Everest | 2005 N Col-NE Ridge

A Czech Republic expedition to Everest in 2005 via N Col-NE Ridge, led by Pavel Trcala. Summit reached on 30th May 2005. 1 members recorded.

Expedition Details

Field Value
ID 4899
Imported 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634
Expedition ID EVER05114
Peak ID EVER
Year 2005
Season 1
Host Country 2
Route 1 N Col-NE Ridge
Route 2 -
Route 3 -
Route 4 -
Nationality Czech Republic
Leaders Pavel Trcala
Sponsor Independent climber
Success 1 True
Success 2 False
Success 3 False
Success 4 False
Ascent 1 -
Ascent 2 -
Ascent 3 -
Ascent 4 -
Claimed False
Disputed False
Countries -
Approach -
Basecamp Date 2005-04-27
Summit Date 2005-05-30
Summit Time -
Summit Days 33
Total Days 35
Termination Date 2005-06-01
Termination Reason 1
Termination Notes -
High Point (m) 8849
Traverse False
Ski False
Paraglide False
Camps 2
Fixed Rope (m) 0
Total Members 1
Summit Members 1
Member Deaths 0
Total Hired 1
Summit Hired 0
Hired Deaths 0
No Hired False
O2 Used True
O2 None False
O2 Climb True
O2 Descent False
O2 Sleep False
O2 Medical False
O2 Taken False
O2 Unknown False
Other Summits -
Campsites BC(27/04,6400m),ABC(01/05,7000m),C1(06/05,7000m),C2(28/05,7700m),C3(29/05,8300m),Smt(30/05)
Route Notes Email to Miss Hawley - June 21, 2005 Our ABC was at 6400m between the Monterosa Treks and Seven Summits camps. I used some of the English oxygen between on the way (second time-first time was just skiing without oxygen) from C1 and C2. Then I slept without oxygen at C2, but I climbed with the English oxygen next day. At C3 I found the Russian oxygen. The English oxygen regulator froze or it became malfunctioning between C3 (8300m) and the ridge. Unknowingly I climbed on the ridge with not functioning oxygen. Luckily, on the ridge I switched for the Russian type and continued. Maybe there was not enough pressure, or that regulator was leaking. I was using it on limited flow, but it ran out on my way down. It must have been somewhere around the steps. Maybe it was empty when I fell. At 8600m I fell after making all the steps on the ridge. The slope was not vertical, but it was very steep. I would guess that I fell when I was in the middle of the rope, maybe five meters on each side. Letter to Chinese Ambassador from Pavel Trcala I was invited to join our expedition as a support climber. My acclimatization went very well and I felt strong. Another of our climbers, with permit to climb to the summit, experienced health problems and had to return home before climbing beyond the Advanced BC. Later a fellow climber, who was filming a document for the Polish National Television, asked me for help. He had his professional camera high on the mountain in C2, but he himself had to return to the BC, because of altitude sickness. As the camera contained priceless footage of one of the most beautiful mountains in the world he asked me if I could try to find it and bring it down for him. I was feeling well and I wanted to help my friend as well. I recovered the camera and reached C3 at 8300m. After a long thought, I decided to continue and attempt for the summit. My spontaneous decision was motivated by my love for mountains and not by any commercial of publicity aspects. Considering how high I was on the mountains, I accepted this life opportunity. I understand that I have acted against the regulations, but humans act emotionally at this extreme altitude. It had been my childhood dream to climb your highest mountain, but this year I wanted to come below Chomolongma only to learn more about it. I planned to participate as a summit climber later in life. I would have never imagined that I would have the chance to achieve my childhood dream at the young age of 27. I am fully aware that, by climbing to the summit, I broke regulations of your beautiful Chomolongma National Park. I am honestly ashamed and I would like to full heartedly apologize and find a solution for my trespasses. In order to show my sincere regret, I am ready to volunteer my assistance in your next cleaning expedition or in your European tourism promotion campaign. China is a global sport leader and I would not like to stand out as a negative example in mountaineering and sports in general. Email from Pavel Trcala to Miss Hawley - 20 June 2005 The media here in the Czech Republic are full of my story every day. I am being portrayed as a hero to the amateur climbers. On the other hand, I am being portrayed as a "villain" by a small group of professional climbers. These three or four climbers started a really agressive media campaign against me. I understand they are upset