Russell Brice, of Himalayan Experience, and Chris Warner, of Earth Treks, will once again be leading a team of climbers on an expedition to Mount Everest. They will be following in the snow filled footsteps of Mallory and Irvine, climbing via the North Ridge, from Tibet. The expedition departs Kathmandu on April 1 and hopes to put climbers on the summit by the end of May. During this expedition journals and photos will once again be sent back and posted website.
This yearÂ’s team will be made up of 10 clients, four guides, eight high altitude Sherpas, four cooks and four Tibetans. This is truly an international team, with climbers from New Zealand, South Africa, Guatemala, France, England, Switzerland, Scotland, Nepal, Tibet and the United States.
The team will establish Base Camp at 17,200 feet in the Rongbuk Valley. Base Camp is literally placed at the end of the road. A convoy of jeeps and trucks will deposit us and over 20,000 pounds of equipment, food, fuel and oxygen tanks at this point. Once ready, we will load the gear we need on the mountain (10-15,000 pounds) onto a yak train. Each yak can carry approximately 120 pounds. We will need two separate teams of approximately 60 yaks, to transport our gear on the two day journey to Advance Base Camp (ABC) at 21,400 feet.
ABC is a wind swept place at the base of Mt. Changste. It literally is a swath of rubble, strewn like a thin veneer on top of the slowly moving East Rongbuk Glacier. Throughout the season, this strip will be filled by our four large group tents (kitchen, storage, dining and communications), 20 sleeping tents and two toilet tents. Above and below us, 20 or more teams will have a similar set up.
ABC is our base of operations for the climb. We will live out of this camp, going off to work on the upper mountains for a few hours or days at a time. Two superb cooks will work around the clock to feed us. Despite the excellent food, we will each lose between 10 and 25 pounds. The cold, lack of oxygen and the hard work combined, burn off more calories than we can consume in a day.
The trail from ABC ascends the ever more jumbled moraine to its highest reaches. From there we climb onto the glacier and traverse a plateau to the base of an icy headwall. We will string a series of fixed lines (ropes anchored in place and left for the duration of the climb) for more than 1,000 vertical feet to the col (saddle) between Changste and Everest. Here, at 23,000 feet we will place Camp 1. The only shelter here is a large wall of ice, behind which we will place 6 tents.
Now on the North Ridge, more fixed lines will lead us to Camp 2 at 25,000 ft. The ridge is very exposed to high winds and we will be traveling as if dressed for the summit from Camp 1 on out. Last year, we often encountered winds in excess of 50 mph and heavy snowfall on this section of the route. The climbing between Camps 1 and 2 is entirely on snow.
Camp 2 is literally a ledge carved out of the snow. Four or five tents will be placed here, the only protection afforded by a twisting of the ridgeline, funneling the snow over our heads.
Above Camp 2 the route follows a rocky ridgeline upwards to Camp 3 (26,000 feet). Most parties actually place only 3 camps above ABC. We place four to better insure our chances. Our climb from Camp 2 to 3 takes us past more than a dozen other groups, each with two or three tents perched on this wind scoured ridge.
Camp 3 is the site of the early British Expeditions Camp 5. Last year, I found a piton believed to be hand forged and placed by the early British just below this camp. Russel found a ridgepole and upright poles from their tent, along with a weathered can of food. I gathered a few other odds and ends from the tent. We brought these down as well.
Camp 4 (27,230 feet) is the last stop before going for the summit. By the time this camp is established we will have carried more than 18 tents, 50 oxygen bottles (13 pounds each), 35 sleeping bags, 70 foam mattresses, 18 cook sets, 100 fuel canisters and thousands of feet of rope up the mountain.
In order to aid acclimatization, each climber will climb to at least the height of Camp 3 during the prep phase of the expedition. Once the hill is prepped, and the climbers have had at least a few days rest in the oxygen rich, comparative luxury of Base Camp, the summit bids begin.
