Nine climbing teams trapped on Everest

[7summits]

Strong winds are trapping up to nine climbing teams on the western slopes of Mount Everest.

Peter Hillary, son of Everest conqueror, Sir Edmund Hillary, said by satellite phone from the 21,300ft Camp Two that tents had been flattened and climbers have been knocked off their feet.

He said the 77mph wind is forecast to get stronger over the next two days.
He said the storm "has already been a real beauty... just thrashing the tents and many of them have collapsed," leaving some of the 150 climbers exposed on the slopes.

He said a Swiss expedition had six of its nine tents ripped away by the gusts. Other tents had been taken down to stop the same happening.

"The place is looking pretty badly damaged," said the climber, who has scaled Everest several times.

While lives were not yet in danger, he said, the parties were trapped and the strong winds made it impossible for them to retreat down the mountain.

"The forecast we have been getting is for a 25% increase in winds. I am pretty concerned about it," he said.

Peter Hillary is part of a National Geographic expedition making a documentary of climbing Everest to commemorate his father's conquest of the tallest peak on May 29, 1953 with Nepalese climbing companion, Sherpa Tenzing Norgay.

Story filed: 11:11 Friday 26th April 2002

(from ananova.com)