The British Army team on the difficult West Ridge of Everest has reluctantly abandoned its attempt thanks to avalanche-prone slopes high on the mountain.
The British Army team on the West Ridge of Everest has admitted
defeat after encountering avalanche-prone slopes high on the
route.
In the light of the conditions in the Hornbein Couloir, the
expedition has opted not to make another summit bid. Expedition
leader Dave Bunting says:
"The conditions high up in the Hornbein Couloir are unlikely to
change and there is still a very high risk of avalanche. Due to the
altitude of the Couloir at 8000m the conditions are unlikely to
change and therefore the high risk of avalanche will remain. To
make the Couloir safe we need the area to avalanche or wait for a
considerable change in the conditions.
'I have discussed the conditions at length with the Deputy Leader
Dave Wilson and Climbing Leader John Doyle. I have taken the
difficult decision not to go for a second attempt. Knowing what I
know now, I am not prepared to risk any of the lives in my
team.
'As climbers, we accept that there is always an element of risk
but our Army training, judgement and decision making mitigate that
risk. In this case I am not prepared to risk the lives of the
climbers [and my friends] by sending them back up into the
Hornbein Couloir which could avalanche at any time.'
Bunting goes on to thank the army, friends and family and the
team's supporters and sponsors.
In A Siege Stylee...
It's a disappointing end to a colossal attempt on a difficult
route. If the team had managed to summit, they would have been the
first Brits to succeed on the West Ridge.
In many ways the expedition seemed like a throwback to the days of
Bonington, siege-style ascents of the mountain with successive camps
on the mountain being stocked by teams of climbers to manouevre a
chosen summit team into position.
The tactics are arguably those best suited to the military with
their focus on organisation and logistics and also fit in with their
aim of using the expedition as a promotional exercise via their
extraordinarily detailed and content-rich web site. Whether a
civilian team would have opted for a riskier, alpine-style attempt
or a lightweight push for the summit, possibly via an alternative
route, we'll never know.
The site at www.armyoneverest.mod.uk
is definitely worth a browse with some interesting video content,
a great Google Earth fly through and blogs and pics live from the
mountain.
Tough luck guys.
