Everest. Ours was the first Everest expedition to consist solely of climbers from the Northeast of North America. We were Mark Richey, climbing leader, Marc Chavin, Barry Rugo, Gary Scott, Dr. Michael Sinclair, Dr. Richard St. Onge, Québecois Yves La Forest and I as expedition leader. We arrived at Base Camp on March 20. During April and the early part of May, working with the All Sherpa Expedition, we established four camps on the mountain, the highest on the South Col. On May 2, Rugo, Richey, Chauvin and I arrived at the South Col for a summit bid. After two nights of waiting for the jet stream to move into northern China, we returned to Base Camp, thoroughly exhausted and beaten by high winds and bitter cold. After a much needed rest, Rugo, Richey, La Forest, Sinclair, Scott and I returned to Camp II for a final attempt. On May 13, Rugo, Richey, La Forest and I climbed to the South Col. Scott arrived there early on the morning of the 14th. We rested that day and Scott decided to return to Camp III. Just after midnight on May 15, we four left Camp IV for the summit. At 8:30 A.M., Richey and La Forest reached the summit, where they spent 45 minutes. At 9:45 I got there, followed by Rugo. We spent an hour on the summit in excellent weather. Rugo ran out of oxygen during the descent and, after being caught in a storm, had to fight his way back to Camp IV. On the afternoon of the 15th, Dr. Sinclair arrived on the South Col to help us down. On May 16, we had all returned safely to Camp II. All camps were removed by May 20. We left no trash on the mountain or at Base Camp.

Rick Wilcox