Everest 2009 - Diary

21.3.2010 Everest-Lhotse Expedition

retkikunta@everest.fi (Expedition) — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 19:55:00 GMT

It's the time to play new tricks! Have a look at http://www.mountaineering.fi how are Tomi, Mikko and Joni doing on the faces of Everest and Lhotse. The gentlemen took off for Kathmandu today.

29.10.2009 Expedition in SkiExpo

retkikunta@everest.fi (Expedition) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 21:12:00 GMT

The expedition will tell you how the summit was achieved and with what kind of equipment.

SkiExpo is held this coming weekend 30.10-1.11.2009. You can find us in stand 6d79. We will give presentations and show photographs.

fri 30.10 klo 14.45 Snow Stage

fri 30.10 klo 16.00 Meeting room 201

sat 31.10 klo 15.15 Snow Stage

sat 31.10 klo 17.00 Ballroom 1

sun 1.11 klo 15.15 Snow Stage

sun 1.11 klo 16.00 Ballroom

The expedition program you will find in www.skiexpo.fi

You are most welcome to meet us and listen to the presentations.

Yours

Expedition team

28.8.2009 Having a sauna with Prime Minister

retkikunta@everest.fi (Expedition) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 06:59:00 GMT

After summiting Everest we received a message from Prime Minister Vanhanen. He invited us to have a sauna in Kesäranta, the official residence of Prime Minister of Finland. The summer was spent recovering from the trip and enjoying Finnish summer with families and friends.

At the end of August we had the appointment for the sauna. Everyone was excited when arriving in Kesäranta. After welcome words was the time for sauna. The "löyly" was very good and after a refreshing swim it was nice to sit at the terrace and discuss about mountaineering and other interesting topics.

During the visit we provided Prime MInister with a Everest certificate and Halti fleece that will be used a lot in Lapland hills.

Everything is still fine.

26.6.2009 Lectures

retkikunta@everest.fi (Expedition) — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 15:57:00 GMT

The lectures by expedition have been shown quite a lot interest and some have been arranged already. Those who bought the support package will have lecture of the whole expedition during SkiExpo on saturday 31.10.2009. There will be a separate invitation to those concerned.

If you are interested of having a lecture of the expedition you can send an inquiry to retkikunta@everest.fi.

Everest Expedition

12.6.2009 Back in Finland

retkikunta@everest.fi (Expedition) — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 15:02:00 GMT

On arrival in Helsinki-Vantaa airport there was a happy reunion with family and friends. From the airport we moved to Halti headquarters to be interviewed by some media representatives. Finally it was time to go home and feel the softness of own, warm bed.

Physical tests continued right after arrival. The autonomous nervous system, red blood cell mass exertion under hypoxic condition were tested. At least the hemoglobin values were higher than skiing competition start limit and otherwise improved performance was evident during lack of oxygen. Some were able to feel again how it felt being at camp3 at the altitude of 7100m. Now the results will be analysed and articles published an national and international journals.

All is well.

29.5.2009 In Kathmandu

retkikunta@everest.fi (Expedition) — Fri, 29 May 2009 14:13:00 GMT

The last trekking day (27.5) from Namche to Lukla was excellent. The sun was shining through scattered clouds and we were able to enjoy the warmth all day. We arrived at Lukla durig the afternoon and met few other climbers that have been waiting for their flight to Kathmandu few days already. Our trekking agency (Thamserku) made a brilliant job and we were able to continue to Kathmandu immediatelly in the morninig of 28.5. Some of our equipment is still on the way and we are waiting for the information of their arrival to pack them to be sent to Finland.

So, yeasterday we arrived in hot and humid Kathmandu. Immediatelly we were invited to a party that was arranged to honor a German climber Ralf Dujmovits, who has now climbed all fourteen 8000m mountains. Ralf's wife Gerlinde has climbed 12 of the 8000m mountains and is close to become first woman to reach the top of all 14 8000m summits.

In the gallery you can now find few pictures with higher resolution. More photographs can be inquired from retkikunta@everest.fi.

