Bye bye & good luck... Ron on Everest!

[Marian]

Today we said goodbye to Ron  (he's still single ), Wilco en Rex at Schipholairport. They go to climb Mount Everest...

[trunl]

good luck, hope ya make it

[7summits]

You can follow his progress on the Dutch website www.everest2004.nl but I will give some updates very now and then as well here for the english speakers that might be interested.

They are in ABC now and Ron is not feeling too well, has had a lot of stomach problems which causes friction of course. But they still have plenty of time to get better, so let's hope they keep their strength!
Especially mentally as that is the key to climb Everest in the end..
Ron had some stomach problems on Denali as well last year, but that did not keep him from summiting with me
 

[7summits]

Here is another update from Everest BC.
Ron had a throat infection and has received some antibiotics and is feeling much better now after resting down in BC.
BC is ok as the weather is terrible at the moment so there is not much they can do anyway now.

They have spent some nights at North Col so are still on schedule but he has let us know that this is the hardest thing he has ever done in his life.
Everest is no picknick!
 

Meanwhile all sorts of weird things are going on on Everest as usual, like climbers trying to skip camps because they did not bring enough tents etc. Somehow it keeps attracting the wrong (dangerous) crowds!

Fingers crossed for Ron!

[Corsair]

Good luck Ron!

[7summits]

This weather alert is bad news for the Tibet expeditions:

"Special weather alert.
High to very high winds are expected on Kang, Everest, Annapurna and surrounding mountains. Due to a movement of the Jet stream directly over Everest/Annapurna and a deep low moving in from Kashmir winds will pick up Saturday May 1 and increase further during Sunday and Monday. Winds at C3 (7300m) and higher might reach hurricane force.
The forecast is confirmed by European and American Meteorologists."

[trunl (not logged in)]

hey, its me. i was just wondering how did ron afford it. sponsorship? his money? a mix of both?

thanx, just wondering,
trunl

[7summits]

Hey Trunl,
let me know if I should resend you new password or anything.

Ron was sponsored by a couple of small companies after he talked with hundreds of them. So he did a lot of work for it, but he had the assurance that if he would not find teh sponsors his boss (largest outdoor retailer in the Nethrlands) would sponsor him anyway, so that makes the talks a little easier I think as there is less pressure and he was sure to go.
 

[lana]

Hi. What's new about the weather. They are saying that a window is expected on Thursday, but then again high winds next weekend. Are they planning to go up again and fix tents? Who are the people from other expeditions who skip:)

[trunl]

just out of curiosity, how much money did ron have to pay (including sponsorship money) for a spot on the expedition? did he get a discount for any reason? how much was he sponsored by, by the company that gave him the most?

not to get nosy... don't answer if he wouldn't want you to,
trunl

[trunl]

one more thing,
does ron have an email he can receive from while up there, or an expedition email (website's hard to read, ha ha)?

good luck ron,
trunl

[7summits]

Hey Trunl & Lana,

Trunl, you can ask Ron about the financials when he gets down, but I can tell you that the basic costs of an expedition are already $10,000 excluding high altitude gear, meals, sherpa's etc.

He gets some email; but not many as everything has to be pumped through the satellite line  But I have been in contact with him and will tell him your wishes.

This is the weather for coming days:

Jet:
A jet lies just north of Kazakhstan. Another westerly jet is positioned over Himalaya with the core over Pakistan and ME, the jet stays over this territory throughout the period.

Summit:
9000 m: Northwest 30-35 m/s, slowly turning west during this period.

7500 m: Northwest 10-15 m/s. From Sunday increasing to 20 m/s.

Weather:
A ridge over Pakistan, Nepal and Bhutan means dry weather over ME. The ridge is weakening and from Saturday a trough moves eastward over ME with some showers.

They wil try to set up camp I & camp II this week if all goes well. Today they arrived on North Col again, fortunately their tents were all in one piece (unlike some other tents).
The storm had also wrecked quite a lot of dinner tents in ABC.

Good luck guys!
 

[7summits]

Yesterday while descending from camp 2 towards camp 1 Ron had unclipped from the fixed rope as he has done before due to the long line of climbers on it.
But the experienced climber was tired and dehudrated from teh time at camp 3 and suddenly slipped and started sliding down the ridge towards North Col.
This is from his own story as published on www.everest2004.nl (dutch)

He could not brake and was accellerating towards the steep dropp to the glacier below; his last option to grap the fixed rope was taken away when a Bulgarian climber lifted the rope so Ron could not grab it anymore. Apparently the climber (who was attached to the rope) was afraid of falling one meter, so he rather had Ron falling towards his death than risking an innocent fall himself.   :?)

Ron slid to the edge but could brake himself on the rocks near the edge, making a somersault in the process. He is now safe in ABC, thanks to the Czechs, with bruised hands, legs and ankles and pain in many places. His down suit is wrecked as well, but the ankles are the main concern as this will decide if he can climb again after a week of rest or if the expedition is over....

to be continued when there is more news.

UPDATE:
Just got an email from Ron; he is doing relatively fine, his ankle is swollen he does not know if this will allow a final assault on the summit.
Further more he told me his motivation that was 200% before th start is declining quickly as it 'actually no fun place here'.

Good luck Ron!

[lana]

How is he doing now?

[7summits]

It has just been confirmed that Ron has aborted the summit bid   
He had left ABC with Wilco and Rex, but his pain was to much as his ankle was still in much pain.

He therefore could not walk stable, so it would have been too dangerous for him and his team so he turned around and is now back in BC waiting for his buddies and his mom who will be visiting BC this week.

He is very sad as he had been working very hard for this, doing everything himself, using no oxygen while other 'climbers' passed without even carrying their own water bottles...

[7summits]

Wilco, Ron's teammate has just summited Everest without oxygen!

See this post for more info welldone Wilco!

[Roger]

So did the evil Bulgarians

[Vili]

Please, tell me what you mean about evil Bulgarians? please, do you know something about the Bulgarian expedition 2004 ? Please,please,please...

[7summits]

Please, tell me what you mean about evil Bulgarians? please, do you know something about the Bulgarian expedition 2004 ? Please,please,please...

I think he was referring to the person lifting the rope when Ron was almost falling to his death above NorthCol.

More info about the Bulgarian climbers and their accidents in this post. :_)

[Vili]

Thanks a lot! The Bulgarians begun their climbing up later than 9th may. I hope this person was not a Bulgarian man... Greetings!