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An update on skiing on Everest/Chomolungma: As we left advanced base camp to move towards the summit, I decided to bring my skis to crampon point to have a good, final look at the north col and ridge to make the call. This was a very dry season on the north side of Everest, and once I looked at the route, I decided it was too icy and thin to bring my skis up. I really, really wanted to ski on Everest, but I knew to trust my intuition and focus on the summit, with a short weather window and difficult conditions. Climbers that we spoke to who have spent decades on Everest said it was the driest or tied with 1999 as one of the driest years on record. Despite my disappointment about the skiing, I was so excited to be moving up the mountain and have the summit in sight. There are two major routes to climb Everest, one from Nepal and one from Tibet. We climbed from Tibet via the slightly more technical northeast ridge route and summitted on May 24, a day after all the crowds in the now infamous photo from the south side. It was a phenomenal experience and a lifelong dream come true. Yes, there are problems on Everest, like any place that people love so much, but I believe climbers and the love for the mountain can be part of the solution. #climbforequality #bigmountaindreams #actonclimate Photo: @rob.lea
