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July 1-10th,1999 Daily Reports
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Daily News: 7/10/99 Report
1999 K2: They
are climbing again ! Very interesting...
Update 7/8/99:
WALDEMAR NICLEVICZ VIA SATELLITE BY IRIDIUM
Gasherbrum - Camp 1 5,950m, 47th day of the expedition
Wind has blown a lot at heights today on Gasherbrum.
Koreans tried to get the summit, but they returned from 7,400m due to wind strength. Even
though, Pepe and Andrew and the Spaniards followed to camp 3 (7,000 m). I've got a super
coughing attack and sore throat. I preferred to be waiting for a weather improvement here
at camp 1. Tomorrow Abele and Andrew are arriving from base-camp and I intend to go
up with them.
WALDEMAR NICLEVICZ
Update 7/9/99:
WALDEMAR NICLEVICZ VIA SATELLITE BY IRIDIUM
Gasherbrum Camp I, 5,950m / Camp III,
7,000m, 48th day of the expedition
Abele, Christian and I have come to camp 3 today at 7,000m
of altitude, while the Spaniards and Englishmen took advantage of
the beautiful day to get the summit of Gasherbrum II, 8,035m. In a total 16 people have
succeeded.
I expect to go on in my attempt
today at midnight with Abele, Pepe and Christian. Let's cheer this year's first climb
in the Project K2 succeeds.
The trade paperback has three
new chapters in addition to what appears in the mass market paperback (the
small one). Those three chapters:
EVEREST UPDATE: A RESPONSE TO JON
KRAKAUER: This is a 14,000+ word history and analysis of the Boukreev-Krakauer
controversy.
A REVIEW FROM THE AMERICAN
ALPINE CLUB,This is a reprint of Galen Rowell's review of THE CLIMB that ran in the 1998
edition of THE AMERICAN ALPINE JOURNAL.
MOUNTAIN MADNESS EVEREST DEBRIEFING: A TRANSCRIPT
This is a verbatim transcript of the audio-taped debriefing of the Mountain Madness
Expedition members, made five days after the tragedy.
The trade paperback has three
new chapters in addition to what appears in the mass market paperback (the
small one). Those three chapters:
EVEREST UPDATE: A RESPONSE TO JON
KRAKAUER: This is a 14,000+ word history and analysis of the Boukreev-Krakauer
controversy.
A REVIEW FROM THE AMERICAN
ALPINE CLUB,This is a reprint of Galen Rowell's review of THE CLIMB that ran in the 1998
edition of THE AMERICAN ALPINE JOURNAL.
MOUNTAIN MADNESS EVEREST DEBRIEFING: A TRANSCRIPT
This is a verbatim transcript of the audio-taped debriefing of the Mountain Madness
Expedition members, made five days after the tragedy.
Ginette has clearly establish
herself as one of the best female high altitude climbers in the world, if not the best. Learn why.
1999 K2: They
are climbing again ! Very interesting...
Update 7/6/99:
WALDEMAR NICLEVICZ VIA SATELLITE BY IRIDIUM
Hidden Peak -Base 5,220m, 45th day of the expedition
My friends, the weather is very bad
unfortunately. The sky was full of dark clouds today, with an intermittent blizzard
every hour. We receive the forecast today from Spain and this instability will go on till
Friday at least. That forecast was done by the meteorologist Daniel Ramirez, with very
high efficiency, and is sponsored by BARRABES (one of the best
alpinism equipment shops in Spain, see www.barrabes.com. )
While we are waiting, we take advantage to rest and have a
good food . Here at base-camp we have a cook, who offers us a great variety of
meals. His name is Baker and cooks very well. He's the same cook we had in our expedition
to K2 last year. Baker works for Adventure Tours Pakistan (www.atp.com.pk), the
agency which is supporting us. Each four days the agency gets the food to our
base-camp. Yesterday afternoon we had a surprise, which made Baker's eyes shine: a Goat!!!
Our cook followed by Mohamed (his helper) hunted the animal today morning and prepared a
lovely lunch. Here at base-camp we eat basically potatoes, rice, chapati (a kind of bread)
and dhal (lentils). We are free of that type of menu thanks to food that we have brought
from Italy (much pasta, many olives, cheeses, hams, sweets, biscuits, etc...).
