Mount Everest North Side Expedition
Kari Kobler Everest 2003 Updates

(Page DOWN for the latest News on the expedition.)

Team: Bernhard Ackermann, Veronika Ruth Meyer-Gerber, Karl Kobler, Olivier Pasche, Madeleine Pasche, Markus Christian Michel, Brian Duthiers, Diego Wellig, Norbert Burgener, Josef-Konrad Iten, André Georges, Peter Krug, Peter Fessler, Otto Honegger, Pierre Ozenda, Emil Frehner, Thomas Ulrich, Frank Senn, Angelo Prinz, Martin Schilt, Beat Huber Frank Messmer, and Mario Gustav Julen

Picture ABC with North Col Kari Kobler

Update: Their intermediate Camp is set up on approximately 5800 m is quite comfortably furnished: Kitchen, large residence tent and five two-tents for sleeping. ABC is set up at 6400 m. The infrastructure could not be better! Individual sleep tents, large kitchen, beautiful residence tent, Karis InterNet Café, Tents for the Sherpas, showering and toilet tents. "Without our efficient Sherpas the mountain would be attainable only for extremely strong persons such as Kari or André Georges." The Sherpas is efficient at the setting-up that fixed rope.

Update 5/12/2003: The thunderstorm is over, after days of doing nothing we are able to climb on the mountain again. Obviously no material has been lost. Now the weather reports are a heavy strain on our patience: Will there be a phase of fair wheather at all and at what time?

To climb the Everest means to have a lot of time – in case you are not just the leader of the expedition. Consider a possible scheme für acclimatization and climbing:

Two training tours starting from the base camp, then climbing to the ABC, one time climbing to the North Col, staying there over the night, the next day climbing still higher and then back to the ABC. Later on back again to the North Col for sleeping, back to seven-five for sleeping, back to ABC and walking back to the base camp in one day. Taking everything into account you need 10 days for acclimatization.

Should it be meant seriously, so what: Within two days to the ABC, rest, up to the North col - seven-eight, eight-three, summit and descent as far as possible, descent to the ABC, rest, descent to the base camp within one or two days depending on how tired you are. All together you need eight or nine days, that means less then 20 days of two months for holidays.

That also means, to enjoy the rest of the time with reading, discussing, going for a walk, watching people, to buy pretty stone from the tibetians and hope for a special offer.

How awful it is to be surrounded by colleagues of the expeditions who are not able to talk about anything else but the Everest! Refering thereto we are lucky. We talk about just everything, laugh together and being accompagnied by the „TV-Huckies“ is an enrichment for us.

Nevertheless time passes too slowly sometimes. It had been easier for Messner and Habeler 25 years ago: Already on 8th of may 1978 they arrived the summit of the everest, the first mountaineers without using oxygene from the bottle.

But on the contrary 50 years ago the first climbing happened late in the season, namely on 29th of may 1953.

Some time around the end of may or the beginning of june the monsoon breaks in with strong sowfalls. Then you must accept that "the Everest is closed for an uncertain time". On those days the wheather forecasts of Meteotest keep us in tension.

Lately they said there might be a chance for a phase of good wheather of one or two days around the 19th of may. But this is more a trap than a real chance: Two day are too short for ABC - summit – ABC and on the other hand during that time the wind will be only half as strong as before. That means 50 km/h at the summit. Have a good time! The wind at this height is no joking matter. But such a prognosis awakens the fantasy of all mountaineers.

Today the wheather report from Bern is a little bit more optimistic. The winds might calm down on the 20th of may and so it would be possible to have enough time for climbing to the summit.

In ten days we will know, what will happen in reality. Until then it is important to keep the balance between tranquility and action. Some members of the expeditions should still take their sleep of duty on seven-five.

So in the meantime we hope that this will be possible and the sherpas can do their hard work at the mountain. They build the street up to the Everest made of fixed ropes and small, fixed hotels at the day’s marches.

We heard that the actual press from sunday reports [we assume he means in a Swiss Newspaper] about the "Swiss team in troubles at the Everest". All I can say is: That doesn’t concern us. Fortunately we are feeling well and healthy. Certainly there are some small problems, some sleepless nights, a disordered stomache, a slight cough, but until now everything disappeared after a while.

The thunderstorm of last weak damaged some of our tents, but no material had been lost. Other teams lost nearly everything at the ABC and still higher up. We are very much obliged to our sherpas fastened our tents in such perfect way. The thunderstorm must have shaked our tents terribly, but they were not destroyed. So we can use them again and will find again our material deposited there. 

So the dream of the Everest is still alive!

Update 5/24/2003: According to the American Ski Everest expedition, None of the Swiss summited. However, they came away healthy....