Here are the blog posts from my Everest trip. I haven’t edited them except to remove a couple that lacked any information. I did manage to list them chronologically but you’ll still have to do a bunch of clicking to read through things.
Everest 2009
Please follow my 2009 Mt. Everest attempt on this blog. I will be leaving March 24 and returning June 7 at the latest. Unless you have received express written consent in 2009 to use words, graphics, or photos from this blog and web site on your own web site, you must abide by US copyright law. All materials ©Mike Farris
Technical difficulty vs. extreme altitude part 2
In my last post, I talked about how elite performance on technical terrain is similar to elite performance at altitude. But as we look at the development of these two games over the past 50 years, we see two quite different patterns. I’ll use technical rock climbing as an example. In the 1950s the walls of Yosemite were originally climbed …
In Kathmandu
I’m in Kathmandu, all my luggage arrived, and I’m getting organized over the next few days to fly into Lukla on March 31. By the way, look below for part 2 of my discussion of technical climbing vs. extreme altitude. The tourist season is off to a slow start (that darn economy again). Most teams headed for the Tibet side …
On the trail
I’m sitting in a cyber cafe in Namche Bazar, capital of the Solu Khumbu region of Nepal and the center of Sherpa culture. The culture that I can see, however, is lodges, shops, internet cafes, bakeries, and all the other trappings of western society. These people are very, very smart. We flew to Lukla on Tuesday, March 31. The airstrip …
Base Camp tomorrow
Just a quick post to let you know that we’re arriving in BC tomorrow (4/8). Our baggage is a couple of days behind us due to bad flying weather, so I won’t be able to send anything else for a few days. We’ve had snow and thunder and lightning the past two afternoons. I had chicken corden bleu for dinner …
Summit push is on
After a long time down low, it was time to come back up and do what I came to do–climb the mountain. My cough is amazingly better, thanks to drugs provided by Torie, one of the docs at the BC clinic. I wouldn’t have believed my throat could be this much better after less than 24 hours! I should have …
Camp IV
Mike called from Camp IV to say that his summit attempt will be one day later than planned. He reached Camp IV late and will rest overnight.
Summit Push Continues
Mike called from Camp IV to say that he was leaving for the summit at 10 p.m. on 5/21 (Nepal time) and hopes to be on the summit the morning of 5/22. He has 16 hours of oxygen which should allow him to reach the summit and all or most of the way back to Camp IV. The weather looks …
Summit Reached
Mike called from Camp IV to say he reached the summit at 1:30 p.m. on 5/22. His oxygen delivery wasn’t working correctly so it took him longer than expected to reach the summit. He was alone on the summit and as he came down by himself he missed a turn and was out all night [edit: I thought I might …