Dave Hahn, IMG

We are launching our update coverage of IMG's 2003 Everest South Side expedition which will attempt to summit Everest by the South Col route. This group is led by IMG guide and three-time Everest summiter Dave Hahn, assisted by IMG guides Tap Richards and Ben Marshall, and includes summit climbers Gary Johnson, David "PJ" Pierce Jones, and Charlie Hyde, and expedition doctor Diedre Galbraith. They are supported by a great Sherpa team.

The climbers will spend about ten days trecking into Base Camp and then four to six weeks climbing and acclimating. They will go increasingly higher up the mountain and return to Base Camp at least twice before going up for a summit attempt. The first climb will be to sleep at Camp 1 (19,500') and possibly Camp 2 (21,000') after which they'll return to BC to let their bodies recover. Then they will climb to Camp 2, go higher and spend one difficult night at Camp 3 (23,500') on the steep Lhotse Face, and again return to BC. After a night at Camp 3, they will be acclimated to attempt the summit and will then rest up and carefully watch the weather and traffic (of other climbers) planning the best time to try for the top.

From BC, a summit bid will take 3-4 days with the climbers going to Camp 2 the first day where they will reevaluate the weather and conditions for proceeding. They can wait a couple days at Camp 2, but once they move up, the higher camps are very difficult to stay extra days in and would drain their supply of supplemental oxygen. So once they leave Camp 2, they will spend one night at Camp 3 and one short night at Camp 4 (26,000') on the South Col from where they'll wake to prepare for their summit climb around 10pm and leave camp around midnight. After the attempt, they would return for a night at the South Col or maybe descend to Camp 2. They'll spend a night at Camp 2 before descending to BC to end the climb.

—Erin Simonson, IMG

« May Dispatches • April Dispatches • Team Intro »