The climbers will move up the mountain, and weather permitting, move from camp to camp. Most climbers will begin using Oxygen at Camp 3. Statistically, most successful summit bids on the North Ridge occur in the second half of May.
Summit day begins at 1 a.m. with the melting of ice for hot drinks. Once dressed, the climbers set out for the top, using the ropes that are fixed, to follow a series of gullies and ledges to the ridge. There are three “steps” on the North Ridge, the hardest being the famed Second Step. In 1975 a Chinese expedition placed a ladder on the steepest of the three “pitches” that make up the 100 feet tall step.
The North Ridge ends where the Third Step tops out on into a snow pyramid. Most climbers traverse up and right across this section, tackling the final climb, via a rock gully that tops the North Face. The summit is a stagger away.
Shared Summits
This year, Earth Treks is once again sponsoring the Shared Summits Program. What started as a conversation with a third grade teacher that climbs at the Earth TreksÂ’ Climbing Center, has grown to include over 20,000 school kids.
These kids (and their teachers, parents and friends) have been virtual partners on all of our expeditions since 1999. Shared Summits is unique, in that students not only follow a Himalayan expedition as it unfolds, they can also email the climbers.
Using the latest in computer, digital photo imaging, and satellite communication technologies, the climbers will be chronicling the physical and emotional challenges of climbing Mt. Everest. Students and others will be able to go to www.earthtreksclimbing.com and read the most up to date reports and see the photos and videos that are coming via satellite as the Earth Treks' mountaineers are climbing Everest.
In 2001, the Shared Summits Program has grown significantly. Bob Keddell, Director of Educators to Connect Research to the K-16 Classroom (ECRC) in Columbia, Maryland, has provided a much-needed link between Earth Treks and the educational community. Bob has partnered local schoolteachers and their students with Virginia Tech UniversityÂ’s National program (the Institute for Connecting Science Research to the Classroom) and Earth Treks and our technology partners (Tek Systems, GMPCS and TASC, Inc).
The teaching team is developing hundreds of pages of interdisciplinary lesson plans, all meeting Maryland and Virginia state teaching objectives.
The technology team at Tek Systems is customizing four laptops (last year we lost three laptops due to the extreme cold), video equipment and temperature controlled storage units. The team at GMPCS is coordinating all of our satellite communication needs. TASC, a developer of defense and geographic information systems technology is providing much needed financial support.
The Shared Summits Program has also been embraced by the outdoor industry, which loves the opportunity to share the wonders of wild places with school children through such a cutting edge educational program. Moonstone, La Sportiva, Gregory, BlueWater, Bomber Gear and others have teamed up with Chris Warner, equipping him for his climbs with the latest in technical climbing equipment.
Teachers will be able to download all of the Shared Summits lesson plans from the Shared Summits pages being developed by the staff at Virginia Tech. Schools can compete against each other in the “Yak That Fact” trivia and research contest.
The winning school will be presented with an engraved wooden ice axe, an appropriate trophy. Prior to his departure, Chris Warner will be visiting several schools and will return to those schools in mid June. While on the mountain, kids will be able to email the climbers, getting even more insight into the challenges of climbing the worldÂ’s tallest peak.
The Shared Summits Program is in itself an expedition. Against the greatest odds, success on the highest peaks demands boundless passion, a clear vision, perseverance and partnership. A small team, each member with specific and complimentary skills, has been formed. WeÂ’ve been working for months, applying skills developed over years, to prepare the lesson plans, modify the computer equipment and organize the logistics of the expedition.
Throughout, weÂ’ve been guided by a vision of helping school kids (and their parents, teachers and other virtual mountaineers) see the value in pursuing dreams, even when the risks are great. Why have we done this: spending more than $50,000, meeting until late at night, solving complex technical riddles? Because we believe that it is our duty to ignite the passions of the next generation, while providing real life examples of people making their dreams come true.
