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Moving On Up May 20, 1997 By Liesl Clark It's the decision we've all been waiting for. David Breashears, Ed Viesturs, Pete Athans, Veikka Gustafsson, Guy Cotter, Dave Carter, Tashi Tenzing, and Jangbu Sherpa will all be moving from Camp II to Camp III tomorrow. Although the weather forecast for the next five days projects 40-50 knot winds, the window of opportunity on Everest is closing. All Everest expeditions must be off the mountain by June 1, as the expedition permits are only good until that date. The Sherpas that maintain the Icefall must pull the ladders and ropes off the mountain at that time. Because it takes time to move people and equipment down off the mountain, the last possible day for an Everest attempt will be the 29th. It feels like a race against the clock for those of us who have been here for nearly two months. Last night, John Tinker's summit team was turned around two hours after leaving Camp IV for the summit due to high winds and snow. All are now back down at Camp IV and will try again tonight. Luckily, they have plenty of oxygen up there for this delay. We have also received news that the all-Nepalese expedition, a total of five climbers, is up at Camp IV ready to make a summit attempt. Word just came in over the radio that there was a successful summit attempt on the north side last night. We will report on what we can find out from the our Base Camp (on the south side) as the news comes in. "It's time to get this show on the road," said David Breashears during a radio call about their decision to move up. Each day, twice a day, the climbers call in to Base Camp with data on their oxygen saturation levels, pulse, respiratory rate, hydration, nutrition, and other miscellaneous data on how much they've slept, the ambient temperature, wind speed, altitude, and barometric pressure. This data will be compared with their performances on the neuro-behavioral tests we're conducting on them via radio. Production for the NOVA documentary covering this research, and the climb itself, continue in full force as the climbers move up toward Everest's summit. June 10, 1997: Back Home (27) May 25, 1997: Climbers Return to Base Camp (26) May 24, 1997: Descending Toward Base Camp (25) May 23 PM, 1997: NOVA Climbers Safely Off the Summit (24) May 23 AM, 1997: NOVA Climbers Reach the Summit! (23) Hear the archived live audio broadcast from the summit Read the transcript of the broadcast from the summit May 22, 1997: Bid for the Summit (22) May 21, 1997: Helicopter Crashes at Everest Base Camp (21) May 20, 1997: Moving On Up (20) May 19, 1997: Poised at Camp II (19) May 18, 1997: Departing for Camp II (18) May 17, 1997: Dead Sherpa Found on Khumbu Glacier (17) May 16, 1997: Jet Stream Winds Blast Camp II (16) May 13, 1997: Receiving News from the North Side (15) May 13, 1997: RealAudio Interview with David Breashears May 11, 1997: Five Climbers Presumed Dead on the North Side (14) May 10, 1997: The Waiting Game (13) May 9, 1997: Pulmonary Edema Evacuation from Base Camp (12) May 8, 1997: A Hasty Retreat to Base Camp (11) May 7, 1997: Sherpa Falls To His Death On The Lhotse Face (10) May 6, 1997: Spin: A Passenger to the Summit (9) May 5, 1997: Delayed at Advance Base Camp (8) May 4, 1997: NOVA Climbers Leave Base Camp for Their Summit Attempt (7) May 1, 1997: NOVA Team Prepares for Summit Attempt (6) April 26, 1997: Indonesian Expedition First to Summit in 1997 (5) April 23, 1997: Expedition Leader Dies at Everest Base Camp (4) April 22, 1997: Japanese Expedition Pulls Out (3) April 16, 1997: Traffic Reports on Everest (2) April 14, 1997: Rescue Season Begins (1) Lost on Everest | High Exposure | Climb | History & Culture | Earth, Wind, & Ice E-mail | Previous Expeditions | Resources | Site Map | Everest Home Editor's Picks | Previous Sites | Join Us/E-mail | TV/Web Schedule About NOVA | Teachers | Site Map | Shop | Jobs | Search | To print PBS Online | NOVA Online | WGBH © | Updated November 2000 |