Mt. Everest 2004: George Dijmarescu and Lakpa Sherpa

Dear EverestNews.com, this morning, Tuesday, May 11, I had an early raise, went into the kitchen tent and, as usual I found our cook Maila and Raj Kumar, one of the best kitchen combination I ever been privileged to be part of. The radio cracked up and soon enough we had a conversation with Mingma Gelu, Anne's sherpa, who was reporting strong winds at the North Col. He also reported that they might try to go up to deposit a load at the last camp but will wait awhile in order to see if the winds die out. Mingma informed us that Ang Mingma, Mam Bahadur Tamang and Dawa Nuru are in the way to ABC. I was sipping my last drops of the morning coffee when the three brave high altitude guides walked by the kitchen tent and soon enough came in and Maila greeted them with a cup of hot tea. I was the one asking questions, Ang Mingma who is more fluent in English carried the conversation. Said Mingma: "there was 45 sherpa starting from camp one with intention to reach the last camp at 8300 m and only eight of us went all the way". Three out of eight belonged to CT Everest Expedition. I was listening to the horror story as Ang Mingma was describing the day, when he tried, along with two of Russell Brice's supper sherpa, Chhring and Phurba Tashi sherpa, to reach last camp but they were forced to return due to high winds. I can imagine how horrible must have been to send these super sherpa and guides down to shelter. I will assure you that these guys are the summit of high altitude mountaineering and it takes the furry of such storm to force them to make obviously a wise decision.

The next day Monday, May 10 our sherpa try again and they succeeded reaching the highest camp in the world. For the untrained eye or for those who doesn't know sherpa climbers the first reaction will be to say that out of the 45 sherpa, eight were the strongest. I am sure there were other strong sherpa in that group however these eight were among the most experienced. While they all battle winds, those wise ones knew that once they reach 8000 m the wind will die down, as always, experience paid off. The winds pattern on this side of the mountain is pretty much predictable, winds, strong winds from camp one to around 8000 m, then relatively calm to the last camp. When the jet stream blows, climbers should not be at that altitude, normally toppling 150m/h will blow a stranded unwise climber off the mountain.

Today, Tuesday May 11th, we were watching the above mentioned jet stream ripping at the upper part of Everest, I watched small clouds traveling from one point to another in a matter of seconds, space covered by climbers in hours. No climbers are above ABC at this moment and the predicted forecast is for at least another day of strong winds. No expedition has proven so far accurate in predicting the forecast.

Yesterday Sherep Sherpa who is with the Greek expedition this year but was with Romanian expedition last year visited our camp and after few minutes of conversation he announced that the Greeks will attempt the summit on May16th, the reason he said was the sirdar read in the Buddhist scriptures that 16th will be a good day to summit. I am not totally skeptical at religious predictions, in 2000 when I summited without oxygen Dawa Nuru has encouraged me to keep on going and fight the storm bellow 8000 m, assured me that night will be a perfect day for summit, his predictions were 100% correct. Anyways I am wondering if this Greek expedition has the groins to pull this off especially when I just learned that there is no new ropes beyond camp two. To climb and fixed the mountain from last camp to the summit it seem to me that the Greeks will have to endure a humiliating defeat or worst. in recent years I recall this job being done by either Russell sherpa or Kari Kobler's, sherpa with experience who move and work fast in the mountain, speed is paramount, I wish them luck and I assure you that most will thank them for opening the route this year, only if.

So for now the wind is still howling up high and also here in ABC. Tomorrow two of our members Dave Watson and Chuck Boyd get a glimpse of what it takes to stay upward on these two shiny pieces of fiberglass. I will try to go and hope to video tape their attempt, it will give me a bit of color to my video collection. So when weather is not for climbing some of our member group do things to keep themselves in shape or just fulfilling a sponsor wish. I am sure will be a display for all those who are in ABC tomorrow. Until more exited things come I will say so long to those who love the beauty of mountain, especially this one.

Best regards George Dijmarescu

PS Sunny, your mother and I love you dearly, we can't wait to see you

Dispatches

Lakpa Sherpa is the only woman to have summited Everest three times. This year she will climb Everest again, trying for a record fourth summit, and George Dijmarescu will go for his sixth summit in six years. These are remarkable mountaineering feats for any individual, but above and beyond this, the couple will attempt to reach the summits of both Everest and K2 in the same season to complete the Top of the World Double Header -- together. George and Lakpa are sponsored for 2004 in part by Sabia & Hartley, LLC of Hartford CT.

 

Altitech2: Digital Altimeter, Barometer, Compass and Thermometer. Time/Date/Alarms. Chronograph with 24 hour working range. Timer with stop, repeat and up function. Rotating Bezel. Leveling bubble. Carabiner latch. E.L. 3 second backlight. Water resistant. 4" x 2-1/4" x 3/4" 2 oz. Requires 1 CR2032 battery. See more here.

  Altitude pre-
   acclimatization

   Ascenders

   Atlas snowshoes

   Black Diamond

   Botas

   Brunton

   Carabiners

   CaVa Climbing Shoes
   Clearance

   Clif Bar

   CMI

   Crampons

   Edelweiss ropes
   Eureka Tents

   Featured

   FoxRiver

   Garmin

   Granite Gear

   Harnesses
   Headlamps
   Helmets

   HighGear
   Ice Axes

   Kavu Eyewear

   Katadyn

   Kong

   Lekisport

   Lowepro

   Motorola

   Nalgene

   New England Ropes

   Nikwax

   Omega

   Outdoor Designs

   Pelican

   PowerBar

   Princeton Tec

   Prescription Glacier

   Glasses

   Primus

   Rope Bags

   Seattle Sports

   Serius
   Sleeping Bags

   Stubai

   Suunto

   Tents

   Trekking Poles
   Ushba
   and more here