Andrew Lock, one of Australia's top
mountaineers, along with Tim Bird, one of the UK's most respected guides, will attempt to
summit Everest this spring. They will be climbing with a team of 7 from the
USA, UK and Guatemala. Andrew Lock has two previous Everest expeditions and a Summit
of K2, under his belt while there are two members within the team who are hoping to
complete their 7 Summits, one of them is also aiming to be the oldest Summiter this year
at 61. Not only can you read updates from the Jagged Globe guides, but you will also hear
what it is like to be climbing the highest mountain in the world from individual climbers
within the team. Everest continues to be a magnet for climbers and this year will be
busier than ever on the mountain.
Second Dispatch: The Team arrives in
Namche Bazaar:
The third day of our trek to base
camp and all is well! Today is a rest and acclimatization day in Namche (3445m). We've had
a late breakfast at 8am instead of the usual 5am start on trekking days. The reason for
the early starts is to try and beat the afternoon storms. Yesterday we started in blue
skies and sunshine, only to arrive in a light snow storm in Namche. Today started fine but
the weather is once again clouding over. The guys have been heeding my advice and taking
it easy in this very important trek in phase. Today we have visited the Everest Museum and
had lunch at the Everest bakery. Now its back to the Panorama Lodge to rest, read and
write a few postcards. Tough life! Its really important not to rush around up here. The
development in the Khumbu region is phenomenal, with tea houses and lodges being built
very quickly. Even since my visit last Autumn, I can see a change in the number of lodges
on route. The National Park had 25000 visitors in 1999 in comparison to around 20000 in
'98. However even with all this growth I believe that this will be our last dispatch until
we meet up with our sat phone and lap top at base camp on or around the 7th April.
Current Status: Still in Dingboche for another day of
acclimatization, the Everest 2000 team is looking ahead to their arrival at Basecamp. They
will arrive April 1 and have learned the auspicious day to travel through the icefall is
April 9. The team received a prayer blessing from Lama Geshi in Pangboche on Tuesday.
Everest Spring 2000: Juan Oiarzabal, "To the Edge of The Impossible" or AL
FILO DE LO IMPOSIBLE in Spanish
Part 2: In
search of the camera of Mallory:
Last spring an expedition lead by Eric Simonson found the
frozen body of George Mallory who disappeared in the Everest 75 years ago. The
"Investigating Expedition Mallory and Irvine 1999 " mainly intended to find
convincing evidence that demonstrated that Mallory and Irvine were first to climbing
to the top of the world. On April 1st search for evidence started
and Mallory's body was located on May 1st 1999, about 521 meters from the
summit. Mallory was found in a jacket and trousers of wool. The investigators looked
for the camera but without success. The photos that this camera MIGHT contain could
show that M&I had summited or at least show that they died on descent (photo being
taken above where the body was found). According to the specialists, the impression on the
film that could be in good state and be preserved by the low temperatures.
This
would prove Mallory and Irvine the first
men who climbed a mountain of 8000 meters
(since Maurice Herzog climbed the Annapurna
in 1950) and first in arriving at the summit of the highest mountain of the world,
almost three decades before famous Edmund Hillary
and the Sherpa Tenzing Norgay. Graham Hoyland, great
nephew of Somervell who was intimate friend of Mallory, to try to recover the
camera. Graham is returning to Everest, where he summited in 1993, and who
will count on the support of the BBC. The BBC team, sponsored by the English public
television station, will leave at the end of March to the base camp of the North of the
Everest, to ascend by its northeast route and to try to recover the camera George Mallory
carried. According to Graham, the BBV was also the major sponsor of last year's M&I
expedition.
Can the answers be found in the
camera?
We asked
Sebastiαn Alvaro, director of the program of television To the Edge of
the Impossible, what he thinks of the
search of the all-important camera.
Note his answers are
translations from Spanish !
What do you think about the fact that the BBC organizes an
expedition to look for the camera of Mallory?
"We knew that the great nephew of Somervell had
been the initiator of the idea last year, when they were in the Americas, and this year
they have been put in contact with us to ask for aid
and our cooperation in the search. "
Is "To the Edge" interested in looking for the
camera?
"Our objective never has been to look the
camera nor bodies. Our objective is to
climb Everest without oxygen and to reconstruct and narrate to the viewers the fascinating
history of Irvine and Mallory. "
If the camera is found it would solve the great mystery of
the ascent?
"No, I believe that there are many possibilities that the
camera had broken and therefore the material inside is unimportant. In addition, in my
opinion, the camera is going to have no test, neither in a sense nor in another one, that
it contributes any more light on the situation which we know about. "
EverestNews.com should add that in
our research we discovered that Juan
Oiarzabal had a plan to reconstruct the fascinating history of Irvine and Mallory before last year. In fact, he had been working on
this for several years, EverestNews.com has learned. Many thanks for our friends at Desnivel for the source of the interview with additions and
modifications by EverestNews.com.
Current Status, Expedition Delayed: A general strike with the new
government of Nepal has delayed Juan and his expedition. They are being prevented from
leaving the airport of Tribhuvan.
This general strike is
affecting many trekkers. Almost the norm in Nepal for issues of this kind it seems every
year.
Annapurna Spring 2000: Dispatch 4,
Short and Sweet
EverestNews.com will follow the
attempt on Annapurna of the "International Annapurna 2000Expedition":
The Annapurna Expedition is
reporting in that they have reached a point where they can see mountain. Annapurna is "not loading with snow".
They are very excited about this !
EverestNews.com has added a Spring 2000 Annapurna Page where EverestNews.com will report News
on this expedition and other Annapurna News.
In other Annapurna News:
Asian-Trekking is reporting that along the many expeditions that they are supporting this
Spring 2000 is : "International Annapurna Expedition led by Ed Viesturs, 1 American +
1 Canadian + 1 Finish (Veikka Gustafsson)."
On Friday other Expeditions
supported by Asian-Trekking this Spring 2000.
