Everest | 2010 S Col-SE Ridge

A UK expedition to Everest in 2010 via S Col-SE Ridge, led by Kenton Cool. Summit reached on 17th May 2010. 10 members recorded.

Expedition Details

Field Value
ID 7263
Imported 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634
Expedition ID EVER10157
Peak ID EVER
Year 2010
Season 1
Host Country 1
Route 1 S Col-SE Ridge
Route 2 -
Route 3 -
Route 4 -
Nationality UK
Leaders Kenton Cool
Sponsor Dream Guides Everest 2010
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 Australia, USA
Approach Pangboche
Basecamp Date 2010-04-14
Summit Date 2010-05-17
Summit Time 0630
Summit Days 33
Total Days 38
Termination Date 2010-05-22
Termination Reason 1
Termination Notes -
High Point (m) 8849
Traverse False
Ski False
Paraglide False
Camps 4
Fixed Rope (m) 0
Total Members 6
Summit Members 4
Member Deaths 0
Total Hired 6
Summit Hired 4
Hired Deaths 0
No Hired False
O2 Used True
O2 None False
O2 Climb True
O2 Descent True
O2 Sleep True
O2 Medical False
O2 Taken False
O2 Unknown False
Other Summits -
Campsites BC(14/04,5300m),C1(20/04,6000m),C2(26/04,6400m),C3(15/05,7300m),C4(16/05,8000m),Smt(17/05)
Route Notes Summit: 17th May by Cool & Dorje Gyalzen at 6:30 am, Claytor & Chewang Dorje at 9:30 am, Thurmer & Lhakpa at 10 am, Norris & Lhakpa Wangchu at 10:15 am. Summit team left C4 on 16th May at 9 pm. Cool was in front as he and Dorje Gyalzen were breaking trail for the rest of the team. The weather was clear and slightly windy. Everyone spent about 20 minutes on the summit. On the way down, Bonita Norris, who had become the youngest British woman to summit Everest, slipped at the Hillary Step and hurt her neck, which slowed her down. She was helped down initially by her Sherpa Lhakpa Wangchu and then by Rick Thurmer and Lhakpa Sherpa. Kenton sent six Sherpas back up, met Norris below the Balcony. They helped her down to the South Col, where they arrived at 2:30 am on 18th May. Cool thinks that there were no lasting problems following Norris injuries. After the summit, the team descended to C4, where they arrived between 9 am and 2 pm. The next day they descended to C2 and on 19th May they descended to BC. Gallaway reached 5700m on 20th April. He left the expedition early as he was suffering from Cheyne-Stoke breathing and could not sleep at night. Trott reached C3 on 15th May. She did not continue her summit bid as she was too slow and found the ascent from C2 to C3 too difficult. Oxygen: Cool from C3 to summit Norris from C3 to summit to BC All other members from C3 to summit to C3 Sherpas from C4 to summit to C4 Sherpas: Chewang Dorje, Pangboche, Khumbu, 17/4/81, Everest X3 Dorje Gyalzen, Pangboche, Khumbu, 16/7/82, Everest X4, Manaslu X1 Lhakpa Sherpa, Kerung-3, Solukhumbu, 1977, 1st 8000er Lhakpa Wangchu, Pangboche, Khumbu, 23/10/86 Everest X4 (summited again with Casserley on 25/5/2010) According to Himalayan Guides, these two Sherpas also summited with Cool. Waiting for confirmation from Kenton Cool Pemba Dorje, Pangboche, 36 yrs old, Everest with Todd in 2008 (summited with Saunders on 17 May) Tapchen Lama, Hatiya-3, Makalu-Barun, 28/08/1979, Everest in 2006 (unconfirmed, but summit recognized by Ministry for 25 May, with Casserley?) Bonita Norris' Account on her Website, posted on 21st May 2010 http://www.bonitanorris.com/pages/blog.htm The descent started smoothly, we got stuck behind some climbers literally sleeping on the path. People felt like they had done the job and now could rest- we were very aware that safety and relaxation only comes when you are back safety at camp 4. The Hillary step was busy- it was my turn to descend a short rock step; I did the normal - clipped in, took hold of the rope, and as best as I could - walked down the section of ice and rock. This is where my crampon must have slipped. The rope, which was anchored behind me, pulled me backwards and the next thing I knew I was face in some snow. At the time I felt fine - I was still on the path! Not in Tibet somewhere without a visa! 20 minutes later though, my neck and shoulders had seized up to such a point that I took one last step and a shooting pain went up my spine - it was so painful I yelped and Lhakpa stopped. He saw I was crying - but this time with pain. It was then I realised something was wrong - I must have pulled a muscle in my neck, maybe whiplash. I didn't know what it was, but moving was excruciating. We were in trouble. About an hour later and only a couple of hundred feet in distance made, Lhakpa and I stood back on the south summit in a total white out. Here I radioed Kenton and told him the situation - I had done something to my neck, I had plenty of oxygen but was going far too slow. I didn't think I could make it without extra help. Kenton got into action straight away. Thankfully he was back at C4 with the Sherpas and organised a "rescue" alongside Henry and Kami at base camp. As the sun set the first Sherpa came to greet us with more oxygen. Finally, about an hour below the balcony, another group of Sherpas arrived, from here on I don't remember much - apart from the pain of being dragged across ice and rock as the attempted to get me back to Camp 4 as quickly as possible. My neck was blinding with pain, but I remember having conversations with the Sherpas and thinking I felt OK bar the neck - I knew if I just let them do the job we would all be home safe. Before I knew it Kenton's headlight was glaring into my face, he had marched up the face again to ensure I was doing OK, and had bought others with him - including doctor from another team, just in case. After that I remember being at camp pretty quickly - hot tea being poured down my throat and down jackets and sleeping bags shoved onto me. Kenton and the team warmed me up - they were dreading to see my feet, thinking I might have frost damage. Thankfully all digits were in order, and I was passed out asleep from a 28-hour ascent of Everest as they sorted me into my spot in the tent. After that - all is blank. Sleep overwhelmed me like nothing before. I was safe, we were all safe. The warmth of the tent was intoxicating. I must have snored so loudly. I owe Kenton, the Sherpas and the rest of the team my life. Kenton Cool's account from his website posted on 20th May 2010 http://dream-guides.blogspot.com/2010/05/kathmandu.html Well were to start? It's been a truly amazing 7 days here at Everest, we have seen summits and a wee rescue as well. The most important thing is that the team is all down at BC again safe and sound with 4 summits for the western climbers and 4 for the Sherpa's as well. The team got to the top on the morning of May 17th, we all summited at different times. Kenton was the first to the top after breaking trail in deep snow from the balcony with Dorje. He was followed by Tom Claytor, then Rick Thurma and finally Bonita Norris at approx 10:30 am. It was a great day for summits with great views and little wind, a perfect summit day!! The only hiccup of the day came when Bonita slipped on the way down and hurt her back and neck. This slowed her descent up and in the end I (Kenton) and a Sherpa team had to lower her down the final slopes from