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April 11-20th,1999 Daily Reports
For Latest
News. For earlier reports: See the Site Index for a list of
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Daily News: 4/20/99 Report
Everest Spring 99: The Staff at EverestNews.com
asks You to take a moment out of Your life and read the Casey
Read/Willie Benegas story.
Daily News: 4/19/99 Report
Everest Spring South Side 99 : News from
Enrique Guallart-Furio http://ww2.encis.es/avent/:
Everest base camp, Nepal, 4-16-99
Enrique Guallart has already reached 6.400 meters (20.990 feet) up at camp II on
Everest. After resting for three days at base camp, he plans to climb directly to
camp II tomorrow the 17, to continue working on the Lhotse face and finish establishing
camp III, at 7.400 meters. (24.270 feet).
Climate changes that involve the whole planet are probably
to blame for the different conditions found on the mountain this year: It has not snowed
during the winter, and the mountain is dry. The Lhotse face is like an ice skating rink,
but with a slope that varies between 50 and 60 degrees.
The Khumbu ice fall is all broken up this year, and
consequently very dangerous. While a Sherpa was crossing a section of four ladders early
today, a wall collapsed, due to the pressure of the ice movements. All the other Sherpas
and climbers that where following behind had to go back and wait at base camp until it was
repaired.
Enrique Guallart arrived at base camp April 6, after a very
long trek of 150 km. (81 miles) from Jiri. On April 9 we celebrated the traditional Puja,
the blessing of the Lama to the Sherpas and climbers to wish them luck on this risky
adventure.
On the 11th, Enrique started to install camp I, after
climbing through the Khumbu ice fall, and later climbed on to camp II, also called
advanced base camp.
The sherpas have already carried up all the material and
gear, and next week camp III will be established.
According to how the climb is progressing, Enrique plans to
be done with the acclimation process and have all high camps ready by April 29, with a
summit attempt following on the first days of May.
Obviously, the weather and the ice fall conditions will play
a role in the development of this plans. Source: Enrique
Check Enrique's web site for all the details and more:
http://ww2.encis.es/avent/
Everest South Side Expeditions list
is almost complete. EverestNews.com believes all climbers are listed except the OTT climbers
list. EverestNews.com e-mailed T&T this weekend on the your questions regarding
Heidi Howkins status and the fact that we found three Mexican
climbers on their permit that we did not know about. T&T replied on their site with a
picture of the three Mexican climbers who are sharing their permit. Their names from are sources in Nepal are Hugo
Barroso, Carlos Pereda, and
Luis Javier Jouanen. Their web site is: http://www.telecommex.com/everest_ico.
Please let us know if their names are mis-spelled. These are the spellings we received
from Nepal.
In case you missed it: Ed Douglas, his new
book Chomolungma
Sings the Blues , is not published in the United States ! However, this was one of the
reasons for adding Amazon UK to our sponsor
list, along with requests from our UK readers of EverestNews.com !
Ed Douglas:
The writer, traveler and mountaineer Ed Douglas, 32, has
been climbing for seventeen years, starting on the gritstone edges of Derbyshire while
still at school. He studied English at Manchester University and in his final year there
launched the British rock climbing magazine On The Edge.
After running OTE for three years, he worked in Istanbul on
the English language daily the Turkish Times arriving as an Editorial Assistant and
leaving after a year as Managing Editor before returning to work as a freelance
journalist specializing in adventure, mountain areas and their people, and environmental
issues.
In the last seven years he has written features and news for
The Guardian, The Observer, The Daily Telegraph, The Independent and the Independent on
Sunday and a range of national and specialist magazines both in Britain and abroad,
including Men's Health, Arena, New Scientist and Focus.
In 1993 he launched the international mountaineering journal
Mountain Review and ghosted Leo Dickinson's account of his ballooning trip over Everest,
published by Jonathan Cape. He has interviewed many well-known adventurers around the
world and won the 1994 Outdoor Writer's Guild Award for his profile of top rock climber
Ron Fawcett.
