Hi everybody,
this is Harry Kikstra calling in from Nyalam, the evening of the 10th of April for our combined 7summits.com/7summitsclub.com Mt Everest expedition.
As always with both Alexander's (Abramov) as well as my own climbs many things have happened, so imagine if we combine our strengths... Let me start by saying that parts of this story have not been fully confirmed, so details might change but here is the story...
First of all Alexander is not with us at the moment. He was supposed to arrive soon after us, but then he just did not arrive as planned at the border. Only the next day we found out that he had been in a taxi, close behind our convoy.
Suddenly they either ran onto a landmine or a light granate was thrown into their car. At least there was an explosion and climber Sergey was injured (at his foot), though not serious, he had to be taken to the hospital and might have to leave the expedition.
Alexander Abramov, our expedition leader was with him in the car and apparently did not get injured, but he had to return with Sergey to the hospital and now has to spend some time with the police and army to file a report. Also he will lose more time as he needs to get a new visa as he was cancelled from our group visa this morning when we left Zhangmu to Nyalam.
Hope to confirm more tomorrow..
We hope to see Alex in a couple of days again, meanwhile we will stay one more day in Nyalam to acclimatise. Our cargo cleared after all and everything seems ok. We had a very beautiful ride from Zhangmu on winding roads making the Karakoram highway look like a highway. Quite a lot of snow still but the road was good and we arrived quickly. Day after tomorrow we will continue to Xigar (New Tingri) for another 2 days of acclimatising. Nickolay and the Sherpas will leave for basecamp tomorrow so they can prepare the camp for when we arrive. Dimitri and I will make sure the group is ok and acclimatizes according to plan.
We might not be able to post after tomorrow until we reach BC, so no news should be considered as good news
On a lighter note: Nate and I just had a great time when we walked past a couple of Chinese guys playing Ping Pong. We walked in and immediately got invited to a game.
Weirdest acclimatizing exercise I ever did, but it was great fun and I think we actually kicked some Chinese butts ;-)
Good to see how sport transcends borders and language barriers. Meanwhile the first Beijing 2008 caps have been spotted, so China is getting ready.
Ok, will go up to the ratroom now, Lorenzo already spotted a few nice ones trying to nibble on Noel's feet, so let's see who is the tastiest of our 4 person room with Lynne and me
All the best from a chilly Tibet,
Harry
Harry Kikstra,
Director,
www.7summits.com*****
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