Updates From Everest Tumpach George Returning to Base Camp Monday, September 22, 1997 (Everest North Face Advance Base Camp, Tibet) AS you probably know, the situation on Mt. EVEREST is not good. As of today, everybody except SHERPAS came down, back to the BASE CAMP at 17500'=5200m. The main problem on EVEREST is the WEATHER. It is very windy and too much snow above NORTH COL-7000m. Last week, the COLOMBIAN and SPANISH Teams tried everyday to make progress to establish a route to Camp #4=7800m. That route was established three weeks ago and after that, the winds and snow closed it down. Because of all the snow, an avalanche on NORTH COL occurred and ONE KOREAN member got killed. Since then, the weather has been very uncooperative. All the members are getting very weak staying at 21500’ altitude for longer than 8-10 days. Personally, I experienced some fatigue, that is why I decided to return back to base camp yesterday. When British and Spanish realized what I was up to, they also packed it up and followed me down today. On Sept. 20, some six British Members went to NORTH COL to deliver more supplies for themselves to be ready for next CAMPS, #4-7800m and # 5-8200m. They do not have any SHERPA support, so they have to do it on their own. On the way down, one British member, William BELL, got very sick at the bottom of NORTH COL-only a half hour from ABC. He got sick from EXHAUSTION and DEHYDRATION. He was very lucky that he was close to ABC and that medical help- OXYGEN supply and medication- was administered right away by a team doctor. After two hours, his condition did not get worse. He was kept under surveillance all night and the next morning, YESTERDAY, he was able to go down with the Help of his team doctor and my lead SHERPA-JANGBU- all the way to BC on his own power. Today, he was evacuated to KATHMANDU. The latest weather forecast we have received from England is not GOOD --WINDY and snow storms over EVEREST region for next 5-8 Days. Because of the weather report and the unsuccessful attempt to open camps #4 and #5 and my long stay at 21500’, I made the decision from my past experience to go down and rebuild my ENERGY to be able to ATTACK summit when the opportunity WINDOW comes. SWISS TEAM, now only two members, are all this time, for the last 10 days, at BC; monitoring the situation from BC. Single JAPANESE climber I told you about earlier is at LHASA and supposed to return today- He did not arrive yet. The latest strategy is to wait for a window of opportunity, WEATHER-wise and go for it. There will be only ONE CHANCE THIS YEAR TO REACH SUMMIT. I am being very positive that the window will come. The biggest problem are the SHERPAS from each team. They are getting very discouraged by the condition on EVEREST. Mr. PINGO-father of EVEREST - CHIEF LIASION OFFICER - who spent the last 20 years here, says this year is the worst weather he remembers in last 12 years and let me tell you -HE KNOWS ! The latest news we have today from Mt.CHO-YO is that there are 17 TEAMS from different countries and not one of them has reached SUMMIT because of the bad weather conditions and too much snow; they reach only 7200 m =CAMP #3. We have reached, here on EVEREST, for the 2nd time, 7800m three days ago and three weeks ago, the SWISS TEAM of three climbers reached 8200m, but had to return due to much snow and wind. So we will have few days rest and wait and see. We do not have too much time left here because after the 1st week of October, the ‘JET STREAM WINDS’ arrive and that will be over. — George Tumpach PREVIOUS UPDATE | UPDATES HOME | NEXT UPDATE