Everest | 2022 S Col-SE Ridge

A UK expedition to Everest in 2022 via S Col-SE Ridge, led by Phil Crampton. Summit reached on 12th May 2022. 10 members recorded.

Expedition Details

Field Value
ID 10806
Imported 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634
Expedition ID EVER22133
Peak ID EVER
Year 2022
Season 1
Host Country 1
Route 1 S Col-SE Ridge
Route 2 -
Route 3 -
Route 4 -
Nationality UK
Leaders Phil Crampton
Sponsor Expedition Himalaya Everest Expedition 2022
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 Finland, USA
Approach -
Basecamp Date -
Summit Date 2022-05-12
Summit Time -
Summit Days 0
Total Days 0
Termination Date -
Termination Reason 1
Termination Notes -
High Point (m) 8849
Traverse False
Ski False
Paraglide False
Camps 4
Fixed Rope (m) 0
Total Members 4
Summit Members 2
Member Deaths 0
Total Hired 10
Summit Hired 6
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(17/04,5350m),C1(01/05,6100m)),C2(02/05,6400m),C3(11/05,7100m)),C4(12/05,7950m),Smt(12-13/05)
Route Notes Note from David Ashley (from his Facebook page): Dave Ashley, June 5 Everest Summit Day!!! Breaking this down into a few posts. - Departure night, 12 May, and night climbing. - Morning, 13 May, up to the summit. - Summit! - Descent to Camp 4 So, here is a picture and my thoughts from summit departure night, Camp 4 on 12 May. We didn’t finish setting up our tent after climbing from Camp 3 to 4 until late in the day. Then after melting snow for water, drinking some tea, and having noodle soup and a dehydrated meal, finally laid down to rest around 6 pm. Nobody slept, too cold and it was 26,500 feet! Our thinking was to start early, get ahead of some larger groups and slower climbers, and be in top just after sunrise (after 5 am). So, we roused at 9 pm with just 3 hours of rest, and started gearing up for the very long summit climb and descent back to Camp 4. We were all still tired from the day’s climbing, with the longest and hardest day on the mountain in front of us. Getting out of the tent, I stumbled and fell, putting my hands out before me. Right onto a pile of crampons! Punctured my left hand below my thumb. Turned out to be just a minor injury treated with antibacterial ointment and a bandage, but would not heal due to our high elevation until I returned to Kathmandu. Annoying, not impacting the climb. Lucky. It was my only injury doing 2 months of trekking and climbing in Nepal. Still suffering from diarrhea, I loaded up on Imodium with the hopes I would make it up and down before needing to “go” again. With my pack, harness, and crampons on I finally looked around. Woah, LOTS of climbing teams seemed to have our idea! Up early, and now we are right into rush hour for starting the climb. Crap. Team Adventure Kidney’s plan was to stay together all the way up for safety reasons. Karma Gyalzen Sherpa, our lead guide and most experienced Everest climber, would be first and set the pace. I was next, followed by the other Everest summit first timer Sonam Sherpa. Finally Namgel Sherpa would bring up the rear. Both Karma and Namgel were carrying the additional oxygen tanks we would need for this trip. Like any good plan in the Death Zone, it fell apart in minutes. Suffering from sleep deprivation, Sonam started to drop back behind me with a zombie walk (falling asleep while standing up after every few steps). Other climbers behind us started to lose patience with the slow starting pace, and passed us on the realively flat ground at the start of the climb. Karma switched the order, putting Sonam up front and shaking the fixed rope line to regularly wake him up. Other Sherpas also tried to keep him awake as they passed, offering hugs and words of encouragement. After a few hours, Sonam hit an energy spurt and didn’t have any more sleep issues. However, Namgel was losing a battle with diarrhea. He had to pull to the side and “go” several times, falling back further and further behind us. Yet we were focused on the climb, and didn’t realize he was dropping back. So, by the time we were getting close to dawn we had separated from Namgel and our reserve oxygen supplies by quite a distance (and perhaps 30 minutes?). This will set the story for some drama on summit day morning covered in my next post! Dave Ashley, June 7 Mount Everest Summit day 4: Sunrise to just before the top. Also, a short summary of the few minutes spent on the summit. All of this is above 8000 meters, in the Death Zone. As the sky lightened in the East and we turned off our headlamps, a bluebird day greeted our eyes. Nearly at the highest point in the world, we had an almost unlimited 360 degree view. Amazing. Lucky us. Certainly my memory isn’t crystal clear from the 28,000+ foot elevation. But here is what I recall. A little lengthy, but this is the crux of the trip. So, much happened. Karma/Namgel/Sonam, correct me if the recall is not accurate. Karma Gyalzen Sherpa and I had stayed together climbing through the night. I am certain of that, as we took turns leading. We had to wait in long queues that formed at each technical section, as with only one fixed line there was risk to unclip and pass another climber. Most client climbers were also in groups of say 5-10, so we would have to had passed several to gain any advantage, else just be going as slow but stuck in the middle of a group. I could go faster for a few steps, but not enough to pass several people without having to stop and get my breathing rate back down again. So, like just about every other climber, we waited, smacked our hands and kicked the snow, trying to stay warm and focused. It was frustrating and disappointing to be in these lines on summit day. It seemed like every team started around 9-10 pm, no coordination or plan between lead guides was made at Camp 4. But, it was the only day like that out of 6 weeks on the mountain. No crowds on other days. I didn’t see Sonam Sherpa up ahead, and didn’t look back to see Namgel Sherpa. Didn’t know we were separated from our additional oxygen that Namgel was carrying, as he was delayed several times