WALDEMAR NICLEVICZ
Update 7/7/99:
WALDEMAR NICLEVICZ VIA SATELLITE BY IRIDIUM
Gasherbrum Base, 5,220m / Camp 1, 5,950 m, 46th day of
the expedition
The meteorology has forecasted unstable weather with
storms for yesterday and today, getting better tomorrow but with strong winds S-SW on the
summits. Temperature 0 degrees C at 4,500m and minimum from -20/-25 degrees at 8,000
m. The weather must get worse on Friday. In this situation and taking in consideration
that the days are going by so quickly, we have decided to change our plans once more. We
believe that here is no enough time to end the climb to Hidden Peak, but we can make an attempt to climb Gasherbrum, a much less complicate
mountain. It's a pity, but it will just be successful if the weather permits.
Also, it's an effort union, with the Spanish Oscar
Cardiach's expedition and with the Korean Sang Bae Lee's expedition, who are at Gasherbrum
camp 2. We are going to leave at 5:00 pm to camp 1 and early in the
morning, around 5:00 am, we'll go on aiming to reach camp 3, at 7,000m and finally make
the final attack together in the morning after. Let's cheer the weather helps us.
WALDEMAR NICLEVICZ
Daily News: 7/7/99 Report
EverestNews.com received the following report from Bikrum Pandey
of HIMALAYA Center, Kathmandu.
EverestNews.com, I have discussed this (the question of Charles
Corfield's summit) with Above the Cloud's Managing Director Mr. Gyalzen Sherpa, over a
long lunch. Gyalzen (Gyatsen) is the organizer of Willie's Berg's last years expedition
and this years' American Millenium Expedition.
According to Gyalzen his climbing Sherpas gone with Charles
had reported, on return, to their Base Camp Sirdar Chungba Sherpa of this American
Millenium Expedition that Charles Corfield's team had reached to the Bishop Rock where
Willie Berg had installed GPS Satellite last year. This Bishop Rock site is believed to be
short of 50 feet below the real summit.
When they reported to the Ministry Tourism about their
Summit Success, Corfield, according to Gyalzen, might have thought that few feet here and
there (50 feet) did not make much of a difference to the real summit, which can often
happen in the mountain. So they could have reported it as the summit success to Nepal's
Ministry of Tourism.
So, HIMALAYA Center thinks that Charles Corfield's team had
summitted the Bishop Rock, not the Internationally accepted Mt. Everest Summit.
The next step will be to interview the sherpas themselves.
Thanks Bikrum Pandey @HIMALAYA Center, Kathmandu
Bikrum Pandey at HIMALAYA Center, Kathmandu, is a well
recognized source of information in Nepal. He is a senior Tourism Professional of Nepal,
Vice President Nepal's Mountaineering Association and Correspondent of Britain's reputed
HIGH magazine . Bikrum is a regular contributor to EverestNews.com.
The trade paperback has three
new chapters in addition to what appears in the mass market paperback (the
small one). Those three chapters:
EVEREST UPDATE: A RESPONSE TO JON
KRAKAUER: This is a 14,000+ word history and analysis of the Boukreev-Krakauer
controversy.
A REVIEW FROM THE AMERICAN
ALPINE CLUB,This is a reprint of Galen Rowell's review of THE CLIMB that ran in the 1998
edition of THE AMERICAN ALPINE JOURNAL.
MOUNTAIN MADNESS EVEREST DEBRIEFING: A TRANSCRIPT
This is a verbatim transcript of the audio-taped debriefing of the Mountain Madness
Expedition members, made five days after the tragedy.
1999 K2: The
Hidden peak climb becomes Very interesting...
Update 7/3/99:
WALDEMAR NICLEVICZ VIA SATELLITE BY IRIDIUM
Hidden Peak - Camp 1, 5,950 m / Base
5,220 m,42nd day of the expedition
Fortunately we are at base-camp for resting after 6 work
days in superior altitudes. And here, at base, I can explain better what we have been
doing, because I update K2 on-line directly with my notebook. When I am climbing, I use
the Iridium to update K2 on-line, calling my office in Brazil, but not always possible to
publish what I want.
