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Report from Base Camp
Filed by Liz Cohen
May 24, 1996
They Made It!
This morning we heard from David at 8:00 am that everyone was
fine and walking around the South Col. He said it was a
beautiful windless day up there. The team was packing up and
getting ready to film the scenes for the weather station and
GPS. They'll come down to Camp 2 later today where they'll
pack up and do some filming and continue down within two days.
We're all looking forward to their return and then packing up
and returning to Kathmandu.
Here's a more in depth report of what happened on the summit
day:
On May 22nd it seemed that the weather finally broke and the
team, which had been unbelievably restless after days of
'rest' at Camp 2 moved up from Camp 3 to Camp 4 at the South
Col. The camp had been battered by the winds and the team had
to spend time repairing the damage. The last call we received
was at 5:00 pm from Ed who said they were getting ready to get
some rest. He would leave at 11:00 pm and the rest of the
team, climbing with oxygen, would leave at 12:00 am.
That left us here at Base Camp to do what? Wait. We decided
the best thing to do would be to get some sleep, but the three
of us (Paula Viesturs, Brad Ohlund, and myself) spent a
restless night. Wong Chu (our Sherpa sirdar or leader) spent
the night by the radio on the floor of the cold dining tent.
We could hear the 11:00 pm radio call as the Sherpas checked
in while the team was getting ready to leave the South Col.
May 23: At 9:00 am a voice croaked over the radio and we all
jumped out of our seats. David and Ed were at the South Summit
and the rest of the team trailed behind by at least one hour.
The weather was good and David and Ed were still strong,
although David was losing his voice. Since Ed was without
oxygen, he would continue to the summit and David would wait
for the rest of the team.
At 10:55 am there was a howling over the radio. Ed called to
say that he and David couldn't go any further—they had
reached the summit. Todd Burleson and Pete Athans were also
here in the tent. The Sherpas came in from the kitchen when
they heard our yells. They were so excited and happy and
proud.
By 11:35 am, Jamling, Araceli, Robert and five of our Sherpas
had reached the summit. The Sherpas include Lhakpa Dorje, our
climbing sirdar, who made it without oxygen; it was a first
summit success for Dorje Sherpa; and two brothers also made
it—Lhakpa and Thilen.
Goran Kropp, the lone Swede, also reached the summit by 12:35
pm, accompanied by Ang Rita who holds the record for the most
summit successes—this is his 10th time. Spaniard Jesus
Martines also reached the top.
Ed had returned to Camp 4 by 2:45 pm, and the rest of the
group had returned by 4:30 pm. They were exhausted but happy
that they had achieved their goal. By this time David had lost
his voice completely and Robert was very hoarse. Everyone took
tea and fell asleep in their tents.
Just an aside—during all of this, and old Russian man
and his wife arrived at Base Camp and began paragliding over
Base Camp from the slide areas above the Camp. Yesterday, they
slammed into the LhoLa and Todd Burleson and Pete Athans
rushed to the rescue again. The woman was quite badly hurt
with a dislocated arm and severe abrasions on one side of her
body. Everyone rushed around to get the Doctor who was still
at Mal Duff's camp. We spent hours on the phone with the
Russian Embassy trying to arrange a helicopter evacuation. The
couple didn't even have a tent and have been staying under a
tarp!! This morning the woman is still in bad shape. We're not
sure now if he'll be able to arrange for Sherpas to carry the
woman down as an evacuation has yet to be arranged.
Check back with NOVA ONLINE on May 28th for an update on the
team's return to Base Camp.
May 27, 1996: Interview with David Breashears
May 24, 1996: They Made It! (Update)
May 20, 1996: They Made It!
May 16, 1996: Emergency on Everest
May 10, 1996: Taiwanese Victim
May 9, 1996
May 5, 1996
May 2, 1996: Team Returns to Base Camp
April 26, 1996
April 25, 1996
April 21, 1996
April 19, 1996
Lost on Everest
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