International Mountain Guides (www.mountainguides.com) Everest 2002 Expedition

April 27, 2002: IMG Everest 2002 Dispatch 5: High winds hit ABC: Nepal has been having weird weather. In Kathmandu it has rained almost every day recently, which is quite unusual for this time of year. On the mountain, everyone got hit hard yesterday.  Fortunately, we had people in all the camps to help tie down the tents. In particular, Phil and Sue Ershler, Stuart Smith, Kevin Flynn, and Ted Wheeler, along with cook Phurba, worked very hard to save Camp 2 from winds estimated by various people in the 80 - 100 mph range. Many expeditions lost tents.  Our IMG team didn't lose any tents to the wind, the Eureka! Fifth Season tents withstood the blast, but our big dining tent needs some work.  I talked to Ed Viesturs on the phone today from Annapurna and he said they had quite a lot of snow over there.  Everest seems to have avoided the heavy snow, but we sure got pounded by the wind!!

Eric Simonson

Expedition Leader

Dispatches