Team Geared Up

DUBLIN, IRELAND (Team Geared Up) - Apologies about the site being offline over the weekend. We have got so busy we died and needed a memory upgrade which was impossible over the Bank Holiday in the UK where the server is located. By 10am this morning they had us back up!

And there’s good news to follow! Irish climbers Graham Kinch (29) and Ian Taylor (29) yesterday returned to Base Camp after 10 weeks climbing on Everest. Kinch was forced to turn around just above The Balcony at 8600m, finally giving in to a torn chest muscle that had plagued him for weeks. Taylor however went on to reach the summit (8850m) at 12:02am Irish time on Friday 23rd May. In doing so he has become the youngest Irish man and the first Kildareman to stand on the top of the world.

“We’ve been thinking and planning for this trip for over 2 years “said Kinch, “I’m disappointed I didn’t get to the top but we always said if we got one of us to the top that would be a success. On summit night I knew I was running low on energy and whilst I might have had enough to get to the top I wouldn’t have had enough to get back down. I think it’s better to know your limits than to be shown them, and unfortunatley in this year alone Everest has shown several people their limits.”

On Sunday night at a dinner party I heard that Ran Fiennes did not make it again this time. I feel sorry for him - he’s tried hard and (probably?) won’t get another chance.

More on everest2008.ie

-Robin-