about my unauthorized climb and I am trying to do everything I can to apologize and rectify my actions. But now they are saying that I never reached the summit and I just want to be famous. They say that I am cheating and my summit photos were done by a laughable montage. It is interesting to note that these are voices of the climbers, who tried, but never reached the summit themselves. I do not need to prove anything to anybody. The important thing is to find a solution to my situation regarding my unauthorized climb. However, out of respect to my parents, who live here, I need to clear my name. The media look for sensations. It is not easy for them to see their son portrayed as a liar in national media. I am sure you understand that this is a difficult situation for them. I will be trying to show proofs of evidence of my climb at the press conference on Wednesday in Prague. Estimating by the information on Everest News, I believe that Mr Scott Wazny is the climber who took my pictures, it would be really helpful to have a brief witness statement from him. I am being accused that it is impossible to be on top of Everest in a fleece jacket and without gloves. It would also be very nice of you to provide a short note stating that summit pictures in a fleece jacket and without gloves are possible and have been done before. Czech Everest, Spring 2005, Pavel Trcala - 8 June 2005 Russian climbers Alexander Abramov, Nicolai Cherny and Andrei Selivanov (expedition doctor): Cherny met Trcala on 30 May at 8700m as Trcala was going up for the summit and Cherny was coming down from it. Cherny was suprised to see him there because he understood that Trcala had a permit to go only to the North Col. (Trekking agent Pasang Dawa, Sherpa of Nepal Trans- Himalayan Explorers said 8 June Trcala's permit was for advance base camp only -- he was a member of a trekking group associated with the Czech-Ukrainian Everest expedition led by Josef Kubicek). Cherny saw him again when he had returned to C3 after dark and was looking for a tent to sleep in since he had none of his own. Trcala spent the night in another team's unoccupied tent. Trcala had an eye problem and asked Sherpas with a Japanese team to take him to the Russian doctor. Selivanov said he was suffering from snowblindness and Trcala merely pretended not to know about this affliction. It had been snowing steadily during his descent and he had taken off his dark glasses so he could see better while climbing down. The Russians kitchen boy carried Trcala's backpack for him during his last night on the mountain in his hurry to reach base camp and catch a departing Jeep. (He got there too late). Cherny thinks Trcala did reach the summit: Trcala was in good condition; it was snowing but that presented no problem about orientation, and the elapsed time between his own meetings with Trcala on 30 May was consistent with his having summited. He had gotten well acclimatized from several climbs to the North Col. He "had all the possibilities" to have have reached the summit, and Cherny, Abramov and Selivano don't believe he would make a false claim. They definitely believe his summit claim. They all agreed that Trcala is not entire sane. "He is too emotional," said Abramov. "But he is certainly sane enough to know where was on the mountain." Trcala had skis with him and on 26th May Sergei Bershov and Igor Svergun of the Czech-Ukrainian expedition agreed to go with him from advance base camp to the North Col to take pictures of him skiing down from 7500m. Trcala had no skis with him higher on the mountain. Email to Miss Hawley from Pavel - 10 June 2005 I arrived in KTM on the 21st of April. AFter the drive and several days in the Tingri, I believe we reached the BC around 27th of April. The dates on which you first slept in advance base camp and in each higher camp. After few days hiking up around BC, we left for ABC on the 1st of May, I spent the entire month until the 31st in the ABC or higher. My collegues went down to BC for rest two times but had me watch the ABC camp and did not take me down. I only wnet up to C1 once before the summit attempt. Initially, I only planned to ski from the snowline (7500m) so I did not think it was necessary to do more acclimatization trips up, I spent only one night at C1 around the 5th of May. In the free time I went snowkiting on the glacier. I am really into kite-surfing and snow-kiting. These are sports when you ride on the water or snow and you have a big kite, like a parachute, pulling you. I wanted to set a record and be the highest to practice this sport. I believe I set