Greek team heads for the top of the world
A group of mountaineers are waiting at their base camps on the slopes of Mt Everest this week for the weather to break, hoping to be the first all-Greek team to reach the top of the world. After training together for about a year on a number of peaks around the world, the 12 climbers and their teammates have been getting ready for a double-pronged mission to Everest from both the north and south sides. Panayiotis Kotronaros, who leads the team on the south side, reported this week that the team members were on standby waiting for a «weather window.» «God willing, and weather permitting, the team members plan to spend the night at the advance camp at 6,400 meters and then move on to Camp 3, at 7,300 meters, and then to the South Col, at 7,950 meters. At midnight of the same day, we will begin our ascent to the summit,» he reported back to the Athens office of Action, the firm handling the mission’s public relations. «We believe the entire process will take about six days. What we are particularly interested in is having good weather on the day we approach the summit,» he said. On the north side of the mountain, where efforts are also being hampered by strong winds, the team members led by Costas Tsivelekas were at Camp 2, at 6,300 meters, by the end of last week and also waiting for a break in the weather.
