The North Face

May 20 | O’Neill: The day has finally arrived.

By Hilaree O'Neill

The day has finally arrived.

View of base camp.

We've received our weather report today and it couldn't look any more promising for a summit attempt on the 25th. Winds are low, a mere 5-10 km per hour at 8500m at midnight. Temperatures are manageable at -20 C and the weather window is solid, in that it lasts for 3-4 days.

Everyone in camp was struggling with letting this first weather window pass us by, but in the end, I think it's the best decision we could have made. Our team is now six people, Kris Erickson, Sam Elias, Emily Harrington, Conrad Anker, Mark Jenkins and myself.

Conrad does an interview with Anjin and Kris- an amazing ice formation in the background.

Phil has decided to step down from making a summit attempt and has taken on the role of base camp manager, something we desperately need.

Sooooo, tomorrow we will get up at 2 a.m., head out around 3 a.m. and climb to Camp 2. We will then have a rest day at Camp 2 and go to Camp 3 on the 23rd. We will leave Camp 3 around 6 a.m. on the morning of the 24th and expect to take about 8 hours to get to the South Col.

Given that everybody feels strong, we will rest for a handful of hours and then start our summit push.

The majority of climbers went for the first summit window so we are hoping the mountain will be considerably less crowded and will, therefore, allow us to move quickly and safely.

Our group has definitely had its challenges the last week or so. First, Phil got pretty sick at Camp 2, on our last rotation, and had to descend on oxygen. Fortunately, he is well but, as I said, won't be trying for the summit. Then I sprained my ankle but, thanks to some sage advice from Greg at IMG, it is back in one piece and I feel very confident climbing on it. I'm pretty sure it's going to hurt like an SOB:) but I'm taking a positive outlook that it will help distract me from the suffering of high altitude.

Greg, by the way, is an Olympic gold medalist volleyball coach so he's seen a few sprained ankles.  His advice was to stick my foot in a mostly frozen glacial lake 4-5 times a day, among other things that equally sucked.

Extreme icing to get rid of swelling. Torture.

I thought he was crazy but it worked!

Kris got a sinus infection and had to go on antibiotics. Not great but we've had enough time at Base Camp for him to heal.

Finally, Conrad got food poisoning. Not pretty. I'll spare everyone the details on that. Needless to say, camp got a bit grim but things are looking up and we are all getting our mojo back.

I won't be doing any blogs while on the mountain but we will be doing sat phone updates to the North Face and Nat Geo websites, as well as Facebook.

 

May 18 | Erickson: Patience -The art of Waiting

By Kris Erickson

Some things are easier experienced than explained, and the ability to teach patience isn’t always so easy. As days drift into weeks, and the weeks into months, this expedition forces each of us to dig deep and ask difficult questions of why we choose to pursue such a daunting task.

The climbing is hardly climbing at the technical level we enjoy at home and the dangers are greater than most we will ever experience in a lifetime.  Yet we are all here and all willing to put forth the effort to make the summit a reality.

The Everest Enigma is a unique question we all struggle to answer and for each of us the answer is different.

Why climb the highest point on earth? Because it’s there, or maybe more deeply because of the challenge associated with the difficulties in the personal struggle found along the way.

Either way the reality of what it takes to climb Mt. Everest lies in weeks or months of effort, sometimes in the simplest form of being able to wait. For some on the team the time in base camp can fly by but for others there is less responsibility and the time can leave one wishing for something to do.

We all find ourselves wishing for the comforts of home at points during the expedition, but for Sam and Emily this is a hard first expedition and they are more than eager to get back to the lives they know in the states.  Hilaree misses her boys, Conrad has been fighting for weeks in the thickest of red tape Nepali bureaucracy, hoping to now join our South East ridge team and I struggle to balance my responsibilities as a team leader with my role documenting the expedition.

Climbing Everest is providing each of us with a unique opportunity to learn more about ourselves, and the difficult questions you can’t run from with distractions of everyday life. The reality is nothing is easy about climbing Everest.

As we wait these last few days for our final opportunity to push back up the mountain there is no easy way to teach the value of waiting.

