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Costa Mesa, California
June 17, 2009
Dear Family & Friends:
Here is the recap I promised.
My Performance on the Mountain
Alex Lowe, the late, great mountaineer,
always said that the best climbers are the ones that are having the
most fun. Judged solely by this standard, I was one of the best
climbers on Mt. Everest in 2009.
The trip was a dream come true.
From the standpoint of my performance on the mountain, I would not change
a thing. I felt healthy and strong the whole trip. Never
once did I have any symptom of altitude sickness--not even the slightest
headache. My appetite was good, and I only lost 10 pounds, as
opposed to the 30 pounds that I lost in 2007.
When I was climbing the steepest sections
of the route, e.g., the Lhotse Face and the Southeast Ridge on summit
day, my breathing was always under control and I never felt tired.
Not once did I doubt that I would reach the summit. Well, I take
that back. I had some serious doubts on May 22 when I was parked
in my tent at the South Col hoping and praying that the wind would abate
so we could make our summit attempt. See discussion below.
My time from the South Col (26,000 feet) to the summit (29,035) on May
22-23 was really good. We left the Col at 10 pm and arrived at
the summit between 8:30 and 9 am, well ahead of the 2 pm turn-around
time. By way of contrast, in 2007, I left the Col at 9 pm and
did not arrive at the South Summit (28,750) until noon the next day.
That is where I called it quits because I was totally wasted physically.
My decision to take the rest day at the South Col was a huge factor
in my success this year.
Tragedy
The year was also filled with drama
and tragedy. The loss of our beloved Sherpa, Lhakpa Nuru Sherpa,
in the avalanche in the Khumbu Icefall was a blow to our entire team.
His body was never found, despite 4 search attempts. He has a
wife and 2 children. As soon as I have information about donations
to his family, I will let you know in case you would like to help.
As discussed below, two of our team members were evacuated by helicopter
from Base Camp. Our team took their departure really hard because
they were both strong climbers and total team players.
Our Team
On the subject of the Eco-Everest 2009
Team, we had what can only be described as a “Dream Team.” As pointed
out in my trip report, we bonded immediately and functioned as a cohesive
team the entire time we were on the mountain. Everyone really
liked each other. There was never once even the slightest of arguments
or disputes among team members. However, every personal
foible was exploited in good fun in the dining tent. Our leaders
at Base Camp--Dawa Steven Sherpa, Pertemba Sherpa and Apa Sherpa (who
summitted this year for a record setting 19th time) were
terrific and joined in the fun.
As promised, here is an accounting
of how each team member performed on the mountain:
---Bud Allen from Columbus, Georgia.
Bud made it to the South Col and left for the summit around 11 pm.
He was moving strong towards the Balcony (27,700) when he encountered
a problem with his oxygen system. He attributed the problem to
the regulator that is attached to the oxygen bottle. When he could
not resolve the problem, he descended to the South Col and ended his
summit bid. In his tent at the South Col, he discovered that the
problem was simply ice build-up inside his oxygen mask. This issue
could have been solved easily by breaking the ice loose so the oxygen
would resume flowing into the mask. There is no doubt Bud would
have made it to the summit had he not encountered this problem.
He will be back in 2010 or 2011.
---Jesse Easterling from Seattle, Washington.
Jesse was taking the wrong medicine while trekking to Base Camp, resting
at Base Camp and moving up the mountain. The details are set forth
in my reports. The doctors at Base Camp ordered his immediate
evacuation by helicopter. Good thing, as he spent several weeks
in the hospital in Kathmandu, including 4 days in the Intensive Care
Unit. He suffered from internal bleeding and other ailments.
Given his condition, he is lucky to be alive. After I arrived
back in Kathmandu, I visited him twice in the hospital. He is
now home with his family recovering well. Jesse is a strong climber
who easily reached Camp 3 on the Lhotse Face before he became ill and
was evacuated from Base Camp. He will undoubtedly be back and
will summit in the future.
---Yury Pritzker from Chicago, Illinois.
Yury is a very strong and motivated climber who summitted on May 21.
He was the first person on our team to summit. In fact, he reached
the summit so fast and so early that he had to wait for the sun to come
up so he could take pictures and shoot some video. He was lucky
to summit on a clear, sunny day. I am lucky too, because I can
now use his photos and video for the movie I am preparing for family
and friends. At 54, Yury was the second oldest member of our team.
---Henry Voight from Germany.
Henry was the strongest member of our team. He had to delay his
first rotation up the mountain to have a wisdom tooth extracted at Namche
Bazaar. Then, at Camp 2, he suffered a concussion when he fell
on the rocks in front of his tent. No one saw him fall; and we
assume he fainted because he fell directly on his face and made no effort
to break his fall. On the way back to Base Camp after the fall,
he collapsed. At that point, he was carried down from Camp 2 to
Base Camp in a sled. He was evacuated from Base Camp by helicopter
on the same day as Jesse’s evacuation. Henry will reach the
summit of Mt. Everest on his next attempt.