Currently Associate Editor of Climber magazine and Editor of
the Alpine Journal, he is a member of the Alpine Club and Climbers' Club, and continues to
climb to a reasonable standard, in 1995 reaching the summit of Shivling, a 21,500ft
mountain in India close to the source of the Ganges. Other recent ascents include the
North Face of Les Droites in winter and the Gervasutti Pillar on Mont Blanc du Tacul. In
1997 he climbed on La Main de Fatma, the sandstone towers of Mali, on the fringes of the
Sahara. In the last year he has traveled to Austria to interview Heinrich Harrer and to
New York to interview David Breashears, both for The Guardian. His most recent assignments
were traveling in Kazakstan for The Observer and interviewing the Dalai Lama in India for
The Guardian.
Ed Douglas was awarded a Winston Churchill Memorial Trust
Fellowship in 1995 to travel around Everest in Nepal and Tibet and his account of that
journey, Chomolungma Sings The Blues, was published in November 1997 by Constable. Widely
praised in the national and specialist press, Katherine Whitehorn in The Observer called
Douglas "a sparkling writer with a great turn of phrase." In the Literary
Review, David Craig described him as a "first-class journalist whose interest in the
Himalaya and its people enable him to get in close." His biography of the mountaineer
Alison Hargreaves, co-authored with David Rose, will be published by Granta next year.
Ed Douglas lives in Sheffield with his wife, Katie, a science
journalist, and their two children, Rosa, 4, and Joe, 1. More on Ed and his new book
Chomolungma
Sings the Blues Soon !
The Amazon UK page
has been added ! You will find some of the books you have been requesting on this page.
They will accept your credit card and will ship just about anywhere !
For Ed Douglas' Q&A from readers of EverestNews.com
see his page.
Daily News: 4/18/99 Report
Everest Spring South Side 99 : EverestNews.com
has confirmed that Elsa Carsolio wife of Carlos Carsolio (Mexican climber)
is attempting the Summit of Everest this spring. Carlos, of course is one of the greatest
climbers in the world, being the fourth climber to reach the Summit of each of the 14 8000 meter peaks, many on difficult routes and seasons. Elsa is a
climber on the Asian-Trekking organized Everest Expedition "Caucasus 99". This
is a non-guided expedition containing three Georgian climbers, one
Azerbaijanian, one
Armenian, one Japanese (Ken Noguchi) and Elsa. The Georgian climbers are expected to act
as their own expedition (having their own Sherpa support team of seven). Ken Noguchi
(having six support Sherpa) is also expected to act as his own expedition. Elsa is
apparently climbing independently with EverestNews.com assumes, BC support from this
expedition. One would assume this expedition would "work together somewhat ",
with 13 support sherpas from Asian-Trekking for 7 climbers.
Everest Spring North Side 99 : EverestNews.com
has posted a Everest North Side Expedition list per your
requests. However, this list is VERY DRAFT. EverestNews.com has most of the list of climbers
and plans on typing them next week with more details.
Matt Dickinson
book tour should be posted on the lectures page by Sunday
night (US). EverestNews.com decided to post the tour list there to give more people a chance
to see it. Many new readers of EverestNews.com, as expected, are arriving daily...
Everest Spring South Side 99 : Canadian
Climber: Bernard Voyer, 1999 Expedition Everest
has updated his site, please check Bernard out
! This site is in French and English.
Everest Spring South Side 99 : EverestNews.com
has confirmed that American climber Laurie Medina is part of Henry Todd's expedition on
the South Side this Spring. Laurie is a very strong US climber, who many believe is on the
way up. Keep an eye on Laurie !
