Just a quick round-up from Everest where numerous climbers have
summited over the last week or so including OUTDOORSmagic member
Conan Harrod.
Bad news for the British Army...
The British Army team attempting the difficult West Ridge in a
Bonington-style siege operation has ground to a halt when the summit
team encountered serious avalanche danger in the Hornbein Couloir,
high on the route.
The team's site reports:
'About 200 metres into the (Hornbein) Couloir, John and his team
encountered 'wind slab'. This is a hard crust of snow which sits on a
much softer layer. On such a sharp slope, the slabs are prone to
crack and slide down over the snow underneath. Faced with such
dangerous avalanche conditions, John felt it would be unwise to
continue. He took his team down and trekked back across the West
Ridge to Camp 4.'
The entire team has now dropped down to their base camp while they
decide what the next step is, taking into account weather,
conditions, the physical state of the climbers and so on.
It's a big blow for the expedition which was hoping to put men on
the summit over the weekend. In one of the team blogs, Malcolm
Russell says:
'The reason the team were feeling down was not the lack of John's
team's success, but the fact that the snow is unlikely to change in
the immediate future and so a significant change in tactics may be
needed...
'On a positive front, all the ground-work has been done. Camps and
equipment are in place and another attempt would need some food, fuel
and oxygen but not the monstrous loads that have already been carried
up there. Also, the weather is due to remain stable for at least five
days and there is no sign of the monsoon yet (early signs would still
give up 2-3 weeks warning).'
So, frustrating times for the Army, more at www.armyoneverest.mod.uk.
Good News For Conan
As we told you last week, OMer Conan Harrod has
successfully summited Everest at the second attempt, no mean feat as
the first time, back in 2003, resulted in a survival epic with Conan
crawling down the upper reaches of the mountain after an American
climber fell on him leading to a broken leg.
There's a summit shot of Conan over at www.adventurepeaks.com.
He should be safely back at base by now despite wife Lindsay's report
that he picked up a stomach bug on the way down the mountain and was
'weak and wobbly'.
More too on the Christies web site - www.christies.org
- you can make a contribution at www.justgiving.com/everest.
Three Times Record For Kenton Cool
British climber Kenton Cool has become the first Briton to
summit Everest three times. Mountain Hardwear-sponsored Kenton was
the leader of the 2006 Jagged
Globe expedition on the South Col route and reached the
highest point on earth last Wednesday, 17 May.
He previously climbed the mountain in spring 2004, then again in
spring 2005, so it's becoming a bit of a habit for him. Londoner
Kenton is best known for some serious fast and light alpine ascents
in the Alps, Himalaya and, particularly, Alaska. He's also a
fully-qualified IFMGA mountain guide.
On the same expedition, 19-year-old Rhys Jones became the
youngest person to climb all of the Seven Summits. See his summit
day report on the JG web site.
Brit Dies on Everest
Finally and very sadly, a reminder that while Everest may be
climbed frequently these days, it's still a lethally dangerous
mountain with the news of the death of Teeside climber David Sharp,
34, from Guisborough, reportedly during his descent from the summit
after a solo ascent. More at news.bbc.co.uk.