---Mogens Jensen from Denmark.
Mogens, who suffers from asthma, had been on Mt. Everest 3 times before
this trip, and he summitted from the North side in 2008. He was
featured in the Discovery Channel program on Mt. Everest last year.
His plan this year was to summit from the South side of the mountain
without oxygen. He was carrying a United Nations flag on human
rights. Needless to say, Mogens is an accomplished and experienced
mountaineer. He is also a really nice and genuine person.
I particularly appreciated the wonderful way Mogens treated Jesse when
Jesse fell ill at Base Camp and was later admitted to the hospital in
Kathmandu. Mogens was using oxygen when he turned around at the
Yellow Band, which is between Camp 3 and Camp 4. He had problems
with his lungs, most likely related to the asthma. I do not know
if he plans to return in 2010, but, if he does, he will make it to the
top for the second time.
---Will Cross from Pittsburgh. Will
is an accomplished mountaineer and adventure enthusiast who has previously
climbed Mt. Everest and trekked to the North and South Poles.
He has type 1 diabetes. He is also a great guy and a terrific
motivational speaker. After the avalanche at Base Camp that took
the life of our Sherpa, Will decided that conditions were not right
for his climb and he opted, for safety reasons, to terminate his Mt.
Everest expedition. Instead, he decided to climb Cho Oyu in China,
which he had not previously climbed. At 26,906 feet, Cho Oyu is
the 6th highest mountain in the world. Will was
not able to climb past Camp 2 on Cho Oyu because of the fierce storm/cyclone
that also slammed into Everest on my own summit day--May 23.
--Nicholas Cunningham from Minnesota.
Nick is a super strong climber who works part time as a climbing guide
and part time on his family’s farm in Minnesota. He summitted
on May 21, right behind Yury. Nick has some great photos and video
of his summit day. I really enjoyed being on the same team as
Nick as he was always full of youthful exuberance and enthusiasm.
He was fun to be with on the mountain.
---Krushnaa Patil from India.
At age 19, Krushnaa was the youngest member of our team. She did
a great job climbing Mt. Everest and summitted on the same day as Yury
and Nick. Her Mom, Grandmother and Aunt greeted her in Kathmandu
when she came off the mountain. Krushnaa is now quite the media
star in India and is most likely still basking in the glow of her great
accomplishment.
My
Summit Day
Mingma, Bud, Puchhanga and I reached
the South Col on May 21, and ran into Yury and Nick moving back down
to Camp 2 after their successful summit. We spent the night at
the Col on oxygen. The next day the wind picked up and we were
trapped in our tents. I knew that if we were prevented from making
a summit attempt on May 22 my trip was over. The whole day I hoped
and prayed that the wind would abate. It didn’t. In fact,
it got worse. Mingma and I delayed our departure for the summit
from 8 pm to 10 pm. Still, no change in the weather. At
10 pm, Mingma came to my tent and asked me whether we were going up
or down. Without hesitation, I said we are going up.
We moved up the mountain towards the
Balcony (27,700 feet) and, for awhile, the wind abated. After
about five hours of climbing, we arrived at the Balcony, and I switched
to a new oxygen bottle. Then, we headed up the Southeast Ridge
towards the South Summit (28,750 feet). After a couple of hours,
the sun came up and I was celebrating the fact that we were going to
summit on a clear, sunny day. My plan was to shoot lots of photos
and video and call my family from the summit using my satellite telephone.
That’s when the wheels came off. A huge storm, Cyclone Aila, slammed
into the mountain, and it started snowing really hard. The winds
were ferocious, visibility was low and it was cold. It pretty
much stayed that way for the rest of the trip to the summit and back
down to the South Col.
I switched to a new oxygen bottle at
the South Summit, and we reached the summit an hour later, between 8:30
and 9 am. We spent about 30 minutes snapping photos and then started
back down. It was still snowing, and the wind was blowing so hard
that I could not take off my glacier glasses or oxygen mask because
the ice crystals felt like pellets when they hit my face and eyes.
I changed to a new oxygen bottle at the Balcony and we made our way
down to the South Col.
May 23 was the last summit day for
the 2009 Everest season, so I feel fortunate that I was given the opportunity
to move up on May 22 and made the decision to go for it even with the
wind blowing across the South Col at 30-40 knots. On the way down
from the Balcony to the Col, Mingma and I came across a Sherpa who was
in trouble. He was stopping every few feet completely exhausted
and he fell a few times. So, we followed him down the mountain
to make sure he arrived safely at the South Col. The Sherpa was
in the lead, moving very slowly, he was followed by Mingma, and I was
behind them both. At that point, everyone passed us, and no one
else was on the mountain. So, I am pretty sure I was the last
person to come off the Mt. Everest summit triangle this season.
