Everest | 2012 S Col-SE Ridge

A New Zealand expedition to Everest in 2012 via S Col-SE Ridge, led by Russell Brice. Summit reached on 29th April 2012. 31 members recorded.

Expedition Details

Field Value
ID 7564
Imported 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634
Expedition ID EVER12166
Peak ID EVER
Year 2012
Season 1
Host Country 1
Route 1 S Col-SE Ridge
Route 2 -
Route 3 -
Route 4 -
Nationality New Zealand
Leaders Russell Brice
Sponsor Himalayan Experience (Himex) Everest Expedition 2012
Success 1 False
Success 2 False
Success 3 False
Success 4 False
Ascent 1 -
Ascent 2 -
Ascent 3 -
Ascent 4 -
Claimed False
Disputed False
Countries Australia, Ecuador, France, Latvia, Mexico, Norway, Russia, UK, USA
Approach -
Basecamp Date 2012-04-09
Summit Date 2012-04-29
Summit Time -
Summit Days 20
Total Days 28
Termination Date 2012-05-07
Termination Reason 5
Termination Notes Abandoned at 7250m due to unsafe conditions in icefall and Lhotse Face
High Point (m) 7250
Traverse False
Ski False
Paraglide False
Camps 2
Fixed Rope (m) 7000
Total Members 30
Summit Members 0
Member Deaths 0
Total Hired 30
Summit Hired 0
Hired Deaths 1
No Hired False
O2 Used False
O2 None True
O2 Climb False
O2 Descent False
O2 Sleep False
O2 Medical False
O2 Taken True
O2 Unknown False
Other Summits Climbed Lobuche East by all members
Campsites BC(09/04,5267m),C1(26/04,6100m),C2(26/04,6480m),xxx.Mbrs(29/04,6600m),xxx.Sherpas(7250m)
Route Notes BC at lowest of the BCs C1 by 3 members only: Avila, Doyle & Jones C2 by all other members High point at bergschrund at foot of Lhotse Face. After occupying BC on 9 April, the expedition went to climb nearby Lobuche East. They made their BC for this climb 15 minutes before Lobuche village on 14 April, a high camp on the 15th, summited by all members except Brown on the 16th, and back to Everest BC. Still in their acclimatization period, the team returned to Lobuche East without a high camp, summited by all members on the 18th, remained on the summit for two nights, and went back to Everest BC on 20 April. The expedition's C2 in the Western Cwm, near the foot of the West Face of Lhotse, was occupied on 26 April. For further acclimatization, on the morning of 29 April all members walked over to the bergschrund, the deep crevasse between the floor of the Western Cwm and the foot of Lhotse's West Face, at an altitude of about 6600m. They returned to BC on 1 May. 6600m turned out to be the member's high point: on 5 May, the leader, Russell Brice, cancelled the expedition. In a statement explaining this dramatic move, Brice said: "Already at the beginning of the season, the Sherpas were saying that it was too warm when they were setting up base camp. They were working in T-shirts." "Our Sherpas continuously reported that the Icefall is more dangerous and the 'popcorn area' is more active this year. They were not worried about taking the risk but they were very aware of the increased hazards." "In 2011, the risk of the looming seracs on the west ridge was more acceptable as the debris fell into the bergschrund, a crevasse between the glacier and the mountain. Then we were about 100m away from where debris was falling. However, this year the bergschrund is filled and there is no protection at all. The route has dropped off and now we are only 25m to 30m away from debris, which is constantly covering the route." "We timed our guide Adrian (Ballinger), who is incredibly fast, and it took him 22 minutes from the beginning to the end of the danger zone. For the Sherpas carrying heavy loads it took 30 minutes and most of our members took between 45 minutes and one hour to walk underneath this dangerous cliff. In my opinion, this is far too long to be exposed to such a danger, and when I see around 50 people moving underneath the cliff at one time, it scares me." "When we first arrived at base camp at the beginning of April, the crack in the ice block on the west ridge was pretty small, now it is probably between five and seven meters wide. This means that the pressure within the ice blocks is huge. So far, we only had small pieces come down. However, there is certainly the potential for a huge collapse, which could kill and injure a large number of people." "We have been recording the temperature at 2 am, when the Sherpas are usually leaving to go through the Icefall. There have only been a few days when it was colder than -10 C, which is unusual and not really cold enough to be moving through the Icefall." "Now it is only the beginning of May and lakes are forming at base camp. Today, on 8th May, it is as warm as it normally is at the end of the season, and it will only get warmer, which means the danger in the Icefall will increase." "There is not only the potential of something happening when we go up but also when we come down. First we have to get the clients through the Icefall at the end of the expedition and then our Sherpas will have to work for another few days to clear the mountain. This decision is not only about the situation on the mountain tomorrow but about the conditions in the near future." "We had a close call in an avalanche about one week ago. Two of our clients and a guide had a near miss in the avalanche that came down from Nuptse. We normally do not see such massive ice cliff coming down from Nuptse, and we were very lucky that the two clients decided to stay at C1 that day and not carry on to C2. This was one of the early warning signs." "The rockfall of the Lhotse face has also been a huge danger to everyone. We have seen quite a few accidents caused by the falling rocks. The reason is the very dry season this year, and even though we have had a bit of snowfall higher up, it had not improved the situation much. A few more warm days like today in combination with big gust of wind and we will see these rocks flying again." "When you add all these things together, the danger is certainly past my parameters. There are just too many indicators, such as the big ice cliff that fell into the lake in the Annapurna region and caused the floods, that the weather is just not right this season." One member, David McGrain, had already canceled his climb. He had decided that Everest and the Khumbu Icefall were not for him. The expedition actually experienced no accidents in its final days. All members and Sherpas got off the mountain safely except for one Sherpa, Dawa Tenzing from Phortse, who had collapsed on 1 May while descending from C2. He was evacuated from C1 and died of stroke in a Kathmandu hospital soon afterwards. The high points for the Sherpas was 7250m, where they had pitched C3 on the west face of Lhotse on 27 April. The camp was never occupied by members, and on 8 May it was dismantled and the gear removed by Sherpas. Sherpa fatality: Dawa Tenzing Sherpa, 22/7/70, Phortse, Everest X4, Cho Oyu X2
Accidents -
Achievement -
Agency Mountain Experience
Commercial Route True
Standard Route True
Primary Route False
Primary Member False
Primary Reference False
Primary ID -
Checksum 2462469
Year 2012
Summit Success False
O2 Summary None
Route (lowercase) s col-se ridge

