Tag: Mount Everest

GCSAA CEO Rhett Evans completes 45-day journey to the top of Mount Everest

An amazing accomplishment.

Rhett Evans has reached the top of his profession as the CEO of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America. Last week he reached the top of another summit, Mount Everest.

Evans, a self-described fitness junkie and outdoor enthusiast in his social media bio, completed a 45-day journey to the summit and unfolded a GCSAA flag he carried with him to commemorate the occasion.

“There are certain places in the world where you can stand, that will change the way you look at things forever,” he wrote on social media. “Standing on top of the world at 29,035’ is one of those places! Onward.”

Mount Everest, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas with the China-Nepal border running across its summit point, is the highest mountain above sea level.

Evans documented his journey, which began on April 2, on social media. On Friday, Evans overcame several setbacks including an injury to his arm and an injury to his leg requiring a helicopter to airlift him for medical attention, to reach the summit at the “top of the world.”

According to Ed Several, the GCSAA’s chief marketing officer, Evans also wore GCSAA patches on his outerwear as “a symbol of taking all of the organization’s 20,300 plus members on his climb to recognize the incredible journey superintendents take every day in their essential role delivering a great day of golf for golfers around the world.”

Video footage shows before and after tragedy atop Mount Everest

A climbing guide atop Mt. Everest captured video of the crowded summit ridge before a cornice collapsed in a tragedy in which two went missing.

A climbing guide atop Mount Everest captured video of the crowded summit ridge before a cornice collapsed in a tragedy in which two climbers went missing.

A second video taken by the climbing guide, Vinayak Malla, and posted on Instagram showed the aftermath in which four climbers managed to self-rescue. The footage shows two of the four climbers scrambling to reach the safety of the ridge line.

Malla explained the situation in his post.

“The Everest summit ridge felt different than my previous experiences on the mountain,” Malla wrote. “There was soft snow, many cornices and rocky sections covered in snow. The weather station was even half buried in snow.

“After summiting, we crossed the Hillary Step, traffic was moving slowly then suddenly a cornice collapsed a few meters ahead of us. There was also a cornice under us.

“As the cornice collapsed, four climbers nearly perished yet were clipped onto the rope and self-rescued. Sadly, two climbers are still missing.”

From ExplorersWeb:

There is also little hope of finding Daniel Paul Peterson of the UK or his guide Pastenji Sherpa. The pair probably fell down the Kangchung Face of the mountain yesterday when the cornice they stepped on broke. Four other climbers were rescued in the incident, thanks to the fixed rope.

In a separate incident, Kenyan climber Joshua Cheruiyot Kirue’s body was discovered near the ridge between Hillary Step and the summit while his guide, Nawang Sherpa, remains missing, according to ExplorersWeb.

“Kirue is the third confirmed death on Everest this season, after Mongolian climbers Usukhjargal Tsedendamba and Prevsuren Lkhagvajav,” ExplorersWeb reported. “It is the fourth death if we count Romanian Gabriel Tabara, who passed away in his tent at Camp 3 while attempting Lhotse. All four dead climbers intended to summit without supplementary O2.”

ExplorersWeb also reported that Malla’s actions might have saved many lives.

“We tried to traverse, but it was impossible due to the traffic on the fixed line,” Malla explained in his Instagram post. “Many climbers were stuck in traffic and oxygen was running low. I was able to start breaking a new route for the descending traffic to begin moving slowly once again.”

Valla’s third video in his Instagram post shows the climbers passing after he repaired the route.

Malla and his two clients summited Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak at 29,029 feet, at 6 a.m. on Tuesday. The trio were back at Base Camp on Wednesday.

This all-Black American climbing expedition aims to be first to summit Mount Everest

The Full Circle Everest team is attempting to become the first all-Black American expedition to summit Mount Everest in the spring of 2022.

The Full Circle Everest team is attempting to become the first all-Black American expedition to summit Mount Everest in the spring of 2022.