Merry Christmas from Vinson Summit!

It's Christmas Eve here at Vinson Base Camp. Hopefully Santa Claus gets down
to the south pole too! Just back from a great trip up Vinson. Paul, Denise
and I summited Vinson on the 22nd of December. Good weather up to summit
day, then some cloud and cold wind, burr! Now its enjoying Base Camp life
until we have good weather for flying. Its been completely zero vizability
since getting into Base Camp. Hopefully tomorrow. Spent part of today
sledding near camp, good fun for Christmas Eve! Thinking of home and wishing
all a very happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas from Antarctica!

Scott

Yahoo in Antarctica Now!

Were out at Vinson Base Camp now after a perfect series of connections from
Punta Arenas, Chile thru Ushia, Argentina then onto Patriot Hills Base Camp
and out to Vinson Base Camp here in the Ellsworth Mountains. Simply amazing.
So here we are getting packed and ready now to head for Camp 1 tomorrow
morning. This has been some of the best weather I have seen here in
Antarctica. Sunny, no wind, hot sun. This morning enjoyed several runs on
the local ski hill. 2500 vert, 6" of the lightest snow on earth! Lot of
people say that, but I can promise you it really was! The snow is covered in
piles of giant feathers and sparkles! We are skiing up this trip and I am
climbing with Paul and Denise who are very happy to be here. Managed a 6
hour hike up the Patriot Hills yesterday just before flying out to Vinson.
That was great a 5 mile alpine ridge with views of the Transantarctic range,
out towards the South Pole and over to the Hercules Inlet. So super busy,
lots of adventures and we have only been here about 50 hours! Will post
another report when we are back down here to Vinson Base Camp on about the
24th, for Christmas.

Happy Holidays and enjoying a White Christmas Season!

Scott

Vinson Base Camp

Down in Chile!

Rainy and crazy busy getting the big jet loaded and all the gear ready to go. Just a note, I will not be checking comments on this for the next 7 weeks so. Everything is going well except getting stuck for a night on the way south. So now have evn less time to pull it all together. Will be updating this via email from Antarctica. Now we wait to see if the weather holds to fly south from here tomorrow!Scott

Just about Ready!

Everything is comming together somehow for 7 weeks in Antarctica. A busy last few days. SUper cold here in Oregon, 10 degrees this morning. So packing in the garage this morning is good training! First up will be a Vinson trip with Paul and Denise, see their blog http://www.fejteksevensummits.blogspot.com/ . Then not sure of my exact schedule. Have 3 new kites and really looking forward to kiting at Patriot Hills and Vinson Base Camp. Lots of good friends will be down this season. Sunday morning will be off to Chile and Punta ARenas, then the flight into Patriot Hills is scheduled for Dec 16th, with a fair bit of luck! Stay tuned here and will update with news and hopefully photos. For any Everest questions, talk with Bill or Todd at Mt Trip. Off to the Ice!! Scott

Lots of Snow in the NW!

Yahoo! Its been snowing and have been all over it! Backcountry and inbounds. Been good to get some time in before heading off to Antarctica. Will be flying down on Dec 13^th to Punta Arenas, then south from there on the first Illyshin to Patriot Hills. Not sure exactly of my schedule other than will be guiding Vinson straight away. I will keep this updated from the ice, so stay tuned and will try to send photos out. Good time to connect if you need to! I will be back around Feb 4th till the Everest season. Scott

In Moscow After a Great Elbrus Summit!

Yahoo! Just back from the south of Russia and a great trip to Elbrus. Something like my 14th summit! Sonow we fly to Isntanbul and onto Krygistan to head for Peak Lenin. Will be back home around Aug 22. Scott

In Moscow, Russia Today!

Waiting here to start our Elbrus Expedition. Yahoo! Hot and sunny! @ weeks here enjoying the Russian Alps, very beautiful place and of course a little hike up Elbrus 18,500ft. Will post some photos soon! Cheers! Scott

Photo from last year on Elbrus summit!