the world record snowkiting at 6500m. C1 (North Col around 7000m) C2 (7700m) C3 (8300m) We had our own tents in all camps. In C1, my collegues went up and I went skiing on the snowy part between C1 and C2. I skied and then stashed my skis high so I would not have to carry them again the next day. I also first met Gerlinde climbing up from the other side. At North Col I met my Polish friend Przemek (he let others call him Andy because of the difficult pronunciation of his name). He was very weak and needed to go down. But he had to take a tent, which was all frozen in. I felt strong and got the tent out of the ice for him. Przemek is a professional film maker and he had his expensive camera up on the mountain. The Sherpas wanted a thousand dollars to bring it down. He said that if I can bring it down, I can have his oxygen. This was my big chance. Next day I went to C2 at 7700m. I cooked and slept and I was feeling well. I reached C3 pretty early in the afternoon on the 29th. I cooked and rested. I planned to leave aournd 10 pm, but suddenly my torch stopped working. I tried to fix it or get another but with no success. I got delayed and I left C3 around midnight. In the end I had to go without a light. But my real problem was the summit oxygen. Unknowingly, I climbed to the ridge without functioning. My friend doctor Julian Thompson was coming behind and saw me. He said I was having cerebral edema and should return. I said I would just try a little bit to the ridge. I was extremely slow and reached the ridge at sunrise. I knew about the potential problems with summit and I also had the Poisk in my backpack. I switched the oxygen and became a new man. Suddenly I could breathe well and accelerated my ascent. I even passed some people and reached the summit. I believe around 11 am (Peking time) on the 30th of May. I had beautiful weather; I could even take off my down jacket and gloves for the summit picture. There was a big group of I believe Korean climbers and I also met one guide who said it was his forth or fifth time. He said he was with an Argentinean group but he sounded American. Another American climber took my pictures and I took his with a sign saying something about a Middle School in Oregon. I told him that Oregon was my favorite state, because I skied and surfed there in one day. They all climbed from Nepal. But the weather got really bad on the descent. Just after summiting, I met again the one Indian climber with Sherpa at the end of the ropes. They asked me how much more and I said about twenty minutes. They went for it it. I learned that only the Sherpa came back. Climbing down, my vision was bad and it was very cloudy and snowing hard. There are many ropes I accidently clicked into an older one. Going in crampons on the rocks with snow, I slipped and fell. The rope broke. I held the rope with both hands for extra safety but my right hand slipped. I was weak, so only God gave me the extra strength in my left hand, which gripped the rope and prevented the involuntary ten thousand foot toboggan ride. On the descent I had very little oxygen. The Russian bottles were not full or the regulator was slowly leaking. I used it at minimum level or not at all. I had no Sherpa. Our yaks came a week early by mistake. We had to send our camp down along with the Sherpas already on May 26th. I was supposed to be the Sherpa for my collegues, but then I could not see well and had to pay somebody to take my backpack. I was also bringing back the heavy professional camera, which I got it in exchange for the oxygen from my Polish friend. I just had a thorough check and test yesterday and according to the doctor, I had snow blindness. The doctor here at home said I was lucky that I was generally very healthy and my body healed it alone with no permanent damage. Now that I remember, I maybe had first symptoms already on the 29th, but the worst pain came during the descent on May 30th. I have to say first that it was a result of my ignorance and carelessness. My mask was too big and the goggles did not fit. They were fogging up all the time. So when it was not sunny, I just put them on my forehead to see. Not considering that the dangerous UV rays get through the fog and reflect off the snow. Subsequently, the night after my summit day at 8300m was the worst night of my life. Being cold was Ok, being the the whole night without oxygen was Ok, but eyes would not stop hurting for one second. I cried and probably bother other climberes for help or some drops, but nobody would get out of the tent. I cannot blame anybody, because it was snowing hard and