5/17/06

Report from Roger Coffey

They're off!

This morning, Wed 5/17/06,at about 5:00 AM,Doug,Julie,Jeff and Will left for their 4-5 day summit push. It's a beautiful,crisp, clear morning - just right for moving through the Icefall. Their destination is Camp II tonight. The team will probably enjoy one day of rest in Camp II and then move on up to Camp III for one night. From there, the team will proceed onward to Camp IV the next morning with oxygen support. They will rest for a few hours in Camp IV and then begin the all night climb for the summit at about 9:00 PM.

A report from Camp IV this morning indicated that MJ, Dirk, and Klaus began moving toward Camp III this morning. They should be about two days ahead of our other three climbers with a summit goal of 5/19/06. There appears to be about 10 climbers attempting to summit this morning. If my count is right, there are 4 Swiss team members, 4 members from Jagged Globe, and 2 Koreans somewhere just above the Balcony. At 7:00 AM - that's a little late, but they're having to put in ropes from there to the summit. If successful, these will be the first summits this year from Nepal.

Our weather reports remain optimistic. The jet stream still lies to our north and east, the monsoon is just forming in the Bay of Bengal, summit winds are in the 20-40 knot range, night time summit temps are approximately -16 degrees Fahrenheit - and there are no major weather systems in the area. Still, clouds form each afternoon and weather continues to be typical Mt. Everest with changes inevitable and unpredictable. We will begin twice per day dispatches until summit night when we will attempt to send news even more frequently.