Advancing The Science

National Geographic and North Face have announced the decision to abandon the planned ascent on the West Ridge of Everest due to bad conditions. Conrad Anker, head of the expedition, hopes to climb with the team going up the Southeast Ridge. That group will leave base camp on the 21st, hoping to summit on the 25th or 26th. Read the National Geographic news release. The climbing team continues to wear the monitoring devices from Mayo Clinic and data recorded and stored in their memory caches will provide our researchers with metrics from the ascent.

The Mayo team is resting and readjusting to sea level. Not everyone is back at work or on campus here yet. My colleague Joel Streed walked in this morning looking tan and ten pounds lighter. We’ll ask him to share his impressions here once he’s re-acclimated to the office.

One local news outlet managed to catch Dr. Johnson picking up gear shortly after the return.

Research is continuing on the Everest climb. Yes, the Mayo team is back in Minnesota, but now the data crunching begins as equipment is being retrieved via one shipping outlet  or another on its way back from Nepal. At least two manuscripts will be started almost immediately. Back on Everest, the climbers have a two-week window to attempt a summit before the weather changes. They continue to wear the monitoring systems and data is being recorded and stored for shipment back to the U.S.

Before departing base camp, Joel Streed recorded the reflections of three of the climbers — Hilaree O’ Neill, Emily Harrington, and Sam Elias — on what it’s like to be the focus of science.