due to diarrhea on the way up. Each time he paused to “go”, more climbers passed him making his return to us next to impossible. My brain was not working well, just able to focus on stepping, working the rope, and self care. Didn’t even realize he was not right behind me. Had no idea how close Karma and I would come to disaster. Nearing the summit ridge, Karma and I stopped for some water and food. It was a short break for me, and another large and slow moving group was approaching from below. From what I remember, Karma had a damaged oxygen regulator. It had banged against a rock. So he was changing that out with a spare. He told me to go, and he would catch up. I entered the technical ridge leading up to and including Hillary Step. I was climbing alone for about 100 meters. On a large and relatively smooth rock, my crampons slipped and I fell. Still connected to the fixed line so no risk of falling over the edge (but lots of exposure here), I ended right next to another climber. A DEAD climber. Looked like from a prior year. Oh crap! I had forgotten to expect this on summit day. Between the fall and seeing my first dead climber, the Imodium and my bowel control "almost" failed. So close to having a wet mess in my pants, which could be life threading up here and certainly end my summit bid. But that’s not the real problem. You see, Karma was keeping tabs on my bottle oxygen supply carefully. Using a known flow rate and given time, he would know when I needed a fresh bottle. And that point was…right about now. I only had a few minutes of oxygen left, and had no idea it was low. Meanwhile Karma had gotten behind that group of slow climbers. On the summit ridge it is very difficult for anybody to pass. Yet, somehow he realized the time, that I needed more oxygen, and shot past that group. How was that possible??? I was still unaware, slowly approaching Hillary Step and the summit. Suddenly “Dave!” I could hear Karma’s voice even in the high winds. I stopped, looked back, and recognized Karma’s climbing suit. I waited. When Karma approached, he turned me 90 degrees to check my regulator pressure gauge. I saw his eyes go wide (under his oxygen mask, I could not see his face). He told me to sit down, I was out of air and he would get a new bottle. But…he didn’t have any full ones. Karma called Namgel on the radio. No answer. Again. No answer. FUCK!!! Karma stoped another passing Sherpa and asked to borrow a bottle. No surprise he was turned down, you are highly unlikely to find anybody with a extra bottle near the summit! Finally, Karma unscrewed his bottle and switched it with mine. “Let’s go!” he shouted. The slow group was catching back up, and now with many climbers heading down (and only one fixed line), we would be stuck waiting our turn up the Hillary Step for quite some time. We made it up the step and there was indeed a long line of climbers anxious to get down. They started right after we cleared the rope, keeping the large slow group waiting at the bottom for some time. We passed them and made fast time to the summit. Too fast, as I began to feel nauseous and my breathing was at a very high rate. Meanwhile Karma ran out of oxygen. He removed the face mask and just finished the climb…without oxygen!!!! Amazing. What a sacrifice to enable my summit opportunity. Heroic. Once in the top we found Sonam. Crazy too, he had carried a Ukulele up to the summit and was now playing it! There was a CROWD of climbers here, with most waiting patiently in line for a summit photo. I believe Karma did find a Sherpa with a partial bottle of oxygen here, and we had enough to eventually find Namgel. My plan was to get pictures with my summit banner and sponsor flags. But I felt terrible from the rapid finish to the summit, and managed to sit down and wave a few times. It wasn’t the way I had imagined spending a few precious minutes up here…but I felt an overwhelming need to get down and do so before another large group started down on the rope. Getting stuck in a traffic jam way up here is how other climbers have died. Keenly aware of that and now having seen bodies of two dead climbers, I abandoned plans of that “perfect” summit picture. My apologies to the many supporters and sponsors on those flags. I did get photos the next morning at Camp 4. It’s taken me weeks to process what happened on that climb. Hence the delay in sharing it here. Hopefully I captured the events correctly.
Accidents -
Achievement 1st kidney donor to summit Everest.
Agency Expedition Himalaya
Commercial Route True
Standard Route True
Primary Route False
Primary Member False
Primary Reference False
Primary ID -
Checksum 2463624
Year 2022
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
Philip James (Phil) Crampton M 1970 UK Leader Woodstock, New York Alpine guide Details Other expeditions
David Monroe Ashley M 1974 USA Climber Arlington, Virginia Retired military Details Other expeditions
Thomas Davies M 1959 USA Climber - - Details Other expeditions
Teemu Juho Suominen M 1979 Finland Climber - - Details Other expeditions
Dakipa Sherpa M 1988 Nepal H-A Worker Mahakulung, Solukhumbu 1st 8000er Details Other expeditions
Karma Gyalzen (Karma Gyalgen) Sherpa M 1988 Nepal H-A Worker Charwo, Sotang, Solukhumbu - Details Other expeditions
Pasang Nima Sherpa M 1974 Nepal H-A Worker Chaurikharka-2, Khumbu - Details Other expeditions
Pasang Wangchu (Pasang Ongchhu) Sherpa M 1987 Nepal H-A Worker Cheremy, Bung-9, Solukhumbu - Details Other expeditions
Phurba Sonam Sherpa M 1995 Nepal H-A Worker - - Details Other expeditions
Sonam Chhiring Sherpa M 1995 Nepal H-A Worker Waku-4, Solukhumbu - Details Other expeditions

References

3 recorded references.

Expedition ID Journal Author Title Publisher Citation Yak 94
EVER22133 - - https://thehimalayantimes.com/kathmandu/kidney-donor-us-army-veteran-sets-record-scaling-mt-everest - - -
EVER22133 - - https://www.altitudejunkies.com/dispatcheverest22.html?fbclid=IwAR1CzaE60O9OJBigaIpWwmlU2s68uy5gHD4ZBmXjBjzvXLuHcQypkIXd2N8 - - -
EVER22133 - - https://www.facebook.com/dave.ashley.338 - - -