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The view from Camp V after the storm .
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Still at Camp V
by Liesl Clark
May 15, 1999
If it isn't the weather, then it's lack of food that can
thwart an Everest attempt. After waiting out a day and a half
of wind-driven snow, Conrad
Anker,
Jake
Norton, Andy
Politz, Tap
Richards
and Thom Pollard are still at Camp V, but they are running out
of food. If the weather improves, as the forecasts have
predicted, the team will move up to Camp VI tomorrow.
Jochen
Hemmleb
has volunteered to carry a pack full of food up to the North
Col. Our Sherpas, Dawa Nuru and Ang Pasang, will then carry
the extra food with them to Camp VI, where they will meet the
climbers tomorrow. "We have enough food to last us until
then," Anker reassured us over the radio from Camp V. And
there's plenty of bottled oxygen to keep the climbers
relatively rested. On a two-liter flow, at 25,600
feet, the oxygen can bring
the climbers down to the physiological elevation of
approximately 23,600 feet.
This morning, mists of evaporating moisture rose ominously
from the East Rongbuk valley below. It marked a change in the
weather, the sun burning through the thin clouds below us. The
snowstorm had stopped, but the winds were still marginal up
high. "I do not have a lot of concern about my team's ability
to handle itself up high," said Eric
Simonson
in an interview last week. "I'm more concerned about other
expeditions on the mountain, having to get involved in a
rescue, beyond our own expedition."
Ascending through the fog.
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The plan is to conduct a simultaneous summit and search
attempt: All of the climbers will move up to Camp VI tomorrow,
weather pending. Andy Politz and Thom Pollard will be the
search team. They will make a carry up to Camp VI to support
the summit team, then they will move out in the direction
where we believe Irvine may be, with Thom Pollard filming.
Politz and Pollard will return to sleep at Camp V and then try
another search attempt the following day.
The summit team, Conrad Anker, Jake Norton, and Tap Richards,
with Dave Hahn filming, will begin their summit attempt
tomorrow night, if the weather permits, leaving the high camp
around midnight. Eric Simonson and the film crew (Ned
Johnston, Liesl Clark, and Jyoti Rana) will remain at Advance
Base Camp to film the radio communications with the team high
on the mountain.
Check back daily to learn more about the team's progress and
their gamble with the weather.
Unanswered Questions (May 25, 1999)
Forty-Eight Yaks (May 21, 1999)
On Top of the World (May 17, 1999)
Summit Team Moves Higher (May 16, 1999)
Still at Camp V (May 15, 1999)
Snow Bound (May 14, 1999)
Outsmarting the Weather (May 13, 1999)
Last Trip Up (May 12, 1999)
Up to ABC/The Rescue (May 11, 1999)
The Image of Mallory (May 8, 1999)
In Extremis (May 7, 1999)
Pieces of the Puzzle (May 6, 1999)
Dearest George (May 5, 1999)
Mallory's Discoverers Return (May 4, 1999)
Mallory Reported Found (May 3, 1999)
Waiting in Silence (May 1, 1999)
Up to the Search Site (April 30, 1999)
To the North Col (April 29, 1999)
Waiting out the Wind (April 28, 1999)
Search About to Begin (April 25, 1999)
Pitching a 1933 Tent (April 23, 1999)
Early Camp Found at 21,750 Feet on Everest (April 20,
1999)
Up to Base Camp (April 23, 1999)
Photos: Thom Pollard.
Members of the press: click here for NOVA/PBS ONLINE "Lost
on Everest"
media relations contacts.
Lost on Everest
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