26.5.2009 Rain

retkikunta@everest.fi (Expedition) — Wed, 27 May 2009 14:20:00 GMT

It has been very wet trek back from basecamp because of rain and wet snow and it has been raining all two days without any break. It's just ok for us. We are sitting at warm Khumbu Resort guesthouse in Namche Bazar and waiting yak steaks. Tomorrow we head to Lukla and hope weather to improve that filghts to Kathmandu are running on next morning.

24.5.2009 The last day in basecamp

retkikunta@everest.fi (Expedition) — Sun, 24 May 2009 17:59:00 GMT

After camping close to two months we are preparing to leave it all back. The basecamp seems to be deserted and in those camps where are still some climbers, packing takes major action. We have concentrated to pack as well today and are ready to leave our tent homes. For the honour of the last day we tested one more time our mental capability as doing a series of test managed by Heikki. Tomorrow we will head down to see how spring is going on down in the valley. The first night we stay in Periche, second in Namche Bazar and finally in Lukla. In future we will update our diary about what happens during the rest of our journey but it might be that updates won't be daily.
All is well!

23.5.2009 Last man down from the mountain

retkikunta@everest.fi (Expedition) — Sat, 23 May 2009 18:23:00 GMT

Well, now we have the last man down from the mountain and the only thing to do is to put down the basecamp and move to Kathmandu. Actually not first we will party couple of days in the camp! We will have small party with neighbouring expeditions.

Antti and Jussi came back down around noon and what did we saw, there was Santa Claus himself receiving them. He had decided whether there are any nice children around here and there were many... Other expeditions were really surprised and many wanted to have a picture with Santa.

All is well!

22.5.2009 The summit day and lot of thanks

retkikunta@everest.fi (Expedition) — Sat, 23 May 2009 18:20:00 GMT

At first the expedition will thank very active and effective support
team. They have done a good job with web pages and with so many little
and bigger things back home.
Especially we want to thank the follow persons:

Jouni Rajala
The head of wilderness department of Airborne Ranger Club of Finland

Matti Mattila
Leader of the support team

Support -team:
Arto Suolanen
Jukka-Pekka Nurmela
Teijo Lehtinen
Tero Teelahti
Kari Kossila
Sami Johansson
Antti Pohjolainen
Mikko Auvinen
Sverre Slotte
Tero Jarvinen
Veli-Pekka Mölsä

In addition we would like to thank our sponsors and co-operators who have given a huge support to us to reach our aims. Thanks for all those numerous greetings we have received via the expedition email. And of course our families and other people who are involved in any level have earned our thanks, your support have been important.

Then about the summit day:

On Tuesday morning just after 6am Arri, Esa, Mikko, Tomi, Antti and me started our way from C3 (7100 m) to C4 (8000 m). In the beginning we were climbing further up Lhotse Face with steep snow. Some of us chose to use oxygen from C3 here but the others decided to save some oxygen and start using it only later. There were plenty of climbers pushing themselves towards C4 of Everest and Lhotse. Once the snow slope turned out to be rock face (Yellow Band) at around 7800 m the last fellas switched oxygen on due to heavy bags and lack of natural oxygen. There were three oxygen bottles, tent parts, food, gas, stoves in our back bags and our personal equipment. So total load of our bags were around 20 kilos. We absolutely felt this weight at 8000 meters altitude and going forward was like counting steps until you had to give yourself a chance to rest. Above Yellow Band there was a snow slope again until we reached the last hard part called Geneva Spur and soon after that we arrived to C4 at South Col at around 2pm.

Rest of the day was used for cooking and resting. Anyhow no much sleep was achieved, I slept maybe 45 minutes together and the others didn't sleep much more either. The most important thing was to eat and drink as much as possible and the best way to do that seemed to be eating berry soup. Those few who were able to eat some more serious food such as Reiter or Real dry food took all benefit out of that energy. Everybody used oxygen when resting and it was used half litres per minute during rest. In the evening around seven o'clock we heard the first sounds of moving summit groups. We started to wake up at 9 and again prepared some food and hydration.

