May 26th: The first acclimatization phase at ABC was well on schedule, the camp at North Col was pitched on April 20. Bad weather then forced us back to basecamp, and after returning to the ABC on April 28 still the conditions remained extremely windy. It was not before May 13 that the high camps were prepared for a first summit attempt. Last camp (8300 m) was reached on May 16.

Claudia and Hartmut both reached the summit without problems on a perfect day, May 17, at 11:30 Nepalese time, and returned to camp 3 on this day.

The further descent turned out dramatic since Hartmut was utterly exhausted. Only with the help of Gheorghe Dijmarescu, our Sherpa Mingma, and others, we could finally reach the ABC on May 19. Within the next days, Hartmut, suffering from exhaustion and frostbite, was brought down to the basecamp. 

On May 26, we reached Kathmandu after a long long trip from Everest basecamp.

Dispatches