Well, Pepe and I descended from camp 1
today, amidst a thin snow. In fact, the weather has got worse and we took the right
decision to return from 7,100 m yesterday, leaving there just some equipment and setting
our camp 3. It was a hard decision, as with camp 3 set, we could reach the summit. Here's
a part of the story that neither I nor Pepe can understand well.
Yesterday the day was very hard, we worked much to get the
superior Glacier which would take us to camp 3. On Jun 30th Pepe and I fixed 600m ropes in
the Japanese Corridor. On Jul. 1st, Abele Christian and Andrew (our colleagues who were at
base-camp), arrived at camp 2 where we were resting (in that day the Koreans fixed more
200 m of ropes). then, all our team left early (6:00 am) yesterday trying to reach camp 2
definitively in order to prepare our final attack. But, while we were going up, the
weather got worse, a cold wind started blowing and when we finished the fixed ropes the
difficulties went on. We were climbing on a ground, half rock, half ice, from 45 to 55
degrees inclination. And we had no option unless continue fixing ropes.
Around 7,000 meters of altitudes, the rock wall
was replaced by an immense glacier, there we put the last stake in the snow and tied the
rope end. At that point, we were climbing amidst a snowstorm with a
short visibility. The wind became stronger, but sometimes it almost stopped. At
that time we all had decided to return to camp 2, because with such weather conditions it
would be hard to set camp 3 and, furthermore follow to the summit in the next day. I
started the long descending followed by Pepe and asking myself if we could get the base,
it would be better to rest. Unfortunately it was late when we arrived at camp 2 (5:00 pm),
even tired we didn't rest and went on to camp 1 (the lower altitude it is, the
better you feel to rest, due to an increase of oxygen concentration). We always looked up,
to see if our friends were descending, but we couldn't see anything. I was surprised
when I was near camp 1, I saw in the same place where we had finished the climb, 3 dots moving.
Pepe and I can't understand
why our colleagues didn't respect what we had agreed and decided to spend the night at
7,100m. We haven't had news of them so far, although we have insisted on a contact by
radio, no success. Now, it is 5:15 pm at base-camp, it's snowing a lot, we hope Abele, Christian and Andrew are OK.
(legenda da foto) The photo shows the beginning of the
Japanese Corridor. 3 work-days to find a safe path among the rock towers.
WALDEMAR NICLEVICZ
Update 7/4/99:
WALDEMAR NICLEVICZ VIA SATELLITE BY IRIDIUM
Hidden Peak Base-camp 5,220m, 43rd
day of the expedition
Pepe and I have had some tense moments
here at base-camp. The weather keeps unstable, it snowed a lot at night, and so far
3:10 pm we have no news of our friends. Well, it's sure that
they set camp 3 at 7,100m, a day before yesterday, when Pepe and I came to camp 1.
Yesterday would be the day that they would attack the summit, but as the weather was very
bad, they probably decided to wait one day else at 7,100 m. So, I believe that they are
coming down today to camp 2, very frustrated by the bad weather, and tomorrow they must
arrive at base-camp. I hope so, but I can't understand why they
couldn't get in touch by radio, I don't believe that they haven't taken a radio with them.
Today I leave you one more photo in the Japanese Corridor,
where my friend Pepe Garces appears in one of the most difficult parts, under a negative
wall, fixing ropes. On the first workday Pepe and I spent seven hours to fix
600 m of ropes. These ropes are very important to ease our climb, and a possible exit in
case of bad weather.
WALDEMAR NICLEVICZ
Update 7/5/99:
WALDEMAR NICLEVICZ VIA SATELLITE BY IRIDIUM
Hidden Peak - Base-camp 5,200m,
44th day of the expedition
Dear friends:
With pleasure I communicate that
all
our team is well. And the news is still better, Abele Blanc
and Christian Kuntner are the first alpinists that arrived at the summit of Hidden Peak
this year, although it has been very hard and they were very unruly.