Finally well after 11pm we were out of our very comfortable sleeping bags and wearing down suits and other equipment. The sky above was clear and wind had settled down, so the summit weather seemed to be perfect. At 00:15 the expedition starts historical ascent to the summit of Mount Everest. After an hour of climbing we saw a thunder storm down the valleys that was a bit exciting but same time the view of the burning sky was amazing. The storm seemed to be far away and we felt safe to continue up. Tomi had an extra bottle of oxygen and was able to use higher flow and therefore he was a bit quicker. Antti and me followed next and decided soon to turn oxygen flow up. We reached Tomi having a break on Balcony and we stayed there a little while as well for drink and snack. Also we changed a half full oxygen bottle and left the old one wait for coming back down. So far it had taken three and a half hours to reach Balcony and we had gained about 400 vertical meters and we were well ahead of the schedule. As we were leaving Balcony Arri arrived there and told that Mikko has turned back for lack of energy due to last hard days. Later Esa decided to turn back on Balcony because he didn't feel well any more.

The route from Balcony continued on a ridge towards the South Summit. The ridge was mainly snow covered but there were some rock sections as well. Plenty of climbers were going up and down but passing wasn't a problem. Antti, Tomi and me climbed somewhat side by side and Arri a half an hour behind us. Tomi was a little bit ahead and was climbing Hillary Step when Antti and I arrived at South Summit some minutes after seven. Feeling was probably the most awesome just here because getting to the summit and reaching the long living aim of mine seemed most probable. And of course the view was more than perfect as Khumbu Region on our left and the knife sharp North-East Ridge on the right side. In front of us was the southern ridge which we would pass soon.

As photographing Tomi's progress on Hilary Step, Antti continued to the ridge. For my little harm a very slowly climbing team passed me and I was like jammed because it quite impossible to pass anyone on the rock section. Lucky enough the weather was pretty warm (only -25 C) and almost completely windless, so an extra 45 minutes wait wasn't any problem for me. In hard wind and temperature close to 40 subzero, like a day before, toes and fingers would have been in danger. Once getting on the summit boys had already set up the center lock of T-10 parachute on the summit and were just taking the summit photos. After asking Arri's situation we decided that I would stay to wait Arri and Antti and Tomi started to descent. After a short wait Arri reached the summit and we took a series of photos and soon were time to start descent.

Once back in C4 Esa had cooked some juice and berry soup to cover our dehydration. Our drinks had turned to be crushed ice already on way up and drinking them wasn't too comfortable. We took some drinks and packed C4 and continued down to C3. It felt hard to walk down with heavy packs in high temperature and windless weather. After 36 hours we were back in C3.

After cooking we were ready sleep but wake up was already 5:30am. Tired because of previous days work our morning basis were slow and we were lying in sleeping bags for good time but before sunset we were packing C3. Finally at 11am we were moving to basecamp. We were still tired and packs were heavy, maybe 30 kilos. Descending was done extremely carefully because it's easy to make mistakes as tired.

Arri and Esa stayed overnight at C1 but Antti, Tomi and me continued all way back to the basecamp. The last hours down Khumbu icefall felt desperately long. Juha, Sonam and Kedar made our last minutes a bit easier as bringing hot juice at the end of glacier and we reached basecamp at 7. Things had done... almost. Tomorrow Antti and I are going up to C2 to pick up some gear back down. Today Juha and Heikki were doing their part of that.

On 25th we leave for Lukla and further to Kathmandu on 28th. In Kathmandu we pack some cargo and check equipments and for sure we will celebrate. We are back in Finland on 5th of June at 13:30.

Everything is very well!
Best Regards Jussi

21.5.2009 Tired man in the basecamp

retkikunta@everest.fi (Expedition) — Fri, 22 May 2009 08:46:00 GMT

Tired man in the basecamp

It is 7 pm now. Tomi, Antti and Jussi arrived just nicely for dinner to the basecamp with hugely overloaded back bags. The weight was also more than enough. Arri and Esa will rest one more night in C1 and will descent to basecamp tomorrow morning. There are still some equipment in C1 and C2 that will be fetched tomorrow by Heikki and Juha. After that the expedition is ready to pack the basecamp and move to Lukla and Kathmandu.

We let the summit team to enjoy the well earned beer and rest tonight. We apologise the delay of one day, but tomorrow you will get a good description of the summit day with photographs.

All is well!

