Makalu Summit Bid Over

From stu in the usa office
25th May 10:50pm est (gmt -5)

Fabrizio called in from C4 where both he and Joelle were safely back in the tent after their summit bids. After only an hour or so for each of them the intense cold proved too severe and they were unable to keep their feet warm. Wisely they returned to the tent before running the very real and imminent risk of frostbite. After 3 nights at or above 7400m their bodies were simply unable to battle the cold sufficiently in the thin air.

Their plan was to warm up for a few hours and then break camp and head all the way to BC today. They have a few items top clear in C2 but else are going pretty light (not much fuel or food to slow them down!) so should be able to reach camp in time for a HUGE supper. Fabrizio ordered two diet cokes and a double order of fries and we hope they await them there! When they are safely back in BC we'll have more details of the summit push and plans for returning to Kathamndu.

We are really happy for all our team for the effort they made on on of the great peaks of our planet and congratulate them all. It will be hard to depart without a summit after so many weeks of enduring cold, wind and snow but the mountain will be awaiting them all for another day.

More news as we have it from our team!

stu