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April 28, 2001 All of the Manantial Everest 2001 is in ABC or Camp1 As I walked down the BC to check up on the well being of our teammates, our other teammates at this point, Manolo, Fercho and Piton would stay to define the strategy to set up camps 2 and 3. And when conditions are appropriate they will attempt the summit. We’ve heard weather should be good the following days but that would be premature since we still don’t have the camps ready and our Sherpas are down at BC as well. |
On April 20th we had sent down an antenna to the BC with Marcelo and the Yaktor. We were counting on the high level of expertise the technicians of the large expedition, of which Juanito and the Spanish TV network members, could fix our problem. Unfortunately they could not get our equipment to work, so we have not been able to establish a clear channel of communication between the two camps. Fortunately their solitude was interrupted twice thanks to the New Zealanders which let us use their frequency twice.
During my 8 hour walk down to the BC my thoughts traded between all the inconveniences we were having down at the BC while was trying to figure out the logistics of the summit attempt. Fortunately when I arrived at the BC most problems had been solved. Our BC now is jokingly called the “refugee camp” When Marcelo and the Yaktor had arrived at the BC expecting our team mates to be living comfortably, they had not found any of our expedition tents. Not until a Sherpa ran out of a tent yelling, Colombians, Colombians…are in this tent. They had been found in the Russian tent having their first meal of the day. There had been so many small things gone wrong that it all seems surreal. Our kithchen tent was all made of makeshift material and plastic they had been able to round up. Ang Nuru had to return to Shang Mu to get some oxygen bottles that had not arrived from Russia, not only ours but for 5 other expeditions as well. So not until he returned were our team members able to settle in, due to his gifted organizational skills he had the whole camp organized in no time. He reminded us of the time when we first met him, he was the kitchen boy back in our 1986 Manaslu Expedition, and had always been very attentive.
At the BC we had a very long conversation keeping everyone informed of what had been happening and how we were succeeding from the ABC. We planned to have Piqui (Nelson) and Chelo (Marcelo) leave the next day for the Yak camp. There they found that our tent was incomplete, fortunately a French expedition lent them some parts and were able to get a good nights rest.
Two days later the Yaktor, Langosta (Miguel), Gacela (Gonzalo) and myself left for the ABC. Chelo and Piqui had started towards Camp1 and Manolo, Piton and Fercho were heading for Camp2. The health of all our team members has improved significantly, all except Cancha one of our Sherpa. We are now all developing the strategy to follow, the weather seems to be getting better.
Everest 2001 Lhotse 2001 Expeditions and News
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