20.5.2009 The Summit Team is going up, C4 > 8848

retkikunta@everest.fi (Expedition) — Wed, 20 May 2009 08:53:00 GMT

All 4 team members that summitted are now back in C4 for some eating and drinking. Then moving to C3 for overnight sleep. Tomorrow decending all the way to BC.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Airborne Ranger Club Team summitted Mount Everest south side today at 07:50 AM, reports Juha this morning. The central lock is on top of the world.
The summiteers are Tomi Myllys and the rest summit team followed behind.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Tomi reached the south summit at 06:45 and Antti + Jussi followed. Arri is about 1/2 h back.

Next there is 1h to the Hillary Step and finally last 1h to the summit itself.

Mikko and Esa are back in C4 in good shape.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Today at 05:00 AM Arri reached The Balcony and Esa has turned back to C4.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Today after 4 hours past midnight Antti, Jussi and Tomi are on Balcony. Esa and Arri followed a little behind and Mikko has turned back to C4.
Night is clear and wind is low - everything is fine on way to summit.

20.5.2009 Mission accomplished, central lock of T-10 in the summit

retkikunta@everest.fi (Expedition) — Thu, 21 May 2009 09:36:00 GMT

As you have noticed form the notes of last night the expedition has reached it's target. Four members (Tomi, Antti, Jussi and Arri) stood on the summit from 7:50am onwards. The weather was perfect for the summiting. At the moment they are resting in C3 and tomorrow they will descend to basecamp. Tomorrow you will be able to enjoy the whole story of the summit day with photographs.

The winner of the tent was also found. The weather and conditions were well known. The closest answer was 20.5 at 7:57am, only seven minutes from the actual summit time. Congratulations, the winner will be contacted personally. Thank you for the answers.

All is well!

19.5.2009 On the way to C4

retkikunta@everest.fi (Expedition) — Tue, 19 May 2009 09:10:00 GMT

Sweet dreams in a warm sleeping bag in the basecamp were interrupted by 6am to make a scheduled radio contact to C3 "Camp3, Juha...Camp3, Juha, over". A fresh voice of Tomi replied immediatelly. The summit team had just finished their preparations and were ready to take off towards C4. The things are going according to the plan. The route goes through Yellow Band and Geneva Spur to almost 8000m in the South Col where they will set up a tent, boil some water, eat and rest until the evening. It would be good if they can reach the South Col before noon due to the fact that the winds are gaining strength during the afternoon and setting up a tent in high wind is slower. The forecast today morning was still good weather on 20-21.5 so it shouldn't intervene with the attempt. The "Summit Fever" is now really high on Everest. For today morning there are already number of summiteers and during the coming three days most of the expeditions are on the way to the summit.

Today at midnight the summit team will start from C4 towards the summit. The route goes approximately as follows. First there is 4-5h to the "Balcony" where they will change a full oxygen bottle and the old will stay in Balcony to wait for the descent. Next there is 2-4h to the south summit and again 1h to the Hillary Step and finally last 1h to the summit itself. The descent goes with the same route to the Balcony where the oxygen bottle is changed again if needed and down to C4 and C3 to rest, rehydrate and eat. After a night's sleep they will descend back to basecamp.

To ensure the safety there are two points of turning back. One is the time, 12:00 (noon), meaning that if the climber is not in the summit by noon he has to turn back. Another is the oxygen left in the bottle. If the pressure reaches 70bar the climber has to turn back. That will take him back to the Balcony and the bottle left in the Balcony will have at least 50bar to take the climber to C4 and C3.

All is well

18.5.2009 On the way to C3

retkikunta@everest.fi (Expedition) — Tue, 19 May 2009 08:23:00 GMT

I just got the radio message that the whole summit team has reached C3 (lunchtime on monday). Everything has gone according to the plan except that Heikki turned back after hurting his wrist just enough not to be able to continue jumaring. He will descend to C1 to accompany Timo and possibly tomorrow move back to C2 to wait for the summit team to return. The latest weather forecast says that the winds at the summit are the lowest between 20-22.5. This means that the summit day couldn't have been chosen better. The average wind should be between 10-15m/s and the night time temperature close to -23-25C. In the basecamp I'm enjoying tuna pasta with cheese and warm tea for lunch and wonder how come clothes can smell so, hmm, exotic after wearing them only for two weeks...