In Hood River and Ready for Russia!

Have been enjoying being here in Hood River and now getting ready to go over to Russia and Elbrus. Will be continuing onto Peak Lenin in Kyrgystan after that. Hope everyone enjoyed the Everest Blog! Cheers, Scott

Back in Kathmandu!

Its been a long hard journey, but we are here and enjoying Kathmandu. Will be leaving this morning to fly home, although not confirmed all the way. Went to an awards cerimony where they gave all Everest summiters medals! Yahoo! A very nice event. Have been taking care of details and accounts the last couple days after waiting 4 days for all our bags to finally show up in town. QUite bad weather after we left Base Camp and for the Lukla flights. We actually ended up taking a helicopter out as all fixed wing aircraft wre grounded for a few days. Will be adding some more photos when I can catch up with everything! See eveyone back home in a few days!

Scott Reporting from Kathmandu!

Yahoo! Back in Base Camp after the Summit!

What a relief now we are safe in Base Camp, below the Lhotse Face, Below the
IceFall! Lots of great photos from the top and up high. Have a challenging
solar power situation so have limited power right now. Will post lots of
photos very soon. Just wanted to check in with everyone that's been
following the blog! Next trip will be to Russia in July, then Kygristan in
August! Not sure on our plans to trek out yet. Just want to relax and enjoy,
reaching the top of the world! What a day we had. Absolutely perfect weather
with views in all directions. Quite tired now and will enjoy our first night
in Base Camp! So that was my 4th summit now of Everest! Scott Woolums
reporting from Everest Base Camp.

Back in Camp 2

Scott and the team have arrived in Camp 2 safely and are going to spend the night there before descending through the Ice Fall for the final time tomorrow. They are expecting to leave Camp 2 tomorrow at 4:45 am and arrive into BC sometime in the morning tomorrow. Everybody is doing well and feeling good. 

Chris Klinke reporting for Scott Woolums

Back In Camp 4

Scott, Brian, Johnny, and the Sherpa's are back in Camp 4. Scott called abot 19:34 Everest Time and said that the descent was smooth and easy. That it was an amazing day to reach the summit with very little crowding and warm weather. There plan is to rest at Camp 4 tonight and then descend to Camp 2 tomorrow, then move through the ice fall and be back in BC by the following day. 

Chris Klinke reporting for Scott Woolums via Sat Phone

Summit!

At approximately 8:00am Everest Time Brian, Johnny, and Scott stood at the top of the world! 

They are on their way back to Camp 4 and should be arriving in the next few hours.  I had to call Laurie this morning to get the details. Let's hope they have a speedy and safe descent to Camp 4.  Scott also said that 5 out of the 7 Sherpa's summited with them, so it was indeed an amazing day. Calm weather, blue skies, and the amazing view makes the journey worth it. 

Chris Klinke reporting from Laurie via Scott on Sat Phone.

Scott called at 8:50 am EST, approx 6:35pm Everest time.

They arrived safely into Camp 4 (South Col) they are eating, hydrating, and resting before leaving for the summit in about 3 hours. The plan is to depart around 9pm (Everest Time) this evening to head to the top of the world. A few people summited today and are safely headed down the mountain or are resting in Camp 4.  A large crowd in Camp 4 getting ready to go up tonight or tomorrow given that this is the best weather window they have had so far this year. 

The team has a total of 7 Sherpa's and everyone is feeling good and strong. They have plenty of O2, and are resting quite comfortably. Please join me in wishing them a safe and speedy journey to the Summit. 

Chris Klinke reporting for Scott Woolums via Sat Phone

Scott called this morning at 7am to check in from Camp 3 at 24,000ft. It was a good climbing day and everybody moved well from Camp 2 to Camp 3. The entire team is feeling good and they have 3 Sherpa's climbing with them right now an additional 4 Sherpa's will climb up from Camp 2 tomorrow to meet them at Camp 4. They will have plenty of support for their summit bid. There is some wind up higher but everything is calm at Camp 3. 

