Adventure Consultants Cho Oyu, collected dispatches
4 September, 2011
Today we finished our road trip! We arrived in Chinese Base Camp by vehicle, and were reunited with our Sherpa team and gear. The camp itself is set in a broad valley on the edge of a glacially fed river. The hills around are bulky, scree covered mounds, and in the background glimpses of the high glaciated peaks are seen through windows in the puffy cumulus clouds. The scenery is austere- in the grandest way.
Lunch was set for twelve, and the group gathered in the dining tent with some anticipation, word of Dendi's cooking prowess had spread and all were looking forward to a change from the provincial Chinese food. Twelve came and went, as did 12:15, and then 12:30 as well. Dale mentioned something about Nepali time, the second time he mentioned this we took notice (by now we have come to expect that all of Dale's comments are tongue in cheek), ran to the cook tent and sure enough found out that it was 10:30am!
After our late/early lunch we went for a hike to some rocky outcrops above the camp, and the team had a practice on a circuit of fixed ropes. All used their new systems to rappel down a steep rock gulley on a fixed line, and then transition to another fixed line which they ascended through a section of broken rock back to the start point. The circuit provided the first real taste of mountaineering activity of the expedition and provided some hilarity as well as being a necessity. Initially Iza thought the process was vertigo inducing, and then after one circuit looked very comfortable, she mentioned something about it always being terrifying the first time. The afternoon cumulus provided some light precipitation, falling mainly as graupel.
On our way down from the circuit we passed a somewhat dilapidated sign which announced: Mountain Climbing Plohibited. No, not a spelling mistake (although no doubt I have made many). Tomorrow we plan for more climbing and walking but we will be sure not to engage in any plohibited activity.
On a factual note, we do not have phone reception here as earlier thought.
Felix
5 September, 2011
"OK team, we can say we have reached the target" .
The red scree stretched above us for several more false summits, and a chilly wind was starting to blow from the west.
"5,500m. That will do for the day!"
We had climbed 600m above our tents at CBC, it was time to settle down for a two minute break and to take in the magnificent view. Before us was a small section of the Himalayan divide, Cho Oyu flanked by shapely unclimbed ice peaks.
An hour and half later we were enjoying the yellow warmth of the dining tent. Lunch included excellent potato chips, which were so good they provoked Claudio into announcing; "We are not in Italy, so I can have tomato ketchup!." He made up for this unpatriotic thought after lunch by saying he rather fancied a siesta and this seemed such a good idea everyone adopted it.
After an afternoon ropework session on some crumbling outcrops to fill in time before the keenly anticipated dinner. It is Felix's birthday, so Dendi produced a chocolate cake and twelve candles, (Felix is older than what we think ) and dinner conversation flowed in the, by now, usual haphazard fashion. Felix noting that we had brought back to China most of the objects in the tent, our jackets and rucksacks, our trekking shoes and the chairs we sat on had all been to Europe or NZ before returning to Tibet and therefore, China. "Except" muttered Dale to himself "for China plates".
Tomorrow we plan to hike a couple of hundred metres higher than today, laying in a solid foundation of acclimatising treks before moving up to the higher camps. But now, although it is only 7:30pm, we are retiring for an early night after another productive day.
Victor
6 September, 2011
Today we went on another acclimatisation trek, something the team is by now becoming very familiar with, and a process that will continue for some time yet. We reached yesterdays highpoint 30 minutes faster than yesterday, and continued up the gentle scree slope to what appeared to be a wooden trig station on the summit, at 5915m.
At this point most people were content to have a break. Our dear leader however, was feeling energetic and managed to do a quick set of pull ups on the structure. This inspired some other team members to join the fray. Paul who five minutes earlier had declared himself feeling the effect of the altitude jumped up and showed off his physical prowess by managing a good number of pull ups. There were some comments about what was an acceptable amount of body swing.
We made our way down the broad scree slopes, Cho Oyu dominating the horizon, as well as some members minds.
