Expedition expects a crowd at the top

Meeting a famous climber was certainly a highlight.
By DR. JASON FOUGHT
SPECIAL TO THE VINDICATOR
Jim Whittaker ate dinner with us at Base Camp today (friday).
Whittaker, a climbing legend and the first North American crazy enough to climb to the top of Mount Everest in 1963 with his Sherpa Na Ng Gombu, has returned for the first time in 40 years. With him again in 2003 is Gombu. In every other way, however, this time is different.
First, Whittaker is 74 years old. A healthy 74, but still rather grandfatherly, especially considering that his family is with him. Whittaker and his team of around 30 all sport Eddie Bauer jackets, hats and backpacks, one of their many sponsors.
Although the trail to Base Camp is essentially the same, there are now lodges lining the way, all with good-quality E. coli-laden food to give them travelers' diarrhea.
Cold warning
As I talk to this hero of American climbing, I warn him about the low temperatures that are about to come in the afternoon.
"When we summited back in '63, it was 35 degrees below zero. We were the only ones stupid enough to go out in that weather," he recalled.
Well, here's to stupidity.
Otherwise, Whittaker is rather interesting to talk to and has lived a charmed life. Having used his summit to catapult himself into prominence, he met and was given commendations by President Kennedy in 1963. Later, he ran Bobby Kennedy's presidential campaign in 1968 and served as his pallbearer after RFK's assassination in 1968. He was actively involved in running REI, a prominent national outdoors store, early in its existence and now works for a gear shop called Alt-Rec.
I asked him what he does with himself these days.
"I'm 74 years old -- I don't do anything." While he says this, his family members roll their eyes.
Rum and cake
Meeting such a famous climber was certainly a highlight. But the highlight of the day came when, after shooting multiple pictures for their sponsors -- which, oddly enough included a radioactive drug for prostate cancer -- Whittaker and his team distributed multiple rum and cokes, as well as a celebratory cake to commemorate the 40th anniversary of his climb. Not having had cake for quite some time, I wolfed it down when offered and wished them good luck on the way down.
Because this is the 50th anniversary of the first summit, many famous climbers are making appearances. If we're lucky, Reinhold Messner, a German most people would label as insane because he has climbed all of the 14 8000-meter peaks in the world -- solo and without oxygen -- will be at our tent as well.
Our team's plan
As for our expedition, Paul Giorgio will be at Camp IV by the time you read this, preparing for a summit tonight and Monday. As I write on Friday, he is in good spirits and bunkereddown in Camp II next to the Indian and Nepali armies.
We're in constant radio contact with Paul, who was to climb with a member of the Canadian firefighter team who recently developed a middle ear infection and will no longer summit.
Our Sherpas are all healthy and have recently established Camps III and IV.
Saturday, Paul was to climb the dangerous Lhotse Face and stay at Camp III, where he'll sleep on an incline and hope the winds don't carry him off the mountain. Today, he was to climb to Camp IV to rest six hours before starting toward the summit at 9 p.m.
Two problems
There are two problems with the summit run: First, Paul, like every climber, will carry as little as possible, including abstaining from personal hygiene such as a toothbrush, during this time to save weight.
The second problem is that summit will be crowded at this time, with Paul, the Indian/Nepali Army team, the South Africans, the Koreans (Paul tells me they have a traditionally high death rate because it's considered shameful to return without summiting), and the French, who are not only notoriously rude but also slow.
We're estimating more than 70 climbers attempting to summit on that single day, so it is hoped the weather will remain stable and nobody will be stranded on the mountain. The odds, however, are that at least one person will die in the attempt.
XTo follow up-to-the-date information on the summit, go to www.trekeverest.com. To contact Jason, e-mail him at jasonrfought@yahoo.com.