May 24, 2006 The 2006 Mount Everest season is winding down, with most teams achieving summits in the past weekend. But climbers still have a one-week window to push for the top before the May 31 cut-off date, which marks the start of monsoon season. While the 2006 season saw a number of deaths of well-known and well-respected mountaineers as well as controversies surrounding some of those deaths, it also witnessed hundreds of successful summits.

“Guided efforts had a good year, with almost all of them getting clients on top,” Gordon Janow of Alpine Ascents told Outside Online. “The north side, in particular, has seen survival rates increase tremendously. But, this May, the number of deaths really detracts from what is, overall, a successful season.”

Alpine Ascents saw a successful summit on May 20 with five of its clients reaching the top from the south side although one client had to abort his summit attempt.

In addition, quite a few successful attempts took place this past week. The Mountain-Link team saw several summits on May 20 and May 21 with three different teams summitting over the two-day period, according to Web site postings by team leader JJ Justman. The total count on top was ten team members. (Click here for an exclusive 20-second video clip (Windows Media) from the top of the world, provided by the Mountain Link team. )

Team Summit Climb saw several successful attempts over the weekend and into this week while Team No Limits, which saw two members abort their bids in earlier weeks, announced the summit of their last member, Doug Tuminello.

“Everyone is excited to hear that the last man left standing, Doug Tuminello, reached the summit,” Team No Limits spokesmanAmy McGhee announced to Outside Online. “Tuminello, now a one man show for the team, has taken the dream of Team No Limits to the top. We are absolutely thrilled.”

Not all teams were as successful. The British Army team, which was tackling the mountain’s west ridge, decided to abort the entire expedition after their first attempt ended in failure. “The conditions high up in the Hornbein Couloir are unlikely to change and there is still a very high risk of avalanche,” West Ridge Expedition leader Dave Bunting announced in a press release. “I have taken the difficult decision not to go for a second attempt. Knowing what I know now, I am not prepared to risk the lives of the climber by sending them back up in the Couloir which could avalanche at any time.”

The first summit of the season occurred on April 30 by a team of six Sherpas associated with Himalaya Expeditions (HIMEX). The team was fixing ropes on the north side when the summit occurred, according to a Himex news release.

The first summit of the season by a Westerner occurred last Wednesday, May 10. One of three climbers to reach the top that day, John Bagnulo, of the Summit Climb Expedition team, summited at 9 a.m. on the morning of May 10. He climbed from the north side with a partner, who did not complete the climb.

This year’s season was also marked by several firsts, including the first successful summit of a double amputee by Mark Inglis. Inglis, a climber with HIMEX, achieved Everest’s apex on May 15, according to his Web site, www.legsoneverest.com.

The first summit by a Philippine national also occurred, but disputes are underway of which climber reached the top first. Leo Oracion, climbing from the south side, stood on top of the world at 3:30 p.m. May 17, but another Philippine has claimed to have summited from the north some 24 hours before, according to unconfirmed reports.

Apa Sherpa, a local guide, reached the summit of Everest for a record-setting 16th time, according to the Himalayan Times. This May 19 summit comes roughly 16 years after his first ascent on May 10, 1990. Apa told the Associated Press that his wife does not want him to climb anymore, but the money earned from the climb, about $1,500, is extremely beneficial to his family.

Two impressive traverses were also accomplished from north base camp to south base camp. South Korean Park Young-Seok and his Sherpa, Serap Jangbu, completed a traverse on May 11.

“Mr. Park fell on the way down and I was very afraid, because at that point it takes two of you roped together to climb down,” Dawa Sherpa told the UK newspaper, The Independent. “There is no chance to climb down alone. If he was dead I was dead.”

To take it one step further, team Summit Climb witnessed one of its Sherpas, Dawa Sherpa, complete a solo speed traverse in 20 hours on May 22, according to the team’s website.

In total, the confirmed death toll has reached a reported nine so far this year. It began with an accident in the Khumbu Ice Fall on April 21st, which claimed the lives of three Sherpas while several other climbers succumbed to the altitude descending from successful attempts.

Brazilian Vitor Negrete, an accomplished mountaineer, summitted without oxygen on May 18, setting a national record. According to the Indo Asian News Service, one his way down, the solo Negrete became sick and was eventually found by his Sherpa. His Sherpa brought him to advance base camp where he passed away.

A controversy has also arisen over the death of British climber, David Sharp, who faced a fate similar to Negrete. According to Reuters, several climbing teams passed by Sharp, who appeared to be having difficulty, and offered no assistance.

“It think the whole attitude toward climbing Mount Everest has become rather horrifying,” Edmund Hillary told the New Zealand Herald. Hillary, in comments to the Associated Press, added that the commercialization of Everest should be blamed for the death of Sharp.

In addition, Tomas Olsson’s body was recovered on May 20 after he went missing in his attempt to ski the Norton Couloir on the north side, according to an announcement by his father on www.tomasolsson.com. Olsson fell while trying to rappel a rock section when his anchor broke loose. Olsson’s partner, Tormod Granheim, could not locate Olsson immediately after the fall and went back to advanced base camp for rescue assistance.

This year marks the tenth anniversary of the 1996 Everest disaster which, during a brutal storm in the month of May, claimed the lives of eight climbers, as reported by Jon Krakauer in his Outside article and subsequent book Into Thin Air. This season's deaths come during a year of reported comparatively good weather windows and climbing conditions, unlike 1996’s storm of the century.

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