Bad weather forces Everest team back to base

FEROCIOUS winds forced the Irish team hoping to scale Mount Everest to return to their base camp yesterday.

“They were jet stream winds, stronger than a hurricane,” team leader Pat Falvey said on satellite phone from the mountain.

“We were ready to got for the summit but the winds are still blasting Everest. They have been very strong over the past few days.

“The weather pattern this year is atypical, the winds are holding late and the forecasts are contradictory. Each of these factors makes a decision on when to go on more complicated.”

The team of two women and three men had been well rested and ready for their summit attempt after spending the past week lower down the mountain in the village of Lobuche.

They left there on Sunday, arriving at Base Camp the following day. Yesterday, they moved upwards again and had hoped to make fast progress over the next few days.

The winds have taken their toll on other teams hoping to scale Everest on the 50th anniversary year of the first successful attempt.

Ten climbers, including two sherpa guides from the French team, suffered frostbite and had to be taken by helicopter to Kathmandu yesterday.

“Bad weather is forecast until Friday and this will upset out plans for the summit,” said Mr Falvey.

The Irish team has until May 20 to reach the summit. There are so many teams on the mountain at the moment that, for safety reasons, each one is given a window in which to achieve their goal.

There is danger of overcrowding near the upper reaches of the mountain.

Mr Falvey said: “As the window starts to close, the dangers of bottlenecks are becoming more of a concern.

“We are now considering pushing through the route, as we have the strength to do this. At least that would put us on a par with the lead groups, which is where we’d prefer to be.”

The Irish team is still confident of getting to the summit.

Two members of the team, Clare O’Leary, 31, from Cork and Hannah Shields, 37, from Derry, hope to become the first Irish women to scale the world’s highest peak.

“Success or not, now we know we’ll be homeward bound in another 12 to 16 days,” said Mr Falvey.