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The Braille Monitor, May 2001 Edition

The National

Federation of the Blind-Allegra 2001 Everest Expedition, with blind climber

Erik Weihenmayer as a member of the climbing team, reached base camp at 17,600

feet above sea level on April 6, 2001. During April and early May the team,

their Sherpas, and the support crew remaining at base camp have been organizing

equipment and preparing for the team's attempt to reach the summit. The team

and the Sherpas have carried necessary gear to the camps further up the mountain,

and the film crew have worked on their gear and have done what filming they

could. Pictured above is a bit of the Khumbu icefall near base camp. It is filled

with crevasses, seracs, and large and small blocks of ice that shift unpredictably.

The team must climb and reclimb through this ice field, scaling ice faces and

crossing crevasses on ladders, to reach the upper mountain. When everything

is ready in early May, the team will rest for a few days at a lower altitude

to gather strength for the final attempt. Then, perhaps with the full moon on

May 7, the ascent of the upper reaches will begin. In large part the timing

of the final stretch of the climb will depend on the weather. But the mountain

and nature willing, the team will attempt to summit Mt. Everest during the second

week of May. The mountain is 29,035 feet tall, and the region above 25,000 feet

is known as the death zone

because one

must use bottled oxygen in order to survive. Follow the expedition on <www.2001everest.com>.

This site had a quarter million hits between March 1 and the middle of April.

From the details of everyday life to climbing the tallest mountain in the world,

the National Federation of the Blind is changing what it means to be blind.

Mt. Everest in moonlight is pictured to the left.

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