New World Record, Apa Sherpa, Climbing Leader of Eco Everest Expedition 2011 reached the summit of Mt. Everest for the 21st time – a new world record. At 09:15am this morning, Eco Everest Expedition Climbing Leader Apa Sherpa and members Chris Shumate(49 yrs) of USA , Bruno Gremior(39yrs) of Switzerland together with three Altitude Slimbing Sherpas, Ang Dawa Sherpa, Phurba Sherpa, [...]
Special Thanks
Hot Chillys Official SponsorBase Layer Company www.hotchillys.com Diamond Mold Summit Banner Sponsor www.diamondmold.com SD7 Technology Group Official Website Sponsor www.sd7.biz University of Utah Health Care Go Utes! Suunto Official Sports Watch Sponsor, Official Trekking and Expedition Company
Follow the Eco Everest 2011Expedition with Asian Trekking
Sunday, 08 May 2011 08:19 Sun 08 May Published in Asian Trekking Blog Written by Asian Trekking Stormy winds and destroyed tents but all is well that ends well. The Brazilians are down in C2 and Apa and the second summit team are heading up to Camp 3 tomorrow, aiming to be on the top [...]
Follow the Eco Everest 2011Expedition with Asian Trekking
Published in Asian Trekking Blog Written by Wiggy First Asian Trekking Summit of Everest this year, Apa, Chris and Deke call off summit push due to winds. The Brazilians are going to Camp 2 and try to summit if the winds turn out not as bad as the forecasts.
2011 Apa Sherpa Eco Everest Expedition
Published in Asian Trekking Blog Written by Asian Trekking The Summit Team are now at Camp 2, on their way to the summit. Carlos, Rodrigo and CarlitoEarly morning and the team gathers in the mess tent, slowly equipment is made ready as the climbers go through final preparations for the climb ahead. Breakfast is taken [...]
Published in Asian Trekking Blog Written by Asian Trekking Eco Everest Exp 2011- 1st. Wave Ready For The SUMMIT Push Eco Everest Exp 2011- 1st. Wave Ready For The SUMMIT Push and Media Coverage Links Written by Ang Tshering Sherpa Eco Everest Expedition 2011 and International Dream Everest Expedition 2011 Team Members and Staffs Our [...]
2011 Apa Sherpa Eco Everest Expedition
Sunday, April 24, 2011 In Dingbouche Again April 17. I’m up early. It’s another crystal clear dawn in Dingbouche. The weather pattern so far has been clear mornings, wind rising later on toward noon, then clouds moving in around 1:00 or 2:00 pm, followed by precipitation, possibly–or just cloud and wind. The peaks generally become [...]
2011 Apa Sherpa Eco Everest Expedition
Monday, April 18, 2011 Trek to Gorak Shep April 16. We are in Tashi’s lodge having club sandwiches and French fries. This is a surprise because Loboche is 4,980 meters elevation, about 16,000 feet, and everything is carried in. Damian Vegas comes in (last name uncertain). He’s an Argentinean guide Apa knows from years of [...]
2011 Apa Sherpa Eco Everest Expedition
Thursday, April 14, 2011 Namche-Thamo-Thame-Khumjung-Tengbouche-Dingbouche Namche to Thame. Only Apa and I will trek to Thame. The rest of our team is going part of the way, about half the distance, to Thamo. We will all eat lunch there, but then the team will return to Namche for the night and Apa and I will [...]
2011 Apa Sherpa Eco Everest Expedition
Sunday, April 17, 2011 Trek to Loboche April 15. Dingbouche to Loboche. The route to Loboche takes us up the ridge behind the Snow Lion lodge where we climbed yesterday searching for a cell phone signal. Apa turns around. Someone is calling his name and waving a red handkerchief in the potato field below us. [...]
2011 Apa Sherpa Eco Everest Expedition
Tuesday, April 12, 2011 Flight to Lukla View out the windows: to the left in the far distance snow-covered peaks show above traces of cloud, to the right steep slopes with fewer and fewer terraced plots. We are flying toward a wall of brown mountains. No snow at this elevation. “Not far now,” Wiggy says. [...]
2011 Apa Sherpa Eco Everest Expedition
Monday, April 11, 2011 Kathmandu to Lukla Kathmandu, April 3. We leave the airport in Ang’s Tshering’s Toyota. Driving is on the left side. The traffic is fast and fierce. 125 cc motorcycles are the vehicle of choice. They jockey for position with each other and spar with the small Indian-made cars and trucks. “So [...]
2011 Apa Sherpa Eco Everest Expedition
Tuesday, April 5, 2011 Arriving in Kathmandu Correction to the earlier entry: the LA to Bangkok flight did not detour east of North Korea, but rather west. After we crossed from China into Vietnam we actually flew just west of Hanoi and then straight down over Vientiane in Laos. In the span of 36 hours [...]
2011 Apa Sherpa Eco Everest Expedition
http://apasherpaeverest2011.blogspot.com/2011/04/april-1st-departure-day.html Friday, April 1, 2011 April 1st Departure Day In a perfect world we would have spent months preparing for a departure like this, but as with most similar endeavors the constraints of everyday life have intervened. Apa and I are getting on the plane in a dozen hours whether we are ready or not. [...]
