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Equipped with satellite communication tools, the team is sending dispatches
and photos back to this Web site. You’re invited to follow the climb
through written accounts and digital images. 
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May 9, 2001
This is Mike Chrisp speaking from Advanced Base Camp on the 9th of May.
The weather here at the moment is very, very unstable. We had a blizzard
early this morning with about 4 to 6 inches of snow. We’ve got very,
very high winds on the North Col, and the slopes are dangerously loaded
with snow, which had presented a serious avalanche danger. The only people
who have moved on the North Col are members of the Australian expedition
who have actually been coming down. Nobody has gone up at all today.
We’re going to try to go up to the North Col tomorrow, and we’re
going to try our summit bid in the next two to three days. We’re
hoping for a two-day weather window in the next few days, and we need
to get up as high as possible to take advantage of that window.
Tim Boelter is going to be climbing without oxygen. He wants to test
his own physiology to see how high he can go. I, on the other hand, being
that much older need all the advantages that I can get, so I will be carrying
oxygen. I will start using the oxygen at about 8,300 meters. We will just
go as high as we possibly can and give it our best shot.
At the moment, I, being the oldest member of the expedition, am becoming
very worn down with carrying loads up and down from Base Camp to Intermediate
Camp to Advanced Base Camp, whereas the younger members of the expedition
seem to be improving the carrying of a 30-pound pack up and down. But
it’s really, really taking its toll on me. I don’t seem to be
getting any stronger, but the others seem to be. I’m becoming more
and more drained as I move up and down the hill.
Every time we move up this mountain from Base Camp through Intermediate
Camp and to Advanced Base Camp, we’re moving across over 12 miles
of pretty barren moraine-filled countryside. We go up and down and round
and round, and it’s pretty inhospitable. There’s no set path
as such. The only line that you’ve got to follow is where the pebbles
have been turned over by yaks and by the passage of many feet. That’s
all we’ve got. It’s very hard and it’s also at a high altitude
– we’re traveling from 5,100 meters up to 6,500 meters.
Anyway, we’re going to give this our best shot. We’ll be leaving
hopefully tomorrow morning, early. And we’ll just see what we can
do.
Mike Chrisp
2001 British American Lightweight Everest Expedition
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