On their way to camp 3

Hello Everyone,

This is Amy, Chris's sister with a quick update.   He called today from camp 2 and was on his way to Camp 3.   The goal is to depart for the summit around 9pm on May 24th and to summit by 7am on May 25th.   He sounded good!   Send him and everyone else safe thoughts!

Be well,
Amy

Summit Plan

We are heading on up the mountain. We are trying to take advantage of the summit window from the 24 th to the 27th. The winds are predicted to be low and a balmy temp of -22.

We will leave Base camp tonight and ascend to C2. We will take a rest day there and then move up to camp 3 early, then onto South Col(24th) the next morning. We will rest and hydrate at the south col until approx 7-9 pm then leave for the summit to try and watch the sunrise as we ascend to the summit.

After summiting we will descend to the South Col rest and the next morning descend to C2. we will clean the mountain of our equipment on the way down. We will rest at C2 and then leave early in the morning for BC. If all goes according to plan we should be back in Base camp on the 27th or 28th. Which is when you will hear from me. Although i will call my family from the camps after safely descending.

Please keep us in your thoughts

Climb hard, Climb High, Come Home,

Chris Klinke
Everest BC

Waiting and weather

Our initial summit window has detoriated into a morass of unstable winds with shifting degrees of accuracy for the forecast. For this reason we are pushing back our summit bid until May 26-27, when it appears there is a consistent drop in winds speeds. It also brings a projected warmer weather. This presents problems in the ice fall but hopefully that can be mitigated by the departure time.

We are working on keeping our acclimatization intact by hiking up to Pumori BC and heading to the Shep for email. We are running out movies to watch at BC and I have depleted my store of books to read.

It was a tough call to make to postpone going for the summit. I had to weigh multiple factors, weather, speed of clients, crowding (there were over 200 people on the lines to Camp 3 this morning), rope fixing (the lines are not into the summit yet, although reported,to have reached the balcony) all of those things have contributed to the decision.

This brings me to the sad fact that a post climb Thailand Trip will not happen for the first time ever for me onager an 8000m attempt...Although my office still firmly believes that I am on a beach there rather then actually climbing a mountain. Or maybe that is just Adam.....

Chris Klinke
Everest BC (really)

Rest and Recovery

I am sitting in Dingoboche (4350m) to rest and recover. We spent four nights up at Camp 2 that were kind of tough due to the team all having the Khumbu Cough. It is a dry, hacking cough you get from being exposed to the cold and winds.(not wearing the Cold Avenger Mask)

 Our climb to Camp 2 from base camp was done in some very nasty weather. The weather report had stated that there would be the usual afternoon convection and nothing really else of note. Unfortunately it was completely wrong. We left at 3 am in the morning, when I got out of my tent at 2:15 am it was  clear night with the stars showing and the moon hanging over Pumori. I went into the dining tent to eat and get suited up for the climb. When I cam back out at 3 am it was snowing, I thought no big deal just a brief flurry. We started climbing up through the ice fall and it was nice having the snow fall and visibility was still good. I got up to C1 and started brewing up some hot water for the rest the team coming in behind me. They arrived a couple of hours later and the conditions were still acceptable. We started off after giving them a rest at about 10:30 am. We got through the ladder section of the snowfield above C1 and I noticied that none you could no longer see the sides of the Western Cwm and that we were walking in a cloud of white. I started breaking trail through the new snow fall and trying to ensure that we were on the trail. The rest of the team following behind. As I looked back at them I realized the snow was playing optical illusions with my eyes and that they seemed to be floating above the snow Then it would get really interesting with a wind gust and they would appear to move 20-30 feet in either direction based on the wind and snow being blown. I can see how pilots can easily get confused flying through the clouds and mistake up for down. 

We made it safely to C2 but it took us a looooong time to do so. We rested the next day to allow our bodies to adjust. The following day we took a hike up the mountain to about 6600 m then the next day we went up to 6900m to get our bodies adjusting to the altitude. We then descended to BC and then onto Dingoboche to allow our coughs to heal. It is working. I slept last nite without coughing and feel super strong. 

Our plan right now is to return to BC slowly over the next 2-3 days. Rest at Base Camp for 2 days and if the weather gods continue to be kind to us shoot for a summit day between the 21-25th of May. 

Our Sherpa Team has made 2 carries to Camp 4 over the last 4 days carrying tents, oxygen, and food to enable us to be in a position to take advantage of the the weather window. I have to salute the hard work that they do day in and day out to make climbing a mountain like Everest possible.

Climb Hard, Climb High, Come Home,

Chris Klinke

Dingoboche, Nepal