Paul Pottinger’s Adventures from the Top of the World
Category Archives: Ascent
Heartbreak at Camp 3
Everest 2016 • May 19
Again, the weather behaved as predicted, and we had clear skies and just a bit of wind when we left Camp 2 at dawn. I counted very few figures on the route above us. My lungs felt fine. Not much sleep to speak of, but I still felt fine. Hot damn, we are going to … Continue reading Heartbreak at Camp 3
Up the Cwm
Everest 2016 • May 16
Cold temperatures, low winds, and clear skies greeted us in the morning. I had hoped for some cloud cover to spare us from cooking in the solar oven of the Cwm, but it was not meant to be. No worries, we got moving early enough to avoid the brunt of the sunshine. We should top … Continue reading Up the Cwm
Liftoff…
Everest 2016 • May 15
The alarm did not need to sound that night—I was already awake at 1 AM. The usual details needed tending-to in the tent, including a last text message to Julie, and then I was out the door. As I sealed the tent, I took one last look at the postcard hanging from the ceiling, our … Continue reading Liftoff…
Farewell, EBC
Everest 2016 • May 14
We watched the weather daily, actually twice daily, looking for any favorable changes in the predicted wind and precip patterns up high. Initially we hoped for summit conditions on May 21, but the wind speeds remained high on two different models, and there seemed little hope of shooting for the summit before May 23. Justin … Continue reading Farewell, EBC
This is it!
Everest 2016 • May 20
From Julie: At 3:12am PDT, Paul texted: “Hi dear. I leave here 9PM, hope to summit in under 12 hrs, if weather and traffic good.” 9pm NPT=8:15am PDT. Follow his progress via satellite tracker.
