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Gheorghe
(aka George) Dijmarescu: Everest 2002
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Dear
EverestNews.com, Reporting from ABC of Mt.
Everest. This season the weather is something I have
never experienced in my 4 previous Everest
expeditions. A couple days after I returned from my
rest days in Base Camp a freak storm leveled our both
kitchen and dining tents leaving us totally exposed to
the elements, in 2 days we lost all our food due to
frost, except rice and sugar everything was frozen
solid like rocks. My cook Maila did a superb job to re
supply our International expedition with fresh food
from base camp only to have it frozen few days later.
It was like a play game with Mother Nature. A bit of
rice combined with frozen Yak meat make our daily
staple. We are almost in mid May now and I hope the
window of opportunity will open soon enough for my
reserved energy to make a realistic dash for the
summit but not only that, an earlier try means another
opportunity in case weather turned out to be
unfavorable up there when I try for the summit. This
are my plan this year. The everyday stubborn wind make
everybody wait another day, a few days ago a large
Korean team announced that they will try to summit on
May 14, however a few days ago 2 days of strong winds
on around camp 2 in excess of 100m/h has destroyed 4-5
North Face tents and a Russian tent, today is a mater
of how many tents are standing in camp 2. For my part
I was experienced enough not to have my tent pitched,
sometime experience do pay of and I am fortunate to be
the one. Couple of days ago Oxygen bottles start
rolling down the mountain from Camp 2 hitting rocks
and creating huge explosions, one of them in the early
morning hours making me run out of my warm sleeping
bag a really scare not knowing what had happened,
perhaps a close by avalanche. The Korean Sherpa tired
of working out the mountain, battling strong winds
every day for a mere $5.00 a day had decided to go
down to base camp for a few days rest. At this
altitude is difficult to rest into the thin air, the
more thicker richer air from base camp make it
sometime desirable, blisters and sun burns heals
faster, some of my Sherpa friends unrecognizable to me
their faces black with clear distinctions what kind of
sun glasses they wore in their struggle to
"fix" the mountain for their expeditions. I
was glad to see again Thilen Sherpa and Muktu Sherpa
one of the 2 sherpas who bravely carried in 1996 the
heavy IMAX camera for Robert Shower and David
Breashears in the acclaimed "Everest" IMAX
film who made millions all over the world, only to
appear in the end of this movie for a scant 1.5.
second, a true injustice to the Sherpa people. In my
opinion without Sherpa support, perhaps 85% of the
climbers will not even come to Everest, with
exceptions of some countries like Russia and
Poland.... Everest remained expansive and
dangerous. As I mention in my reports last year
climbers with more time on there side have a higher
rate of success, those who stuck to their confidence
and endure all that Everest has lash at them succeed
here. A strange group of Americans has made quite a
noise on their arrival in ABC, one of them from Alaska
was reported being drunk and carrying with him 20
liters of pure alcohol, has started arguing with a
Swiss group on the subject of real estate. Is well
known here that the first to come takes what he or she
wants. It was clear to the Sherpa about this man
experience in the Himalayas. A few days ago he
announced that he is through with this mountain this
year, 2 days later 2 of his companions follow suit. It
is common for people to quit under this conditions but
is often true to the less strong physically and
mentally. Everest is for the big boys. Now a Swiss
team has spread rumors that they will try to summit on
May 17 this team has proved to have pretty accurate
weather forecast, this morning one of my Sherpa
friends confirmed to me that they will try for May 17,
a good news to many, small expeditions or individuals
like myself has no means and power to fix ropes from
camp 3 at 8300m through the yellow band up to the NE
Ridge, so we are waiting for the large groups with
many Sherpas strong enough to do the task, what's left
for us is to pay a fee for the use of this ropes.
That's the games and rules here in the North Side of
Everest. For me is a waiting game from now on,
acclimatized waiting for a break in the weather. I
will come back with more soon. Cheers to all
George Dijmarescu from ABC
[He
is going for his 4th Summit of Everest.]
 Dispatches
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