Snowboard Everest Autumn 2003

Stephen Koch and Jimmy Chin will attempt to snowboard Everest this Autumn. They plan to climb Everest via the Hornbein route and then descend via the Hornbein. They will travel from Kathmandu to Lhasa then to Everest base camp on the North (Chinese).  Eric Henderson is the base camp manager.

Dispatch: Another day...

Lakpa yelled as he fell up to his armpits in the crevasse. Stephen held the fall. It was 1 am and we had been post holing up to our knees through glit (half glue and half shit) for 6 hours at over 20,000ft trying to navigate the approach to the face through dense fog. When we finally pulled Lakpa out, we threw our packs down to rest. The night was misty and warm with light snowfall. The conditions were not ideal but we had been determined to find our way to the base of the face and make an attempt.  We had received forecasts for good weather for the upcoming days and the face had been stabilizing for several days without any serious precipitation. The delicate balance for the right conditions and limited windows of opportunity pushed us on despite the contrary signs around us.

Just as our packs hit the snow, we heard a distant rumble. Living in the hills here, one becomes accustomed to the sounds of distant avalanches and rock fall, but this sound was loud and directly above us. The rumble was quickly escalating into a deafening roar. We had nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. Roped together and surrounded by crevasses, we stood in the dark silently staring towards the invisible freight train. We saw the massive cloud in our headlamps a few seconds before the air blast hit us. We had no idea how close we were to the serac fall or how big it was. We all waited for the worst. Stephen, Lakpa and Kami dove onto their packs as I was blown 25 feet away, pulled taught on the rope. My pack and several ski poles were blown several hundred feet away. We gathered our equipment as the mist swirled around us. After a short discussion (about 10 seconds) we decided to wait for another day. Several hours of slogging later, we were back at camp 1, greeted, as always, with a warm smile and hug from Eric.

Jimmy

We were all very fortunate to be unharmed. Qomolungma gave us a clear sign last night that the time was not right. We bailed for multiple reasons...snow/fog/warm temps/lateness/fatigue, all of which are easy excuses, but in the end, if She doesn't give herself up to you, there is nothing you can do.  Lakpa and Kami are putting in a camp 2 near the base of the route which will save us time and energy next time we go for the face. The weather today is snowing and not good...I would like to think that Qomolungma wants the best for us and the serac was one way to let us know we needed to wait. I feel good, although a bit disappointed as we had all gotten pretty psyched up for the climb. But it is the north face of Everest and we will treat it with the greatest respect. It is going to take everything I have to pull this off. The moon will be coming out next week and we hope to get freezing temps along with it.

Stephen

If you missed it, last night's dispatches are here

Check out the Japanese Couloir by clicking on the map...

Dispatches

Pictures copyright Stephen Koch' Autumn Everest 2003 expedition

  Altitude pre-
   acclimatization

   Ascenders

   Atlas snowshoes

   Black Diamond

   Botas

   Brunton

   Carabiners

   CaVa Climbing Shoes
   Clearance

   Clif Bar

   CMI

   Crampons

   Edelweiss ropes
   Eureka Tents

   Featured

   FoxRiver

   Garmin

   Granite Gear

   Harnesses
   Headlamps
   Helmets

   HighGear
   Ice Axes

   Kavu Eyewear

   Katadyn

   Kong

   Lekisport

   Lowepro

   Motorola

   Nalgene

   New England Ropes

   Nikwax

   Omega

   Outdoor Designs

   Pelican

   PowerBar

   Princeton Tec

   Prescription Glacier

   Glasses

   Primus

   Rope Bags

   Seattle Sports

   Serius
   Sleeping Bags

   Stubai

   Suunto

   Tents

   Trekking Poles
   Ushba
   and more here