Norwegian women on their way to the Mount Everest summit!

In 1953, Sir Edmund Hillary & Tenzing Norgay made history as the first people to reach the top of Everest. But so far no women have reached the top. The famous polarer Liv Arnesen from Norway did an attempt for few years ago to reach the top, but had to give up due to altitude sickness.

So far 10 Norwegian men have succeeded have reached the summit of Mt. Everest, but now it`s time for the Norwegian women. Two brave Norwegian women are now ready for an new attempt. They both will climb the north side. Who of them will reach the top first? Or shall we put it in another way: how far will they get?

Presentation of the lady climbers:

Cecilie Skog:

Photo. Cecilie is 29 years old, nurse, from Alesund (Ålesund) in Norway. She will climb up the Tibetan side (from her

website www.cecilieskog.com).

Photo. Cecilie has earlier been on the top of Cho Oyo as shown on the photo (from her website www.cecilieskog.com). Here you can follow her progress.

Randi Skaug:

She is 44 years old from Norway. She is a part of the Norwegian American Northwest expedition (NANEE). Her plan is to plant the Norwegian flag on the top on the Norwegian national day on the 17^th May. Her website is www.skaug.cc/everest2004

Some fact about Mount Everest:

Mt. Everest 8848 meters or 29,029 feet. Note that the National Geographic Society has determined the height as being 29,035 feet. However, this "new" height is not yet determined as official to our knowledge. As the height, as the climbing, as mountain itself, as the weather, nothing is simple!

· Longitude: 86º55'40" E

· Latitude: 27º59'16" N

· Nepal Name: Sagarmatha

· Tibetan Name: Chomolungma

In 1996 reached Siren Greve from Bergen in Oslo the top of Cho Oyo on an international expedition (see the log onwww.peakware.com/wsl/logs/chooyo.htm). Earlier have two Norwegian women reached the 7500 metres on the Mustagh Ata, and perhaps the Norwegian Ragnhild Amundsen was at the same height on Broad Peak for many years ago. Comment from Travel Explorations: from other information sources it`s indicated that Cecilie Skog was first on the top, and that Siren Greven from Norway had to turn before the top.

Cho Oyu Nepal 26,906 ft. 8,201 m, Cho Oyu is the sixth highest mountain in the world, located a short distance to the west from Everest (the highest) and Lhotse (the fourth highest) in the Khumbu region of Eastern Nepal along the Tibetan border. Its towering peak stands with Everest well above the surrounding mountains.

Hope the women will succeed in their attempt this time. We in Travel Explorations wish them good luck. And be sure: we are going to follow their progress, whole the way, to the top!

Stein Morten lund, 30 March 2004

Additional information

For more information and financial support, click on Cecilie Skog`s website: www.cecilieskog.com.

Another Norwegian expedition - skiing down from the summit of Mount Everest:

It`s said that the Norwegians are born with ski on their feet. Anyway is no doubt: they have great skills in skiing, and so have their neighbours Sweden. Norwegian Tormod Grandheim and Swedish Tomas Olsson are up for some big mountains skiing this fall. The guys plan to climb Shisha Pangma and Cho Oyu without sherpas and oxygen, and ski down from the summits.

The expedition is the first part of preparations for an attempt to ski from the summit of Mount Everest in 2006. The climbers are both living in Chamonix, France, where they have skied many of the classic lines; the north face of Aiguille du Midi in 2001 and Couloir du Diables (Mont Blanc du Tacul) in 2003. Fall 2003 they skied from the summit of Muztagh Ata (7546m) & Kuksay Peak (7186m) in China. The team photographer, Jonas Tufvesson, has been published in Climbing and Rock & Ice and his pictures are currently part of a campaign for Fuji Film.

Other expeditions to Mount Everest:
For overview over ongoing expeditions to Mount Everest, click on the link www.mounteverest.net/page/explist.htm

For more general information about Mount Everest:

Click on the link:www.everestnews.com

Woman on top - log from www.peakware.com:

"International expedition organized by the Austrian "Horizont Reisen - Club Montana Tirol". After a great culture-trip through Tibet we reached Basecamp on May 14th well acclimatised. For me it was the first time to be higher than 6000m. It was quite hard to carry up all the equipment. On my first attempt it was very windy and cold, the second time it was very hot (up at 7100m!!!), the morning we started for the summit was very cold again, but all in all it was great to reach the summit in perfect weather, and we all did it "by fair means". Summiteers: May 19th: Much Leuprecht, Franz Oberm¸ller; May 26th: Philippe Perlia, Christian Haas, Andreas Fink, Toni Hinterplattner; May 27th: Stefan & Erich Gatt, Siren Greve."

Andreas Fink

Hermagor, Austria / Europe, Carinthia

Email: Andreas.Fink@utanet.at

Date(s) summited: May 26th, 1996

Date signed: January 04, 2000

Comment from Travel Explorations: from other information sources it`s indicated that Cecilie Skog was first on the top, and that Siren Greven from Norway had to turn before the top of Cho Oyo .