Over 300 people are currently waiting on the mountain to try and summit, not waiting like us here in the comforts of base camp, but waiting high on the mountain in the death zone at 8000m. Those teams poised at Camp 4 on the South Col are banking on the weather holding steady and their window of opportunity providing a safe summit bid.

With so many teams going for the same summit day it would be difficult for us to be there preforming the geology and science we have planned for the top. Unfortunately that means letting others go when we’ve been here the longest. Having arrived to base camp weeks ago, more than nine of them, I had hoped to go for the summit in early May, yet with the chaos of a dry season and now so many teams looking to try for the first window of opportunity, I felt it was better to wait yet a little more.

In all reality I can only hope that making the call for the later window will allow our team to have a safer summit day. I’m hoping there will be less people waiting on the lines, lower winds, more daylight, warmer temps, all pointing to a greater chance of the team being able to attain all of our lofty goals, but then again we have to wait. 

May 16 | O’Neill: Safer on Skis

By Hilaree O'Neill

Many people have thought I was crazy for wanting to ski down from the summit of Everest. My standard response has always been that I am much more coordinated on my skis than on my feet.

Hilaree at Camp 3 on the Lhotse Face. Dry conditions meant bringing our skis back down to Base Camp.

For example, when I was pregnant I skied until about 7 months with never a single fall or problem. However, as soon as I would take my skis and boots off, put on tennis shoes and turn around to walk, I would trip over the dog and go sprawling on the pavement.

Well, apparently my inability to walk like a normal person is no different on Everest. A few days ago, as we were finishing our final rotation on the mountain, it became evident that skiing was not going to happen.

Sam, Kris and I decided to bring our gear down and focus just on climbing. Sam and I skied from Camp 2 to Camp 1, across crevasses, ice and changing snow conditions, carrying our skis over ladders spanning gaping holes, all without incident.

But as soon as I get to the "safety" of base camp, I manage to severely sprain my ankle walking back to my tent from another camp.

Seriously?!?!

While I spent the entire night freaking out that I'd ruined my chances to summit Everest, I am thankful that is not the case. It looks like we have about a week at base camp before the weather gives us our summit window.

My ankle seems to be holding steady and with lots of ice, compression socks and rest, I think I'll still be able to pull it off. As Conrad says- Hold fast! Patience, patience, patience. I'm just in awe of my ability to take something very hard and make it a lot harder.

I'm keeping this post short but many things have happened in the past week so I will write again soon. As always thanks for all the support from everyone and keep your fingers crossed that I can get my foot in my boot in six days time!!

 

May 15 | NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC/THE NORTH FACE CANCELS 1 OF 2 EVEREST SUMMIT ATTEMPTS

By The North Face

The West Ridge portion of the Conrad Anker-led National Geographic and The North Face expedition to summit Mount Everest has been canceled due to unsafe climbing conditions on the West Ridge route.

The expedition planned to summit via two routes, the West Ridge and the Southeast Ridge, in an attempt to repeat the historic climb of the 1963 National Geographic-sponsored American Mount Everest Expedition (AMEE).

“After looking at aerial photos of the Hornbein Couloir, the route is not safe to attempt this year.  It is a tough decision, but canceling the West Ridge climb is the sensible thing to do," Anker said. “I am excited that the Southeast Ridge team will still make a summit attempt, and that we can work to fulfill our geologic and scientific goals with that part of the expedition.”

You can read more of Anker’s thoughts here.

The Southeast Ridge team, composed of National Geographic magazine writer Mark Jenkins and The North Face Global Team Athletes Kris Erickson, Hilaree O’Neill, Sam Elias and Emily Harrington will continue as planned with their summit bid later this month. Anker hopes to climb with the Southeast Ridge team.

The expedition is covered in real-time on the magazine's blog and in the May and June editions of the National Geographic Magazine App for iPad.

 

May 15 | Harrington: As long as I live, I will never forget

By Emily Harrington

Self portrait walking through the Western Cwm just before reaching Camp 2.

Recently, the glaring negative environmental and social impacts of the Everest region have been broadcasted on the Internet, ranted about in forums, and beaten into our heads until the image of this place is that of one giant garbage dump with too many people who don't belong or deserve to be here.