Members

31 recorded members.

Name Sex Year of Birth Citizenship Status Residence Occupation
Amanda Louise Jones F 1956 Australia Climber Manly, NSW, Australia Executive Details Other expeditions
Kristine Kravcova F 1982 Latvia Climber Riga, Latvia Attorney Details Other expeditions
Francis William Atkinson M 1981 UK Climber Ashley, Tetbury, Gloucester, England Soldier Details Other expeditions
Jaime Enrique Avila Velez M 1966 Ecuador Climber Conocoto, Quito, Ecuador Alpine guide Details Other expeditions
Adrian John Ballinger M 1976 UK Deputy Leader Carnelian Bay, California Alpine guide Details Other expeditions
Sergei Baranov M 1969 Russia Climber Moscow, Russia Business manager Details Other expeditions
Russell Reginald Brice M 1952 New Zealand Leader Argentiere, Haute-Savoie, France Alpine guide Details Other expeditions
Jeffrey Geldert Brown M 1963 USA Climber Tampa, Florida Attorney Details Other expeditions
John David Burns M 1963 USA Climber Guangchang, Jiangxi, China Business manager Details Other expeditions
John Sloan Carney M 1963 USA Climber Alexandria, Virginia Company owner Details Other expeditions
Robert Henry Moffett Chaplin M 1963 UK Climber Edinburgh, Scotland Banker Details Other expeditions
Ann Cecilia (Annie) Doyle F 1959 New Zealand Climber Manly, NSW, Australia Finance director Details Other expeditions
Alexis Girardet M 1959 New Zealand Climber Tintern, Monmouth, Wales Director Details Other expeditions
Pierre Yves Marie Godof M 1972 France Climber Daventry, Northampton, England Engineer Details Other expeditions
Bruce Graeme Hasler M 1976 New Zealand Deputy Leader Queenstown, New Zealand Alpine guide Details Other expeditions
Martin Joseph Hewitt M 1980 UK Climber Wilmslow, Cheshire, England Soldier Details Other expeditions
Karl James Hinett M 1987 UK Climber Tipton, W Midlands, England Soldier Details Other expeditions
Joseph Anthony Martinet M 1975 USA Climber Reston, Virginia Engineer Details Other expeditions
David Marshall McGrain M 1963 USA Climber Austin, Texas Real estate business Details Other expeditions
Petter Linden Nyquist M 1978 Norway Climber Kolsaas, Norway Cameraman Details Other expeditions
Gregory Scott Paul M 1954 USA Climber Alpine, Utah Business owner Details Other expeditions
Javier Perez Olagaray Nogal M 1981 Mexico Climber Mexico City, Mexico Economist Details Other expeditions
Hector Sanchez Torres Lebrija M 1963 Mexico Climber Mexico City, Mexico Tax attorney Details Other expeditions
Mark Derek William Slatter M 1962 UK Climber London, England Property developer Details Other expeditions
Voldemars Spruzs M 1958 Latvia Climber Riga, Latvia Real estate agent Details Other expeditions
Harold Christopher (Harry) Taylor M 1958 UK Deputy Leader Argentiere, Haute-Savoie, France Alpine guide Details Other expeditions
Jaco-Albert Van Gass M 1986 UK/S Africa Climber London, England Soldier Details Other expeditions
Brian David Warren M 1981 USA Climber Jackson, Wyoming Alpine guide Details Other expeditions
David Michael Wiseman M 1982 UK Climber Catterick Garrison, N Yorkshire, England Soldier Details Other expeditions
Mark Wynton Woodward M 1963 New Zealand Deputy Leader Queenstown, New Zealand Alpine guide Details Other expeditions
Dawa Tenzing (Da Tenzing) Sherpa M 1970 Nepal H-A Worker Phortse, Khumbu - Details Other expeditions

References

1 recorded references.

Expedition ID Journal Author Title Publisher Citation Yak 94
EVER12166 - - http://himalayanexperience.com/newsletters/everest-south-2012 - - -