원정 개요

Himalayan Experience Everest led by Russell Brice - Spring 2007

Expedition's first summiters were five Sherpas who fixed the rope to the top on 30 April: Phurba Tashi, Dorje Sonam Gyalzen, Son Dorje, Lakpa Nuru (Phortse), and Lhakpa Nuru (also Phortse).

Next summiters, who reached the top on 15 May, were Tait and Phurba Tashi (again from ABC) in a north-south traverse (see below for further notes about Tait).

The first large summit party consisted of Baber, Medvetz, Li, Staples, Vaiciulis, Wardle, Woodward, Ziel, Sherpas Lhakpa Nuru (again from ABC), Son Dorje (again from ABC), Nuru Gyalzen, Pasang Kami, Nima Tenzing, and Tibetans Tashi Namgyal, Lobchong, and Dor Jee. They left C4 at 0:42 hours (NST) on 21 May and were on the top at 5:25 am (Staples) to 7:27 am (Medvetz). Members descended to C3, Sherpas to ABC same day.

Second large summit party consisted of one member who turned back (Valloton), and the successful climbers, who were Crouse, Jensen, Kobayashi, Kuraoka, Whetu, Yanagisawa, Yoshida, Nima Wangchu, Dorje Sonam Gyalzen (again from ABC), Dawa Tenji, Tshering Tashi and Ang Chhiring, and Tibetans Tenzing and Pemba. They left C4 at 0:03 am (the four Japanese members and their Sherpas) and 1:03 am on 22 May and were on the summit at 6:10 am (Crouse and Tenzing) to 8:10 am (Japanese and their Sherpas). The Japanese party went down to C3, the other members and Sherpas to ABC.

Yanagisawa is the oldest person to summit Everest: on 22 May, he was 71 years and 63 days old, whereas his predecessor was 70 years and 225 days old. Brice said Yanagisawa climbed well, on his own two legs, not carried, pushed or pulled to the top.

Primary Himex expedition left base camp on 27 May. Brice, Staples, Woodward and some Sherpas stayed on until 19 June.

Two of this expedition's deputy leaders, Staples and Woodward, summited with Conrad Anker's team on 14 June. Anker's film party members were unable to function at high altitude, so Staples and Woodward substituted for them to do their filming.

Brice worked closely with Conrad Anker's expedition. His people established camps before Anker and party arrived, and Brice's Sherpas did other chores for them. Five of them climbed up to the Second Step to remove the ladders and ropes for Anker and Leo Houlding to scale it without these post-1924 aids, and they went to the summit from there on the same day, 14 June.

The trail this spring was very fast, which enabled so many of this team's climbers to move up and down rapidly, descend all the way from summit to ABC on the same day, and many unskilled climbers on other teams to reach high altitudes and even to succeed. The route was fast because it was stamped down by Brice's Sherpas fixing the ropes, then light snowfall froze the route; when climbers came along later, they moved on top of a thin layer of snow covering the frozen trail right underneath.

This expedition moved away from the trail and dumped down the mountainside the bodies of the Czech climber, Libor Kozak, who died this spring, and last spring's David Sharp and a Frenchman whose name Brice didn't remember (presumably Jacques Letrange). The 1996 Indian body known as Green Boots was not removed; it was under the snow, and earlier efforts to move it were unsuccessful since it is solidly frozen in place.

Oxygen: All members, Sherpas and Tibetans used it from 7900m to top and down until it ran out (some to about C3, some even to C1).

Non-summiting members:
Brice led his expedition from North Col.
Huelskamp reached North Col on 11 May; not experienced enough to climb higher.
Valloton was in summit party going for top on 22 May, but stopped at 8000m;
she refused to use oxygen and said she was too cold (on a warm day).
Wakui reached North Col, then said he was not feeling well and left the
expedition.

Sherpa and Tibetan summiters:

30 April
Phurba Tashi, 24/5/71, Khumjung, Everest X10, Cho Oyu X5
Dorje Sonam Gyalzen, Phortse, 24/5/81, Everest X6, Cho Oyu X1
Son Dorje, 22/5/63, Phortse, Everest X4
Lakpa Nuru, 1962, Khumjung/Phortse, Everest 15/5/06, Manaslu 30/9/06
Lhakpa Nuru, 18/6/80, Phortse, Everest 22/5/03 with Chinese

