The 2023 Everest spring season is over, with some records to take pride in and others to be avoided. If there were one word to summarize the season, it would be chaotic or perhaps deadly. This spring was the deadliest season in history on Everest.

Nepal issued a record 478 climbing permits to foreigners. Add in one and a half Sherpa supporting each foreigner; over 1,200 people pursued the summit this spring. Fears were rampant of a 2019 repeat with long lines and deaths. The lines never developed, thanks in part to colder weather that sent a higher number of climbers home in mid-season, many with a persistent virus. However, the deaths developed, but not because of the record permits or climate change. These are red herrings to abdicate responsibility.

Climb On!

Alan

Memories are Everything

Monday, May 22nd, was a windy but good day for summits and records. About fifty more people summited, advancing the season total to close to 500. The season could end this week as winds will become too dangerous. In this Podcast, we have reached the summit, and I describe how it feels and then the descent to Camp 2.

Remember that you can see daily updates on my blog at https://www.alanarnette.com/blog/

Climb On!
Alan
Memories are Everything

With masses of climbers on Everest, today we saw over 100 more summits bringing the season total to over 166 and the sixth death of the season. There were many "records" set as well, some in the beholder's eye. Several hundred remain to attempt the summit.

Narrative on climbing to the summit

Climb On!

Alan

Memories are Everything

It looks like ten people summited Everest in the leading part of the first wave. Scores, if not over a hundred, are staged at Camp 2, waiting for the South Col camps to be fully stocked. The weather continues to hold with good conditions and winds under the 30 mph threshold through May 20. Many teams are eyeing Wednesday, May 17th for their summit day. Look for summits each day this week.

Climb On!
Alan
Memories are Everything

As forecasted, the winds have let up, allowing the rope team to continue fixing it to the summit. This will open the mountain for scores for clients with one or more Sherpas in support. Look for a busy first wave of summits over the next few days.

The question is, how many people will be on their summit push this weekend? Almost every team has completed their acclimatization programs and is ready. The lack of fixed rope to the summit and high winds above Camp 3 has stalled everyone, frustrating some team leaders. Some forecasts have acceptable summit winds, under 30 mph/48 kph through May 20. If this pans out, there will be plenty of time for everyone to have their shot at the top. Thus, it becomes a question of how the team leaders will cooperate and coordinate their summit pushes.

Nepal issued 467 permits, and each foreigner, aka client or member, has at least one Sherpa climbing with them. Some have two or more. Last year’s final statistics showed 683 summits on the Nepal side broken down as 256 members and 415 Sherpas in support, yielding a ratio of 1: 1.62. By the way, for members, 75% of those who climbed above base camp made the summit.

According to the Himalayan Database, the top reasons for ending a climb once above base camp are:

In a typical year, around 25% of the clients abandon their expedition. Some get hurt, others are bored, and some figure out they are in over their head and wisely return home, hoping, perhaps, to learn from this experience and return one day better prepared. If that holds for 2023, we’ll see around 350 members instead fo 467, making the crowds more manageable.

Almost as a final kiss, high winds knocked down many tents at Camp 2 over the last few days. No one was injured, but some tents were lost. The best teams have spares, while others go begging for replacements. Just another normal day on Everest!

One fly in the summit ointment is that Camp 4 at the South Col has not been established. By this time in a normal season, Sherpas have stocked it with ample supplies like tents, stoves, fuel and oxygen. Some teams will skip this first wave until it’s established, while others will have the Sherpas do double work by supporting their client and carrying huge loads. This is an example of how Sherpas are so critical to climbing Everest for practically every client.

Climb On!
Alan
Memories are Everything

The #Everest2023 season is taking shape as teams continue to acclimatize with rotations to Camps 1 and 2, with some tagging Camp 3 at 23,000 feet or 7,000 meters. In this interview with Garrett Madison, founder of Madison Mountaineering from Everest Base Camp, we discuss the record permits, his acclimatization strategy, addressing the human waste problem, the long route through the Icefall and their attempt to summit the difficult and highly technical Nuptse.

Climb On!
Alan
Memories are Everything

Everest teams are doing the usual acclimatization rotations but are seeing heavy attrition that will ease crowding concerns. There's a new level of base camp luxuries that might be beyond the pale for some purists.  Heavy snow is forecasted on Dhaulagiri, stalling movement there. Overall, it's been a low-drama year, thankfully.

In this episode, I explore controversy on Shishapangma, exploding luxuries at Everest base Camp, and a narrative about the Western Cwm between Camps 1 and 2 on Everest.

Climb On!

Alan

Memories are Everything

Weekend Update

While teams are as high as Camp 2 on Everest, most of the attention was on Annapurna, where one climber died, and two other climbers were miraculously rescued. Heavy snow hit Everest, but climbing continued. Everest Base Camp is filling up as permits topped 400, a record for the Nepal side. The fixed rope was set to the South Col. I expect it reach the summit late next week.

I cover a few topics in this update:

- Noel Hanna death on Annapurna

- Annapurna Anurag Maloo miracle rescue

- Baljeet Kaur rescue

- Record Everest permits

- First steps in the Khumbu Icefall

Climb On!
Alan
Memories are Everything

This was a week of highs and lows across the Himalayas. On Everest, three Sherpas lost their lives in the Icefall. The season's first 8000 meters summits occurred on Saturday, April 16, on Annapurna. Everest Base Camp is filling up as permits top 300. And a description of the first days at base camp and the puja.

Climb On!

Alan

Memories are Everything

Lukas Furtenbach, a major mountaineering expedition guide company and is now a top supplier of supplemental oxygen systems to all teams climbing Everest.  He partnered with Neil Greenwood of Summit Oxygen to create Everest Oxygen focusing on supplying supplemental oxygen to the mountaineering industry.

His Austrian-based Furtenbach Adventures offer global climbs, including most of the 8000-meter mountains, the Seven Summits, the Volcanic Seven Summits, and Ski Mountaineering. However, they have made a name for themselves with their "Flash Expeditions," which takes only three weeks to climb Everest, compared to the classic style, which takes six to eight weeks.

One of his secrets is using an altitude tent, aka a hypoxia chamber, that acclimatizes his clients to 7,00 meters (23,000 feet) at home. This reduces the number of rotations required before the summit push and reduces the overall time spent at base camp.  It's not really a secret as anyone can rent or buy a tent, and other companies like Alpenglow out of Lake Tahoe, California, also specialize in rapid expeditions. However, Furtenback's team out of Innsabruk closely monitors their client's progress over the eight weeks they sleep in the tent, making daily changes to optimize the process.

Lukas is also investing in advanced technology to remotely monitor his customer's health while climbing and evolving the oxygen regulator, the brains of the system that manages flow rates, to allow for an unprecedented eight liters per minute (lpm) flow. He only uses this high flow rate for short sections, for example, on the Hillary Step, to allow the climber to move faster. Otherwise, they run at today's traditional two, four and six lpm rate.

In this Podcast, we explore the evolution of using supplemental oxygen, Lukas's approach and several other Everest topics. We cover:

They will update their ⁠social media, ⁠Facebook⁠, Twitter, and  ⁠Instagram⁠, throughout the expedition.

Climb On!

Alan

Memories are Everything