The team of Dreher 24 Everest Expedition (2010) has deposited Camp 1 on the 18th of April. They have left the Advanced Base Camp at 5 a.m. but after an hour of climbing Konyi had stomach problems and turned back. Dávid reached the site of Camp 1 at 11 a.m., digged place for the tent and deposited it. He started to climb down at 1 p.m. and arrived back to the Advanced Base Camp at 3 p.m.

The Dreher 24 Everest Expedition (2010) will leave tomorrow! 
Because of the complication that occured at the airport, David and Konyi will start their journey to the Everest only tomorrow. Our team was at the airport from dawn, so the climbers decided that if they can't fly at an early time, they will rather sleep and start their adventure tomorrow, refreshed.

Thanks to our sponsors for making it possible that they could fly tomorrow!

And of course thanks to those who came to say good bye at that early time! :-)

Dr. Levente Szabó, the doctor of the Himalaya Expeditions has lost his life during the expedition.

While his team-mates, Zsolt Erőss and Daniel Barna reached the peak of the 8156 meter high Manaslu, Levente turned back because he was exhausted - during descending he slipped and fell 500 meters...

The Transylvanian doctor  - who was found by the team on the next day - was buried in Nepal, on the mountain, as the alpine habit.

Rest in peace!

The members of the EDGE 8000 - Event Horizon team offer condolences over the tragedy!

During the summer climbing season of 2009, within the confines of EDGE 8000 - Event Horizon, climbers of the Hungarian K2-GI Expedition - Zoltán Ács, Dávid Klein, Júlia Nedeczky, László Várkonyi and László Vörös - are preparing to reach the hardest and second highest point on Earth, the summit of K2 (8611 m), without supplementary oxygen, for the first time in the history of Hungarian climbing, and also to climb Gasherbrum I (8068 m).

The team of Pepsi Max Everest Expedition (2008) will arrive to Budapest on the 10th of June, to Ferihegy Airport 2A terminal.

The team will hold a small press conference at the airport, and we welcome everyone!
We ask the representatives of the media to register their wish to appear.

The team has arrived to Kathmandu on the 1st of June.
On the 31st of May they arrived to Lukla, and on the next they they flyed to Kathmandu.

Today they deponate their equipments to their local depos and use internet.

The team of the Pepsi Max Everest Expedition (2008) has left Camp 2 (6400 m) today to climb up to Camp 3.

Dávid Klein has reached the camp at 7300 meters. After a short time he had to realize that his physical conditions don't allow him to continue the summit attempt - his lungs hurt, has sore throat and has a temperature. He talked with doctor Vida (Vida Gábor M.D., who helped to the team during former expeditions), and he said that Dávid should climb lower to get better. So Dávid already returned to Camp 2.

László Várkonyi has also reached Camp 3 today, and he decided to stay. Dávid said Konyi will see if he can continue the summit attempt - at the moment it seems like he will.

The team has started the 4 day long climb to the summit - fortunately the weather forecasts from Hungary (10 m/s wind) promised less wind than the forecast from a foreign meteorologist (25 m/s wind) which made the team think about waiting with the summit attempt. But they decided that they can start the summit climb in 10 m/s wind.

Today Dávid climbed up to Camp 2 from 04:30 to 12:00. It's snowing at 6400 meters at the moment. In his message Dávid wrote Konyi is still climbing.

If everything goes as plannd, the team can reach the summit on the 27th of May.

The team of the Pepsi Max Everest Expedition (2008) has finished the acclimatization, and after a few resting days they can start the summit attempt. Dávid Klein is now in Gorak Shep, László Várkonyi is in the Base Camp.

Dávid Klein said: "We need at least 2 resting days - the 20th and 21st, maybe the 22nd of May. If we start to climb up to Camp 2 on the 23rd, we can start the summit attempt on the evening of the 25th of May from Camp 4. But might be that we would start to climb a day earlier, so the attempt could be on the 25th or 26th of May."

Today the team of the Pepsi Max Everest Expedition (2008) has left Camp 2 to reach Camp 3 and spend a night there. Dávid Klein has started climbing at 06:30 and reached the tent at 7200 meters at 10:30.

From Dávid's message we know that Konyi has also started climbing, but because of his stomach problems he turned back. Now he rests in Camp 2. Might be that he will also climb up to Camp 3 in the evening.

Today the team of the Pepsi Max Everest Expedition (2008) is resting in Camp 2. They are planning to climb up to Camp 3 tomorrow (16th), and they would like to build up Camp 4 on the 17th.

David said: "Our injuries and throats are all right. I can't tell we don't have a scar, but nothing serious, and now there is a small - maybe less than 2 weeks - period left when we have to concentrate our powers. Hopefuly on the day after tomorrow we will reach 8000 meters, that will be the first "8000-er" result of the expedition. I hope we can try the summit attempt in 9 days."

The team of the Pepsi Max Everest Expedition (2008) will move up to Camp 2 on the 13th of May. They plant to contiune building up the camps. Dávid Klein said they hope to build up Camp 3 and 4 in 5 days. If they can achieve this, the summit attemp could be around the 24th of May.

