Hello in cyberland,
Well, the team is on their way! The first group of Willi, Jeff, Paul, Kami, and Pemba Tenzing left the South Col at about 9:30 pm our time. They felt they might be a little slower so they left a little earlier. The second group is leaving just now at 11:00 pm. The second group is Vernon, Luis, Jean Michel, James, Matthew, Bruno, Lakpa Rita, Thapkee, Mingma, Tsering, and Tsherri. It is a beautiful star-filled night with no moon, and very cold. Vern estimates it is about -22 Celsius, which he says is about 0 Fahrenheit - I haven't done the calculation so I'll take his word for it. As an Alaskan with lots of cold weather experience, he should know.
Anyway, with it that cold I have told them to not worry about calling in cybercasts. I will talk to them quickly on the radio and then send in a written report. It is better that they keep their mittens on rather than risk frostbite by talking a long time on the radio. So it may be a several hours between reports but I will get the news to you as often as I can. They will keep climbing through the night, and hopefully we will hear more from them in the morning once the sun hits and warms things up a bit. Sounds like the wind has died down significantly, it's just cold!
So for now everything is good, and the team is excited to finally be on their way.
— Ellie Henke, Alpine Ascents International Guide and MountainZone.com Correspondent