon.  Once I have nailed down a summit schedule a bit more I’ll give you a heads up. For now we’re just resting in ABC in bad weather.”

Eric Simonson

September 12, 2010

Morning shot of Cho Oyu from ABC.

Mike Hamill reports from ABC that the team has started the C2 rotation.  Jurg, Markus, Karl, Wolf, and 3 Sherpas headed to C1 today in beautiful weather and the rest of the team will move to C1 tomorrow.

Our Sherpas have been busy the last couple days and they now have six tents, sleeping bags, and pads in place at C2 (about 23,000’ or 7000m) so that camp is ready to occupy.  After the team members overnight at C1, the first group will continue up to C2 tomorrow, with the second team a day behind them.

So far so good!

Eric Simonson

September 10, 2010

IMG Leader Mike Hamill reports that the team had a good rotation to C1 (about 20,500 feet or 6250m) and that everyone is now back to the thicker air, good food, and hot showers at ABC.  In addition to sleeping at Camp 1 most of the group also continued up to the ice cliff, which is about halfway to C2.  The team is now planning three rest days in ABC before heading up to C2 on the next rotation, weather depending.   Currently the weather is perfect but it sounds like some low pressure is headed towards the mountain.  Four sherpas are now fixing the ice cliff and the rest of the route to C2 today.   Mike reports that ABC is now starting to fill up as other teams arrive.  Our guys have enjoyed having the mountain to themselves, but that is now starting to change.

Eric Simonson