Daily Dispatches
Satellite phone updates from the 1998 American Everest Expedition
CLICK FOR COMPLETE INDEX OF DISPATCHES



Wally Berg
Happy Birthday to Andy Fischer from a Windy Everest Base Camp
Wednesday, May 13, 1998 — Base Camp (17,500')

Hear Wally Berg's call from Base Camp
Click for [RealAudio] or [NetShow]
Satellite phones for Everest cybercasts provided by MVS/USA


High winds over Pumori viewed from Everest base camp
[click to zoom]
Hey Mountain Zone, it's Wally Berg. I'm calling you the morning of May 13th. I want first of all to wish a happy birthday to Andy Fischer. Andy, I think you're eleven today. If I got that right, that's great, if not, happy birthday regardless; we're thinking about you.

I'll have to say, some of you may remember that May 13th, Andy's birthday, was the day that I had chosen some time back as a target date for our attempt at summit. The storm knocked us back from that plan, and now we have models being run on computers in London, for better or worse. Sometimes I wonder if I wish we even had this information, but the meteorologists running their models and giving their best guess to us in London think that the Jet Stream is going to sit right on Everest for some time, a few more days. This has us, honestly, in a bit of a quandary. We're obviously not going to the summit on Andy's birthday, May 13th. Now, whether this projected summit date will get pushed back to after May 20th, which we thought initially might be our best shot anyway, it's still a bit up in the air. Were looking for some more information out of London, searching our guts and our souls for our best instincts and maintaining and holding course as best we can in the meantime.

This morning I got up at 4am and had radio contact with Camp III at 5am. What we discussed was our plan, which was to have Dawa Sherpa from Thakshindu and Dorjee Sherpa, small Dorjee — we have a large Dorjee and a small Dorjee — go up to Camp III and assess the damage that might have taken place in this storm to our tents there. They told me at 5am that the weather looked good; they were drinking tea, and they said that they wanted to go, and they did go. I know they arrived at Camp III about 10am; haven't heard from them since, but I have to report on those guys that my hat's off to them as mountaineers: they were the first people to venture up onto the Lhotse face after the storm.

So, that's the report on May 13th from base camp. On my end, it is quite a beautiful day here, I'll have to say. The forecast from London actually said that it would be, briefly, today and tomorrow, and then these winds were going to become a much bigger factor higher on the mountain. I'll keep you all posted with regard to our spirit and our plan as time goes on. That's it from base camp today, May 13th.

Wally Berg, Expedition Leader

Latest Data From the South Col (May 14, '98):
Temperature: -17.8°C
Pressure: 11.04Kpascal
Wind: 29mph (NOTE: the wind meter is sheltered to not blow away, so the wind speed is not accurate at this time.)

This data is from weather probes designed and built by students at the MIT Media Lab and installed by Dave Mencin of the '98 E3 expedition. (http://www.everest.org/Everest/tech.html)


DISPATCHES

COMPLETE INDEX OF DISPATCHES