Here ends our tour with the Geneva Everest 1952-2002 expedition. The Photo Gallery has been updated to include amazing pictures of the second part of the expedition, as well as a video. This is our last Everest e-mail, but the pages www.rsd.com/newsEvents/everest/everest.html will stay online if you would like to have another look later on. We hope that you have enjoyed following this adventure, sponsored by RSD, as much as we have !

After the summit - the festivities

It took us a little time to get back to earth after that spectacular day of May 16. Thinking back, it is clear that we were lucky to have a "weather" window of opportunity, given these springtime conditions, often snowy and unstable. The attempts that took place in the days immediately following our successful ascent were all swept aside because of violent winds.

Hardly tired after our victorious ascent and having the feeling of walking on air, we spent several days packing all our things. On May 21 our festive team returned, with the only clouds hanging over us being the ones in the sky. At the Katmandu airport, we were surprised by the welcome, a little like victorious soccer players returning from the World Cup. Apa Sherpa, Yves Lambert and Tashi Tenzing were assaulted by journalists and photographers. Streamers and banners were hung out and we soon found ourselves being paraded around the town perched in 4 x 4 convertibles before being received in person by the Minister of Tourism.

After 3 days of administrative formalities, after having received our official "summiter" (conqueror of Everest) certificates from the Minister of Tourism and our lifetime membership cards from the restaurant Rum Doddle (which entitles the "summiters" to eat and drink free-of-charge for the rest of our lives), after having celebrated heartily and drinking to our success, Yves Lambert and Tashi Tenzing made a pilgrimage to Darjeeling in India. The visit to the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute founded by Tenzing and to his House-Museum, permitted Yves Lambert to feel with emotion the memories of the heroic epic of his father.

The circle has been completed and there was nothing further to do than to take our flight to Geneva where the strongest emotions awaited us. A crowd of friends was there to embrace us with their warmth. In the name of our team, I will finish with an enormous THANK YOU !!! Thanks to all of you who, in one way or another, helped and encouraged us in this adventure !

Many thanks to Guillaume Vallot, the expedition's journalist and photographer and the main contributor to these pages.

Everest 1952-2002 - Copyright - AGEC