Shared Summits goal is to encourage kids to slay dragons, cure diseases, fight poverty, or reach for the stars. Everest, although a cold and brutal place, graciously serves as a fitting metaphor for making any dream come true.
This yearÂ’s team will be made up of 10 clients, four guides, eight high altitude Sherpas, four cooks and four Tibetans. This is truly an international team, with climbers from New Zealand, South Africa, Guatemala, France, England, Switzerland, Scotland, Nepal, Tibet and the United States.
The team will establish Base Camp at 17,200 feet in the Rongbuk Valley. Base Camp is literally placed at the end of the road. A convoy of jeeps and trucks will deposit us and over 20,000 pounds of equipment, food, fuel and oxygen tanks at this point. Once ready, we will load the gear we need on the mountain (10-15,000 pounds) onto a yak train. Each yak can carry approximately 120 pounds. We will need two separate teams of approximately 60 yaks, to transport our gear on the two day journey to Advance Base Camp (ABC) at 21,400 feet.
ABC is a wind swept place at the base of Mt. Changste. It literally is a swath of rubble, strewn like a thin veneer on top of the slowly moving East Rongbuk Glacier. Throughout the season, this strip will be filled by our four large group tents (kitchen, storage, dining and communications), 20 sleeping tents and two toilet tents. Above and below us, 20 or more teams will have a similar set up.
ABC is our base of operations for the climb. We will live out of this camp, going off to work on the upper mountains for a few hours or days at a time. Two superb cooks will work around the clock to feed us. Despite the excellent food, we will each lose between 10 and 25 pounds. The cold, lack of oxygen and the hard work combined, burn off more calories than we can consume in a day.
The trail from ABC ascends the ever more jumbled moraine to its highest reaches. From there we climb onto the glacier and traverse a plateau to the base of an icy headwall. We will string a series of fixed lines (ropes anchored in place and left for the duration of the climb) for more than 1,000 vertical feet to the col (saddle) between Changste and Everest. Here, at 23,000 feet we will place Camp 1. The only shelter here is a large wall of ice, behind which we will place 6 tents.
Now on the North Ridge, more fixed lines will lead us to Camp 2 at 25,000 ft. The ridge is very exposed to high winds and we will be traveling as if dressed for the summit from Camp 1 on out. Last year, we often encountered winds in excess of 50 mph and heavy snowfall on this section of the route. The climbing between Camps 1 and 2 is entirely on snow.
Camp 2 is literally a ledge carved out of the snow. Four or five tents will be placed here, the only protection afforded by a twisting of the ridgeline, funneling the snow over our heads.
Above Camp 2 the route follows a rocky ridgeline upwards to Camp 3 (26,000 feet). Most parties actually place only 3 camps above ABC. We place four to better insure our chances. Our climb from Camp 2 to 3 takes us past more than a dozen other groups, each with two or three tents perched on this wind scoured ridge.
Camp 3 is the site of the early British Expeditions Camp 5. Last year, I found a piton believed to be hand forged and placed by the early British just below this camp. Russel found a ridgepole and upright poles from their tent, along with a weathered can of food. I gathered a few other odds and ends from the tent. We brought these down as well.
Camp 4 (27,230 feet) is the last stop before going for the summit. By the time this camp is established we will have carried more than 18 tents, 50 oxygen bottles (13 pounds each), 35 sleeping bags, 70 foam mattresses, 18 cook sets, 100 fuel canisters and thousands of feet of rope up the mountain.
In order to aid acclimatization, each climber will climb to at least the height of Camp 3 during the prep phase of the expedition. Once the hill is prepped, and the climbers have had at least a few days rest in the oxygen rich, comparative luxury of Base Camp, the summit bids begin.
The climbers will move up the mountain, and weather permitting, move from camp to camp. Most climbers will begin using Oxygen at Camp 3. Statistically, most successful summit bids on the North Ridge occur in the second half of May.
