Everest South Side Expedition: American Commemorative Expedition

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Dispatch Group Three: Cinco De Mayo from Everest May 5, 2003

Brian O'Connor, Brett Shepard, Mimi Vadasz, Tom Burch and Bob Boice just arrived mid-day today after two nights at Camp 2. Winds were forecasted to 180 kph. That's right over 100 mph. With these wind speeds, the wind passing over the ridge tops and summit sounds like a 747 airplane taking off, even from Base Camp. Team members and Sherpas had to collapse the Camp 2 dining tent as the one inch support poles started to snap like toothpicks. The Camp 1 tents were leveled by the high winds. Two of our three tents were destroyed. We're not just talking broken poles. The fabric of the tent remains looked like someone went to each tent with a pair of shears, leaving them to flap in the wind. In all, 34 tents were destroyed at Camp 1, almost the entire camp.

Upon returning to Base Camp Bob Hoffman, Chuck Huss and Dan Smith had relocated some tents due the tent platforms melting and changing with the warming temperatures of May. Winds continue to be high in Base Camp but are predicted to decrease in the next day or two. Average night time temperatures have increased from 10-15 degrees to 20-25 degrees. The team will now relax and recover in Base Camp and wait for the weather forecast to become favorable and then make our summit bid. -Brian O'Connor

Team Update May 5, 2003

On April 30 the entire team descended from Camp 2 to Base Camp. Our last two days at Camp 2 we were waiting for the weather to clear so we could move up to Camp 3 and finish our acclimatization portion of the climb. But with all the snow accumulation we determined the Lhotse Face would be too unsafe to climb on for the next couple of days. Also, the weather was predicted not to improve for a couple of days. The descent to Base Camp was through cloudy, foggy and snowy conditions.

Once in Base Camp, the team was able to clean up (much needed after 7 nights above Base Camp) and relax in the comforts of Base Camp. After a couple of nights at Base Camp, a number of team members decided to go back up the hill and try to get into Camp 3 for more acclimatization.

On May 3, Tom, Mimi, Brett, Brian and Robert Boice left from Base Camp and proceeded to Camp 2. The winds up high were already picking up and predicted to increase for the next couple of days. The night of May 3 the big winds really came in and blew hard. Winds in Base Camp were gusting to approx. 30-35 mph. All of us here in base camp could hear the wind roaring over the summit of Mt Everest.

The morning radio call from the team members in Camp 2 indicated the winds blew quite hard and all team members were safe and well, but lacking some sleep. All the tents were intact but the dining tent was dropped and rocks placed on it as it was the most likely to be damaged. Camp 1 did not fair as well in the winds; some of our tents were damaged along with damage to other teams tents. In all, the rumor was 32 tents were damaged at Camp 1.

In light of the future forecast for two more days of very high winds, the team members will descend to Base on the morning of May 5. After that it will be a waiting game with the weather to see when there will be a period of good weather for the summit push. Some teams have already declared they will try for the summit at or around the 8th, 9th or 10th of May. The weather forecast is not very good for those days, but shows some signs of more stable weather around the 12th. That's a little too far out for our team to make a decision and we will wait for more updated forecasts.

-Dan Smith

Dispatches