Lhakpa Ri & Everest North Col 28th April 2012 News

Leader: Rob Smith

21st May: Rob, Chris & Geoff all reached the summit at 10:45am this morning. They are now back at ABC and will head down to BC to meet the rest of the team tomorrow. Rob said the ascent was very cold and windy, so it was a relief not to hang around for too long on the summit.

20th May: We reached the North Col of Everest 2 days ago. A day that started out incredibly hot, with everyone wondering why they were carrying bulky down jackets, hats, mitts etc. had us returning to Advanced Base Camp at the end of the day wearing everything we had packed. The North Col is steeped in history from the 1920s expeditions who pioneered the route on the North side of Everest. The easily passed Eastern  branch of the Rongbuk Glacier, smaller and less direct than the Western and Central branches, leads to the headwall of the North Col. The steep, broken and glaciated headwall must be climbed to gain access to the upper reaches of Everest. Therefore the trekking phase of the expedition evolves into a more serious proposition.

Iain descended back to EBC, after 2 nights at ABC, where the increase in altitude was not letting his throat infection recover. These expeditions can largely be an exercise in keeping healthy, allowing a chance to climb when the time, acclimatisation and weather allow. Unfortunately for Iain, the timing of his illness was the worst possible, with nothing to help matters. Similarly, on the day of the North Col ascent, Stuart had developed a cough and after accompanying us to the base of the route he wisely returned to ABC, choosing not to place the further stress of climbing to above 7000m on his chest and lungs. The remainder of the team, Geoff, Cris, Tamsin, Nigel, accompanied by Dorje and myself  climbed through thickening cloud and colder conditions. Unfortunately by the time we reached the North Col, cloud had thickened to the extent that no views were to be had. So, satisfied with personal achievements and altitude records for everyone, we turned around to return to ABC.

After one rest day, this morning we arose at 0330 in order to climb
Lhakpa Ri, the final objective of the trip. Despite going to bed with clear skies and favourable conditions, I opened my tent door to find several inches of snow fall onto my head. Toiling through breakfast hoping for a break in the weather, we finally relented at 0500 and returned to our tents while I checked weather periodically. By the time the weather cleared there was too much fresh snow on the mountain , and we had missed our alpine start. Stu, Tamsin and Nigel descended to EBC today leaving Geoff, Cris and myself for the final swansong. So now we wait with 1 last possible attempt again early tomorrow morning, before we have to pack up and return to EBC. Time will tell if the mountain will be kind enough to let us have our summit view.

14th May: The team arrived at base camp and have acclimatised around base camp. They plan to head up to intermediate camp today and then ABC on Tuesday. With a view of attempting the North Col on the 18th

7th May: The road at Zhang Mu opened briefly yesterday and the team where able to get past the landslide. They are heading to Nylam, and then will go onto Tingri, and aim to reach Everest Base camp by Thursday.

5th May: The team are unfortunately still held up in Zhang Mu because of the landslide which is taking longer to clear than anticipated. They are hoping they can get past it today to continue with their journey.

3rd May: Rob and the team are currently stuck in Zhang Mu due to a land slide which has blocked the road to Nylam. Hopefully they will not be delayed for too long. All the team are fine and glad at least to be across the border in Tibet.

29th April: The team have all arrived in Kathmandu and are making their final preparations before departing for the border.