Sherpas from AAI and Himex were also on the team and I will report their names as soon as I receive them.
Congratulations to all these strong climbers! This is the post:
IMG deputy leader Ang Jangbu Sherpa reports that thefollowing IMG sherpas reached the summit of Mount Everest between11:25-11:30 AM on Wednesday, May 5, 2010 (local time):
1) Nima Karma Sherpa (Phortse)
2) Phu Tshering (Phortse)
3) Phinjo Dorje (Pangboche)
They fixed rope from South Col to Balcony yesterday and finishedfixing all the way to the summit today along with three sherpas fromtwo other teams: HIMEX and AAI. Congrats to all nine of these guys,great work.
The door is now OPEN for other teams!
Jangbu
There was speculation that Simone Moro might jump the line due towanting an early summit in preparation for a Lhotse climb. However,Simone's client became ill causing Simone to rethink his plan. Now heand his partner Denis Urubko are evaluating new routes on Lhotse orother climbs.
To follow up on a story I posted earlier this week on TA Loeffler,she has recovered sufficiently and is now at camp 2 reporting in thatshe is feeling strong. Well done TA!
Meanwhile aspirations for a new route on the north is in the worksfrom the senior climber with 7 Summits Club. This from an email Ireceived this morning:
May 9 Russia celebrates Victory Day, the mostsignificant holiday for our country. Nickolay Cherny, who last yearturned 71 years old, is currently in camp ABC at 6500. He work as aguide of the 7 Summits Club Everest International Expedition underthe leadership of Alexander Abramov. Whole team of climbers ispreparing for the second acclimatization climb to the altitude of 7700meters. At that time, Alexander Abramov and Nickolay Cherny are goingto take a new route to the North Peak of Mount Everest, named alsoChangtsze, 7550 meters, via the Southern Ridge from the North Col.
Continuing on the north, ϳԹ Peaks, amongst other teams,reports on heavy snow on that side. They noted a meter (3.3 feet) ofsnow at the north col limiting further climbs up the Northeast Ridgefor the moment. Summit Climb commented that high winds destroyed sometents at the Col as well.
In a bit of current trivia, Billi Bierling with Himex made had aninteresting post after a conversation with the Icefall Doctors todayabout their approach to fixing this year's route
“This year we started looking for the route on 23 Marchand it took us about one week to find the right way and fix it withropes and ladders,” the 57-year old said. When he saw the surprisedlook on my face, he continued: “I have been working in the icefall for35 years and I know it like the back of my hand.”
The Doctors’ camp is right next to the Himalayan Rescue Association(HRA) clinic and it is marked with one of the many ladders that we comeacross in the icefall. “This year the icefall is not too bad. We onlyneeded around 50 ladders and the longest one consists of three laddersthat are tied together,” Ang Nima explained. In some years, thecrevasses in the icefall are so big that the doctors have to tie fiveladders together to cross them.
Don't look for an immediate rush to the summit on the south side.The forecast calls for high winds over the next few days so we willprobably see summits starting around the 10th for a few climbers butthe major rush will probably take place late next week.
Remember that many climbers are down valley in the villages and somejust completed their climbs to camp 3 on the south so they need to restup a bit before the summit bid. Then it takes a minimum of four daysfrom base camp to reach the summit for the majority of climbers.
Climb On!
Alan
Arnette is a speaker, mountaineer and Alzheimer's Advocate. You can read more on his