Everest Spring North Side 99 : News from
American guide Jacek Maselko with Patagonia
Mountain Agency on the snow conditions: "Well, it looks like there's a lot less
snow than the previous years. And that should make for a little bit better... (pause)
Well, it's good and bad. The good thing is, is that it will probably make it a little bit
better going lower down. However, up above the 8200 to 8400 meter camp, which will be our
Camp 3, it makes it a little bit harder to set up camp. There are a lot less places to set
up camp, so we'll have a little more difficult time there. But aside from that I think it
will make it, actually, a little bit easier getting up on the mountain.", "It's
a windy mountain here on this side. But, you know, everything is looking good so
far." Check then out for all the details and for real audio, Patagonia Mountain Agency.
Everest Spring North Side 99 : EverestNews.com
has information on several more expedition which will be added soon, along with a North
Side list. 1.) Geneva Everest Expedition Spring 99, : A Swiss/French expedition
Stephane Schaffter leader, with 10 climbers plus Sherpa (supported by Asian-Trekking)
including climber Steve Haston and Laurence H. Goualt; 2.) International Everest
Expedition 99 Spring, which includes first Georgian expedition, this is a huge
expedition, we have the details, but this one is complex. More soon; 3.) Indian Everest
Millennium Expedition 99 Spring Kangshung Face; 4.) Himalayan Experience Expedition to Mt.
Everest 1999 Spring Russell Brice is back with 5 climbers plus himself and a large
Sherpa staff (Asian-Trekking again).
Daily News: 4/16/99 Report
Everest Spring 99 : EverestNews.com welcomes the
Danish climber Michael Strynoe to our EverestNews.com team !
Dispatch (4/16/99) from Michael Strynoe: Michael has spent
the last few weeks to carry loads up through the Icefall directly to camp II. This year
Michael doesn't feel that he needs camp I. Camp II is established by now and in it is all
the equipment and tents needed for Camps III and IV. The route all the way from Camp II
to the South Col should also have been fixed with ropes by now. However, due to a
heavy storm at 7000m Michael decided to leave for Base Camp instead of riding it out like
Thomas and Tina are doing. Compared to last year Michael's says he is doing much better -
he has not been sick, and the specially designed white outfit help him not to get toasted
by the sun in the Western Cwm. Also, he is still right on schedule in spite of this years
condition of the Icefall and a bad left knee. If you can read any Scandinavian language,
be sure to check out Michael's site at : http://sporten.tv2.dk/everest.
Everest Spring 99 : HKE Jagged
Globe: "They rang yesterday for a weather report and everything is fine and on
schedule. They are a couple of weeks away, at least, from a summit attempt. Glad you
enjoyed Matt's book!" Cheers Steve Bell
Web
site is http://www.hkexpeds.demon.co.uk/index.html
Everest Spring 99 South Side: Climbers are in
various levels of preparation for Summit attempts, from the early arrivals climbing to
high camps, to the late arrivals climbing in the icefall. If, that is IF, the weather
holds, EverestNews.com expects Summit attempts as soon as late April to May 1st.
EverestNews.com asked climbers who previously reached the Summit of Everest, how they felt about
"no snow" conditions. The opinions varied, but overall they said, it should make
the lower climbing easier, but they were concerned if there is not much snow on the Lhotse
face. Ice levels, could make the climbing more difficult up high. Which basically agrees
with what we heard from Enrique.
EverestNews.com
has received several lists of Everest climbers
on the expeditions. EverestNews.com plans to have these lists typed in this weekend for You.
The climbers lists will give you details on many of these expeditions. As usual, some
familiar names show up.
Manaslu Spring 99 Expedition: Saxon Himalayan
Expedition, North East Ridge, Gotz Weigand leader from Germany. 11 climbers. Veikka
Gustafsson & Ed Viesturs are listed as members of this expedition, i.e. sharing their
permit. http://www.veikka.com (one of the former web sites of
the week). For a list of permitted Nepal 8000 meter expeditions see our www.everestnews.com/climbers.htm page.
