Update 5/16/2002: The Swiss team is back on the Col and they will go down to BC tomorrow. It seems Jean Troillet did not make it all the way (he was climbing without O) but all others did. Lambert and Tenzing, on the top of the world together, 50 year later !!!!

A great moment for the Swiss and the Tenzing family! We are sure Raymond Lambert and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa would be very happy today !!!

This was Apa Sherpa 12th summit of Everest !!!! This was Tashi Tenzing second Summit of Everest, and again there was NEVER a plan for him to meet Hillary on the top!!!

Update 5/16/2002 (In America): The Swiss team is on the top of the world !!! At 9:15 AM Nepal time, the Summit call!  We were told: "Windy but clear. ALL the Swiss team made it.  They are about to start down. Great news.", We will need to confirm the who "ALL" is... Update Note: Jean Troillet did not make the Summit.

More during the day on Thursday !!!

Update 5/15/2002: Tashi Tenzing, Apa Sherpa and the Swiss left Wed night somewhere around 9 pm Nepal time. It was very warm on the Col Wed afternoon. They are optimistic about their chances. They were expecting to move faster than the other teams so the crowd should not be a problem. Apa was also very "up". We hope to have a Summit call soon! Stay Tuned!

Update 5/15/2002 Reliable sources from Everest Camp 4 (south side), report to EverestNews.com that when the Swiss team was preparing to leave "it was windy (15-20 knots) and starting to snow. Can it be a wrong call to stay put in such conditions?", they asked, "Apa Sherpa has 11 Summits of Everest..." At 8am this morning in Nepal, the sources at Camp 4 said, "the clouds were rolling in..." 

Next Update: "So they will wait and see if it clears for tonight (Wed)." Sources again from camp 4, state, "huge clouds were rolling in from the east." Not good. "They have enough oxygen for 1 more night then that is it. No more O at any camp  - so it's tonight or pack up and go home." Stay tuned.

Update 5/14/2002: Apa and a man named Tenzing to be first up in 2002?? 

What if it was Lambert and Tenzing first up in 2002! Stay tuned!!!

Update 5/11/2002: The Swiss team lead by Apa Sherpa, Jean Troillet, Stephane Schaffter, and Tashi Tenzing has left base camp to head for the Summit ! Apa Sherpa, who has reached the Summit more than any other person, has fixed the route on the South side more times than any other man, might do it again in 2002! The truly elite team of Mountaineers are honoring  the 50th anniversary of the Swiss 1952 Expedition. In 1952, Jean-Jacques Asper, Rene Dittert, Ernest Hofstetter, Gabriel Chevalley, Rene Aubert, Leon Flory, Andre Roch and Raymond Lambert all from Geneva attempted Everest via the Nepal side of the mountain. This expedition set the way for the Summit of Everest in 1953 by Hillary and Tenzing Norgay. Raymond Lambert and Tenzing Norgay climbed to 8600 meters without oxygen! The frontiers these men journeyed were unknown at the time. Their achievement was incomparable at the time.

In 2002 Stephane Schaffter (Summit of K2 in 85 and more!), also from Geneva returned to Everest with Tashi Tenzing, grandson of Tenzing Norgay, Apa Sherpa (11 times Summits of Everest !), Jean Troillet (the great one!), Guillaume Vallot, Yves Lambert (Raymond's son !), and Jean-Jacques Asper and formed the core team to return to the mountain! Jean-Jacques Asper, now 72, was the youngest member of the 52 expedition. Philippe Arvis is the expedition's doctor.

This expedition is following the journey, after 50 years, of Raymond Lambert. His son will attempt to walk for the first time in his father's footsteps on Everest. Tashi Tenzing, returns to the mountain where he followed his grandfather's footsteps on May 23rd 1997 when he reached the Summit of Everest. He took the record for being the first time a third generation of one family climbed Everest. The expedition is climbing the Southeast ridge and has no connection at all with either Peter Hillary or Jamling Tenzing Norgay. Tashi, now 37, guides some trips for Himalayan Kingdoms UK, but does not work for them. He has his own company in Australia - Tenzing's Journeys - and this is his major occupation. He also guides in Antarctica for Aurora Expeditions, Australia.

Tenzing Norgay had three wives and 6 children.... The first was Dawa Phuti from Thamey Teng who is the mother of Pem Pem (Tashi Tenzing's mother) and Nima. She died in Chitral in 1944. Tenzing Norgay then married Ang Lhamu who was with him throughout Everest and after. She was childless but is the one Pem Pem and Nima regarded as "mummy" and died in 1964 from cancer. Tenzing Norgay’s third wife was Daku, who worked as field staff for Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, Darjeeling. She was the mother of Norbu - born 1962, Jamling (now 36), Dhamey and Dikki (a daughter). Daku, was from Chanyakpa above Thamey and died in early 90s. Jamling, of course reached the Summit of Everest on May 23, 1996. 

"Tenzing desperately wanted to summit with Lambert and the Swiss. It was a great disappointment to him that they failed. He agreed rather half-heartedly to go again with the British in 1953. He and Hillary were then not close but Lambert pressed him to take the chance with the British. Those 2 were very close. Tenzing and Hillary became close friends late in life when Tenzing was ill in Delhi and Ed was NZ High Commissioner to India. By then Tenzing could speak quite good English and Sir Ed became somewhat of a confidante. But Lambert was the one for the summit as far as Tenzing was concerned. That is why this Swiss anniversary climb is so important to the family. Tashi and Yves Lambert (Raymond's son) will climb together. 

Dispatches