Category: International Expeditions

Reuniting with friends, family, and loved ones is an important part of an expedition. From left to right: Fred Simmons, Fred's daughter Carolyn Simmons, and Kurt Wedberg. Carolyn got to witness first hand Fred and Kurt taking care of food cravings at a restaurant in LA!

Our Spring 2012 Everest Expedition is now over.  Fred and I managed to get up to the summit and back down in one piece.  It was a great life adventure like no other.  Like all big expeditions it will take some time for the full magnitude of what we accomplished to sink in.  For now we are fortunate enough to be in the position to enjoy every moment of that process.  We landed at LAX on May 24.  After a nice afternoon nap we worked on our first of many food cravings by getting dinner at a local burger joint called The Counter.  These huge burgers are made to order and loaded with mounds of toppings!!  This sent us into a satisfying food coma and soon we were back catching up on much needed sleep.  Climbing Mt. Everest takes a lot out of a person both physically and mentally.  Since we were standing on the summit only a week ago it’s understandable that our bodies are craving much deserved rest and a replenishment of calories!!

We have been asked a lot about our summit day.  For those interested here is a brief synopsis of how the day went:

The summit push took us seven days in total from Base Camp back to Base Camp.  We stayed right with our original projected schedule:

May 15:  Climb from Base Camp to Camp 2 (6495m/21,309′)
May 16:  Rest at C2
May 17:  Climb from C2 to C3 (7406m/24,300′)
May 18:  Climb from C3 to C4 (7955m/26,100′)
May 19:  Summit Day, return to C4
May 20:  Descend from C4 to C2
May 21:  Descend from C2 to Base Camp

After resting at C2 on the 16^th it was time to move up to C3.  This begins the summit push in earnest.  As one moves into this rarified air the human body takes a toll.  If weather forced us to retreat it would take several days for us to recover sufficiently to try again.  We left C2 at 4:30am.  The route took us up the Lhotse Face, which is about 30-45 degrees in steepness.  Our goal was to get high on this face en route to C3 before the sun hit us.   Upon arriving at C3 we slept on oxygen overnight.  This gave our bodies a chance to recover.  On May 18 we woke early and began the climb to C4 at 7am.  Our route continued up the Lhotse Face then crossed left through the yellow band of shale.  After ascending the yellow band we traversed onto a rock promontory known as the Geneva Spur.  Topping out on the Spur the route then leveled off as it headed to the South Col where C4 is located.

After arriving at C4 at 1pm our goal was to relax and prepare for our summit push.  We relaxed on oxygen and made sure our rucksacks were packed.  We were planning to get an early start so every bit of rest we could get now would be important.  In the rarified air at C4 everything we did was a chore.  Although we had burned lots of calories and were hungry the act of digesting food was extremely difficult.  We did our best to hydrate and eat food though, which would be critical for our climb.

At 7:30pm we started getting ready.  We put on our climbing harnesses, boots, and crampons while wearing headlamps.  We shouldered our rucksacks each filled with an oxygen bottle and at 8:15pm we began our ascent.  Weather was cold with a steady wind blowing 20-30mph.  Many other headlamps could be seen ahead of us on the route.  Soon we were attaching ourselves to the fixed line that was anchored the previous day by an advance team of Sherpa’s and we settled into a rhythm of 3-4 deep breaths for each step we took up hill.

With no moon we had a blanket of stars above us but were aided very little in the way of light.  The beams of our headlamps illuminated our path a few feet in front of us, which proved enough for what we needed to see.  The terrain was mixed snow and rock angling at a steady 30-40 degrees.

After several hours of steady climbing we found ourselves topping out at a feature known as the Balcony.  Here we changed out our partially used oxygen bottles for fresh cylinders.  Wind speeds had picked up and we found ourselves covering our faces from the 40mph steady breeze that occasionally gusted to 50mph.  At 2am we shouldered our rucksacks once again and continued our ascent.  The route follows a ridgeline with steep drop offs on either side.  This leads to some rocky steps that have to be surmounted while wearing heavy gloves and crampons strapped to our boots.  Trying to keep a steady rhythm we maintained a solid 4-5 breaths for each step.  After 3 hours of climbing we found ourselves high up on Everest as light began to illuminate the eastern sky.  Above us was the South Summit of Everest.  Once we gained the South Summit the route descends slightly then follows a ridgeline to the actual summit.