Summit day begins at 1 a.m. with the melting of ice for hot drinks. Once dressed, the climbers set out for the top, using the ropes that are fixed, to follow a series of gullies and ledges to the ridge. There are three “steps” on the North Ridge, the hardest being the famed Second Step. In 1975 a Chinese expedition placed a ladder on the steepest of the three “pitches” that make up the 100 feet tall step.
The North Ridge ends where the Third Step tops out on into a snow pyramid. Most climbers traverse up and right across this section, tackling the final climb, via a rock gully that tops the North Face. The summit is a stagger away.
Shared Summits
This year, Earth Treks is once again sponsoring the Shared Summits Program. What started as a conversation with a third grade teacher that climbs at the Earth TreksÂ’ Climbing Center, has grown to include over 20,000 school kids.
These kids (and their teachers, parents and friends) have been virtual partners on all of our expeditions since 1999. Shared Summits is unique, in that students not only follow a Himalayan expedition as it unfolds, they can also email the climbers.
Using the latest in computer, digital photo imaging, and satellite communication technologies, the climbers will be chronicling the physical and emotional challenges of climbing Mt. Everest. Students and others will be able to go to www.earthtreksclimbing.com and read the most up to date reports and see the photos and videos that are coming via satellite as the Earth Treks' mountaineers are climbing Everest.
In 2001, the Shared Summits Program has grown significantly. Bob Keddell, Director of Educators to Connect Research to the K-16 Classroom (ECRC) in Columbia, Maryland, has provided a much-needed link between Earth Treks and the educational community. Bob has partnered local schoolteachers and their students with Virginia Tech UniversityÂ’s National program (the Institute for Connecting Science Research to the Classroom) and Earth Treks and our technology partners (Tek Systems, GMPCS and TASC, Inc).
The teaching team is developing hundreds of pages of interdisciplinary lesson plans, all meeting Maryland and Virginia state teaching objectives.
The technology team at Tek Systems is customizing four laptops (last year we lost three laptops due to the extreme cold), video equipment and temperature controlled storage units. The team at GMPCS is coordinating all of our satellite communication needs. TASC, a developer of defense and geographic information systems technology is providing much needed financial support.
The Shared Summits Program has also been embraced by the outdoor industry, which loves the opportunity to share the wonders of wild places with school children through such a cutting edge educational program. Moonstone, La Sportiva, Gregory, BlueWater, Bomber Gear and others have teamed up with Chris Warner, equipping him for his climbs with the latest in technical climbing equipment.
Teachers will be able to download all of the Shared Summits lesson plans from the Shared Summits pages being developed by the staff at Virginia Tech. Schools can compete against each other in the “Yak That Fact” trivia and research contest.
The winning school will be presented with an engraved wooden ice axe, an appropriate trophy. Prior to his departure, Chris Warner will be visiting several schools and will return to those schools in mid June. While on the mountain, kids will be able to email the climbers, getting even more insight into the challenges of climbing the worldÂ’s tallest peak.
The Shared Summits Program is in itself an expedition. Against the greatest odds, success on the highest peaks demands boundless passion, a clear vision, perseverance and partnership. A small team, each member with specific and complimentary skills, has been formed. WeÂ’ve been working for months, applying skills developed over years, to prepare the lesson plans, modify the computer equipment and organize the logistics of the expedition.
Throughout, weÂ’ve been guided by a vision of helping school kids (and their parents, teachers and other virtual mountaineers) see the value in pursuing dreams, even when the risks are great. Why have we done this: spending more than $50,000, meeting until late at night, solving complex technical riddles? Because we believe that it is our duty to ignite the passions of the next generation, while providing real life examples of people making their dreams come true.
Shared Summits goal is to encourage kids to slay dragons, cure diseases, fight poverty, or reach for the stars. Everest, although a cold and brutal place, graciously serves as a fitting metaphor for making any dream come true.
