April
1999
THIRD POLE EXPEDITION
April
- June 1999
Friday
23rd, April 1999
They
liked it up there and so did not come back down...
That's why we
have not heard from Alain Hubert and Manaram since Monday 12th April.
Of course, it also has to be said that since the communications equipment
was not working properly
at the beginning
of the expedition, the two men did not take it with them to the advanced
base camp, and so have not been able to get in touch with Brussels.
"But everything has been back to normal since we got back to base
camp," Alain said this morning on the telephone. "I plan to
send an e-mail this evening…" Let's recap briefly on the way things
have gone so far: Hubert and Manaram left the Tibetan base camp on
Monday 12th April for the advanced base camp. The Americans, who are
in the process of looking for traces of Mallory and Irvine, were already
on the rock-face. The two men reached this spot, 6 400 metres up the
mountain. Then they rested as they had to acclimatise.
On Thursday morning, they woke up raring to go and decided to continue
on up. The weather conditions were good (Alain confirms that there
has never been a drier season in Nepal and that the sides of the mountain
- especially along the Hornbein corridor - are as black as coal).
So they set of for the North Col. Curiously, because this stage of
the climb is generally on the long side, they reach a height of 7
000 metres in just three hours. "The long moraine leading to
the North col is steeper than usual," explains Alain, "but
it is also faster because you're travelling on ice - lack of snowfall
this winter - and so you don't sink down 30 cm into the snow with
every step…"
In a word, the two men are in great shape. As a result, they climb
to North Col twice. Last weekend, making the most of the good weather
conditions, they even went as far as the junction between the North
and North-East Ridges (7 800 m) so that they could stash some gear
(a tent, food and some climbing gear. Pascal Debrouwer did the same
thing a little higher (8 300 m) two years ago, only to have his gear
stolen by another expedition. "That shouldn't happen this time,"
explains Hubert, "because to start with, we are way ahead
of the other expeditions, and the atmosphere at base camp is relaxed
and pleasant as well. That applies to the Montagnes du Monde team,
as well as to the others. So everything looks good."
Since the Belgians returned to base camp (last Wednesday), they have
been resting. This relaxation is all the more profitable since the
future of the climb is showing good signs of succeeding. "One:
that's the first time I have spent six nights in a row at an altitude
of 6 400 metres. So we are very well acclimatised. Two: apart from
the chill I caught up there, we are supremely confident we can make
the summit. It could even be that the Belgians make an attempt together…
The only slightly scary thing is the wind, which if it is blowing
really hard would make it impossible to try for the top…" As
all of the team is resting at base camp and they will only leave for
their final assault in a week or ten days, and as the communications
equipment now seems to be working again and an e-mail could reach
us this evening, we will have other news over the next few days.