It was right about this time that one of Fred’s crampons broke.  A piece had come off that held the front and back halves of the frame together.  Without this piece the crampon was rendered useless.  We stopped at an anchor point for our fixed line and examined the frame.  There was some older line still present from a previous year.  We took out a knife and cut some strands of this rope.  We then used these strands to attempt to tie the two halves of the crampon frame back together.  If it worked then Fred should be able to climb OK.  If not, I decided to give one of my crampons to Fred and have him continue on to the summit with our Sherpa Kancha Nuru.  I would then wait for their return.  Thankfully the rope held the frame in place and we continued on to the South Summit.

At the South Summit we made one more change in Fred’s oxygen.  At a standard flow rate of 3 liters per minute two oxygen bottles is enough to get up and down Everest assuming no unnecessary delays occur.  With a third bottle Fred was able to kick that up to a 5 liter flow.  This proved especially helpful on such a cold day.  Armed with a fresh bottle for Fred we continued on towards the summit of Everest.  The terrain gets more rocky in this area and eventually leads to the Hillary Step, the crux of the climb.  It is not difficult but it is about 40 feet of hands over feet rock climbing with sheer drop offs in both directions.  Clipping in to a new fixed line we climbed up and surmounted the Hillary Step one at a time.  Above the step the terrain turns into a gradual ridgeline leading to the summit.

After over 12 hours of climbing including a few delays along the way there was no higher point to climb.  Two months of hard work and effort had culminated in us reaching the highest point on our planet!!

Now we are back stateside and recovering nicely.  We have been tackling our many food cravings one by one.  It is a time of reflection and reconnecting with friends, family, and loved ones.  Climbing Everest has a way of humbly helping us gain a new rich appreciation for all we have in this world.  As we move forward through the coming days and weeks we plan to savor every minute of this process.

One thing we are thankful for is everybody who followed along on this blog and kept us in their thoughts and prayers.  It has been a joy to hear from so many of you and we look forward to continuing that process.

All the pictures we took during this expedition are now uploaded on to the SMI Photo Gallery web site.  For your viewing pleasure we invite you to look at them here:  http://www.kurtwedbergphotography.com/International-Expeditions/Himalayas/Mt-Everest-Spring-2012/23167265_3Zt2mR

May 18: Fred traversing off the Lhotse Face at approximately 25,500'/7772m.

Fred and Kancha Nuru Sherpa topping out on the Geneva Spur at approximately 25,900'/7894m as early afternoon snow flurries blow through.

Camp 4 at the South Col 7955m/26,100'.

Mt. Everest's South Summit is the highest point on the skyline. The actual summit sits behind the South Summit.

Fred and Kancha Nuru geared up and ready to begin the ascent to the summit.

May 19, 2012 9am: Summit Success!! Fred and Kurt on the top of Mt. Everest!!

May 19, 2012 9:00am: Fred Simmons and Kurt Wedberg on the summit of Mt. Everest (8850m/29,035').

After a successful summit of Mt. Everest on May 19, Fred and Kurt safely descended back to Base Camp.  The descent took two days.  They dropped from Camp 4 to Camp 2 on May 20.  On the 21st they woke early and descended through the Khumbu Icefall, which was the last of the objective hazards on the route to negotiate.

Once down in Everest Base Camp they quickly packed up all their gear and managed to secure a helicopter that flew them from EBC to Kathmandu.  Flights are re-booked for traveling home. Projected arrival in Los Angeles will be on the 24th.

Upon re-entering civilization and seeing all the comments on this blog plus all the messages on our emails and Facebook pages it has been heart warming seeing what everybody has written.  We promise you every single comment will be read if it hasn’t been already!!  We will do our best to respond as soon as we can!!

For the moment we are concentrating on having some good meals and doing our best to rehydrate.   It is difficult for us to believe at the moment that three days ago we were standing on top of the world!  We will be posting a report on summit day soon.  Stay tuned for that…

Thanks again for everybody’s prayers and well wishes and we look forward to being in touch again soon!!

The May 19th Summit List!

The IMG climbers are now on the way down from the summit. Their goal now is to reach the South Col, and some of them will continue on down to Camp 2. Weather is holding and the conditions are good.

