ESPN.com has a story on the Olympic Torch on Everest today with an update on what is happening on the North Side, as we all wait patiently for news of a successful summit.
According to the article, the team, along with the Torch, are at 25,5j60 feet, which would be the traditional place for Camp 5 on the North Side, and would fall just a few hundred feet below the “Death Zone”. Apparently heavy winds and snow destroyed the high camp last week, and it had to be rebuilt and restocked before the team could finish their final preparations for the summit bids.
Of the 36 team members, 24 are Tibetan, and three are female. The team is led by Chinese mountaineer Wang Yongfeng, and the team spokesperson Zhang Zhijian says that if the weather holds “I think I will bring you good news as soon as possible.”
If the team truly is in place at Camp 5, and the winds and weather cooperate, they still have a chance of beating the May 10th deadline. I know there are a lot of anxious climbers on the South Side who are waiting patiently for their crack at the mountain, and if May 10 comes and goes without a Chinese summit, things are going to get really interesting. Three days to go and counting…
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Damn..should have stopped by here before I posted. Nice post Kraig, thanks for the tip-off. Have to go add something to mine now..lol Hopefully this is it!
LOL! I’ve learned it’s best to swing by your sight to see what I’ve missed before I post as well. 🙂
There. I got an update and you got a shout-out. I never think of stopping by ESPN–with all my sources, they still got something by me. No one else is reporting as of yet, on where or how the team is doing. Except ESPN–kind of funny in a way..
The funny thing is, I don’t really think of them as a source either. I was checking the NBA scores from last night and saw the story. 🙂 I was finding very little reference to the Torch on Everest anywhere else today.
I usually visit ESPN once a day myself, but is not a priority when it comes to my own site’s research…haha. That is usually a ‘before bed’ deal.
Sometimes, in regards to Chinese and Korean news and the like, we have to remember there is a 12-13 hour time difference. I have been lucky in finding a few sources of late on the Chinese side. Reuters and the BBC both have people there who are actually blogging about the whole deal. Or at least, what hey are allowed to blog..lol I was starting to worry that things were not going to work out. Hopefully it will, even though I know it isn’t a done deal yet. Just ready to get things back to half-way normal. I feel I should have probably taken the last half of this month off at work..lol The next couple weks will get very interesting.
Yep, the time difference thing can be a killer when trying to keep up to date. That’s why I usually check first thing in the morning when I can, to see what I missed while I was sleeping.
I agree on the pace of things lately. It’s been pretty quiet on the “adventure front” it seem, but things will pick up dramatically once the South Side opens. Can’t wait to hear some of the stories as well. 😉
They made it. Just announce on Reuters. Hopefully they will hurry up and get off the mountain so the south side teams have a fair chance.
Thanks for the tip! Glad to see they finally made it! Now let the South Siders go!!