Autumn 2003: International Mountain Guides 8000 meter Coverage

Dispatch Six

Current Expedition Time

Dispatch Six: Tuesday September 9, 2003 7:00am Nepal Time 

I just received a phone call from IMG's team on Cho Oyu. Chris Booher reports a problem with satellite connections currently experienced by several teams on the mountain, which is limiting the teams' ability to phone home. Since several teams are having the problem, it appears to be a system-wide failure, so anyone hoping for or expecting calls or emails via sat phone from the Himalayas should not worry if news does not come. Thanks to AAI for sharing their sat system this morning, it seems to be unaffected by the service outage the other teams are having. [Sidebar: I've been expecting a call from Eric Simonson on Kilimanjaro, maybe this explains why he hasn't phoned home!]

Yaks Cho Oyu base camp Photo Source Eric Simonson

Chris reports that everyone on the IMG team is doing just fine, so the group will split into two for the initial acclimatization cycle up to Camp 1. Mike Hamill and Justin Merle will go up and sleep at Camp 1 with the first group tomorrow, and then Chris Booher and Garrett Madison will head up the following day with the second group for an overnight at C1. The team's health is holding up great so far and so everyone on the IMG roster plans a trip to Camp 1 either tomorrow or the next day.

We hope to get a longer and more detailed report from the IMG team when the satellite networks get back to work - come on guys, fix the birds up there, this isn't rocket science! Or is it?

—Erin Simonson
International Mountain Guides

EverestNews.com coverage will include dispatches from the IMG Cho Oyu Expedition along with exclusive dispatches from Nancy Norris as she warms up for Everest 2004, when she hopes to attempt to become the oldest American woman (at age 60!)to summit Everest.

Eric Simonson, veteran expedition leader, Everest Summiter, author and motivational speaker. To book Eric