Lhotse – Everest traverse, news from Simone Moro

S. Moro and D. Urubko attempting the Lhotse (8516m) - Everest (8850m) traverese have finished acclimatising by climbing to the South Col. Conditions on Lhotse are not good yet

PlanetMountain.com

May 2001

Traduci in

Published below is the latest news concerning Simone Moro who is currently attempting the Lhotse – Everest traverse together with Denis Urubko. Of note in Moro’s text is the news about the other two Italians attempting Everest, Mario Merelli and Silvio Mondinelli, and the great discomfort felt for the death of Babu Chiri Sherpa, who died on Everest on 29/04. Babu Chiri Sherpa had climbed Everest 10 times and had even spent a night on the summit.

01/05/2001

“We decided to climb to the South Col instead of attempting Lhotse because the conditions of the gully that leads to the summit were terrible. Some sections still need to be fixed for a summit bid, and this would require a lot of time and energy. The fact that there is little snow this year makes everything more delicate.

Denis and I preferred to deviate to the South Col, where we pitched a tent and bivied, while Silvio Mondinelli and Mario Merelli who were with us stopped at Camp 3. Heading towards Everest was definitely the right choice because we managed to push ourselves at altitude and gain height without wasting precious energy which we’ll need for the “real” bid.

Our night spent at 8000m went well, apart from the wind and the cold. We’re now going to return down into the valley for a week, then we’ll be ready for the traverse. We’re quite happy to leave Base Camp, for there’s an air of disconcertment here after the death of Babu. Knowing that a man who had the strength to sleep on the roof of the world without oxygen and reach the summit of Everest ten times died by falling into a stupid hole while wandering around Camp 2 taking photos is something that makes you stop and think… Speak to you soon. Simone"

Information
Emilio Previtali
Acerbis Italia spa
tel +39 035 756123 cell. +39 0335 6243916
emilio.p@acerbis.it
www.acerbis.com

Team The North Face
http://www.thenorthface.com/

Above: climbing towards Everest's Camp 3
Below: Camp 3