3 SA men on top of the world
2004-05-14 22:15
Cape Town - Three Cape Town property developers will try to stake their claim to the world's highest summit on Sunday.
Chris Drummond, André Bredenkamp and Mike Nixon will try to reach the summit of Mount Everest with six others from an international team if the weather permits.
They are the only South Africans to have got permits this year to climb the mountain. Only four other South Africans have seen the view from this mountain summit.
The three men left for Tibet early in April. From there, they ventured up on the northern precipice of the mountain peak.
Over and above a stomach bug that left Drummond 8kg lighter, the climbers withstood weather conditions during which temperatures dipped to -10°C.
The group sent news about their progress via e-mail, but the messages dried up when their laptop fell from the back of a yack. They ordered a new one via satellite phone.
By the time they reached the base camp about 5 200m above sea level, they had only 80% of the normal oxygen level in their blood.
Two forced to abandon attempt
"If you pitch up in this state at your doctor, he'd probably have you thrown into an oxygen tent," said Bredenkamp.
The lack of oxygen forced two of the international team members to withdraw from the attempt.
The three Capetonians have climbed to about 500m beneath the summit, and hope to climb to the top on Saturday.
They will plant a South African flag they received from Marthinus van Schalkwyk, who was premier of the Western Cape at the time. He is now the new minister of tourism and environmental affairs.
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