The team is targeting May 20th and the weather report is favorable for that day. Scott is planning on having the team go onto Oxygen as they move up to the South Col (Camp 4) tomorrow. 

Chris Klinke reporting via Satellite phone for Scott

Moved up to Camp 2 Today!

Moved up to Camp 2 at 21,000 ft. Hopefully our last trip up through the icefall. Great weather today. Quite windy up higher, but nice here. We are planning a recovery day tomorrow. Then the day after, move on up to Camp 3. Everything is still looking g0od for summiting around the 20th. Yahoo! Our whole sherpa team is here with us and they are all doing well also. So everything should happen quick from here, stay tuned!!  Scott Woolums reporting from Camp 2, Mt. Everest!

Off to the Summit....Tomorrow!

Yep, everything is looking good to have a go at the top. We plan to leave
Base Camp tomorrow morning very early and be at Camp 2 tomorrow night. We
are planning 2 nights there, then up to Camp 3, then Camp 4, then the summit
on or around May 20 or 21. Yahoo. Everyone is feeling good, the sherpas are
ready and everything is in place. The forecast is looking good. Already
there has been a number of teams leaving Base Camp for there summit pushes.
So we should have a trail going up! We will be posting text reports hen we
are going up to Camps 3 and 4 and hopefully from the Summit! Scott Woolums
reporting from Everest Base Camp!

Finally a Good Forecst!

Lots of Buzzz in camp today as teams are getting ready for summit pushes.
Many groups will be going up tomorrow for summiting during the 18-19 window.
We are still holding to have a look at todays forecast and also to try and
stay away from the first big rush. There are quite a few people in Base Camp
waiting also. We took a short hike over towards Pumori Base Camp just to get
out of camp. Lots of hanging out as we wait... Everything should come
together in the next week. We should have a more defined plan this
afetrnoon. Scott Woolums reporting from Everest Base Camp.

Waiting in Base Camp.....

Its been an awesome break down low recovering from our stays up higher. Now
were back, rested and ready to go! A lot of snow as we moved up yesterday.
Also a lot of stuff going on in camp. Arrived back in Base Camp yesterday
afternoon to a number of rescues and medical issues going on. You can read
about all that in other reports. Life here is always interesting. Slowly the
tents are melting out, each up on pedistals of ice after a month and a half.
Lots of small lakes forming as the glacier warms up. The icefall seems to
have quited down after the accident last week. Lots of buzzz in camp as
people are planning summit attempts. Looks like a small window on the 17-18
but also a bit later on the 21-22. We are probably going to hang out a bit
more to let this weather stabilize for now. We have some great forecasting
coming in every day so we are keeping a careful watch on conditions.
Everything is set to go, just need some weather now. It's a 5 day lag
between when we say go and launch our summit push and when we are actually
at High Camp and going. We will move to C2 for 2 nights, then C3, C4 and go
from there! Scott Woolums reporting from Everest Base Camp.

Enjoying DIngboche!

Our whole team including sherpas are down here in Dingboche. Very nice to
breath and relax after a month of up and down trips on Everest. We left base
camp yesterday morning and at 10.30am local as we were across the Khumbu
Glacier from Base Camp, we all watched a huge release off the West Shoulder.
A very difficult thing to see after just being in the icefall a couple days
ago. Very clearly it completely swept the route on the lower third of the
icefall. A very scary thing to see and our hopes are that no one was injured
although we have found out since there was. Our team and all sherpas are all
ok.

We are watching the weather now with no plans at the moment until we see a
solid opportunity. I have never like early season summits as the windows are
short, cold and much lower percentages of summiting. Good luck to all who
have gone up though as there did seem to be a short window to summit this
weekend. Its windy here in Dingboche, but have a report from Camp 3 that its
calm there right now. Video from a small Stupa near our lodge today. Photos
of the team in Dingboche. Yahoo! This is the exciting part as the summit
gets closer. Scott Woolums reporting from DIngboche, 14,000 ft. Nepal.

