The advance team takes a group photo before departure
By HowToTrip Correspondent Zou Jin and Staff Reporter Cao Zhikai, from Everest Base Camp, 13th. Today at around 13:00, the advance team of the Dadi Everest Expedition Team left Everest Base Camp and headed for the Advance Base Camp. Unless major unforeseen circumstances occur, they will descend together with the earlier-arrived supply team after a successful summit. The first “Everest appointment” for people from Wuhan has thus taken a crucial step forward.
The advance team consists of 10 members, including overall commander Dong Fan, as well as Zhou Yun, Li Lun, Chen Gang, Wang Bing, Chang Dandan, Chen Chen, Song Hong, Wu Dong, and Zhang Jiarong. Under normal circumstances, the final summit climbers will be selected from among them. Among them, several team members such as Dong Fan and Chen Chen are native Wuhanese. Unless major unforeseen circumstances occur, the footprints of Wuhan people will set foot on the world’s highest peak at 8844.43 meters for the first time.
According to the plan, the advance team will reach the transition camp at an altitude of 5800 meters in the afternoon. After resting for one night, they will arrive at the Advance Base Camp tomorrow afternoon. Here, they will stay for several days to rest and wait for a good weather window. The summit push depends solely on favorable weather.
Before the departure of the advance team, Professor Fu Anzhou, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of China University of Geosciences, along with a team of five people, arrived at the base camp with blessings from all teachers and students of the university to see off the brave climbers.
It is reported that Fu Anzhou and his team will stay at Everest Base Camp, waiting together with the camp staff for the triumphant return of the climbing heroes.
The expedition and scientific teams will carry out numerous research tasks on the mountain. One aspect is snow sample collection. Above the snow line, one bottle of snow samples will be collected every 100 meters, all the way to the summit. “These are for further research by the Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences,” said Chen Gang, leader of the scientific team.
Another important task is preparing to draw the Everest climbing route map (northern slope). For this climb, Chen Gang brought instruments related to China's independently developed Beidou Navigation Satellite System and the GPS Global Navigation Satellite System. “The instruments are carried by the climbing team members and will automatically collect coordinate data every 30 seconds. From Everest Base Camp at an altitude of 5200 meters to the summit of Everest at 8844.43 meters, the relevant data will help us accurately map the Everest climbing route,” Chen Gang said excitedly. “This has never been done in China before.” By HowToTrip Correspondent, from Everest Base Camp, 13th.
Overall Commander Dong Fan: Full Confidence in Summit Push
“Through adequate preparation in the early stage, I am full of confidence in making the summit push,” said Dong Fan, overall commander of the Dadi Everest Expedition Team, before setting off today.
Dong Fan stated that the next phase of the Everest climb will enter the most critical summiting stage.
“Tomorrow afternoon, the advance group will reach the transition camp at 5800 meters and rest for one night. The day after tomorrow, they will arrive at the Advance Base Camp at 6500 meters. They will rest there for about three days to adjust and prepare before the summit push. After that, we will choose the right opportunity to attempt the summit based on weather conditions,” he said. “Through adequate preparation in the early stage, I am full of confidence in making the summit push. Now it just depends on whether the weather cooperates.”