EverestNews.com
Review: EverestNews.com received an early advance proof edition. This is an
excellent Book. Matt was a member of the HKE expedition (Steve's message
above). This book is a must read for Everest fans. EverestNews.com will be
interviewing Matt and hopefully taking questions from You, our readers of EverestNews.com. Look for Matt US Book tour listing to be posted on
EverestNews.com soon.
Amazon Review (not EverestNews.com Review , but per your requests) :
Everest again, May 1996 again, this time on the
Tibetan side, in a tedious, self-obsessed account from filmmaker Dickinson. While Krakauer
and company were toiling up the southern, Nepalese side of Everest three years back,
Dickinson was part of a commercial climb on the North Face. He was there to film the third
attempt of Brian Blessed, the English comedic actor, to reach the top. Dickinson was also
there to do a little soul-searching, to make some hard decisions about his wanderlust,
which was so difficult on his wife and family (though why he would choose that milieu,
when ones attention is best riveted to matters at hand, is a puzzle). Dickinson makes
amply clear that he was unhappy, angry, or scared most of the time he spent of the
mountain's flank, and he shares his misery generously with his readers. There is none of
the time compression and tight focus, none of the dread that pervades most fine writing on
difficult climbs. Dickinson likes to whine: about the cold and the wind and the physical
punishment; about the difficulties of going to the bathroom, let alone filming, at such an
altitude; about the quality of the food and the impatience of the yak drivers and an
obtuse Chinese bureaucracy. Dickinson acts as though he had been dropped on the mountain
against his will. And when the rogue storm that savaged the climbers on the other side
hit, Dickinson was safely in camp. Then, getting his chance to make a summit push, he
unilaterally decides to abandon his climbing partner, who has dropped out of sight, with a
crass ``summit fever had me body and soul.'' He thumps his chest, the soul-searching long
forgotten. If Dickinson's spirit was as sour on the mountain as it is in this book, his
partners would be forgiven for wondering which was the greater menace: the cruelty of the
high-altitude world or Dickinson's presence in it. Synopsis : This harrowing
successor to "Into Thin Air" and "The Climb" provides new perspectives
on the devastating storm of 1996 that claimed the lives of eight climbers and rocked the
mountaineering world. of photos.
Daily News: 4/14/99 Report
Everest Spring 99: Weeks ago (if You were
with us), EverestNews.com told you about the 1999 Everest Extreme Expedition (E399).
Yesterday, guta nascimento went to their news conference in New York.
Along with making some new contacts, she learned that "E399 - Everest Extreme
Expedition is a health-science team sponsored by Yale, NASA and others to do telemedicine
research. They will be at Base Camp researching the body's adaptation to high altitude and
low-oxygen environments. They will be on the South Side and they have permission to go up
only to Camp 1 to do the tests." guta
EverestNews.com
is in contact with this expedition and would
encourage you to visit their interesting web site at http://everestextreme99.org.
Everest Spring 99 North Side: Patagonia Mountain Agency which includes
the American guide Jacek Maselko and Everest climber Richard Pawlowski (Poland),
should reach the North Side BC today. Check their site for real audio from yesterday.
Have You checked the Home page in
the last day or so ? We know many of You use this news page as your home page, which is
probably a good idea. As EverestNews.com continues to grow that may not be practical. But for
now, the daily news will continue right here for You...
Several more new book titles have been added to the to the Bookstore Page in the last few days. EverestNews.com
asks You to
support EverestNews.com by supporting our sponsors in your
purchases to help keep EverestNews.com free for all readers.
Daily News: 4/13/99 Report
The first draft of the 8000 meter expeditions in Nepal is up
at: www.everestnews.com/climbers.htm. EverestNews.com
will update this list significantly in the next few weeks. You will find some
new information on this page...
Everest Spring 99: Has anyone noticed that
Asian-Trekking has more climbers on their teams this year on Everest than anyone else ?
EverestNews.com assumes that Asian-Trekking is supporting numerous other expeditions this
year. We hope to have the list of Sherpa climbers in the next couple of lists.