Back in Base Camp!

Yahoo, just back down from Camp 3 yesterday and now all the way to Base
Camp. A busy few days. Yesterday we enjoyed some very good weather to climb
up to Camp 3 at around 24,000 ft. No wind, clear and beautiful! Then back to
Camp 2 last night. This morning we got up early and descended through the
icefall again back to Base Camp here. Definitly some changes in the icefall.
Several ladders had been taken out by some large avalanches, but the icefall
doctors are quick in repairing the route, so no problems getting down to
Base Camp here. First showers in a week, sunshine and thick air, at least as
thick as it gets at 18,000 ft. SO now we plan to watch the weather
forecasts. Rest, eat, relax till a weather window shows up. We probably are
looking more towards the 16-18 now with the weather we have now. Stay tuned
as we get closer to the summit. It feels a long way off right now. Hope
everyone is enjoying a great spring where ever that may be! Scott Woolums
reporting from Everest Base Camp.

Slammed by High Winds and Snow!

Epic day today here in Camp 2. Started out good, but very soon some serious weather came in.  We left around 7am for Camp 3. Within an hour we had decided to turn around as lots of wind and a lowering cloud cieling threatened. By the time we arrived back at Camp 2 a full scale storm raged. The biggest concern now was our Sherpas up near the South Col. They started up with the last of our Oxygen at 1am this morning. We had good radio communications with all. A very serious day. We never push our Sherpas into decisions, have no tight schedules for them to follow, only try to maintain safety as a primary goal.They make their choices with weather and conditions to go on or not. I trust their judgement more than most eople I meet in the mountains. This was a very rapidly developing storm. Fortunatly in the face of some very strong winds, Namgyal and the rest of the Sherpas made a super good choice to catch the Oxygen they had near the top of the Geneva Spur, a prominent ridge 20-30 mins below the South Col camp at nearly 26,000 ft. A long day following their progress back to Camp 2 today on the radio. To make things worse, one of the sherpas, Temba, broke a crampon up high and had to descend with only one crampon down the whole Lhotse Face. This is a challenge with 2 crampons on a good day! Everyone is back safe with no problems now. Simply amazing effort by one of the strongest Sherpa Teams I have worked with. So hopefully tomorrow we will have a break for us to get up to Camp 3. We are planning to go back to Base Camp on the 5th. Scott Woolums reporting from Mt. Everest, Camp 2.

 

Up in Camp 2 again!

Came up to Camp 2 yesterday in some very nice weather. Although it has been getting quite

cloudy in the afternoons. This is our second rotation up to Camp 2. We are planning 4 or 5

more nights here, with a climb up to Camp 3 at 24,000 ft. the day after tomorrow. Our

sherpas did an amazing carry from here up to the South Col today, carrying most of our

Oxygen up. SO everything is starting to be in place for our summit go in a couple weeks. A

lot of teams are pushing hard for an earlier summit this year. We plan to let them go and

wait a little for what is consistantly the best, warmest, longest periods of good weather

after the middle of May. Its been a good stay here running into lots of good friends.

Definitly starting to miss home, its been over a month now. Photos from the icefall yesterdy morning. Thanks for following our

reports! Scott Woolums reporting from Camp 2, Mt. Everest.

Enjoying Base Camp Life!

Perfect weather again today. Getting everything ready to go back up to Camp
2 tomorrow morning early. We plan 4 nights up again, with one trip up to
Camp 3 at 24,000 ft. After this next rotation up high we should be ready for
the summit! Our sherpa team is setting our Cap 3 today, and tomorrow will
take most of our Oxygen up to Camp 4 at the south col. That's truly the hard
work. Forecast for some snow starting tomorrow afternoon for 3 days.
Hopefully that will not be to serious. Wind is far more of a concern. All
our team is looking strong. Johnny is very focused on what its going to
take. SO last day for showers and to wash some clothes here. Will try to
post a report from Camp 2, but its always a challenge powering computers and
all there. Scott Woolums reporting from Everest Base Camp.