All is well

17.5.2009 Waiting is over now

retkikunta@everest.fi (Expedition) — Sun, 17 May 2009 19:37:00 GMT

Well well, the summit push is finally on. Tomi, Mikko, Arri, Jussi, Antti and Esa started today morning at 3am towards C2 and aiming for the summit in the morning of 20.5. Heikki joined them and his target is to reach South Col (8000m) and ensure as a doctor that everyone is ok to start towards summit from C4. Today they will go to C2 and rest there overnight. Tomorrow, 18.5, they will continue to C3 to rest another night. And in the morning of 19.5 they will go to C4 in South Col where they will put up one more tent. In C3-C4 leg the supplementary oxygen is already in use. In C4 they will have a rest and rehydrate themselves as well as eat before it is time to start towards the summit at around midnight. From C4 to the summit it will take between 8-12 hours depending on the traffic. Meaning that those who have guessed the summit time on 20.5 between 07:00-12:00 have a good change on winning the tent. We have received big load of answers, thanks for that.

Timo will start tomorrow morning towards C2. Target is to go to C3 and descend with Heikki. We want to ensure to have a radio contact to whole summit team at all times via C2. This is due to the fact that most probably the radio connection from basecamp to C4 and above will not work without problems all the time.

In the basecamp Juha will monitor the situation and will convey the weather forecast information (possible changes) and changes in the situation of other, known expeditions to the summit team as soon as they are available. During summit night we will keep the support team in Finland aware of the situation all the time and they will post the information in the diary. This way you, readers, can follow the summit attempt almost online! So, on Tuesday night from around 21:00 finnish time onwards you will be able to follow this unique entertainment in this same address.

All is well

16.5.2009 Preparing for the summit push

retkikunta@everest.fi (Expedition) — Sat, 16 May 2009 16:58:00 GMT

I'm not sure if early wake up was due to the coming summit push or having lately so much sleep. Anyhow, the whole expedition was awake at 6.30am watching a day getting clear.

Todays plan was to pack our bags for the summit push and prepaire some malfunctions of equipments. After breakfast there were slim men with t-shirts on the camp ground preparing their meal packs, testing oxygen systems and fixing whatever things. Lack of Jerky (dried meat) was probably our biggest problem. Dry and salty meat is so tasty at high camps.

We checked mountain boots and crampons. We use those boots and crampons next 4-5 days from early morning to evening and those must be in good condition (duct tape was used to fix the biggest ???). Everyone checked ones backbag and clothing needed up there. Down suit, which is seen on a picture beside, is used at C2 where it is needed while doing some little things without getting sweat (shoveling snow, fixing tent, cooking, etc). The real need of down suit is at C4 and above. Wind and very low temperature set certain limit for the clothes but most of us use down suit as sleeping as well... or as trying to sleep at C4. Once starting summit push from C4 at midnight everyone has the down suit as the uppermost clothing.

Harnesses with other safety equipments are with us during the summit push. An ascender is very important for instance on the Lhotse face and a belay sling with a carabine as belaying ourselves on fixed ropes on the summit ridge.

All is well in the expedition and motivation is extremely high after a long wait. We are starting the summit push as moving to C2 with peaceful mind and smiley lips in Sunday morning 17.5 at 3am.

Greetings to home, friends and lovers.

15.5.2009 Sauna

retkikunta@everest.fi (Expedition) — Fri, 15 May 2009 20:41:00 GMT

Once again things got out of control... We were testing if all the six person summit team can sleep together in the same tent. Easily! However, at this moment (there were seven person in the tent now) Tomi ordered that every zippers should be closed and the one who escapes first from the hot tent will be thrown out from the summit team. As being very competitive we decided that none of us won't go out until a thermometer of a Suunto watch has gone up to 40 Celcius. This turned out to be too easy case and we set a new aim to 50 degrees. By now everyone wore only boxer shorts and tried to dig himself into as cool place as possible. Anyhow, all attempts to cheat such like lie below mattresses against icy ground were prevented. Temperature stabilized at 49 degrees and we asked our supervising doctor to bring a gas stove to boost our little sauna. The stove was quicly delivered to the tent of full of sweating men. At the same time we set the aim higher again to 60 degrees. It was impossible to light matches after being 90 minutes in the steaming tent and Heikki helped us to light the stove outside the tent. At this point we realised that the thermometer's maximum had been reached a long time ago and it wouldn't rise to 50 degrees. We estimated temperature to be around 70 degrees when we rushed out from the tent in boxers and totally sweating. We ran down to the glacial river to wash ourselves while amazed trekkers were staring at us.

