원정 개요

Source Peace Climb News - May 23, 1990

After weeks of battling miserable weather and high winds, dealing with illness and injuries, repairing and replacing equipment -- plus Jim and Ray's encounter with the democratic revolution in Kathmandu, no one on the mountain would say it was easy. "It just shows what can be accomplished through international cooperation and teamwork," said Whittaker. "We had horrible conditions our first two months on the mountain. A lesser team would have been stopped. But we hung in there, got the routes and the camps in and carried up supplies. So we were in position to take advantage of the break when it finally came."

The first summit group of six climbers left C6 on May 5 under less than ideal conditions: snow and wind. Lower on the mountain, it was snowing so hard that no one made carries to C4. But the next day, May 6th, dawned calm: it was one of the few windless days since the team had arrived at the Base Camp. Two Soviets (Grigory Luniakov and Sergei Arsentiev), two Chinese.

Da Cheme, Gyal Bu and two Americans (Robert Link and Steve Gall) left C7 at daybreak, negotiated the difficult "Second Step" and set foot on the summit at 1:13 pm Beijing time.

The first summit team descended through C6, some spending the night at C5, some at C4 and some at C3. Unbelievably, the weather held for another day, and before dawn on May 7, six more climbers left C6. Three of them (Ed Viesturs, Andrei Tselischev and Mistislav Gorbenko) climbed all the way to the summit, leapfrogging C7, and then descended to C6 - a feat never before accomplished on this route. And Viesturs and Tselischev managed it without the used of bottled oxygen.

The second three (Ian Wade, Gui Sang and Da Qoing) spent the night at C7 and ascended to the summit on May 8. They were joined there by two more climbers, Ren Na and Luo Tse, who had started the ascent that day from C6. On the radio from the summit, Ian Wade yelled, "I'm on top! I feel fine! Now I want to get off here."

On May 9, Jim reported from BC, "It is the most beautiful day yet. The sun is shining and the mountain looks spectacular. Seven more climbers are heading up from C6 (Mark Tucker, Ekaterina Ivanova, Anatoly Mochnikov, Ervand Ilyinsky, Alexander Tokarev, Wang Ja, and Jia Tsuo). It looks like they have a good shot if the weather holds." A few hours later, he called with the extraordinary news: "Six of the seven made it to the top - twenty climbers in all, over a four day period: the most ever to reach the summit on a single expedition!" Jia Tsuo descended because of frostbitten toes. He is expected to recover fully. But all the rest made the peak and descended without major problems.


Climb Progress Report:

Here is the itinerary followed by the Peace Climb from May 1 through May 16.

May 2 First day of good weather! First summit teams move to C5, second
group moves to C4. Jim and Ian carry loads to C4. Hanging from
fixed rope, Jim is patched in by radio to Port Townsend HQ..live!
Trekkers return to Base
May 4 Heavy snow and gusty winds at C3 and C4. First team moves to C6,
second to C5. Mark Tucker and Tim O'Brien carry from C4 to C5 and
experience winds of 70 mph. They are airborne several times on
the fixed line - they cache the loads and return to C4. Tuck
returns to C3 to rest. Trekkers leave for Kathmandu.
May 5 Weather calm above Base. First team moves to C7, other teams
behind with one day separations. High avalanche danger between C3
and C4 - no one moves on that route.
May 6 No wind! By 9:30 pm (Seattle time), the Peace Climb has 6
climbers on the summit. Port Townsend BC gets call from BC,
patched to Jim at C3, then to Robert on the summit.
May 7 Three more climbers reach the summit by 9:00 pm (Seattle time).
Viesturs and Andrei do it without oxygen from C6 -- the first
time anyone had gone from C6 to the summit and back on this route
Robert and Steve down from C5 to C3, Da Cheme and Gyal Bu down
from C3 to Base. All summit teams progress up the mountain,
separated by one camp. Jim goes back to BC.
May 8 Third summit group puts five more on top! Gui Sang is the second
Chinese woman to reach the summit of Everest.
May 9 It's getting crowded at C6. Some coming down and a new team going
up. A cloud cap on the summit, but no plume which means no wind.
At 7:00 pm (Seattle time) six more are on top, for a total of
twenty! Jim is "stunned" at this spectacular success. Ekaterina
is the first Soviet woman on the summit of Everest, and she
records a message to the women of the world. Jia Tsuo turns
around below the summit with frostbitten feet and returns to C3
where he receives treatment. On the way down the mountain, Ian
Wilde suffers snowblindness and is treated by Dr. Kurt Papenfus at C4.
May 10 All summit climbers descend, cleaning up garbage and expedition
gear as they move. "We've probably picked up a couple of tons of
trash," says Whittaker. "We brought down at least 50 old oxygen
cylinders from C4 alone. Maybe we'll shop some of it home and
auction it off to help pay the bills!" Steve and Robert arrive at
Base and drink a Rainier Beer. Ian's eyes feel better and sight
is returning. Patti calculates that she has 24 more meals to prepare.
May 11 Team members from Base go up to C3 to pack it up for the yaks to
carry out. Tuck (Mark Tucker), Ian and Toly (Anatoly) down from
C3 to Base. Trekkers return to Seattle.
May 12 Clean up continues. Yaks at ill.
May 13 Tuck arrives at Base, gives Patti the day off and makes pancakes
for all -- even though his fingers are black with frostbite (no
permanent damage). "Snowing like mad" at Base. Jim and Warren
negotiate with Chinese regarding final payment for in-China expenses.
May 14 LaVerne Woods returns to Seattle. She is in good spirits and
recovering well from thrombophlebitis and pulmonary embolism.
May 15 They're smelling the barn. Port Townsend HQ jumps through hoops,
leaps tall buildings and walks on water to change plane
reservations and get the team home a week early.
May 17 5:58 pm (Seattle) Point. Townsend HQ faxes congratulatory letter
President Bush to the entire team at BC. 6:15 pm (Seattle) Last
fax is transmitted from Mt. Everest Base Camp. Warren shuts down
communications equipment to pack up for trip home.