Kangchenjunga International Expedition 2003

Gary, Paul, Frits and the others of their team have decided to abort their attempts to climb Kanch this season. Their experienced team was able to climb the mountain in their chosen style. With the adverse weather, the hard going and no Sherpa support, the amount of fixed rope and camps they deemed necessary for a safe ascent took the better of them and the team is now en route to Kathmandu. All are in good health and spirits.

A few days before them, Christine Boskoff had also left, leaving only Andrew Lock, the Italians/Spaniards  and 2 members of Norbert Joos' team. They were going to attempt the ascent in alpine style (from camp 2, taking C3 with them)

The previous update is below...

Report 5/4/2003: I just spoke with Gary (he sounded great),  here are the highlights: All teams are presently in base camp as a wind storm came in yesterday. Winds are up to 100 mph and last evening was partially spent keeping the canteen/mess tent from blowing down!  The climbers are bored with waiting out this weather! All teams have camp 2 established  (around 6900m or 22K feet) and Norbert's team may attempt the summit the next time they move up.         Everyone is in good health and spirits, just a bit frustrated by weather conditions. That's it for now. Bett

Dispatches