15 May
Phurba Tashi, again from ABC in north-south traverse

21 May
Lhakpa Nuru, again from ABC
Son Dorje, again from ABC
Nuru Gyalzen, 18/8/73, Phortse, Everest 27/5/04
Pasang Kami, 26/7/79, Phortse, no 8000ers
Nima Tenzing, 16/4/88, Khumjung, no 8000ers
Tashi Namgyal, Tibetan, 4/6/84, Everest X1
Lobchong, Tibetan, 27/10/84, Everest X1, Cho Oyu X2
Dor Jee, Tibetan, Everest 11/5/06 with Brice's team

22 May
Nima Wangchu, 1/8/74, Phortse, no 8000ers
Dorje Sonam Gyalzen, again from ABC
Dawa Tenzi, 14/5/80, Khumjung, no 8000ers
Tshering Tashi, 30/4/80, Khunde, no 8000ers
Ang Chhiring, 1952, Phortse, no 8000ers
Tenzing, Tibetan, 28/3/83, Everest X4, Cho Oyu X2
Pemba, Tibetan 1/7/82, Everest 4/6/05 with Brice, Cho Oyu X1

14 June
Phurba Tashi, his third ascent with this team, again from ABC
Don Dorje, his third ascent with this team, again from ABC
Dorje Sonam Gyalzen, his third ascent with this team, again from ABC
Lhakpa Nuru, his third ascent with this team, again from ABC
Nuru Gyalzen, again from ABC


David Tait's traverse of Everest

Tait was a member of Russell Brice's Himex Everest expedition on the North Col route, but he came to be a sub-team consisting of himself and Phurbu Tashi Sherpa.

Tait and Phurba Tashi decided on 11 May to go for the summit and left ABC on the 12th for C1 (7000m on the Col); on the 13th they climbed from C1 to C3 (7900m), skipping C2 (at 7500m) in "a hard day" of climbing; on the 14th to C4 (8400m).

At 11:00 pm (NST) on the 14th, they left C4 for the top. The weather was not very cold (-10 degrees), very calm with almost no wind, and clear sky with stars shining. They reached the summit at 6:10-15 am on the 15th at the same time as 20 other summiters. They had had to wait in a queue at the First Step for about 20 minutes, then "went steaming past them" on the way to the Second Step. They spent ten or fifteen minutes on the top taking pictures while some Indians were holding aloft their banner, then started down the SE Ridge.

They knew the route had not yet been fixed to the summit on the Nepalese side, but they did not realize the distances on this side; Phurba Tashi had summited Everest ten times, but always via the North Col route. They belayed each other with their 25m short rope down the Hillary Step, but at the bottom of the Step they found that they had to use the 100m rope Phurba Tashi had been carrying to fix their route from the bottom of the Step up to the South Summit. They resumed belaying each other and at one point didn't know exactly where they were as the clouds rolled in. They thought they were at the Balcony when they weren't there yet. From the actual Balcony the route was already fixed, and at about noon on the 15th they reached the South Col and had their first drink there.

From the Col down, there was deep snow. They passed three C3's at three levels; at Kenton Cool's low C3, he gave them another drink. At 6:00 pm they got to C2 and went to sleep in a tent at Guy Cotter's camp. On the 16th they left C2 at 7:00 am and arrived at BC at noon time after having descended the Icefall, which was hot and at bit mushy at the bottom. Avalanches were coming down the slopes on both sides. An army helicopter picked them up to BC on the morning of the 17th and brought them to Kathmandu.

Both Tait and Phurba Tashi used oxygen. They started using it in their ascent from C2's 7500m to and in C3, to C4 to 8835m, where their first bottles became empty. They discarded those bottles and replaced them with the second bottles each had been carrying, starting on the second bottles at 8840m on the north side and switching them off at 7300m on the south side's route down the West Face of Lhotse, switching off because the masks were uncomfortable.

The original plan had been to do a double traverse -- from BC turn around and go back up the south side and descend the north side. Although Tait has no doubt that Phurba Tashi could have done that immediately, he himself would have had to take a good long rest before he could do the second traverse. He didn't have the time to spare, and didn't feel the need to do it. Besides his knees were sore from the long descent; he had trained for the ascent, but had not thought to train for the descent.

"The traverse was great, fantastic, more than I could ever hope for." He had done it to raise funds for the charity he supports, the National Society for the Prevention of the Cruelty to Children, and he decided at 3:15 pm during his descent of the south side that what he had done was good enough for his purpose.

He will have to wait in Kathmandu for his two barrels of gear and his passport to come from Tibet. On the 18th, Phurba Tashi goes by road to the border, where a vehicle will meet him bringing the barrels and passport and taking Phurba Tashi back to BC to resume climbing Everest with Brice's team.