Everest Attempt. Our 17-member team consisted of Germans, Austrians, Swiss Norbert Joos and South Tirolean Hans Kammerlander. The latter two hoped for an ascent without artificial oxygen. There were four women in our number. We had five Sherpa and five Tibetan porters. We reached Base Camp on April 25. Americans led by Dan Larson had already fixed rope to the North Col and above; we paid them to offset the cost and they let us use them. We established Advance Base at 6400 meters and Camp I on the North Col on May 5 and 8. On May 10, Kammerlander and Joos reached the site of Camp II at 7800 meters. On May 11, despite gale winds, a few climbers went for acclimatization to between 7300 and 7500 meters. The Sherpas set up Camp II, which was promptly destroyed by wind. On the 17th the Sherpas were caught in an avalanche and suffered injuries; one had to be evacuated to the hospital in Kathmandu. On May 24, Sherpas got to Camp II and retrieved part of the gear. That same day, Herr and Frau Hölzl climbed with an American to Camp II, but the next day they had to help with the rescue of a Japanese from the Japanese- Kazakh expedition. Since there was no chance for success in the short time remaining, most left Base Camp on May 29. I stayed on a few days longer to clean Advance Base and Base Camp.

Sigi Hupfauer, Deutscher Alpenverein