In fact, they decided to set camp 3 at 7,100 m, just after
Pepe and I had started descending to camp 2, as it was agreed among us (on Jul. 2nd). The
Australian Andrew Lock had stayed with them, all of them intended to leave to the summit
at 10:00 pm, but the wind was very strong. They waited all night for a wind stop and it
stopped around 4:30 am. Then, they began the final attack by 5:00 am, quite late and with
short visibility. After 30 minutes Andrew got late and couldn't see his companions anymore
returning to his tent at camp 3. Abele and Christian went on facing difficulties,
threat of board avalanches, strong wind, short visibility. They got lost several times,
but they went on up, arriving at the summit at 5:30 pm yesterday (Jul. 4th). The wind was
very strong and Abele has confessed he was afraid of being taken by the wind. The
descending was nervous too, our friends couldn't find the descending path amidst a
snowstorm and with the sunset they were already imagining to spend the night out. It was
when they found several signals of old camps and finally their tent at camp 3. The arrival
at the summit of Hidden Peak by Abele and Christian was, undoubtedly, a big demonstration
of courage but also an unnecessary demonstration of imprudence. The life exposition to
such extreme conditions isn't worth. The rest of the team got very worried, because
all of us had taken the decision to go to camp 2 and not to continue up the summit.
My friends, the mountains life is very beautiful and knowing how to live it and preserve
it depends on each one. The nice living among a good team is one of the biggest
satisfaction I've already had. It's a pity that, sometimes, the man puts his
personal pride above the common aim. That's why, on one hand I'm very glad because they
are Ok, but on the other hand, I'm very disappointed by our companion's individualism and
by the lack of respect to their own lives.
Our Sunday (yesterday) was dark and cold. It snowed all day
long.. Practically everybody descended from superior camps to base today. The weather got
a little better today, but the snow kept falling, provoking big avalanches. Koreans and Spaniards have already set camp 3 at Gasherbrum II and
wait at base-camp for good weather conditions. Two new
expeditions are among us, both Americans, one of them will climb Gasherbrum IV through via
Bonatti and other commercial to Gasherbrum II.
The trade paperback has three
new chapters in addition to what appears in the mass market paperback (the
small one). Those three chapters:
EVEREST UPDATE: A RESPONSE TO JON
KRAKAUER: This is a 14,000+ word history and analysis of the Boukreev-Krakauer
controversy.
A REVIEW FROM THE AMERICAN
ALPINE CLUB,This is a reprint of Galen Rowell's review of THE CLIMB that ran in the 1998
edition of THE AMERICAN ALPINE JOURNAL.
MOUNTAIN MADNESS EVEREST DEBRIEFING: A TRANSCRIPT
This is a verbatim transcript of the audio-taped debriefing of the Mountain Madness
Expedition members, made five days after the tragedy.
Pepe Garces and I rested at camp 2 today and fortunately
Abele, Christian and Ralph came from base-camp up and now the team is
all together. Therefore, we intend to follow to camp 3 tomorrow. The weather is
reasonable, winding a little and quite cold at high altitudes. Here, at camp 2 it
was (-) 18 degrees C at night . Let's cheer the weather doesn't
get worse and then we can arrive at Camp 3 at 7,200m of altitude and on
Saturday we can get the summit of Hidden Peak at 8,068m.
Exclusive. Don't miss this Sunday, at a TV
Program called Fantαstico in Brazilian TV, Globo Network, images from the beginning
of the expedition of the Project K2: the arrival in Pakistan, the approximation walking to
Hidden Peak and Gasherbrum base-camp.
Update 7/2/99:
WALDEMAR NICLEVICZ VIA SATELLITE BY IRIDIUM
Hidden Peak - Camp 2, 6,500m/7,100m /
Camp 1 5,950m, 41st day of the
expedition
Today was the longest and toughest day of the expedition.
We started climbing at 7:00 am through the "Japanese Corridor"
and at 2:00 pm we were at the end of the fixed ropes amidst a strong snowstorm. The wind
was strong and the visibility was less than 40 meters.
Unfortunately the difficulty in our path has surprised
us. We went up to 7,100m of altitude, climbing on a breaking rock and sank in a snow
up to 50 degrees inclination.
