Storm delays -- not derails -- Everest torch

EVEREST BASE CAMP, Tibet (CNN) -- Plans to take the Olympic flame to the summit of Mount Everest were delayed -- but not derailed -- by harsh weather last week, a spokesman for the Chinese climbing team said Tuesday.

Heavy snow and high winds destroyed pre-positioned tents and ropes that climbers planned to use during their ascent. The trip up has been delayed as climbers repair the tents and ropes and clear part of route, said Zhang Zhijian, spokesman for a mountaineering team.

The damage will delay but not stop torch-bearers from trying to take the torch to the summit by the end of May, he said.

The flame rests in the advanced base camp at 21,000 feet (6,400 meters) above sea level, burning in a lantern designed to protect it from low-oxygen conditions of the high altitude. It was ignited from the main Olympic flame, which began a three-month trek through China Sunday following a global torch relay.

The team of about 50 includes 31 climbers along with coaches, advisers and other support staff members.

The climbers include 22 Tibetans, eight Han Chinese and one member of China's Tujia minority ethnic group. The team has three women, and all climbers range in age from 21 to 46, Zhijian said.

Wind gusts at the base camp, at 21,000 feet (6,400 meters), were measured recently at up to 140 mph (225 km/h) on Everest's north slope, making a climb too treacherous to attempt, Chinese officials said.

Secrecy kept journalists at the base camp from knowing when the climb to Everest's peak -- 29,035 feet (8,850 meters) above sea level -- might begin. The climbers need four to six days of good weather to climb to the summit and return, officials said.

One official said the events were going according to plan, but he declined to elaborate on what the plan was.

Tight security surrounds the mountain to prevent any anti-Chinese and pro-Tibet protests.

Despite the secrecy ahead of the effort, elaborate technical plans are in place so that China's official television network -- CCTV -- can broadcast the ascent live. A camera is expected to follow the flame to the peak, if all goes as planned. E-mail to a friend

From journalist Tomas Etzler

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