Here is the official summit list sent to the Ministry of Tourism:

1. Mr. Duane Kent Nelson, USA
2. Ms. Vanessa Audi Rhys O’Brien, USA
3. Mr. Bandar Khalid Al-Faisal, USA
4. Mr. Andreas Polloczek, GERMANY
5. Mr. Atte Saku Juhani Miettinen, FINLAND
6. Ms. Lisa Amatangel, USA
7. Mr. Justin Reese Merle, USA
8. Mr. Rehan Dost, CANADA
9. Ms. Catherine Neumann, CANADA
10. Mr. James Frederick Simmons, USA
11. Mr. Kurt Alan Wedberg, USA
12. Mingma Sherpa, Phortse
13. Chhewang Lendu Sherpa, Phortse
14. Mingma Tenjin Sherpa, Phortse
15. Chhiring Sherpa, Sangkhuwasava
16. Tenjing Gyalzen Sherpa, Phortse
17. Mingma Dorjee Sherpa, Phortse
18. Kanchha Nuru Sherpa, Phortse
19. Mingma Tenzing Sherpa, Phortse
20. Pemba Sherpa, Phortse
21. Chheten Dorji Sherpa, Pangboche
22. Finjo Dorjee Sherpa, Pangboche

(Published on the IMG website)

— A. Mayhew

Kurt Wedberg, Fred Simmons, and Kancha Nuru Sherpa at the base of the Lhotse Face at approximately 22,000'+ during an acclimatization climb earlier in the expedition.

After all the planning, preparation, acclimatization climbs, and getting rested and strong at Base Camp we are leaving for our summit attempt!  We spent the last couple days doing our final preparations as we have watched the weather show signs of improvement.

This season on Mt Everest has been characterized by higher and more consistent winds than normal.  We have watched the upper reaches of Mt Everest get blasted by 120+mph winds for most of this spring.  The summit of Mt Everest is high enough to be in jet stream force winds (it’s at an altitude where commercial airliners normally fly!), but to see the winds consistently blast the summit week after week with no abatement is unusual.  Each season in May the jet stream moves north of the Himalayas and raises in altitude as the weather pattern changes when the summer monsoon season begins to build to the south over India.  Sometimes the jet stream lifts off of the summit for as short as a couple days and other times it stops tickling the top of Everest for as long as a week or more.  Currently the weather is showing signs of this activity starting to occur.  We are receiving forecasts of a “medium” confidence level that are confirming what we’re seeing.

Our high camps are now in place and an advance team is heading up to the South Col where our highest camp is located at 7955m/26,100′.  This team’s job will be to carry up and anchor fixed rope into the steeper parts of the route to offer us protection while we climb.  With all our logistics in place and seeing what we want in the weather pattern the time is right for our summit attempt.  Here is our projected schedule:

May 15:  Climb from Base Camp to Camp 2 (6495m/21,309′)
May 16:  Rest at C2
May 17:  Climb from C2 to C3 (7406m/24,300′)
May 18:  Climb from C3 to C4 (7955m/26,100′)
May 19:  Summit Day, return to C4
May 20:  Descend from C4 to C2
May 21:  Descend from C2 to Base Camp

Climbing with us will be our faithful companion Kancha Nuru Sherpa.  Kancha is from the town of Phortse in the Solo Khumbu region of Nepal.  Many strong Sherpa’s have hailed from Phortse and they are fiercely proud of their reputation.  Kancha speaks good English having grown up walking to the neighboring village of Khumjung where Sir Edmund Hillary helped establish a school for the Sherpa community in 1961.  Following in the footsteps of the legendary Tigers Of The Snow including Tenzing Norgay who climbed with Hillary on the first ascent in 1953, Nawang Gombu who climbed with the first American Jim Whittaker in 1963 and became the first person to summit Everest twice, and many others Kancha first reached the summit of Mt Everest with Kurt Wedberg on May 21, 2008.  He has gone on to reach the summit each year since then.  It will be a pleasure to climb with Kancha once again on this summit attempt.

Our first goal on this climb is safety.  We plan to climb as safely as possible and return from this trip healthy.  Assuming we can stay within an acceptable margin of safety our second goal is to reach the summit of Mt Everest.  While we can’t eliminate danger we plan to do everything we can to minimize the risk.

Thank you to everybody for your continued prayers and support for our climb.  We have appreciated all the comments and well wishes thus far and we can definitely feel your support from half way around the world.  We will do our best to keep you updated on our progress along our journey and look forward to connecting with you all upon our return!

May 13, 8pm: The moon has been waning lately revealing a stunning blanket of stars overhead. Our dining tent at Base Camp is lit beautifully in the foreground. The West Shoulder of Everest is seen reaching into the night sky. Seeing views such as this is a real blessing and makes us realize how fortunate we are to be where we are.

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