wind was extremely strong. With first indication of day break I cooked soup and left early as possible. Nobody helped me with my eyes, but then Gerlinde from Austria appeared like a good princess from fairy tale at 7900m. My vision was so blurry, I could not recognize her, but she told me to lay down and quickly got her drops. It was better for about half hour. But then I had to ski. Luckily I already skied the run before during my one day wait on the North Col, so I knew what to expect. Plus I clicked in for safety. I used to race skiing, but this was the worst style I ever showed on the slopes. But better lame and safe than cool and sorry. At North Col, the Indians were very nice to me like always and gave me food and more eye drops. I also taped my goggles, so there would be as little light as possible. I was wearing one pair of small goggles under a big pair of skiing goggles. In ABC Julian Thompson diagnosed me right away and treated me. He said it would heal. I was really scared: my mom teaches blind children and I could see all the potential danger. Andrej, the doctor from Seven Summits also helped me. I arrived in ABC on the evening of May 31st. The car was leaving from BC on June 1st at 7 am. I told my collegues that I would be there. One Tibetan kitchen boy was going down that night and for hundred dollars he lead me down to ABC. The blind walk was harder than I thought. Seeing was hard, but holding the hand of the kitchen boy, I somehow adjusted. The problem was that I had not slept for many nights and so I was just falling asleep in the middle of walking. I somehow suppressed my tiredness and we were making good time and the kitchen boy wanted to say hello to his friend in Middle Camp. He was talking and talking and I fell asleep. I woke up two hours later and he was still talking to his friend. We had to rush. The walk was somewhat emotional. There was a special bond that developed between us and the boy held my hand at the end even in the flat part. He was watching over me. Eventually, we made it to BC exactly on time for the car, only to learn that my group left a half hour before schedule and put other passengers into my place. They also did not think I would need money or passport. All that was simply left in my luggage and taken away. So here I was, blind, without passport and money 5000 km from a Beijing embassy in a country where travel without money or passport is not exactly recommended. I paid the kitchen boy, returned the camera, and all I was left with was my summit day outfit. I was thankful for a breakfast at the Serbian expedition and the officer was nice enough to call Tingri to them to wait for me. My sight was still bad and I think he wanted to help me. Suddenly he said he will take me there. We hopped in a car going to the border. But there we were told that they did not wait for me. After all, they filled up the car with others, so they had no room for me. They raced me all the way to the border. Again, my Guardian Angel was working overtime. My group was just crossing when we arrived. Five more minutes and I would be ready for "Seven Years in Tibet." But God wanted me to go home and it all worked out. I arrived at home on the same day with my sister, who just graduated from college, so our parents can be double proud. I was told that I am historically the fifth Czech to climb Everest. I also skied and set the record in snow-kiting. I am extremely happy and also lucky. I guess it is kind of unfair when you think other climbers have sponsors and spend fortunes and then have bad luck. To describe my success, luck is not a strong word, I can only say God's Providence was on my side. My parents are happy I am safe at home. They followed the other Czech groups on the internet and saw their big sponsors, best equipment, internet reporting... My parents are amused and cannot believe that I made it in the old jacket from my dad and borrowed boots, crampons, pants from my friends. In fact I still cannot believe it myself. Now I will spend some time with my sister and my parents and then I have to find a job.
Accidents Snowblindness
Achievement -
Agency Nepal Trans Himalayan Explorer
Commercial Route True
Standard Route True
Primary Route False
Primary Member False
Primary Reference False
Primary ID -
Checksum 2459666
Year 2005
Summit Success True
O2 Summary Used
Route (lowercase) n col-ne ridge

Members

1 recorded members.

Name Sex Year of Birth Citizenship Status Residence Occupation
Pavel Trcala M 1978 Czech Republic Leader Brno, Czech Republic Student Details Other expeditions

References

0 recorded references.