The team gathered around the table for a late lunch, some faces looking tired after a 6 1/2 hour day. Yet still alert enough for the steady stream of jests to continue. Greg was busy fixing his pee bottle with tape (eeks). Dale has apparantly been on a different journey to the rest of us (he recalled being in a town none of us had been to, doing something none of us had).
As I write the first afteroon rain of the expedition plays percussion with the tent and the team has retired for a well earned siesta.
Felix
7 September, 2011
From CBC there used to be an icy river crossing, now a dirt road and bridge leads to Gyabrung. An old yak-herder's summer camp, this place now is the halfway staging post for Cho Oyu expeditions. Bleak hills surround the camp, and they make excellent training hikes.
The day began with packing up at CBC. As has now become habitual Greg arrived for tent packing duty with increasingly wild coifeur. I won't say his hair style is untidy, but it has the miraculous effect of making the team guides look dapper. So, while some members were carefully rolling the tents, Felix and I were simply stuffing them into their bags, anything else is just too tidy. For us and for Greg.
It has been another full day, trekking up to Gyabrung for lunch, and then another stroll after which included an encounter with a small herd of deer, (local name Gna) and views over the Nanga La towards a misty monsoon filled Nepal.
At Gyabrung, Isa, who was the first to return from our afternoon hike, thought they were digging drains, a strange thing to be doing here. There were repetitive loud thumps and shouts. In fact, the shouts were mostly caused by our climbing Sherpa, Sangye, playing 'Shoh' with the others. This is the archtypical Tibetan dice game, distantly related to Backgammon. Loud shouting is an essential rule of the game.
We have one more move of tents, for tomorrow we trek to our base camp for the expedition. It all begins there.
Victor
8 September, 2011
We have arrived at Base Camp. Today was a relatively easy day for the team, and a busy one for the Sherpas and cooks- relocating and setting up the camp that will be our home for three weeks or so.
The camp is as usual on the bouldery moraine, with tent sites excavated and flatened among the debris. The panorama includes the smooth glacial slopes leading up to the Nangpa La, the tortured shapes of the valley glaciar that we followed up today, and omniprescent Cho Oyu.
All members are in good spirits, with only the odd headache reminding some that the air is getting thinner and thinner. Our schedule continues as planned.
It is snowing at the moment, most members are resting, except for Dale, who is in a state of elation after his nag come in first at the races.
Felix
9 September, 2011
19:15 hrs. Snowing. As it has been doing every afternoon for the last few days. Ths is pretty much normal monsoon weather. The day dawned with a hard blue sky, not a trace of fluff except a slight drift off the summit of Cho Oyu. No hint of the the diurnal couds to come after lunch. No hint either of the decision that our Dale had come to
overnight. He had been carrying an injury for a month and was hoping that it would heal in time for the climb. "I've decided to go down".He has been a great member of our team, and try as we did, no-one was able to persuade Dale to stay on.
After breakfast Dale went down with Sangye, and the rest of the team
took advantage of the morning weather to hike an hour up the glacier. There was no wind. We began the naming of the parts, leaving the kilometer long basecamp, there is the Outbound Moraine, the Cardiac Arete, the Spanish Crossing (explanation in another dispatch) to Point Penitentes and so on to Glacier-View Parkway. By the end of the expedition we will have named all the parts to Camp One.
The Sherpa team have been hard at work improving our camp. There is now a shower tent, and a coms tent. Felix and I have been (slowly!) unpacking and setting up the electronics. The clouds brought the afternoon snow. Radio coms from CBC told us that our Dale was now on
his was to the Nepal Tibet border. He should be in Kathmandu tomorrow. Inshallah (or what ever the Buddhist version is).
Tomorrow a slightly longer hike up the glacier beckons, ad a bit more
consolidation of the the already excellent base camp.
