[Click on the pictures to see larger versions with captions.]
Yesterday, an early morning radio call from Russell at base camp predicted a change in the weather. He could see the entire mountain from there and saw the clouds shifting from the northeast to the northwest.
By breakfast, winds had calmed down all over the mountain. The Sherpas, already at the North Col, seized the initiative. By lunchtime we saw them from a telescope at ABC nearing Camp 2 at 24,500 feet (7,500 meters); by nightfall they'd be at Camp 3 at 26,000 feet (7,900 meters).
Phurba Tashi Sherpa, leader of the nine-man Sherpa team and veteran of at least 10 Everest summits, radioed down to predict that on April 29 his crew would be at Camp 4 and would have ropes fixed past 
the exit cracks and up the North Ridge to Mushroom Rock. On April 30 he believed they’d summit — weather permitting.
With the ropes and camps near finished, the way is open for a possible summit frenzy in the coming weeks.
Even so, summit bids are still weeks away for the Himex group. Acclimatization continues for the climbers and film team. On April 28, most of the climbers headed up to the North Col to sleep at the head-hitting altitude of 23,000 feet. From ABC we saw at least 100 people moving up the North Col ropes; at times, a dozen people were clipped into a single strand of rope as thin as a pencil.
"Ropes were tight, twanging like violin strings," said Scottish cameraman Ed Wardle when he got back to camp.
This morning, the group returned to ABC. Their first slumber party on the mountain had hit each of them differently.
First into camp was Josette Valloton, the Swiss guide. A professional climber, she rocketed up and down the North Col and slept well. Fred Ziel appeared next; he says he slept a little cold. David, Mogens, Darius and Rod all arrived in short order.
Headaches plagued Rod during the night until the painkillers and Diamox kicked in. Darius, sleeping like a log beside him, barely noticed a thing as Rod spent the night "banging my head against the wall, moaning and getting up to pee" (a side effect of Diamox). Darius' sole complaint was rib pain from breathing so deeply on the ascent.
The whole camp credited Betsy for coping with the altitude and sleeping soundly at Camp 1, though guide Dean Staples, who shepherded her on the climb, cautioned that her ascent time of six and a half hours was too slow. Clients are expected to make the climb from ABC to North Col in five hours. That's because the next obstacle — the climb to Camp 2 — is a notoriously gut-busting grind, exponentially harder than the climb to Camp 1.
Tim, always marching to the beat of his own drummer, sauntered into ABC way last. He and tent-mate Yong Li (the Chinese climber recently christened "Bruce Lee") had a tough night because Yong Li stayed out late playing cards in the Chinese camp on the North Col. Tim hadn't appreciated being disturbed by the stench of cigarette smoke when he returned, and apparently there was a bit of yelling.
Today, everyone who returned is resting, eating and hydrating. Head guide Bill Crouse is off to the North Col with the remaining three Japanese climbers, Yanagi (who at 71 keeps on trucking), Kobi, Take and their highly experienced leader Hiro. A few days ago, team member Masa developed early stages of cerebral edema and had to be evacuated to base camp. He's now headed back to Japan.
Today, all but one of the five ill film crew is returning to ABC. Only cameraman Barrie Foster remains at base camp, still trying to figure out whether he's able to adapt to higher altitudes. And the trekker who went down on oxygen with signs of pulmonary and cerebral edema is well and good.
Signing off,
Greg Child
Climber Gallery
thats good news on the weather hopefully thay can push for the summit soon good luck phurba and team
Posted by: matt hardy | April 30, 2007 at 06:42 PM