Climbers Hit By Acute Mountain Sickness

I was able to speak to Everest Summiter Erwin 'Pastour' Emata at around 6:00 p.m. yesterday via satellite phone. He said the team is now resting and acclimatizing at Advanced Base Camp. They have slight headaches because of the altitude, but everyone is well. He said they will do some trekking later today to keep themselves active and help speed up the acclimatization process.

According to Pastour, the more than a thousand meter climb to ABC took a toll on some climbers. The team met some climbers yesterday going back down to the Chinese Base Camp, which is at around 5,000 meters, after they were hit by Acute Mountain Sickness. The only remedy for AMS is to go down to the altitude you last felt well at. Diamox and other drugs can only prevent you from getting it, but when you're hit, that's it -- you have to go down.

Pastour was also able to talk to other climbing teams at ABC. The news is that the fixed ropes on the south or Nepalese side of Everest have been set until Camp 3, which is at 7,200 meters. On the north or Tibetan side, where the team is, the route has been fixed until Camp 1 or the North Col, at 7,000 meters.

He also recounted that there is a team of Sherpanis climbing on the north side with an International team. The Pinay climbers have met them and the women hit it off really well.