Monday, August 11, 2008

Update

Hello Everyone,
 
This is Amy, Chris's sister again. I wanted to write a brief update and I sure Chris will write a long one soon.
 
I just spoke to him and he has safely hiked out of base camp and is in Skardu.  As many of you have heard or read in the news, August 1st was a very sad day on the mountain as11 climbers did not make it back down.
 
Chris woke up in camp 4 that morning with the intent of getting to the summit.  After climbing and getting to about 8100 meter's he made the decision to turn around to summit another day.  He made this decision based on timing and the people conditions.  He felt the conditions were unsafe and did not want to make the attempt and then have to descend in the dark. 
 
As Chris descended down the mountain he started getting a really bad headache and decided to continue all the way down base camp.  By the time he was in camp 2 he heard about what was happening on top of the mountain and helped to lead the rescue efforts for the next four days from base camp. 
 
He is deeply saddened by the loss of life and his sympathy goes out to the families and friends of those who are not coming home. Please continue to keep those families in your thoughts. 
 
Chris should be in Islamabad by August 14th and his flight back to States is on August 24th. 
 
Best,
Amy