The team members of the Pepsi Max Everest Expedition (2008), Dávid Klein and László Várkonyi are now in Namche Bazaar, waiting for the end of the restrictions.

They will continue climbing after the Chinese torch bearers will finish on the other side of Everest.

Their plan for building up Camp 3 and 4:

The team members of the Pepsi Max Everest Expedition (2008), Dávid Klein and László Várkonyi are now in the Base Camp of Everest, Nepal.

Their plans for the expedition are the following:

Dávid Klein summarized the last week:

„On Tuesday, the 11th of March, 2008. I called Dawa, our agent in Kathmandu, and asked him, if he remembers, how the rooms are in Sherpa Guest House. He told me, the rooms are a bit dark, but clean. And that China is not restricting the mountainclimbers from climbing Everest, so we can’t climb from Tibet.”

We had three opportunities: to climb Everest from Nepal (which is more than two times more expensive), to go back in the autumn, or to choose an other 8000-er.

The expedition was saved by it’s biggest sponsor, Pepsi Max. They assured us, that they are standing beside us, and when it became clear, that we could climb from the south side, in an extraordinary way they more than doubled the sponsorship! So the Pepsi Max became our named sponsor.

The official name of our expedition is Pepsi Max Everest Expedition (2008).

THE LATEST DATA OF THE PEPSI MAX EVEREST EXPEDITION (2008):

• The team of the Pepsi Max Everest Expedition (2008) is ready to go to the Everest – to realize the first Hungarian “pure” ascent of Mount Everest!
• New departure: the team will be leaving from Budapest to Kathmandu (via Vienna and Delhi) on the 28th of March.
• New Route: the expedition will be climbing from Nepal, on the South Normal Route. From Kathmandu they will be flying to the Solo Khumbu Valleys, to Lukla (2840 m). From there it will take a week to reach the Base Camp (5300 m) of Everest, under the Khumbu Glacier.
From here they will build up 4 camps: C1 (6000 m, at the top of the Khumbu icefall), C2 (6400 m, at the right bank of the Khumbu Glacier), C3 (7300 m, at the middle of the Lhotse-wall), C4 (8000 m, South Col).

We got the following letter from the China Tibet Mountaineering Association:

Dear Clients:

Concern of heavy climbing activities crowded climbing routes and Increasing environmental pressures will cause potential safety problems in Qomolangma areas (included Mt. Cho-Oyu) in this Spring season, the limited capacity of reception in addition, we are not ability to accept your expedition, so please postponed your climbing project to after 10th May. For this please accept our deeply regret.

For other peaks, including Shisapangma will accordance with the normal operation, without any limitation on the time.

China Tibet Mountaineering Association

I have received the following letter from Ang Tshering Sherpa, founder of Asian Trekking and president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association. I'd like to share it with the visitors of this web page. (David Klein)

Dear Friends,

It is with a heavy heart that I wish you Namaste and offer my Greetings from Nepal …..

Sir Ed Hillary has begun his journey to the final summit of Life - a summit that we all would like to reach, but very few of us are able.

Sir Ed Hillary will always live in the hearts and memories of the thousands of Sherpas who know him. As a tribute I wish to share with you some parts of Sir Ed Hillary's life that has touched me and my family personally.

In the early 1960s Sir Ed Hillary was on one of his many journeys accompanied by his Sherpa friends.  While they were crossing a mountain pass, Sir Ed Hillary is said to have asked one of the Sherpas if there was anything he could do for the Sherpa people, what would it be?  The Sherpa friend immediately replied, "Burra Sahib" (Big Sahib), our children have eyes but they are blind and can not see. We want you to open their eyes by building a school.

In 1961 Sir Ed Hillary built the first school in Khumjung village with his own hands.

In 1964, he built Lukla airport opening a gate way to the Khumbu and to Everest and letting, not only the world know about the Sherpa people and their culture, but also showing the Sherpa people that there was a much bigger world beyond the Himalaya.

In 1966 he built the Khunde Hospital to provide free health services to all Nepalese.

And the list could go on.  But what I have said here touches my family - the Sherpa who asked for a school to be built was my father Konchok Chumbi.  My father accompanied Sir Ed Hillary when the Yeti scalp from Khumjung Gompa was taken around the world.

I was one of the first students to get admitted into Khumjung School and graduate from there.  If not for the vision of one man who stood above all - I would perhaps now be a man bowed by age and still carrying loads in my beloved Khumbu.

By coincidence, my son, Dawa Steven, was in Dingboche when he heard the news of Sir Ed Hillary's passing away.  He rushed down to Khumjung in one day and was fortunate to be able to share in the prayers offered by the people in Khumjung Gompa. I am sharing a few of the images, honoring the memory of a great human being. For the images, please visit www.astrek.com

My son, Dawa Steven, is dedicating his Eco Everest Expedition 2008 to the Vision of Sir Ed Hillary for the Khumbu and her people.

As President of the Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA) I have proposed naming one Himalayan peak and Lukla airport after Sir Ed Hillary.  I have also proposed that the Nepal Government initiate an International level award named after Sir Ed Hillary.

While I am deeply saddened, I feel joy that a soul like Sir Ed Hillary walked among us.

Until the next time we meet -

Sincerely,

Ang Tshering Sherpa