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 Home > South Col Dispatches Index > May 29 Dispatch

Summit Eve
Camp IV - Thrusday, May 29, 2003

Benitez
Benitez
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Good evening everybody back at home. This is Luis reporting from the South Col with the Alpine Ascents International Everest Expedition. Well gang, two months of hard effort, prayers, struggles, toil, strife, happiness, sadness, it's all coming down to this evening. Everyone is tucked in. We've had dinner. Our water bottles are full. Our oxygen bottles are counted. We are ready to go. I repeat, we are ready to go. All of the waiting and the patience has paid off. The winds have dropped. The clouds have parted, and the summit is very, very near.

Our team is going to split into two different halves. One team is going to leave at 9 PM tonight. And that will be comprised of Willi, Jeff, Paul, and a few scattering of Sherpas. And then at 11:00 later on in the evening the rest of the team will follow. The only other folks up here are Dave Hahn with a few folks, and one, lone South African that has held on through almost 70 days of effort.




So we're all excited. A little restless, but we are trying to get a few hours of sleep before we go. Everyone says thank you for the prayers, the warm wishes, and wonderful thoughts that you have sent our way. Please keep them coming through the day back in the States, or in the UK, or in Africa, or wherever you're following us from, and we will check in periodically with MountainZone with live updates.

So till then, this is Luis wishing everyone, wherever you are, please keep those warm prayers coming, and we'll talk to you soon.

Luis Benitez, Alpine Ascents International Guide and MountainZone.com Correspondent

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