원정 개요

C2 in Western Cwm
C3 on Lhotse W Face
C4 at South Col.

The plan was to climb the 1963 West Ridge route as well as the normal South Col route and for all to descend via the Col. But climbing the West Ridge had to be abandonded after Anker got to 6800m below the ridge. They found that the Hornbein Couloir, which they were supposed to scale, was covered in blue ice, after falling rocks were funnelling down the couloir.

After cancelling any West Ridge effort, the team concentrated on scaling the South Col route. For this climb, their C1 at the top of the Icefall and C2 in the Western Cwm were already in place. Now C3 had to be pitched on the West Face of Lhotse, which was shedding rocks and seracs, and some of these ahd alread fallen on tents of one team and broken a Sherpa's leg. This team was careful to put their camp in a safe place not threatened by falling items, and they were not hit.

The majority of members and Sherpas went for the top on the 25th, but Ang Kazi had already summited on the 18th while rope fixing and Anker, who reached C4 with the main summit party, stayed there without oxygen for an extra day to climb when the route would not be so crowded.

The main party's members were Elias, Erickson, Harrington, Jenkins, O'Neill, with Sherpas with Danuru, Ms. Dawa Yangzum, Jangbu, Lhakpa Bhote, Mingmar, Panuru, Sonam Dorje and Tendi. They left C4 at 9:00 pm on the 24th and were at the summit at 4:00 am on 25 May. All of them descended to C2 the next day except for Erickson and O'Neill, who stopped in C4 on the 25th and went directly to the summit of Lhotse the following day, then down to C2.

Anker left C4 for the summit at 12:40 pm on the 25th and was on the top at 10:05 am on the 26th after having spent an hour at the Balcony (8400m) watching the sunrise with its dramatic changes of vivid colors. He used no oxygen on this climb, and without the protection of oxygen equipment, his lungs were torn by the very cold air at these great heights.

Elias, Harrington and Jenkins started using oxygen at 7400m, while the other Everest summit-party members started on it in C4 at the South Col; they used it to the top and back to C4 or wherever it ran out.

On Lhotse, Erickson and O'Neill went directly from Everest C4 at the South Col to Lhotse's C4 at about 7800m (below the couloir) on the 25th, slept there that night and summited Lhotse early in the next morning (26 May). No Sherpas accompanied them.

They used oxygen from the South Col to the summit of Lhotse and down to C2. (They had already been using it on Everest in C4 to the top of Everest and back to C4).

Non-summiting Everest members:

Bardon went once to C2, but stayed most of the time at BC as BC manager.

Henderson reached C2 on 25 April, then ran out of steam and motivation.

Richards, the team's original leader, climbed to 6800m on 28 April onto the W Ridge, then developed a serious lung problem and left Nepal.

Sherpas:
Ang Kazi Sherpa, 11/5/78 (28/1/2035), Chitre-9, Sankhuwasabha, Everest X4,
Manaslu X1
Danuru Sherpa, 26/10/78 (9/2/2035), Phortse, Khumbu, Everest X12, Cho Oyu X8,
Manaslu X1
Ms. Dawa Yangzum Sherpa, 28/9/90 (12/6/2047), Beding, no 8000ers
Jangbu Sherpa, 20/7/87 (4/4/2044), Sisuwakhola-9, Sankhuwasabha, Everest X1
Lhakpa Bhote, 5/11/1970 (20/7/2027), Hariya-3, Sankhuwasabha, Everest X3
Mingmar Sherpa, 24/11/89 (9/8/2046), Taksindu-4, Solu
Panuru Sherpa, 22/5/68 (9/2/2025), Phortse, Khumbu, Everest X9, Cho Oyu X4
Tendi Sherpa, 20/6/84 (7/3/2041), Jubing-7, Solu
Sonam Dorje Sherpa, 14/4/88 (2/1/2045), Phortse, Khumbu


Note from IMG web site:

8 Sherpas summited on 18 May as part of a joint expedition rope-fixing team:
Ang Kazi (Chitre) - USA (North Face, Conrad Anker)
Jyamchang Bhote (Hungung) - India (Ajay Kothiyal)
Kami Rita (Thami) - USA (AAI, Garrett Madison)
Phura Kancha (Thami) - Chile (Eugenio Guzman)
Karma Gyalzen (Phortse) - USA (IMG, Mike Hamill)
Phu Tashi (Phortse) - Canada (Peak Freaks, Tim Rippel)
Palden Namgyal (Phortse) - Canada (Peak Freaks, Tim Rippel)
Nima Dorje - (Seven Summit Treks)