EverestNews.com
has updated the video page
somewhat (more to come). The reviews are by Amazon, not ours ! Maybe when the season is
over EverestNews.com staff could post our reviews if You wish.
NEWSFLASH: 4/12/99 2:05PM US
It appears that the expeditions on the South Side of Everest
are having problems with power . The details are unclear. But something about a backup
power generator to be transported to BC on April 17th.
It is unclear if this affects all expeditions or not. You
probably have noticed the reports has slowed and the Web sites updates on the other sites
have almost stopped.
Many of these expeditions are creative and resourceful, so
don't be surprised if things work out faster. We should still receive reports from
some expeditions by runners and other methods we use.
Talking about "Other methods": EverestNews.com
received a post card from Everest BC from our friend Enrique Guallart-Furio
http://ww2.encis.es/avent/.
Thank You
Enrique !
If You missed them check some of his latest pictures out !
K2 1999: Waldemar
Niclevicz is the first Brazilian to climb Everest, Vinson (Antarctica's highest
mountain), Elbrus (Europe's highest mountain) and Carstensz. He is also the first
South-American to climb The Seven Summits. Waldemar has confirmed
his K2 expedition for 1999. Waldemar will now acclimatize in Bolivia from May 11th to
20th, then he will head to Italy. On May 30th he will be leaving for Islamabad to resolve
the bureaucratic issues. Then he'll go to Skardu and plans to start trekking on June
4th. He will be accompanied by climbers Abele Blanc (Italy) and Pepe Garcez (Spain). They
will try to climb Hidden Peak and Gasherbrum II before K2. Their goal is
to arrive at K2 base camp around 10th or 15th of July. Their permission goes until August
31st.
Waldemar, along with his friend guta nascimento (who will be
at K2 base camp during part of the climb) will be sending EverestNews.com reports from K2 in
1999 ! Waldemar web site is www.sagarmatha.com.br. Many Thanks to guta nascimento,
for her assistance.
Everest Spring 99: Bernard Voyer will be one
of the several other expeditions sending EverestNews.com reports this year from Everest.
Bernard's wife (Nathalie) will be at BC during the climb. His web site details some of his
other climbs: Bernard Voyer Everest Expedition.
Bernard Voyer is attempting to complete
the Seven Summits. His web site is in French and some parts in
English. Bernard has updated his site and
states on April 7th. "We are at 5,000 meters, two days away from base camp.
Everything is fine, health-wise. No problems with acclimatization. It is snowing, not very
warm, and blowing pretty hard around Everest. All is fine with logistics. Once we're at
the base camp it will be easier to communicate with Montreal, since we'll be able to set
up our solar panels to give us power and recharge our telephones." Check his site for all the details !
EverestNews.com
has a Everest South Side expedition
"list" for You. First, forgive us for who we have forgotten. Please let us know
at everestnews2004@adelphia.net if You know of
others we have forgotten...
Second, this is a "list" is of expeditions as
defined by the climbers. Meaning climbers in some cases are sharing permits, BC
facilities, and who knows what else. EverestNews.com is basically taking the approach here if
"they" call it an expedition, so will "we". Famous climbers often
share permits and facilities and call themselves an "expedition" also... (if you
want to know who, look closely when we publish the permits and then look at the Expedition
list.) No one to our knowledge is attempting a solo attempt this spring on the South
Side... EverestNews.com is working with nine of the eleven expeditions (the first nine)
listed here in one form or another to bring You news from Everest this year.
EverestNews.com was unable to contact Groan Kropp before he left, so EverestNews.com
does not have a
relationship with his expedition. Hopefully before May
1, 1999, EverestNews.com will have the entire climbers list per expedition including
Sherpa climbers.
Fragile
Edge : A Personal Portrait of Loss on Everest
by Maria Coffey, Chris Bonington Paperback - 192
pages (September 2000) Mountaineers Books;
by Maria Coffey, Chris Bonington Paperback - 192
pages (September 2000) Mountaineers Books;
