Irish Everest Expedition 2008

Website: www.everest2008.ie   Raising Money For: Fields Of Life Charity

Route: South East Ridge

Graham Kinch & Ian Taylor  If either one of them reaches the summit they will become the youngest Irish male to reach the highest point on earth

EXPEDITION NOW FINISHED

25th May: Irish climbers Graham Kinch (29) and Ian Taylor (29) today returned to Base Camp after 10 weeks climbing on Everest. Kinch was forced to turn around just above The Balcony at 8600m, finally giving in to a torn chest muscle that had plagued him for weeks. Taylor however went on to reach the summit (8850m) at 12:02am Irish time on Friday 23rd May. In doing so he has become the youngest Irish man and the first Kildareman to stand on the top of the world.

22nd May: The team have arrived at the South Col Camp. The main objective at the moment is rest, food and brewing tea - and of course reviewing the situation and finalising plans.

21st May: The team are now in Camp 3 on the Lhotse Face. They climbed well through the early hours of this morning, and were now settling into the routine of cooking, resting and drinking.

20th May: The team are currently in Camp 2. Today is a rest and ‘eat and hydrate as much as possible’ day. Tomorrow (21st) they plan to leave at 4am and ascend up to Camp 3.

18th May: The team intend to leave Base Camp at 2am Monday morning for the top. They will stop off at Camp 2 for the night. The day after (Tuesday 20th) will be a rest day. Then they head up for one night at Camp 3 on Wednesday 21st. Early the following morning they head for Camp 4 at and ten hours later on the evening of the 22nd May they hope to leave for the top and aim to be on the summit at 8am the following morning.

14th May: On Friday it was an early start from Base Camp straight up to Camp 2. They arrived at Camp 2 exhausted by the heat in the Western Cwm. Saturday was spent re-hydrating, relaxing and getting gear ready for the trip to Camp 3. Another early start on Sunday saw them make there way up to Camp 3. They reached Camp 3 at 8:45am. The afternoon was spent boiling water and resting. Monday 13th was a 7am departure for Camp 2. They reached Camp 2 by 9:45am. And spent most of the day resting. Tuesday 14th they left Camp 2 at 6:30am for the trek back down to Base Camp, arriving there by 10.00am. The plan now is to rest in Base Camp until the 19th (with a possible trip down the valley for R&R).

13th May: Last Friday the team departed Base Camp for Camp 2.

4th May: The team are hoping to go back up on a 6 day acclimatisation trip in the next 3 to 5 days, that will include a trip to Camp 3. They report that it has been snowing at Base Camp the last couple of days and is also a lot colder than usual.

1st May: Mount Everest has today been officially closed. The Nepalese side of Everest is closed for two days, May 1 and May 2, to allow the Olympic flame to reach the summit of the mountain – from the Chinese side. As with all the other expeditions here, we will wait for the all clear before going back up.

30th April: We descended back to base camp from camp 2 yesterday afternoon. That was there third acclimatization climb and it went well.

28th April: Today the team are currently heading up to Camp 2 for an overnight stop.

22nd April: After spending there first night at Camp 1 and returned to Base Camp, today they are heading back up to Camp 1 for a couple of nights before pushing on up to Camp 2.

18th April: The team have reached Camp 1 with the plan of staying here for the night before descending back to Base Camp tomorrow.

17th April: Having had a few restful days the team plan to head up to Camp 1 tomorrow, Friday 18th April, for the night.

15th April: Since arriving at Base Camp they have trekked to the summit of Kala Patar for views of Everest. Other times they have been busy sorting gear and have made a trip into the Khumbu Ice Fall.

11th April: The Irish team reached Base Camp earlier in the week