At that moment we were all decided to return to camp2.
Pepe and I initiated our descending immediately. Before, we left a warehouse with
tent, food and fuel for our next lunge. To our surprise, our
colleagues didn't come down, improvising a camp 3 at 7,100. Pepe and I came to camp
1, where we arrived at 8:00 pm very tired. I'll send further details tomorrow direct from
base-camp.
Eric Simonson Complete Q&A on the Mallory findings will
be posted next week.
The trade paperback has three
new chapters in addition to what appears in the mass market paperback (the
small one). Those three chapters:
EVEREST UPDATE: A RESPONSE TO JON
KRAKAUER: This is a 14,000+ word history and analysis of the Boukreev-Krakauer
controversy.
A REVIEW FROM THE AMERICAN
ALPINE CLUB,This is a reprint of Galen Rowell's review of THE CLIMB that ran in the 1998
edition of THE AMERICAN ALPINE JOURNAL.
MOUNTAIN MADNESS EVEREST DEBRIEFING: A TRANSCRIPT
This is a verbatim transcript of the audio-taped debriefing of the Mountain Madness
Expedition members, made five days after the tragedy.
Eric Simonson Q&A Part 1 on Mallory
findings with questions from the staff and Our
Everest Insiders members:
Q.) Many readers are interesting in how this expedition got
started and the role of Larry Johnson and Jochen Hemmleb. Maybe the readers could hear the
short story of their role in getting this expedition going, and what they are doing now.
A.) This expedition was the idea of Larry Johnson and Jochen
Hemmleb, both Everest historians. Larry contacted me during the summer of 1998 about
organizing a Mallory Expedition which would join my Everest team in 1999 to the North
Side. I had planned to organize a commercial climb for 1999 along the lines of our
successful 1998 International Mountain Guides expedition that Dave Hahn had led for me.
From the beginning of our conversations, however, it became apparent to me that for this
Mallory Expedition to be successful, it could not just be an "add on" to a
commercial climb. It had to be a dedicated expedition. Our priorities had to
be the search, number one, and any summit climb would have to take second place.
When I committed to organizing the expedition during the Autumn of 1998, it was one this
basis. That was one reason the expedition was so challenging to put together for me,
even though I have done dozens of big trips before. I had no clients writing
checks. We had to raise every nickel of the 300K we needed starting from scratch,
and we had about 3 months to do it. We worked very hard all winter to get the sponsors on
board to support the expedition. Back in the dark days of December, when everyone
thought we were nuts, it seemed like a long shot that we would ever get on an airplane,
let alone find anything.
Since getting home, Larry, Jochen, and I are working very
hard with The Mountaineers and the other team members to finish up the official Expedition
Book which will be titled Ghosts of Everest, and which will be published by the
Mountaineers Press in October.
Q.) Do you believe the climber the Chinese found in 75 (?)
was Mallory ?
A.) Absolutely not. The Chinese described a climber who
was facing up, and who had a hole in his cheek. This was definitely a different
body.
Q.) Any photographs found on Mallory's body ?
A.) No
Q.) Have you been in touch with British Film Institute that
now is looking at the film of Mallory’s expedition, which sounds like sat somewhere
all of these years until your discovery?
A.) We've seen the film, but there is nothing new on it.
Q.) The watch: We understand the rust marks indicate that
the hands stopped at either 10:20 or 3:50. Is that correct? Meaning the theory, as no one
can know for sure.
A.) I'm not sure... ...we are having it looked at by a watch
expert to see where they really were. Also, to see if the mainspring ran down, or
whether it stopped due to a blow (a fall?).
Q.) Is the current theory that Mallory fell first ?and why?
A.) We don't know. It must have been a fairly hard
fall to break the rope (or maybe it caught on a rock?).
More Q&A from Eric soon. His New web site is:
http://www.mountainguides.net/
The Summit of Everest in 1999: Lev
Sarkisov's photos show the Summit early without much snow. The story on QUESTIONED SUMMITS on Everest show later many more detailed (angles) of
Everest Summit from Jacek. Jacek's detailed Q&A will be coming soon, which we think
you will find fascinating. Jacek is attempting to include a slideshow.