the Balcony to the South Col. The team finally all got back to the South Col camp at 2 am after a pretty epic but ultimate safe descent from the top of the world. We are all now at BC with part of the team flying back to Kathmandu tomorrow via Chopper while the other half will help break down base camp and probably depart in a few days I'll write a full report when I have longer than just 5 mins to myself. Until then thanks to everyone Kenton and the Everest Team Article in The Observer 23rd May 2010 by Jamie Doward http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/may/23/bonita-norris-everest-mountaineering It was an act of physical courage and daring that made headlines, but dramatic new details of last week's successful attempt by a 22-year-old to become the youngest British woman to climb Everest reveal that it nearly ended in tragedy. First reports had suggested Bonita Norris, who climbed the world's highest peak on Monday, had suffered only a minor back injury during her descent. But the Observer has learned that Norris, a media studies graduate from Berkshire, could have died but for the efforts of the Sherpas and her support team, who carried her part of the way down the mountain after she temporarily lost the use of her legs in the "death zone." Few live to tell the tale of an incapacitating injury in the infamous stretch which starts at about 7500m above sea level and carries its dark nickname because no one can survive there for more than a few hours. "It was a huge day, not something I would want to do again," said Kenton Cool, the 36-year-old professional mountaineer whose climbing company helped Norris achieve her dream. "I do everything in my power to make sure people come back safe, but there is no such thing as a risk-free climb. I have lost an unbelievable amount of weight, my voice has almost gone, the feeling in the ends of my fingers suggest I have the early stages of frostbite. It's taken its toll on my body and it will take Bonita a little while to recover." The drama had started the previous day when, having achieved a near-textbook ascent and in high spirits, Norris slipped while coming down the mountain, sustaining whiplash. Unable to move, her legs quickly became frozen and she could not feel her toes – the first signs of frostbite. After several hours her Sherpa, Lhakpa, informed her support team via a radio link that her condition had become a major cause for concern and he feared she would be unable to come down from the mountain on her own. Extra Sherpas were sent up the mountain with oxygen, medical equipment, food and hot drinks as the support team farther down waited for further information. Cool decided to follow the Sherpas up the mountain escorted by a Maltese doctor, Greg Attard, despite the pair of them having descended from the summit only hours before. Around midnight – 12 hours after Norris's ascent – Cool found her. "I'm so sorry for causing you trouble," said Norris. "I slipped on my way down, it was really stupid of me." Cool said: "It was a shocking situation. She was lucid but semi-conscious. She recognised me straight away; that was amazing given how long she had been at altitude. But my initial reaction when I saw the way the Sherpas were banging her legs and giving her hot water was, 'Oh my God, she has severe frostbite'." He feared Norris might have some sort of respiratory problem caused by being at altitude for too long. "We sat her up, stripped her top off, cut a bit from her thermals," he said. "It was medicine on the edge." Attard injected 15 mgs of the steroid dexamethasone into her arm. "I'm so glad Greg was there," Cool said. "I've injected oranges in practice but never injected somebody for real in the dark at -20C, 8250m above sea level in the snow. It bloody well worked and got her on her feet." Lhakpa and another Sherpa, Dorje, had previously lowered Norris down a line of rope attached to the mountain from a section at 8,500m known as "the balcony." In the process they lost radio contact with the support team for around five hours as they descended a stretch of Everest close to the Tibetan-Chinese border. "They had bound her up, tied her legs together and lowered her down by her climbing harness because she was unable to walk," Cool said. "This is one of the most harrowing things I've experienced, but the one good thing was the emergency procedures worked really well. The Sherpas and support team were fantastic. It was a pretty precarious situation. One simple slip and they could have all been down the line. The Sherpas were laying everything on the line to get her back down." Norris could not be lowered further over the rough terrain that followed. Cool, whose voice was so hoarse from his efforts he had difficulty talking to the Observer, descended the mountain to fetch a sledge to drag her down. However, by the time he had returned, the injection had kicked in and Norris was able to move, albeit slowly and supported by Cool and the Sherpas. When Cool was able to examine Norris's toes in a tent farther down the mountain, he was relieved. "She's got some mild frostbite on two of her toes but when I first saw her I thought she was going to lose all her toes," he said. Norris was said to be in good spirits and had managed to drink a beer with some of her rescuers since returning to base camp. It was the end to an epic 48 hours on the world's highest mountain, much of it spent outside a tent and in the death zone. While the story is likely to raise the telegenic Norris's profile further when she returns to the UK some time in the next fortnight, after treatment in hospital, it is bound to reignite the debate about the merits of allowing relatively inexperienced climbers on Everest. About 60 people were climbing Everest the day Norris reached the summit. This weekend about 140 people are expected to attempt the climb. Cool was at pains to stress Norris was not a novice, having trained in the Alps and climbed Mount Manaslu in Nepal four months ago. But he conceded Everest was a "honeypot". "People flock here because it's easy to get sponsorship, kudos, recognition from peers," he said. "You do see more and more people here on Everest who I believe shouldn't be here. There are people here who have never worn crampons or a harness and think you can just spend thousands of dollars and that's it, but Bonita was not one of these people." Cool, who broke his own British record last week when he completed his eighth ascent of Everest, said the mountain's fame may have saved Norris's life. "It's a very safe mountain because the commercial teams here have the experience and the manpower to cope with emergencies so that a simple slip doesn't manifest itself in disaster." "But if it had happened on a really small mountain, perhaps she wouldn't be alive. I have lost 36 friends but not one on Everest."
Accidents Fall at Hillary Step by Norris
Achievement -
Agency Himalayan Guides
Commercial Route True
Standard Route True
Primary Route False
Primary Member False
Primary Reference False
Primary ID -
Checksum 2461664
Year 2010
Summit Success True
O2 Summary Used
Route (lowercase) s col-se ridge