After having spent nearly two months here, I don't agree; but I am also not going to go into it. I've heard it too many times before to regurgitate the facts. This place exists, in all its ugliness and beauty. And I want to share my experience with you.

What I will tell you about is the mind-blowing strength of the Sherpa people, who carry exponentially heavier loads than I can even lift in record speed to the high camps for us, and then return before we've had coffee in the morning.

Or how frightening it is to ascend through the icefall at 3 a.m., and even just try to comprehend how the Icefall Doctors manage to develop and maintain a safe route through this obstacle course of death throughout the season.

The moon at sunrise in the Icefall.

Or how the intense heat of the Western Cwm can make your blood boil like you're walking through the Sahara, parched and beaten into utter exhaustion.

How, from Camp 2, you can hear the wind barreling down off of the summit of Everest, like a freight train with no breaks. It reaches your tent moments later and you're suddenly in the middle of a hurricane, the nylon ripping and floor trying to lift your helpless body off the ground.

Basecamp is slightly more friendly to us humans, because we made it that way. It's a strange place, an international community of people convening at the base of the tallest place on earth for one common goal: to get themselves or others to the top.

Hilaree O'Neil doing laundry in Basecamp.

But in many ways, it's just like any small town, only it's situated on a glacier and everyone lives in tents. There are kitchens, bathrooms, showers, and basic amenities. We have solar power (and generators, an admittedly unfortunate reality), wifi, and spotty cell coverage to keep in touch with friends and family.

There's also a social aspect to Basecamp. I went to a rather raucous party in a white dome pod decorated with tiger rugs a few weeks ago, and a horseshoe tournament yesterday.

Horseshoe tournament.

The community is friendly and tight-knit, with its fair share of gossip and drama, just like any other place.  The only anomaly I've noticed is the small ratio of females vs males; but hey, that's pretty much expected.

As for our team, we've been progressing steadily up the mountain. Now, we've slept at Camp 3 (7100m), on a wonderful and unusually calm night, the sunset being one of the most perfect moments I've ever experienced. After a sleepless night induced by a lack of oxygen, we tried to move a bit higher before being turned around by the nuking frigid winds, which welcomed us that morning.

Kris and Sam at Camp 3, Mt. Everest in the background.

That's been the crux of this year – the wind. We'll have to wait until it decides to abate before heading for the summit, hopefully in the next 10 days or so.

I have to keep reminding myself that the reality of playing in the big mountains is that nothing is certain and erring on the side of caution is always the best path to follow.

So now we're back at basecamp, waiting and waiting in this bizarre little city that has become our home for the past six weeks now.

I am not sure yet if I like climbing big mountains as much as I do sport climbing in glorious temperate places, but I am starting to understand the allure of being in a place so much more vast and powerful than we can comprehend. It's overwhelming and humbling and puts us in our respective places as human beings.

Perhaps that draw is why so many people come to experience this place; or maybe they just want to stand on top of the world. Either way, this is a small glimpse of my time here.

As long as I live, I will never forget the glorious sunsets I witnessed, the fierceness of the wind and sun, or the suffering I endured at the merciless hands of altitude. I am grateful for all of these things.

Sunset on the Lhotse Face. A perfectly calm evening at 7100m. Rare and unforgettable.

 

May 11 | Anker: Audio Dispatch, Conditions are great

By Conrad Anker

Click play to hear a voice message from Conrad Anker on Everest

Greetings Friends, this is Conrad with the 2012 National Geographic, North Face Everest expedition. I'm here at 6400 meters, which is approximately 21,000 feet.

2,000 feet above me we've got Hills and Chris and Sam and Emily and Mark Jenkins. They’re up at Camp 3, and that's about 7,000 meters approximately 23,000 feet, and they’re camping up there to acclimatize.

Conditions are great. We've had periodic snowfall in the afternoon, which is great. It's just keeping the snow... The snow is keeping the rocks, cementing them in. So we're experiencing less rock fall, and we're hoping that sometime in the next, ohh, 10 days or so, will have a summit window when the winds abate and we have clear whether.

Thanks for following, and have a pleasant day. Take Care. 

