Lakpa just called to update us from Camp 2…after an epic day yesterday, they were unable to make it to the summit. They got as far as the serac above Camp 3 (~6400m) around 2pm, but “safety first” prevented them from going further given the late hour in the day. Everyone safely retreated back to Camp 2 to rest.
Unfortunately their progress was hampered by the challenges of increased snow, pushing from Camp 2 and being the first to open the route this year. It’s still not possible to sleep at Camp 3 because of high avalanche risk, so the plan is still to go Camp 2 to the summit (another epic!).
Everyone is now resting at Camp 2 today for much needed rest for another summit attempt tomorrow. Lakpa is however dropping to base camp. Not surprisingly, the demands of being the chief line fixer and route setter has left him a tad exhausted. Even Sherpas get tired! He’ll return up to Camp 2 tomorrow when the rest make another summit bid to restock camp as supplies are getting a bit low. He’s passing leading duties to mountaineering superstar Ueli Steck! Ueli is in the area to climb Everest, and Ama Dablam is a warm up/acclimitisation exercise for him. Lakpa has stashed 500m of rope at his last high point for Ueli to pick up where Lakpa left off.
It’s turning out to be an interesting and challenging spring expedition for our team….good luck to them and more updates to come….Sumit