Mount Kosciuszko Expedition Live

Thanks to Iridium and ExplorersWeb

We were able to send dispatches from our expedition to Australia with blind climber Erik Weihenmayer. This was the seventh of the Seven Summits for Erik.

Message to Robert G. sorry we deleted your email message along with a massive spam attack, please resend.

	September 5, 8:30 am
	Jeff Evans (kneeling), Eric Alexander, Erik Weihenmayer, Charley Mace and Kevin Cherilla on the top of Kosciuszko. We wish our great friend Terry Berrecloth could have been here and Bill Laurence our paraglide guru as well. See you guys soon! Photo by Michael Brown We wanted to extend a special thanks to Susie Diver of Thredbo Resorts for all of her great help while we were here. Thanks Susie! Stephen Cronan and Landon Stroud from www.thredbo.com.au have also been really great in helping us with this web site as well as sending images back home to our sponsors. Thanks for letting me invade your office guys! And of course, Dominic Sullivan for solving the NTSC/PAL dilemma. This has been a great trip, especially because of the hospitality of the people nere in Thredbo.

Victory Celebration
Congratulations Erik and your whole team. The Seventh Summit. This goes out to Chris Morris, Pasquale Scaturro, Luis Benitez, Mike O'Donnell, Didrik Johnck, Steve Gipe, Brad Bull and Sherm Bull, fellow climbers on Mount Everest who we miss today.

5 September 2002
A lot to celebrate, Erik is now one of fewer than 100 people who have climbed the Seven Summits. To find out more about Erik go to www.touchthetop.com.

Victory Celebration
As Didrik says, "Now that, is my kind of summit." Oh yes, champagne and all on the top of Australia.

Mount Kosciuszko, Australia
The top is a rock carin with a whole lot of rime ice stuck to it.

September 5, 7:30 am
Jeff, Kevin, Eric, Erik, and Charley.

Looking like we might succeed, if we can find the peak, there is still lots of fog blowing around.

September 5, 6:00 am
We have been going since 3:30, looks like sunrise is coming soon. It is very windy.

Photo by Michael Brown

September 4, Kosciuszko Express Chairlift
Jeff and Charley ski day. Tomorrow we head for the summit. Wish us luck with the weather...

A cool thing Thredbo has on the web are what they call SNOW Cams which show you what it looks like in Thredbo right now.

Dinner September 3
Kevin and Erik enjoying dinner in one of several great restaurants in Thredbo.

Yesterday
Wishfull thinking, Jeff, Bill and Charley with paragliding equipment.

September 4, Thredbo
Team is safely in Thredbo where it is raining like crazy. We plan to head up toward the summit at about 3:30 am.
Hello from Charley Mace, Kevin Cherilla, Erik Weihenmayer, Terry Berrecloth, Eric Alexander (in picture). Jeff Evans, Bill Laurence (not in picture).

Picture by Michael Brown

September 3, Stormy
It's 7:00 am and the rest of the team must have just landed in Sydney. They will be driving through the rain to get here.

It rained all night here in town with sleet and heavy wet snow higher. Looks like we will be hiking in deep snow near the top of Kosciuszko.

Photos by Michael Brown

September 3, Weather Forecast
Bill Laurence our paraglide flight master listening to the weather forecast. The rain and snow will slowly go away but the wind will probably not.

"Lookin slim and grim," says Bill.

Good thing for gore-tex and polartec. We will be climbing in wet and snow.

September 2, Kosciuszko
Walked up above the ski area to see what the terrain is like. Think this is what we can expect for the area around the summit.

September 2, Storm Coming
The weather forecast is for a rather strong front to come through tomorrow. A little wind this afternoon is the herald of things to come.

September 2, Thredbo
This is a fun ski area with great spring conditions. With reversed seasons, September is like March back home. I had never thought of Australia as a ski destination but here it is.

It has an intimate feeling with not too many people and the restaurants serve up some delicious meals.

September 2, Thredbo, NSW, Australia
Thredbo Ski Area before sunrise, 6:00 am here is 2:00 pm back in Colorado. I learned today that a cup of coffee is a 'long black' and if you ask for a coffee you are just as likely to get a latte.

The rest of the team will be here tomorrow, just in time for the next snowstorm to arrive. Paragliding will be tough with gale force winds.

Go to www.thredbo.com.au for all kinds of information as well as weather and snow reports.

The spring skiing is great and the people are super friendly. The team is going to have a blast.

Previous expedition dispatches:

Tibet 2004
Ice Climbing at Vail
Long's Peak
"Farther Than the Eye Can See" North American Tour
Matterhorn Expedition Live
Mount Princeton Expedition Live
Kosciuszko Australia Expedition Live
Paraglide Lessons Expedition Live
Mount Elbrus Russia Expedition Live
Zugspitze Germany Expedition Live
The Beginning of Expedition Live
Serac Adventure Films