International Mountain Guides Everest 2002 Expedition

International Mountain Guides Everest 2002 Dispatch 12: Thursday, May 16, 6am  

Eric Simonson here. We just had our 6am radio call. Danuru radioed from the South Summit, where apparently a LOT of people are right now, all moving toward what looks to be a good day to go to the summit, with the weather holding stable and fairly calm for the time being. IMG team members Phil and Sue Ershler, Ted Wheeler, and Stuart Smith were all at or very near the South Summit when Danuru radioed me at 6am. All are feeling strong to this point.

IMG team members Mark Tucker and Ang Pasang decided to abort their summit attempt and turned around at the Balcony and are now safely back at the Col. (Ang Pasang made a carry and left an O2 cylinder there for one of our summit climbers, but decided not to climb further and returned to the Col. Not sure why Tucker turned around, maybe he just didn't feel like that much work so early in the morning, or he wanted to save some energy in case it's needed later. He's been on top before, so he can live without a summit today.)

IMG team member Kevin Flynn did not leave the Col this morning, apparently not feeling well enough to attempt a summit climb. That's a bummer, Kevin has done a great job so far and is a superb team member, so maybe this expedition was just a warm up for another climb in the future. I hope he will try again sometime. I remember my first and second attempts, they fed my will to return and make the top the third time! Kevin sounds like he is doing OK resting at the Col, and will likely return down the hill with the rest of the summit team.

That's it. Weather is good, lots of climbers at the South Summit, going is a little slow this year but hold on to your hat, some folks are going to ring the bell in a few hours!

Eric Simonson Expedition Leader 

International Mountain Guides Everest 2002

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