Everest 2019 – Season Summary

Everest 2019 – Summary

This season has been an annus horribilis for Irish climbing on Everest with 6 attempts resulting in 4 summits and 2 fatalities. The joy of summit success for Noel, Séamus, Jenny & Robert was overshadowed by the loss of two extraordinary people – Séamus Lawless and Kevin Hynes. 

This year the following climbers from Republic of Ireland & Northern Ireland have attempted Everest:

– Noel Hanna (52) from Co. Down
– Jenny Copeland (40) from Co. Meath
– Séamus Lawless (39) from Co. Wicklow
– Miko Keane (66) from Co. Galway
– Kevin Hynes (56)  from Co. Galway
– Robert Smith (48) from Co. Tyrone

Noel Hanna reached the summit of Everest via the southeast ridge (Nepal) route on 16th May 2019, guiding Jenny, Shay and South African climber Saray Khumalo (who became the first black African woman to summit Everest). This was Noel’s 9th summit of the worlds highest peak.

Jenny Copeland reached the summit of Everest via the southeast ridge (Nepal) route on 16th May 2019. 

Séamus Lawless reached the summit of Everest via the southeast ridge (Nepal) route on 16th May 2019, but disappeared following a fall on the descent, just below the ‘Balcony’ area. The search efforts to locate Shay ended on 24th May with no success.  

Robert Smith reached the summit of Everest via the southeast ridge (Nepal) route with Adventure Consultants on 23rd May 2019, completing a 5th summit of the worlds highest peak. Thereafter Robert pushed on to summit Lhotse on 24th May completing a unique Everest-Lhotse double. 

Kevin Hynes reached 8300m on the northeast ridge (Tibet) side for the summit day push with 360 Expeditions, but turned around on summit day and descended to the North Col (7000m) camp accompanied by Sherpa guides from his team. During the early hours of the morning of 24th May, Kevin passed away in his tent. 

Miko Keane decided to end his expedition on 29th April prior to the team advancing to Camp 1 on their first rotation.

To those who realised their goal of reaching the summit, we congratulate you. To the families of the bereaved we are heartbroken for your loss and we extend our deepest condolences at this unbelievably difficult time. 

Everest 2019 – Reflection

Much has and will be written about the lessons of the 2019 season. With 11 fatalities on Everest this season, there are issues that need tackling on the worlds highest peak, and there is no avoiding safety concerns that exist as more climbers attempt the mountain year-on-year. The fatalities this season are…

	Seamus Lawless	May 16th	Fall at Balcony [After Summit]		Seven Summit Treks *
	Ravi Thacker	May 17th	Altitude/Illness [After Summit]		Seven Summit Treks
	Don Cash	May 22nd	Altitude/Illness [After Summit]		Pioneer Adventures
	Anjali Kulkarni	May 22nd	Altitude/Illness [After Summit]		Transcend Adventures
	Kalpana Dash	May 23rd	Altitude/Illness [After Summit]		Dreamers Destination Treks
	Ernst Landgraf	May 23rd	Altitude/Illness [After Summit]		Kobler & Partner
	Nihal Bagwan	May 23rd	Altitude/Illness		Peak Promotion
	Kevin Hynes	May 24th	Altitude/Illness		360 Expeditions
	Dhruba Bista	May 24th	Altitude/Illness		Himalayan Ski Treks
	Robin Fisher	May 25th	Altitude/Illness [After Summit]		Everest Parivar Treks
	Chris Kulish	May 27th	Altitude/Illness [After Summit]		Climbing the Seven Summits

* Logistics by SST, however Seamus + 2 others in the team were guided by Noel Hanna (team within a team).

As the season concludes we remember Shay and Kev. Their deaths have saddened and shocked us. We should also remember to congratulate Jenny, Noel and Robert who have achieved an incredible thing. One can imagine that for Jenny and Noel in particular, congratulations means nothing in the context of what they have gone through and are going through, but their summit success was and is significant, so congratulations.

The death of Shay Lawless following his fall en-route back to C4 was a deep shock. He realised his lifelong dream and stood on top of the world on 16th May, and it is sad that he cannot share that experience with family and friends. Shay was an incredibly kind person, and a great supporter of other Irish climbers and adventurers. His loss has touched many people deeply as can be seen from the wave of comments online and incredible support received in past weeks. I was able to observe how Shay’s other teammates Suzanna & Emma along with others in the Irish high altitude community rallied around to help and assist in the hours and days after his disappearance, and it is both an inspiration and a credit to them individually and collectively. Shay now rests in the world’s most spectacular burial site, remembered and honored where he lays, in privacy surrounded by incredible beauty. All who go to Everest know the risks, as did Shay, and are also aware of that unwritten pact that keeps climbers on the mountain if we are unable to leave it. I wish this fate had not befallen Shay, but it has and it is left to those who knew him to celebrate his accomplishments and remember his kind nature and adventurous spirit. 

The death of Kevin Hynes sent another shockwave on 24th May. Kev lived in Harrow in England and was from Newbridge in Co. Galway. He was both an experienced and talented mountaineer with expeditions in Argentina, Alaska, Africa, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal and extensively across India. He was intensely private and humble about those achievements and would have been quite happy if nobody knew he climbed at all. That is a rare and wonderful quality. He clearly enjoyed the mountains immensely and built a solid pedigree over the years. He summitted Everest in 2018 via the Southeast Ridge (Nepal) and was back this year to try via the North side. His death leaves us without a great character in amateur mountaineering. Someone you likely never heard of, but who achieved a great deal on the mountains of the world, and did it all for its own sake. I chatted to him last Friday as the team prepared for summit week, and he said to light a candle for him for his summit push on 23rd May. Kev’s flame has gone out, but his legacy will linger and inspire for a long time to come.

To the Lawless family in Wicklow and the Hynes family in Harrow we extend our deepest sympathies.

Everest Summits – The Irish List