Enjoying Base Camp Life!

Yahoo! Were all down in Base Camp. So nice to be down in the thicker air
here at 18,000 ft. Photos from the icefall yesterday. Glad to have one more
trip through there behind us. The cook here at Base Camp, Serki, is
outstanding Fried Chicken and Pizza last night. So we are finished with our
first rotation up high, 2 more to go. Our weather forecasts are coming in
now and it looks good over the next few days with diminishing winds. That's
great news as our whole sherpa team launched to start the huge job of
getting our Oxygen up to Camp 4, our high camp at 26,000 ft. They are the
true stars that make most all Everest Expeditions really successful.
Outstanding team this year, I am hoping we can all summit together as a
team! So we have a few days here to relax, recover from being up high, eat
well, take showers, check weather and plan our go for the summit! Very
enjoyable here compared to Camp 2. Yesterday we saw at least 4 tents that
had blown off Camp 2 from the winds last night of other teams. Right now
most tents in Camp 2 are collapsed so they are not destroyed. We did loose
our large dinning tent the day before yesterday in the winds, completely
shredded. Fortunaty we have extras of most all things. It does look like the
worst of the winds are over now. So we are wishing for good weather for our
sherpas to get the higher camps ready. Scott Woolums reporting from Everest
Base Camp!

Big Wind Storm in Calmp 2!

A rowdy night as we lost our dinning tent up here. Almost the whole camp 2 Was blown o0r

taken doown right now with most climbers descending to Base Camp this morning. Our large

Mountain hardware Space Station tent shredded as did 7 or 8 other teams larger tents. We

actually saw part of another teams dinning tent about 100 ft up blow past us. Serious winds

last night! We decided to stay on one more day as we can use the acclimitization. This

afternoon its changed to very nice weather with no wind and lots of sun. We plan to go down

to Base Camp tomorrow for a 3 or 4 day rest. Climbed up to about 22,000 ft. this morning and

the base of the fixed lines on Lhotse Face, our next big obsticle. Scott Woolums reporting

from Camp 2 Everest.

Up to Camp 2 at 21,000 ft.!

Yesterday we moved up here to Camp 2. Beautiful weather. Brian and Johnny are doing super well, 3 hours yesterday. Since our last dispatch, we have been in Camp 1 for a couple nights at about 20,000 ft. acclimitizing. The climb up through the icefall did not disappoint us aswe had a small collapse several hundred meters away, very scary. The icefall goes very close to some laarge icecliffs on the west shoulder which in my opinion makes the route a little more dangerous than normal. The route into Camp 3 was fixed the day before yesterday and today they are working on fixing through the Yellow Band at about 7600 meters. We have our Camp 3 set and mosst oxygen here at Camp 2 so we are well ahead of schedule now. Lots of support with 6 sherpas and out small team of 3, Johnny and Brian Strange and myself. We plan to stay here for a couple morre nights then back to Base Camp for another rest. We have put together a schedule that allows minimum trips back and forth throught the icefall this season. Everyone is agreeing that it is warmer than normal, we'll see what happens. We are looking towards after the middle of May for our summit window now. It does look like a lot of people are pushing for earlier this season. I have never liked the colder and shorter summit windows of earlier May so we'll let the early teams have a go, then wait for a bit later this year. Life here is pretty good with a large Mt. Hardware dome tent, 2 cooks. Very comfortable as far as that can be at this altitude on the side of Everest! Thanks for staying updated. More soon as we just got our email/solar system working this morning. Will always publish updates when we can. Scott Woolums reporting from Camp 2 Mt. Everest.

Off to Camp 1 Tomorow Morning

Were off very early tomorrow, probably around 3am, for C1 which will take us
through the icefall. Early this morning there was a collapse in the upper
section of the icefall that shut things down for awhile, turning a lot of
people around. The route is back in now. Beautiful weather again today. We
hiked up through the lower section of the icefall today for some exercise.
May not be able to post reports for till were back in BC in 5 days or so.
Depends on communications up at Camp 2. Posted by Scott Woolums, Everest
Base Camp.

