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

Expedition Leader Eric Simonson reports from Base Camp April 15, 2002: The IMG Everest 2002 Expedition is fully under way and everything is going well. This is the twelfth Everest expedition organized by me and International Mountain Guides (www.mountainguides.com) .  Assisting me this year as Deputy Climbing Leader is Mark Tucker, an Everest summitter and long-time mountain guide.  It's great for me to be back in the mountains again with Mark.

Lhotse Face Plan - Or, World Peace Comes to Everest: April 19: Things on the mountain are really moving now as more teams get into position to begin work on the Lhotse Face.  On Wednesday we hosted a get-together of all the expedition groups and were able to nail down the strategy for the next week or two. Click here for the full dispatch.

Tuesday April 23: All’s well on the South Side today, with most teams resting. Yesterday (Monday) was marked by heavy snow and wind on the mountain.  Eleven of our IMG Sherpas managed to sneak up to Camp 3 early in the day and set up two more tents there, then beat a hasty retreat to Base Camp. No Sherpas from any team went up to Camp 3 today (Tuesday) despite the fact that the weather has now cleared up. Click here for the full dispatch. 

April 26 High winds, icefall problems: The route remains unfixed above Camp 3, except for a couple hundred meters of rope run out yesterday by Willy Benegas and his Sherpas.  Today a number of Sherpas headed up from ABC to take a crack at the Lhotse Face, but turned back due to rockfall caused by the high winds above on Lhotse. The icefall is now becoming an issue among many of the teams on the mountain... Click here for the full dispatch.

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... Click here for the full dispatch. 

Dispatch 6 Bad Days on the Lhotse Face: Friday was spent putting ABC back together after the high winds of the day before.  Many teams had sustained some damage to their tents.  Saturday was a good day, and a number of Sherpas were able to push up to the Yellow Band and fix rope... Click here for the full dispatch. 

IMG Everest 2002 Dispatch 7 - May 6 2002 Camp 4 established, now the rubber hits the road: All of our members are now at BC resting after successfully sleeping at Camp 3.  In a few days they will begin heading back up for the first summit bids.  It is rapidly coming to the moment everyone has been dreaming about for a long time…when the rubber hits the road and all the planning and preparation pays off…hopefully.  This is an exciting time for all of us and a nerve-wracking time too... Click here for the full dispatch. 

International Mountain Guides (IMG) Expedition Leader Eric Simonson reports that on May 6, 2002 Sherpas Ang Passang, Phu Nuru, Mingma Tshering, Mingma Ongel, and Danuru, all employed by the IMG Everest 2002 Expedition, returned to Base Camp with oxygen bottles they had carried down from the South Col (26,000 feet) on May 5th. These 19 cylinders were the last of a bygone era, the last used oxygen bottles left on the South Col of the thousands that littered the area several years ago.  Ang Passang reported they were unable to find any additional cylinders despite an extensive search around the Col, and his report was confirmed the next day when a second group of IMG Sherpas reached the Col and were unable to find any more abandoned cylinders... Click here for the full dispatch.

IMG Everest 2002 Dispatch 9: Still Cold Up High, but Time to Move

International Mountain Guides Everest 2002 Dispatch 10

International Mountain Guides Everest 2002 Dispatch 11: Wednesday, May 15 6:00 pm radio call

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

International Mountain Guides Everest 2002 Dispatch 14:  IMG on the Summit of Everest

International Mountain Guides Everest 2002 Dispatch 15 - All Reached the Summit

International Mountain Guides Everest 2002 Dispatch 16 - Team Safely Down to Camp 4

International Mountain Guides Everest 2002 The Summit List

The "women's" part of the IMG Expedition left camp 4 last night 

Reliable sources on Everest report to EverestNews.com the whole IMG team that attempted the Summit is headed down. Jake Norton and Karma Rita Sherpa reached the Summit.

IMG team back down at Camp 4

If you missed the "live" action from Friday night that we covered, here is a re-cap: Dispatch - Recap of the long day, the Ford [women's part of this expedition] team is at C4, storm

The IMG part two, Summit List

Phil and Susan Ershler became the first couple to finish the Seven Summits together when they reached the Summit of Everest on May 16th, 2002.