Expedition Dispatches
Satellite phone updates from the 1998 American Everest Expedition


Simonson
Looking Down From 8000 Meters
Saturday, May 23, 1998 — Base Camp (17,500')
I had a good climb and almost made the top. I know everyone thinks I should be disappointed for not summiting, but to be honest, I don't really care that much. It was great to get back to the South Summit for the second time. This was the third time I've been to over 8750 meters and not summited, so I'm used to it. I just like getting way up there and looking down.

The climb up to the South Summit was pretty hard, with a lot of trail breaking. We left the Col at 11:15pm and didn't get to the South Summit until about 8:20am. Greg, Charles, and I carried three bottles of oxygen each. I was up front with the first group of Sherpas the whole way. There were quite a few other climbers behind us. Due to the soft snow, we couldn't keep ahead of them all, so everyone caught up with the first group. We fixed quite a bit of rope going up to the South Summit, maybe 600 meters.

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We had talked to the Sherpas the night before about rope and trail breaking, but somehow we ended up with less rope than we thought (or fixed more than we thought), and didn't have enough for the traverse to the Hillary Step which was a bummer. We thought about going down and getting some from below, but everyone was jumaring up the rope we had already fixed, so that wasn't very feasible.

It was pretty obvious that the right decision was to cache the GPS gear for Wally. We also cached some extra oxygen for him, which he used. Then we headed down. At the Col, Greg, Charles, and I kept going down, so as to save oxygen at the Col for another attempt if Wally didn't make it.

I remember the first time I went to Everest in 1982 and didn't make it, I was pretty bummed, because I thought that I had blown my big chance. Now I know that if I want, I can always come back. Right now, I'm thinking more about lying on a beach somewhere than going back.

On the other hand, I have a permit for Spring 2000, so I know I'll be back here. This place is part of my life. This trip was another experience to be filed away for future reference. Making the top would have been nice, but I had a great experience nonetheless. It was neat to be involved in this science project, and to have been part of the success. Wally did a great job, and I know having a totally buffed route to the South Summit sure helped him out on his summit day. I'm glad to have been a part of that.

Now I'm heading for the beach for a few days!

— Eric Simonson, Climber

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