14.5.2009 Occupational health service works

retkikunta@everest.fi (Expedition) — Fri, 15 May 2009 11:21:00 GMT

The medical service for the expedition had to prepare for any emergency during the time spent on the mountain. At the beginning it was expected that there will be stomach and respiratory problems. And there were some but were overtaken in first couple of weeks. After that there have been some muscle strains and problems with altitude. Even a small case with pulmonary odema was experienced but it was taken care quickly in basecamp.

The starting point for the expedition has been to be as independent as possible and therefore we haven't needed the support from the local health center yet. Himalayan Rescue Association (HRA) has set up a health center into the basecamp to take care of medical cases of both local sherpas and climbers as well. Mainly all cases can be treated by HRA and in case additional information is needed other expedition doctors are also consulted. Few days ago there were two cases of sherpas that had drunk alcohol mixed with methanol. The other case proved to be lethal but HRA was able to stabilize the other patient and moved to Kathmandu hospital by helicopter. In Finland the medical personnel gets lots of experience on similar cases where people have drunk alcohol mixed with methanol.

As we are facing the last weeks of the expedition the possible cases arising could be injuries when crossing the Khumbu ice fall and possible cases of frostbite during the summit attempt. So far everything has gone very well and that's how we are trying to continue until the last day of the expedition.

All is well!

13.5.2009 Photographs tells the story

retkikunta@everest.fi (Expedition) — Wed, 13 May 2009 18:28:00 GMT

One target for the expedition has been and will be to document the trip by still photographs. In doing this we are supported by Olympus, who has provided the expedition with digital cameras. We have already shot more than 5000 photographs, only some of them have been able to be shown in he diary. The cameras in use are two Olympus E-3 DSLR bodies with Zuiko Digital 50-200mm and 14-54mm lenses. One of these is always in the basecamp where we spend most of our time. The other one has been carried to camp3 at 7100mto be ready for the summit attempt. Since there are so many things to carry to higher camps and DSLR with lenses weigh a lot it is not possible to be carried along all of the time. Therefore every member has also mju 1030SW compact camera with him.

Photographing in mountain environment brings along some special requirements that are not necessarily present in normal conditions. Freezing cold, condensation of water due to big changes in the temperature, blowing snow and dust are things that need to be handled by the camera. Usually the conditions drive the equipment into their limits and beyond. The cold (up to -40 Celsius) affects the battery life so there needs to be enough of them at hand. The storage needs to be arranged in warm place, like inner pockets of clothing. The charging of the batteries can be done only by solar power in the basecamp. The BLM-1 battery used in E-3 allows, even in the higher camps, shooting of around 300 photographs. The LI-50B battery used in mju 1030SW works also fine but is maybe slightly more affected by the cold and therefore should be warmed in the pocket or glove after a cold night.

The used zoom lenses reduce the need to change them too often, thus preventing dust and dirt entering the camera. The cleaning equipment has proved to be useful since it is very difficult to escape from all flying dirt. The lenses are protected by UV filters, mainly due to the dirt and ease the cleaning. Also the UV rays are strong at these altitudes and the filters bring more clarity into the photographs.

Real high the usability is the key. In the basecamp it is easy and nice to take photographs but when moving higher and the feeling of the photographer is miserable, tired, hungry, cold etc. it depends how easily the camera is ready to take a photograph whether the picture is taken or not. You need to be able to use the camera with thick gloves or mittens. The camera need to be able to withstand rough handling including hits during the climb to be able keep it available all the time. The compact camera can be stored in a breast pocket where it also stays warm, but condensed water do not enter the lens. With a strap long enough you can ensure that the camera do not drop accidentally. The DSLR is carried in a specific bag attahed to the front of the climber to protect it from snow and hits and have it available whenever needed.

The Olympus cameras we have been using have fulfilled the requirements above very well. We are waiting for to get really good photographs during the summit attempt from the really rugged and exposed terrain above camp4, from both Nepal and Tibetan side. Hopefully these photographs are soon available, not only for us but also for you via our diary. Here are some shots from the journey so far.

All is well!