Dave Hahn

Spoke to soon. Sure enough, 19 people seem to have gotten to the top in fine form today from the North. We watched through our BC telescope at first light this morning as these climbers conquered the North Ridge obstacles one after another, often waiting then for the whole gang to catch up.

Difficult to know right now just who was involved. I'm hearing that several Japanese teams and another Russian group may have been working together. More on "who" later if I can gather that by radio. They picked a nice day though, the morning was calm and clear, the cumulus came in at mid-day to hide the summitters from our prying telescope, but I'm pretty sure the clouds are below the climbers and not affecting them.

"We now begin our own push for the top and will accept all the luck and good will that we can snag..."

Through a hole in the big white fluffies I just glimpsed a few folks on the top and a number headed down. It is 1:15pm (Nepal time) so these climbers have done well by the clock and should enjoy getting back to camp in daylight. The word is that a number of teams are now working into position for a summit try tomorrow (the current weather guess has that being a fine day, just ahead of a "Cyclonic Disturbance" out of the Bay of Bengal).

Our own effort is swinging into first gear now as the team makes its way to ABC for the summit push. I'm hanging this final day in BC to conduct last minute business with the Chinese (regarding our exit), to make sure one of my climbers with a minor cold doesn't jump the gun and try to head for ABC before he's healed, to eat more than is healthy and to get in another night of 17,000 ft. easy rack time. Tomorrow to ABC for some climbing, although I may delay to watch some good South Side friends dance on the summit in the morning. It is exciting as anything to watch people top out on Everest through a telescope... for certain, there is one thing better, try it yourself.

That turned out to be about right, Japanese, Russians and Sherpas, but add Chinese and a man from India. And the word I've gotten now is that another 15 or so climbers are poised at high camp for a try tomorrow. Spoke this evening to Eric Simonson and Greg Wilson, sleeping at the South Col ready also for tomorrow. They told of being with about forty like-minded folks over there. So if the weather comes around, it could be a good day for seeing the top of Mount Everest. We hope the numbers don't affect anyone's safety... and that such numbers don't needlessly worry those who want this mountain to remain special.

Looking out at the North Face glowing in the dusk, Everest seems just as formidable, grand and elegant as it did before today's 19 had their good day. The mountain does not appear to be diminished by tiny people crawling up a flank or two. We wish tomorrow's climbers all the best. Of course, we can do no less as we now begin our own push for the top and will accept all the luck and good will that we can snag on the way. Our communications may be sporadic for a week or ten days if all goes well. Time anyway for intense concentration on this place and this endeavor. Many thanks to those who have sent their compliments, cautions and courage for us to work with. We'll do our best to let you know what we find up there. In the meantime, please have confidence that our reasons for being here are sound and that we know what we risk.

...I know why I'm here... The house I grew up in had a set of stairs, I was a little guy, three or four feet tall, dragging myself up those steps day after day looking to their finish where my Dad had hung a large print of Barry Bishop's classic photo. Taken from Everest's West Shoulder in 1963, it shows two impossibly small humans at the base of an impossibly large and steep chunk of planet, Everest's West Ridge. I got up those stairs thousands of times while my brain was still young and impressionable. I wonder if my Dad ever meant for me to take so literally the implied suggestion that the top of the stairs was only a beginning?

— Dave Hahn, International Mountain Guides' Expedition Leader

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