The K2 reports from yesterday has been updated with
pictures. The weather sounds unstable weather sounds unstable weather sounds unstable.
The trade paperback has three
new chapters in addition to what appears in the mass market paperback (the
small one). Those three chapters:
EVEREST UPDATE: A RESPONSE TO JON
KRAKAUER: This is a 14,000+ word history and analysis of the Boukreev-Krakauer
controversy.
A REVIEW FROM THE AMERICAN
ALPINE CLUB,This is a reprint of Galen Rowell's review of THE CLIMB that ran in the 1998
edition of THE AMERICAN ALPINE JOURNAL.
MOUNTAIN MADNESS EVEREST DEBRIEFING: A TRANSCRIPT
This is a verbatim transcript of the audio-taped debriefing of the Mountain Madness
Expedition members, made five days after the tragedy.
Hidden Peak - Base 5,220 m / Camp 1, 5,950 m,
37th day of the expedition
The weather keeps magnificent. Blue sky and a very
sunny day. So, we began our climb again today, aiming to set our last camp at 7,200 m and
go to the final attack to the 8,068 m of Hidden Peak. We need nice weather for more three
days, let's cheer everything succeeds.
Pepe Garces and I left the base at 5:00
pm to come to camp 1. Abele, Christian and Andrew are going to arrive tomorrow morning ,
because they prefer to leave at midnight and go direct to camp 2. As it is very hot the
danger of falling in a deep crack has increased a lot, there are immense
holes where there hadn't been before. A new pleasure is the full moon, which is granting
us a especial touch at nights. It's safer to climb at night, because the moon
light that reflects on the glacier leaves the night as clear as the day.
Update 6/29/99:
WALDEMAR NICLEVICZ VIA SATELLITE BY IRIDIUM
Hidden Peak - Camp 1, 5,950 m / Camp 2,
6,500m, 38th day of the expedition
Unfortunately the weather has changed during the
night. Our friends who where at base-camp didn't come up. Even with the strong wind and
the cloudy sky. Pepe and I have decided to go to camp 2. The idea might not be the best,
as the wind has kept blown and we were obliged to be inside the tent all afternoon long.
If the weather gets better, we're going to try to fix the ropes in the "Japanese
Corridor". Otherwise, we go down to base-camp.
It's a pity that the weather has changed so
quickly, because we are very enthusiastic about ending the climb to Hidden Peak.
I leave you a photo where there is the descending
of Gasherbrum. Our path follows on the right, on the snow sloping. Getting the superior
part, it's need to follow to right.
Hidden Peak - Camp 2, 6,500m/ Camp 3, 7,200m,
39th day of the expedition
It was a tough day today for Pepe Garces and I. We
put the equipment in the "Japanese Corridor". We decided to take a look in
details and we saw that the "Japanese Corridor" wasn't easy. We worked
from 7:00 am to 3:00 pm fixing 600 m of ropes. ( three 200m-reels of 8 mm ).
The ropes were from the Korean expedition that are going to climb Hidden Peak
too. Just one of them followed us to stretch the ropes, but sometimes they rolled more.
The weather is unstable, but even though it was possible to work. The wind has bothered us
a little.
Our friends who are at base-camp promise to come
here. If the weather gets better, we intend to do the final attack this weekend.
You see our camp 2, at 6,500m. The beginning of the
"Japanese Corridor" where our climb continues, it's the big snow spot that
appears in the back, between the two tents.
The trade paperback has three
new chapters in addition to what appears in the mass market paperback (the
small one). Those three chapters:
EVEREST UPDATE: A RESPONSE TO JON
KRAKAUER: This is a 14,000+ word history and analysis of the Boukreev-Krakauer
controversy.
A REVIEW FROM THE AMERICAN
ALPINE CLUB,This is a reprint of Galen Rowell's review of THE CLIMB that ran in the 1998
edition of THE AMERICAN ALPINE JOURNAL.
MOUNTAIN MADNESS EVEREST DEBRIEFING: A TRANSCRIPT
This is a verbatim transcript of the audio-taped debriefing of the Mountain Madness
Expedition members, made five days after the tragedy.
