NEWS: Discovery of O2 Bottle, Maybe 1922 Camp
Eric Simonson - Basecamp
Thu, April 05, 2001 5:40AM

Simonson's Expedition Logs:

March 30
Tap to Col, Brent and Andy re-fixed route, Sherpas rest day. Lee and Jochen rest at IC. Jason and first clients arrive BC. Yaks to ABC. Jake down (find bottle). JR find second bottle.

March 31
Andy and Tap to BC. Dave, JR, Brent to Col. Sherpas carry to Col. Lee and Jochen to BC. CJ and second group of clients to BC. Yaks return to BC.

April 1
JR to BC. Dave and Brent re-organize ABC. 8 Sherpas to BC, 8 Sherpas to Col, Kelsong to ABC.

April 2
Brent to BC. Dave at ABC (find third bottle) Sherpas rest. 32 Yaks to IC, Dorje, Ang Gelzen, Kami Rita to IC.

April 3
Yaks arrive ABC. 4 Sherpas carry to Col, 4 fix to 24,000. Dave to Col.

April 4
Sherpas turn back base of Col (wind). Dave to BC. CJ and clients to IC.

April 5
Tap. JR, Andy to ABC. Panunu and seven Sherpas to ABC. Kami and seven Sherpas down to BC.

Team members find site of 1922 Advanced Base Camp on March 30. While wandering off the normal route on his way down from ABC to BC, Jake Norton spotted something that looked out of place amid the moraines below ABC. Closer checking revealed it to be a cylinder, frozen into the ice. Without an ice axe, Jake was unable to remove it, but he radioed up to ABC, telling Dave and JR what he had seen. Later that day Dave and JR found it and were able to chop it out, revealing a 1922 bottle. About 50 feet away, JR found another 1922 bottle

Two days later, Dave found a third 1922 bottle, all within about 50 feet of each other. With this third discovery, the team is quite certain that they have located the site of the 1922 ABC. In addition to the three cylinders, the team also found a very old stove and a bizarre piece of wood with riveted leather straps attached to it. With GPS coordinates of this location, the team will be able to go back and do further searching.

Today Tap, Andy, and JR took metal detectors back up with them so they are ready for the task!

Eric Simonson, Expedition Leader

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