Team Ogawa 2005 put three climbers on the 29,035-foot summit of Mount Everest on Saturday via the difficult North Ridge in Tibet.
| Editor’s note: Brook Alongi, 28, of Marysville left for Kathmandu, Nepal, on March 20 to lead an eight-man expedition up the North Ridge of Mount Everest. The team includes Scott Streett of Everett and Ryan Allen, Al Baal, Ambrose Bittner and Michel Frank, all of Seattle. Alongi’s updates on the climb have appeared each Saturday in The Herald. Alongi has since returned to Marysville but has kept in contact with the team. |
Michael Frank of Seattle was the only U.S. climber in the team of eight who scored the top. Frank stood atop the highest mountain in the world with Lakpa Rangdu and DaNgima Sherpa about 10:40 a.m. Saturday, Nepali time.
The summit party called down to Advanced Base Camp by VHF radio to verify the team’s feat. The radio call was met with rounds of cheers by fellow team members.
The official push began Wednesday. Five climbers and two Sherpas set out for the summit from ABC.
Four climbers, including Everett resident Scott Streett, turned back near Camp 2 for reasons that have not been specified. They returned to ABC and monitored the radio throughout the summit bid.
The three summiteers continued onward to Camp 3, where they rested for one night.
The following morning, they awoke to a lull in the weather. The winds had abated slightly.
Strapping on their oxygen masks and loading up their packs laden with oxygen bottles and climbing equipment, the team set off for Camp 4, where more oxygen awaited.
Camp 4 sits at 27,300 feet above sea level, and climbers who use supplemental oxygen keep it flowing continuously, even while resting. Sleep is nearly impossible at such an extreme altitude, so climbers do their best to rest up before the big push.
Beginning around midnight, the team of three climbers set off for the summit. Battling fierce winds and subzero temperatures, they climbed through the early morning.
Several expeditions, watching the mountain through telescopes from base camp, about 13,000 feet below the summit party, reported they could see the climbers on the summit ridge around 8 a.m.
A group of unknown climbers were reported to be seen fixing ropes around the second and third steps. Oxygen masks, goggles and balaclavas (a fleece or wool face mask used in climbing) covered the climbers’ faces, making identification difficult.
Because of the weather, Saturday was the first reported day that climbers successfully ascended the mountain from the north, which meant there weren’t any new ropes set. Two Finnish climbers attempted the summit ridge on Friday, but a lack of fixed rope forced their retreat.
Often, climbers will use ropes left from previous years to aid in their ascent through difficult territory, making sure to fix new ropes once the technical sections are scaled. Sections with missing old ropes must be led in traditional alpine style before the ropes can be fixed.
Climbers were seen above the third step, the final obstacle before the summit, around 10 a.m. in high winds.
Further visual reports from base camp identified several climbers were indeed on the summit pyramid about 11 a.m.
Frank and the team had begun the arduous descent off the slopes of Everest. It will be another day or two, depending on strength and weather, before they will arrive at ABC.
A second weather window has been projected around early June. It’s unknown if the other team members are planning a second assault.
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