Busy Weekend - 70-plus Climbers Summit Everest

As we told you on Friday, teams were queueing up on the South Col of Mount Everest ready to attempt the mountain over the weekend.

Since then tens of climbers have successfully summited. On Sunday, Everestnews.com was listing an incredible 71 successful ascents with more coming all the time. Among the successful climbers, it's reported were London socialite Anabelle Bond - much admired by certain OM members - who was climbing as part of a Chilean team and RAF climber Ted Atkins.

Remarkably Atkins may have been using a home-made oxygen system incorporating 'an aviator's mask, some pieces of medical oxygen systems, a couple of condoms (!) and a plastic coke bottle' - see this OM forum thread for more.

Also successful were the team from British company Jagged Globe led by top mountaineer Kenton Cool, who recently put up an acclaimed new route on Annapurna 3.

If you want to follow the scene more closely, take a look at everestnews.com and mounteverest.net.

Mallory Search Goes On

Meanwhile according to Ed Douglas in the Observer, the search for the body of Sandy Irvine continues with no less than four expeditions 'competing' to discover evidence that may reveal what happened in 1924. See the full story here.

As far as we can tell, no-one has found anything yet this year, one of the expeditions is sponsored by everestnews which is carrying regular updates, though they have promised to share any information with the Irvine family before going public.