High winds delay summit attempts

By DR. JASON FOUGHT
SPECIAL TO THE VINDICATOR
The weather has turned bad. Again.
Paul Giorgio and our Sherpas, like many people in Base Camp, base their summit bid at Mount Everest on a series of weather reports, including two American and one Indian weather services.
Meteorologists from around the world predicted the weather patterns and jet streams at least five days in advance, and every service said that May 12 would be an ideal day to summit, with mild temperatures and virtually no winds.
The forecasts were a bit off the mark.
Temperatures turned out to be minus 35 degrees with hurricane force winds gusting to 90 mph.
Our Sherpas, led by Lhakpa Gelu, were beaten down by gusting winds over the weekend while taking supplies to Camp IV, a period of time that was predicted as "little to no winds."
Because of the change in conditions, all of the expeditions except the Korean one, who will risk being blown off the mountain (but with honor), returned to Base Camp.
Winds are predicted to be strong this week, and everybody is depressed.
Many expeditions that are on a fixed time schedule are worried that they will not get a chance to reach the summit.
Indian Army
One expedition that is not in any hurry is the Indian army. Joined with the Nepal army for the first time in 40 years, the Indian army comes here to risk their lives to climb Everest, or Sagarmatha, as they call it. And they do this with smiles on their faces.
Some would consider this stressful, but the majority of the troops come from posts in the disputed Kashmir region, which is one of the most beautiful hiking-climbing areas in the world.
Besides fantastic mountain scenery and wonderful climbing, there are a couple of little glitches. Like the mercenaries and Pakistani soldiers shooting at them all of the time.
Every day, I'm told, three or so Indian soldiers are killed in Kashmir. This is significant in an undeclared war between India and Pakistan, and an Indian officer I spoke with states that they are under orders only to return fire.
Thankfully, he says, the enemy doesn't shoot all that well, but he once was forced to shoot an enemy soldier in the head when ambushed from 10 feet away.
So he and his men sit in their camp, drinking milk and tea and watching Indian movies on a television.
After the summit attempt, most of the soldiers will return to the war zone. No wonder they're in no hurry.
A bad memory
We've become good friends with the Indian Army members, and until they misforecast the weather for the summit, I'd almost forgiven the country for a horrible three days that I'd spent in Delhi, the capital.
Delhi is broken down into New Delhi and Old Delhi, but both smell and look old.
My last trip to Delhi ended up in what was most likely intentional food poisoning at a local hotel, forcing me to remain in Delhi longer than I intended.
I say "most likely intentional" because it's well known among travelers that hotels do this, figuring that if you're sick, you have to stay longer in the hotel, which generates more revenue.
The commander of the Indian army, a colonel, has recently invited me to stay at his home in Delhi, stating that Delhi has much to offer and is worth visiting.
Later in the conversation, however, he told me that he spends most of his time in the mountains and hates big cities. I wonder why.
Yak attack
Finally, no column would be complete without a reference to the French.
Next to our camp are the Canadian firefighters -- two firefighter climbers who are climbing Mount Everest to raise money for the Canadian equivalent of Make-a-Wish. While their leader, Glen, has been healthy, Steve Foster, the other climber, has been sidelined with either a middle ear infection or altitude sickness. Sometimes it's hard to differentiate.
Regardless, his climbing is done and he spends a lot of time around Base Camp in support of Glen.
Sunday, Steve walked outside of his tent to find a group of Frenchmen poking at a yak with a stick. The yak, which costs approximately $2,000 in Nepal -- more than a year's wages for most Nepalis -- was getting angry and had his leg caught in rope.
The Frenchmen egged it on while the yak's owner, the wife of one of the cooking Sherpas, was angry, but afraid to say anything.
Because of its value, yaks are frequently treated like family members in Nepal.
Finally, when one of the Frenchmen climbed atop the yak, Steve had enough.
He waved his ice axe at them threateningly, cursing at them the entire time.
Claiming it was all in good fun, the French finally left, leaving the Nepali yakherder relieved.
Steve casually mentioned later, "I hate the French."
Thank God for Canadians, firefighters, mountain climbers, and defenders of yaks around the world.