 

May 09 | Update: West Ridge Expedition

By The North Face

While there is speculation about whether or not Simone Moro will join Conrad Anker on the expedition to summit Everest via its West Ridge, nothing is confirmed.

Check back daily at northface.com/everest and nationalgeographic.com/everest to hear the news when it’s official from the team on the mountain.

May 09 | Elias: Testing on Everest

By Sam Elias

We’ve been in base camp for eight days, and today we will head back up the mountain for our third rotation. We were hoping that our third trip up would be for the summit, but the weather has not been cooperating, and in terms of acclimatization, it’s getting to be too long for us without being up high.

The team spends time inside the Mayo Clinic Tent at Base Camp.

Six members from The Mayo Clinic arrived here in base camp while we were up on the mountain last time. With them were also two employees from The North Face, and one from National Geographic. The group brought over 600kg of really expensive and technical medical equipment. Thus, we spent the last week getting tested.

Our blood, heart, lungs, cognitive functioning, sleeping, general body composition, and energy expenditure were all examined and will be further analyzed. The reasoning of Dr. Bruce Johnson and his team was to study the cardiopulmonary system under extreme stress. The goal is to hopefully apply the findings to people with heart problems. He and his team have found similarities between what happens to the body as it ascends and is exerted at high altitude, and what happens to the body of a person with a failing heart. Similarities such as fluid in the lungs, changes in heart rhythm, changes in breathing, etc. For us climbers, it is an opportunity for what we do to potentially have an impact on the mass population, as heart problems are so widespread in the world, and we are all glad to participate. For more info: (http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/244391.php)

Emily Harrington works on a Mayo Clinic cognitive test.

Phil Henderson has his pulse checked.

In addition to working with the Mayo personnel, we were testing various prototypes and working with the two members from The North Face on developing better products. We had many productive conversations, and the unique and immediate interactions that happened in the field proved beneficial to all.

The athlete team is very connected to the product innovation, design, and testing process, and the people within the company that work in these areas. Derek Campbell, the Director of Global Product Innovation, and Landon Bassett, the Outdoor Division Brand Manager were sent all the way here to Everest base camp to see how we use our gear firsthand, and to listen to what problems we have, and work with us to modify existing products or to create new and better ones.

The end result proves that the system works very well, as The North Face products are always at the forefront of innovation and quality because they are truly – “Athlete tested, Expedition proven.”

It was good to have them all in camp, refreshing new energy. It seemed that both the Mayo team and the TNF team were very satisfied with all that they did while here. Working and spending time with them allowed this rest cycle to pass by with ease. Now, however, they are gone, and it’s time that we go back up again. Stay tuned.

May 07 | Anker: Hello from Everest Base Camp!

By Conrad Anker

Hello from Everest Base Camp!

Self portrait at 7100 m. Wind, freezing temps and a smile.

After a busy week with the Bruce Johnson MD and  Mayo Clinic team we are settling into a bit of tranquility. Teams are working between 7000 m and 7900 m. The overall spirit in camp is upbeat, despite the challenges with the dry and windy weather.

Life is precious and there is nothing like a demanding environment to remind us of how insignificant we are. Our bodies are challenged by the paucity of O2. Sleep is fleeting, we naturally shun calories and we loose muscle mass. Yet above us is the summit of the planet. The draw is powerful and is our source of inspiration each day. Keep an eye on the horizon, stay calm, be patient and be positive.

 

May 04 | Henderson: Opening Our Eyes

By The North Face

Climbing is not always about moving ourselves up.  Often it is about opening our eyes to different views.  Spending tent time in remote places has always helped me see things from a different perspective, whether it is things in my own life, problems to solve, or helping others.

It helps me, if nothing else, to be open to the views of others. People, if I agree with their view, is irrelevant. What matters is that I am open to another view.

Mountains provide me with the ability to see a different perspective.

This is one reason why I suggest that more people spend tent time in the mountains, to open their eyes. We all become healthier, physically and mentally when we are open to others.

Let's all spend more times in the mountains so we can open our eyes.

This post was written by Phil Henderson who is currently on Everest with the National Geographic and The North Face expedition.