Last Blog From Base Camp
By Marshall Thompson Today Apa arrived safely at Base Camp. He was surprisingly full of energy and ready to get home to his family as soon as possible. I appreciate his attitude because I can’t wait to see my family as well. I’m planning on leaving tomorrow morning so this is going to be my [...]
Live Info on Apa
From now until Apa summits Mount Everest for the 20th time, I’m going to be doing live updates on Twitter and Facebook. Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/apasherpa Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/apasherpa You can ask any questions you want and I will respond within less than a half hour.
Barricaded in the communications tent
Dawa Steven, the expedition leader, Chunu, the Nepali government liaison officer, and I are now barricaded in the communications tent. We brought in a small gas heater and have zipped up the doors and tried to plug all the cracks. It’s starting to get a bit warmer. Outside there are heavy clouds over Mount Everest [...]
Apa has left base camp!
Today at 5 a.m. Apa left base camp for his final summit push. If he is successful, it will be his 20th summit of Mount Everest and a new world record. I filmed the whole event and I was accompanied by three other camera men. It was a big deal. At 4:15 a.m. Andrew, who [...]
SUUNTO
One of Apa’s sponsors is Suunto. They make some of the best watches around for mountaineering. The proof of this is the fact that almost everybody up here is wearing a Suunto. No joke. Apa and I are wearing the TGC, which has been incredibly handy. First off, I’m a Yankee surrounded by people from [...]
First Ascent
First Ascent, a line of adventure clothing from Eddie Bauer, is the official outfitter of Apa Sherpa’s historic attempt for a record breaking 20th summit of Mount Everest. Apa looks sharp in the clothing, but he’s concerned about much more important things. “It’s very good,” said Apa. “It’s lightweight, warm and durable.” When Apa makes [...]
Ask Apa Anything
You know it’s good because it alliterates. Within the next week, the weather should open up and provide a nice window for summitting Mount Everest. Apa has finished all his acclimatization rotations and is simply waiting for the opportunity to make a summit push. Before he goes up for his historic 20th attempt, he will [...]
Photography
By Marshall Thompson Somebody once asked Sir Edmund Hillary why all the pictures at the top of Mount Everest were of Tenzing Norgay. He replied simply that Tenzing didn’t know how to work the camera. It’s a funny little anecdote that highlights a practical challenge for Apa and his team on his attempt for 20 [...]
Everest Base Camp Rumor Roundup
One of the most interesting parts of base camp is the rumor mill that seems to run faster in high altitudes. I thought I would share with you a smattering of some of the best/interesting things I’ve heard since I’ve been here. Let me stress right now that I don’t think some of these things [...]
Hiking with Apa
Today I went hiking with Apa. It was great. He wanted to run down to a small peak called Kalapathar for some exercise and asked me along. I said, sure, but I’ll slow you down. He laughed and said that was OK. On the way he said he needed to run an errand to [...]
Apa’s plan for the mountain
I sat down with Apa yesterday and we talked about his plan for climbing Everest for the 20th time. The center of the plan is minimizing the number of times he has to cross the dangerous ice fall. Many old timers on the mountain have told me that warmer seasons in the past couple of [...]
Record Breaking on Everest
By Marshall Thompson The Eco Everest Expedition is full of record-breaking activities. First off, Apa is going for a new world record with 20 Everest summits. But there’s more. Arjun is attempting to be the youngest Indian to climb Mount Everest at age 16. If he’s successful he will either be the second youngest or [...]
Puja Ceremony at Mount Everest Base Camp
By Marshall Thompson Today we held our puja ceremony to ask forgiveness and permission for climbing on Mount Everest, which is the abode and person of a Sherpa goddess. It was an elaborate ceremony with a lama chanting prayers in front of an altar for nearly an hour and a half straight. Then the Sherpa [...]
Avalanches at Mount Everest Base Camp
By Marshall Thompson My first night in base camp I woke up to what I thought was a jet flying overheard. Upon short reflection I realized this would be impossible since jets don’t generally fly over Mount Everest. That was my first experience with an avalanche at base camp. Since then, I’ve become use to [...]
Apa Sherpa arrives at base camp
As I’ve mentioned before, Apa was running all over the Khumbu Region of Nepal before he could make it up to the Mount Everest Base Camp on April 18. He covered a massive amount of territory meeting family, getting blessings, posing for photographs and meeting with the Himalayan Trust. “Every time we go (up [...]
Weigh and Pay – Cleaning up Mount Everest
By Marshall Thompson The Eco Everest Expedition is holding its annual weigh and pay program at Everest Base Camp in an effort to keep the tallest mountain in the world free from trash. At the end of each day, everyone brings in all the trash they could find and weigh it. On the spot they [...]
Goodbye to Friends
By Marshall Thompson Yesterday two members of the Eco Everest Expedition started the long hike out of the Khumbu Region. They will not be climbing Mount Everest this year. After making the journey to base camp, they both decided that it was too dangerous and there were more important things in their lives. Michel, one [...]
Bring that Sh*t Down!
By Marshall Thompson Today there was a meeting with all the Mount Everest expedition leaders and the leadership of the Sargamatha Pollution Control Committee. They discussed a number of things, but the most interesting subject was all about poop. What do you do with it? Hundreds of people are going up and down Everest each [...]