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ExplorersWeb Week-in-review
08:03 a.m. EST Apr 18, 2004
All eyes are on Everest as teams tackle the treacherous Khumbu icefall and approach the infamous Lhotse wall. If the third Pole isn’t enough, there is also action in the Arctic; expeditions battle time to reach the North Pole before the Borneo deadline.
Escape from Kathmandu! Maoist strikes in Kathmandu almost halted several Everest teams earlier this week with road blocks and torched vehicles. Expedition leaders organized escape routes, some via helicopter and some by bus caravan (pic). The last teams to arrive are still feeling the effects of late equipment and delayed transport.
Everest, North Pole, Greenland: Server down! Last Saturday morning ExWeb's mail box and phones were jammed with calls from Everest, North Pole, Greenland and tons of other far off places. ExplorersWeb's server was down and nobody could update their websites with Contact 2.0. By Murphy's law; it all went down just in time for the weekend. Especially Wave at the North Pole was pretty desperate - he had his first encounter with a polar bear and live pics to shoot off from the event! Problem fixed in 24 hours.
Stones coming down the almost vertical Everest North Face like shrapnel are forcing the Russians to work and move quickly to minimize exposure. The impressions from the Wall: smooth, slippery and it is impossible, unreliable and unpleasant to organize the right belay.
Hurricane winds sweep Everest. AdventureWeather forecasts called for some bad weather and boy were they right. Winds speeds of over 35 m/s pushed everybody back. The Dutch lost tents in Everest ABC, Annapurna expeditions had to turn back to ABC and the Russian North Face team reported rock falls, high winds, and snow.
Be gentle Annapurna. Annapurna is statistically the most dangerous peak of all the eight thousanders, mostly due to avalanches. Annapurna demands great respect and very skilled climbers. This spring, a handful of veterans are braving her relentless slopes. First out is Piotr Pustelnik, dispatching straight to ExWeb. The expedition reached half way up to camp 1, but is plagued by the past days severe weather.
Heli pad prepared in Everest BC South. Several teams in BC prepared an emergency helicopter landing pad this week. The effort required the removal of several tons of rock and ice to clear a flat area large enough to land a Russian M17 helicopter. There was also a big expeditions leaders meeting in the BCMD:s quarters, dividing ropes tasks and pinning up weather reports with the arrival of the printer.
Internet and Power options in Everest. Our ExWeb correspondent reports on the surprisingly numerous choices for communicating with the mistress while on the slopes, and on powering up the espresso machine in ABC. This in depth report gets the know-how out of the clueless when it comes to adventure tech.
Departure of leading lady and Irish mate. Liz Pace, a favorite on Everest this year, had to leave BC unexpectedly due to a family emergency. Her teammate, Joe Hughes, remains on the mountain. John Joyce of the Irish team was also forced off the mountain, suffering from mountain sickness. The departures has left the remaining members saddened yet even more determined to summit.
Everest going Dutch. The Dutch Chomolungma Fall North side expedition was announced this week. Remember last year’s Fall Everest north face Snowboarding expedition? No one was paying very much attention when three young men headed up the slopes of Everest in the fall of 2003; no one except ExplorersWeb. Today Jimmy Chin is one of National Geographic’s emerging explorers and Stephen Koch is on the cover of Outside Magazine. Everest off season North side expeditions are rare and because of that, quite impressive; added dangers and unstable conditions to boot.
British Everest diners. These oddball eccentrics plan to have the highest altitude formal dinner ever; a feat that there is actually a competition for. “The expedition sirdar, Pemba, simply sat back in his courtesy dining chair with the biggest grin on his face, convinced that this really was the proof in the pudding that the British really are bonkers ! The Rum Doodle expedition, that his grandfather has warned him about in his childhood stories, had finally returned.”
Spain tops Ama Dablam. Juan Oiarzabal, climbing along with Eneko Pou, Alberto Cerain and Juan Ramón Madariaga, reached the Summit of Ama Dablam this week. Juan, along with Edurne Passaban among others will head off to K2 very soon. Eneko along with his brother Iker will be freeclimbing the Trango Towers.
Messner nominated for the Nobel Prize of sports. Esp.mounteverest.net broke the scoop that Messner has been nominated the Prince of Asturias award in Spain. "Prince of Asturias" is a noble title reserved for the heir of the throne (much like the Prince of Wales in UK). This is the most important award of its kind in Spain, and highly respected worldwide.
World's oldest Ocean Rower to keep rowing. At 65 years old, Pavel Rezvoy is the oldest ocean rower in the history of ocean rowing. When he crossed the finish line in Barbados, he arrived as number two of the solo class in ORSARR 2004. And just when we thought he was going to settle down; "There is nothing to do in Ukraine for senior citizens", he says. "So I'm off for Cuba! I have caught an insuperable desire to set out on the ocean. It's time to set sail (oars) … while I still can."
New oceans expedition list, and some other announcements; Ellen MacArthur has decided to set sail from New York City for her west-east trans-Atlantic record attempt. She is due to arrive NYC next week.
Count-downs, ice, and Bears! Polar Bear spottings abound in the Arctic much to the dismay of the expeditions. Reports of lots of mangled ice conditions out there also abound, but all to be expected (though still not too fun). And time is running short for the North Pole deadline. The Borneo research station closes its doors around May 1st, which means the teams have to kick up the pace. In the last week great distance has been made and some long hours put in. As evidenced in the condition of the arctic adventurers gear, conditions at the Pole are harsh to say the least.
Wave Vidmar's record of swimming the Arctic waters - 3 hours! "I walked out onto the thin ice and fell through after about 30 feet. I rolled on my back and started breaking the ice with my back and 'swimming', while towing the sledge with a rope. The ice was about 3 inches thick at first and then got thinner. I could only move about 4-6 inches forward at a time. In the center of the lead was about 40 yards of open water, no ice. It was easier to swim in this area. My swim today was likely the longest polar expedition swim ever made". This is probably correct.
Three new teams head into the Arctic. Proyecto Cumbre are the Venezuelan Everest summiters now out to reach the North Pole, they left from the 87th degree. Together at the Pole, a Polish expedition, is bringing together a young man (15 years) who lost a leg and arm in an electrical accident several years ago. And Everest veteran, Cathy O’Dowd is off to the Nordkapp with Rona Cant, Per-Thore, and 25 dogs.
Gone and found in a day. Four students from Norway and Sweden were missing Monday in Svalbard, northeast of Longyearbyen. A rescue team of 6 people went out on skidoo's to find the missing students. After skiing the last 10 km the rescuers found the missing people alive, and with only minor injuries. Unfortunately though, four other young explorers; a polish Svalbard trekker, an Atlantic ocean rower, an Everest trekker and Dominick in the Arctic are still missing.
Read these stories and more at ExplorersWeb.com
Image of Everest bus caravan in Igur/China, ExplorersWeb/Dave D'Angelo over Contact 2.0.
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