Success! A Summit Update

I've had so many update requests - its wonderful how many people are following Trevor's journey!

The past couple of days have been so exciting! In case you missed it, Trevor's team successfully reached the summit of Mt. Everest at 3:45 AM on Saturday (Friday at 3:15 PM Lethbridge time).

The team left Camp 3 at 10:00 PM on Friday - crisp & bitter cold, but a full moon and almost no wind - and reached the summit at 3:45 AM. Trevor was the first climber to summit from the North side that day! They took time to enjoy a quick celebration and snap a couple of photos. Trevor said he's never felt cold like the cold on the summit. His summit suit was brittle, and the zippers were frozen. They lingered a short time then, in the interest of safety, headed back down the mountain. They descended back, past Camp 3, all the way to Advanced Base Camp, arriving at 2:00 PM on Saturday. That's a 16-hour day of climbing!

The descent is the most dangerous time in the expedition. The climbers are elated from reaching their goal, but they're extremely tired. According to Deaths on Everest: The Perils of the Descent in Scientific American (2008), 56% of the deaths on Everest occurred after summit and mostly due to the altitude.

Trevor, Tashi and Mingma spent the day resting in Advanced Base Camp. Tomorrow, they'll take the final 22 Km trip back down to Base Camp. Trevor and Tashi will fly back to Kathmandu on the 26th or 27th. Mingma will drive their gear from Lhasa, China back to Kathmandu. That's a trip of about 5 days. Trevor will spend that time relaxing in Kathmandu, swapping photos, and visiting with the other climbers. He'll leave Kathmandu on June 2nd - and then we'll meet somewhere hot & awesome for a vacation! :D