Everest North Side 2016 – Update for May 16
Everest North Side Update May 16
If you’ve been following along via social media you have likely seen that both teams have been enjoying very stable weather with all team members acclimatizing well. Daily updates can be found by following along on Snapchat – usernames @EverestNoFilter & @AlpenglowExped. Our guides also take amazing photos and upload every few days on Instagram. Follow them at @ZebBlais and @ChadPeele.
#RapidAscent Team resting in ABC
Alpenglow’s Rapid Ascent team of Bryan and Trudi led by all star Chad Peele and supported by powerhouse Zeb Blais have completed their final acclimatization cycle and are now resting at 21,000’ (6,400m) advanced base camp.
Last week the team spent two nights on the North Col at 23,000’ (7,000m) to get a taste of the thin air and to continue their acclimatization routine. During one of those days the team climbed a few hundred meters higher to further push their body’s ability to acclimatize before heading back to camp for the evening.
As Bryan put it in a post to Facebook “The route up to camp 2 (7500-7800m) is deceptively long and grueling. The bonus is that you get to stare at the summit, to the right, the entire time.” From the North Col they moved back to Advanced Base Camp to let their bodies strengthen while they plan for their final push.
During one of those days at the North Col, guide Zeb Blais split from the team to earn another merit badge and carried a load higher with the sherpa team of Pasang-Ringi, Palden and Mingma. Zeb had this to say of the day moving higher with the incredibly strong sherpa – “at 7,500 meters I’m pretty sure someone put rocks in my pack. Taking 5 steps, recovering for 5 seconds and repeating was as fast as I could make myself move. Slow going would have been an overstatement. When I couldn’t hold this brutally slow pace, I cached my load at 7,650 meters and descended.”
While they rest in ABC, the team will review their technical systems and meticulously plan their final ascent. After a few days rest they will again move higher on the mountain while keeping a watchful eye on the weather and each other.
Over the next week we should see them move higher and get in position for the final push to the summit. Good luck team!
#EverestNoFilter heading back to Base Camp for Rest
The team of Adrian Ballinger and Cory Richards have descended all the way down to 17,000 foot base camp after an amazing few days up high. In order to get the best rest and recovery for their tired bodies, they need to get as low as possible. Recovering at altitude is a slow battle made even harder by the fact that they are climbing without the aid of supplemental oxygen!
The guys have spent several nights on the North Col over the past week and have been able to push higher on a couple occasions to further their comfort with the altitude. A few days ago Cory and Adrian pushed the limits of their acclimatization and were able to reach 26,200’ (8,000m)!! They were the only non-sherpa climbers around and to top it off they were the only two guys up there without oxygen. Adrian reported that they got a lot of high fives, hand shakes and smiles.
In his post, Adrian went on to say “Most important, to me, Cory and I felt like we were totally firing as a team. Each of us had moments of fear of weakness over the past 3 days of acclimatizing and tagging 8000 meters. In those moments the other supported. And then there was today, when we were side by side in 40mph winds, grinning like Cheshire cats and cranking. We both had more left when we turned. Which sounds like the right time to turn. It’s weird. We basically just summited one of the lower 8k peaks today. But on Everest, there is still 2500 feet to go. Time to rest first.”
Suffice it to say that these two climbers have found a solid bond and look to be in prime position to make their summit bid in the coming weeks. You can follow along via snapchat, Facebook and instagram as well as a website dedicated to their climb – http://www.everestnofilter.com/. If you really want to geek out, follow them on Strava and take a look at their heart rates… amazing stuff.