The storm continued for another week, and I was trapped at Base Camp
for a few days. I was one of the last foreigners to leave Base
Camp.
Eleven Sherpas, who were part of our
team, also summitted Mt. Everest this year, including my Sherpa (Mingma
Sherpa) and Bud’s Sherpa (Puchhanga Bhote). This was Mingma’s
seventh time on the summit of Mt. Everest and Puchhanga’s first time
on the summit. (Puchhanga is technically not a Sherpa since his
last name is Bhote)
Photos and Video
I have over 1,500 still photos and
hours of video footage from the trip this year. This includes
some photos and video from my teammates, Yury, Nick and Puchhanga.
I am so grateful to have the photos and video from Nick and Yury since
they had good weather on their summit day. I plan to post some
photos and video on my website. I will also prepare a movie of
my 2009 climb for family and friends, using still photos and video footage.
I will let you know when that is available.
What’s next?
Everyone asks that question, including
my nervous family. Here are some adventures I am considering,
in order of priority:
---The “Grand Slam.” This involves
reaching the peak of the highest mountain on each continent and trekking
to the North and South Poles on skis, pulling a sled with all of the
provisions.
---Doing a traverse of Mt. Everest,
ascending the South side in Nepal and descending the North side in Tibet.
This was my plan for 2009, but I could not obtain climbing permits from
China for the North side descent. My friend, David Liano from
Mexico, who has summitted Mt. Everest twice, is planning to do a double
traverse in 2010, and I would like to join him.
---Through-hiking the Pacific Crest
Trail from Mexico to Canada.
---Climbing the highest mountain in
each state in the United States, qualifying me for membership in the
High Pointers club.
Thanks
The first thing I did when I reached
the summit was drop to my knees and thank the Lord for getting me to
the summit safely. I also prayed for a safe journey down and for
the safety of everyone on the mountain caught in the storm.
There are so many others I want to
thank.
First, thanks to my wife, who is my
life and Everest climbing partner. Today, we celebrate our 47th
wedding anniversary, so it seems appropriate that I write this note
of thanks. Sharon has supported me on all my mountain adventures,
but especially these past three years as I have attempted to climb Mt.
Everest. She has faithfully posted my expedition reports so I
could keep all of you up to date. She also knows more about Mt.
Everest than me. After I summitted the mountain, she did two radio
interviews and four television interviews. I spoke with Sharon
almost every day by satellite telephone. It was such a comfort
to hear her voice and words of encouragement. She also gave me
advice while I was climbing, sometimes unsolicited. For example,
when I returned to Camp 2 from the South Col after I summitted, I called
her from my tent in the morning. She asked me what time it was,
and I told her 8 am. Her response was “get your butt out of
the tent and down through the Icefall before the sun comes up and it
gets dangerous.” My Sherpa, Mingma, had been saying the same thing
in gentler terms as he tried to coax me out of the tent so we could
safely return to Base Camp. So, thanks Sharon, and I love you.
My family has been so supportive, and
I thank them for allowing me to make this wonderful journey to the top
of the world. Sharon and I are so blessed! We love you so
much.
My Sherpa, Mingma, is just the best.
He was always near me on the mountain, and I depended on his advice
and good judgment as someone who had summitted Mt. Everest six times
before my trip. He is like a brother to me, and my family loves
him dearly.
Thanks to the management and staff
of Asian Trekking for organizing such a great trip, and a special thanks
to all the Sirdars, Sherpas, Base Camp Managers, cooks, porters and
yaks who did all of the work and made my trip a success.
Scott Farner built my website and kept
everything running smoothly during the expedition. Thanks Scott. Thanks to all of you who followed my
odyssey this year, and maybe even for the past three years. I
thought about you all the time while I was on the mountain. You
were all a huge source of inspiration and encouragement to me.
I appreciate your thoughts, prayers and comments posted on my site.
I extend my special thanks to the students and teachers who tracked
my steps up the mountain.
Finally, I thank my grandson, Ollie,
who turned 9 yesterday. He helped me train these past three years
and is truly my hero. A good friend of the family set up a fundraiser
for Angelman Syndrome which can be found at http://www.angelman.org/BillBurkeTrainingPartnerOllie/ All proceeds, which are tax deductible,
will go to the Angelman Syndrome Foundation for research.
Statistics for Everest 2009:
- Number of climbers on the
South side in 2009: 270 foreign climbers and about the same number of
local climbers (e.g., Sherpas)
- Number of summits in 2009:
281 on the South side and 57 on the North side (includes foreign and
local climbers). Total number of summits on Mt. Everest for all
years: 4,334 (includes foreign and local climbers)
- Total deaths on Everest
in 2009: six. One Sherpa in an avalanche on the South side, one
Sherpa from alcohol poisoning on the South side, one climber from Kazakhstan
in an avalanche at Camp 3 on the South side, and one German, one Czech
and one Chinese climber on the North side, from unknown causes.
Bill Burke
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