Members

10 recorded members.

Name Sex Year of Birth Citizenship Status Residence Occupation
David M. P. Gallaway M 1945 UK Climber Portsmouth, Hampshire, England Attorney Details Other expeditions
Kenton Edward Cool M 1973 UK Leader Fairford, Gloucester, England Alpine guide Details Other expeditions
Thomas Ash Claytor M 1962 USA Climber Radnor, Pennslvania Bush pilot Details Other expeditions
Bonita Gina Norris F 1987 UK Climber Wokingham, Berkshire, England Disability assistant Details Other expeditions
Richard G. Thurmer M 1955 USA Climber Mukilteo, Washington Physician Details Other expeditions
Lynette Alison Trott F 1968 Australia Climber Coromandel Valley, SA, Australia Accountant Details Other expeditions
Chewang Dorje Sherpa M 1981 Nepal H-A Worker Pangboche, Khumbu - Details Other expeditions
Dorje Gyalzen Sherpa M 1982 Nepal H-A Worker Pangboche, Khumbu - Details Other expeditions
Lhakpa (Lhakpa Chhiring) Sherpa M 1976 Nepal H-A Worker Kerung-3, Solukhumbu - Details Other expeditions
Lhakpa Wangchu Sherpa M 1986 Nepal H-A Worker Pangboche, Khumbu - Details Other expeditions

References

0 recorded references.