Just back from a short trip into the Icefall!

Having some spectacular weather here at Base Camp! Hot and Sunny, really!
Some wind last night, but ok now. Our Camp 2 is set now, with 6 more sherpa
loads going up today. We have volunteered one of our sherpas for fixing the
rope above C2 starting the 24th, some Oxygen also. SO hopefully the route
will be going in abaove C2 starting tomorrow! Spent some time today
exploreing the lower section of the icefall, perfect day for that. Probably
go for a short hike tomorrow, then up to C1 on the 22nd for 2 nights, then
onto C2 for 3 or so more. Very warm this season. We are trying to minimize
our trips thru the icefall. Good to be here, lots of teams on lots of
different schedules. Looking forward actually to getting up higher where its
cooler! Yesterday we all shared a very good Puja, or ceremony with the
sherpas to wish safe passage on Everest and thru the icefall. A special time
to share with the sherpas and base camp staff always. So stay tuned as we
make our way up into the Western Cwm! Scott Woolums reporting from Everest
Base Camp, Nepal.

In Base Camp!

Yahoo! Made it into base camp this morning! Always a welcome retreat. Good
food and lots of friends! SO we plan several days here to acclimatize, then
start some training and ladder practice. Very nice weather! This afternoon
there was a very good team leader meeting. Discussion on fixing the upper
mountain. Feels so good to finally be here and the start of our climb.

Posted by Scott Woolums, Everest Base Camp, 17,700ft. Nepal.

Kala Patar Summit!

Laurie and Robin summated Kala Patar today along with Brian. Were staying in
Gorak Shep tonight at over 16,400 ft. Tomorrow base camp. Also tomorrow we
have to say a sad goodbye to Laurie and Robin. They will start back down to
Lukla in the morning when we go up to camp. So we are close to actually
starting the adventure! Photos from the trek up to Lobouche yesterday!

Posted April 16, 2009 by Scott Woolums

Moved to Dingboche today at 14,400 ft.!

Up in the small village of Dingboche tonight. The clouds have moved in and its a bit colder. Very beautiful hike today. We stopped in the village of Pangboche for a blessing from the Lama Geishi. So we are going to be here for 2 nights acclimitizing before moving higher. Scott Woolums reporting from Dingboche, Nepal.

In Namche Now!

Were in Namche, the center of the Khumbu area and a very beautiful village high in the Himalaya. We arrived yesterday and will be staying another day to acclimitize. Snowed quite hard yesterday night, but today is clear and sunny. Very nice. Everyone is doing great. Laurie and Robin are along on the trek with us and Johnny and Brian are getting more excited as today is really our first view of Everest. Still a ways to go! Scott Woolums reporting from Namche, Nepal.

Good Luck with our Flights!

Yahoo. everything went as scheduled today with our flights into Lukla. A beautiful, clear day here in the Himalayas. Photo of Johnny, Brian and Scott just above the small village of Ghat. Were on our way now!

Flying in Tomorrow Morning

Wish for good weather as there have been a lot of delays getting into Lukla, the small airstrip we have to land at in the Khumbu region. Many groups have been delayed over 3 and 4 days. We are hopeing all goes well. Although the forecast is for some rain tomorrow. That will be the beginning of the adventure. Brian and Johnny are flying into Kathmandu in about an hour. Lots to do tonight to get ready to go still. From Kathmandu.

In Kathmandu

In Kathmandu getting ready to head out to the mountain. Everything is packed and ready to go. Lots of weather delays fo lots of teams this spring on the flights to Lukla. We are planning to fly in on the 8th. Yahoo!

Off to Everest this Spring!

Welcome to our Everest 2009 Expedition Reports!

Getting ready to go back to Nepal. Will be heading for the South side this spring with Brian and Johnny. Photo from 2006 on the top!
Scott Woolums