Victor
10 September, 2011
The day begins with a hot wet towel; as Dendi's assistants start the daily routine with their delivery. Snow has once again fallen overnight, the day's strong sunshine will erase its presence before long. We make our way past familiar territory, past the sprawl of Base Camp, onto the glacier and work our way up its knobbly back. The ground we move on is covered in gravel, stones and boulders, only occasional do we get a glimpse of the ice that runs beneath. Close by us seracs, eroded by sun and water loom transformed into Daliesque figures. As the day slides by the sun forces us to shed layers, the travel is good, and everyone is moving well. Before long we come to a steeper slope that leads to Lake Camp ( a seldom used intermediate camp between BC and Camp 1). Ahead of us two climbers with big packs move up the slope in a grinding pace, that makes me thankful that we are treavelling light- for today! As we begin our toil, a group of singing figures descend towards us. The Tibetan rope fixers. They have established their Camp 1, things are moving.
We reach the Lake Camp, 6030m, lay back on the warmed rocks, and look up at people stoically moving up the scree slope towards Camp 1. We talk with another group, likewise they have come from all corners of he globe to climb this mountain. The spirit of Sysyphis lives on amongst many of us. We turn our backs on tommorrow and return down the hill. Instead of taking the Brave Sherpa direct path (which has seen rock fall) we forge a new trail back onto the main glacier and join the cairned trail; the Cowardly (but safe) Luedmann- Saloschin varient. We return to camp in snow flurries.
Our bellies are full after Sheperds Pie, and chocolate cake, the murmer of conversation can be heard from the dining tent, and next to me Victor is pulling apart a 12v car charger into more pieces than I even knew existed.
Felix
12 September, 2011
Yesterday was a day of four seasons. Shake the snow off the tent in the morning, breakfast early. The trail to Lake Camp (which has not seen a lake for years) snow covered at first then as the Himalayn sun began to burn through to the rocks underneath, wide brim sun hats and plenty of sun cream. It took just two and a half hours for the team to reach Lake Camp at 6030m. Above was the four hundred metre gravel and scree slope to C1 (Camp One). This consists of a slightly tedious two-steps-up-one-step-down schlepp, and then snow to the ridge above C1. All members made it to C1 inside two hours, not bad going for an early acclimatising hike. On the way up there were blue skies, and we could see the continuation of the arete, or more precisely, the series of broad snow shoulders leading to the 'Ice Cliff' (our first major obstacle on the mountain). C1 already has around 20 tents in place from other teams. Ours will be erected when we spend our first night there.
By the time we started down, it began to snow gently. An hour down to Lake Camp, and then another two to Base Camp. It was sleet, verging on rain by the time we arrived damp, verging on wet, at camp to hot tea and the shelter of the mess tent. Felix and I had another wee chore, as a neighbouring team needed the use of our Certec pressure bag. This is a strange device, essentially a claustrophobic vinyl bag big enough to put a human in, pressurised by constant pumping. Two hours inside this bag can reduce the effects of altuitude, in this case bringing the patient down from 5700m (here) to 3700m.
The day finished with a huge pizza dinner, leaving the team to ponder how Dendi was able to create such luxuries here. It was a Hawaian pizza. Lumps of pineapple littered the cheesy surface. We all looked at Claudio tucking into a large slice, muttering 'It is good... but it is not Pizza.'
This morning the tents were snow covered, but there was no wind. After a breakfast of excellent porridge and French toast, the deliciously acrid smell of burnt juniper wafted through the camp. Puja day is here.
The Puja is a very important part of any expedition with Sherpas. The religious ceremony, full of ritual was conducted by a lama from Thame, Nawang Sherpa. He is also a working Sherpa for another expedition team. The great thing about this ritual is that it brings calm and peace of mind, and there is no sermonising to endure. Just at the crucial part, when blessed rice and tsampa are thrown to the mountain gods, the sun broke through the clouds, and a raven circled the altar clockwise (the right direction for Tibetan Buddhism). Call me superstitious if you like, but to me these are auspicious signs indeed.
Victor
13 September, 2011
At 06:30 some of us heard the the sherpas praying at the puja altar before heading up the glacier loaded with heavy packs, a ritual they will continue until we leave. They returned later in the day having set up Camp one. Our plan has in true mountain fashion melded with the weather. Today we ventured onto the glacier just accross from BC - in search of a serac to practice some ice climbing on. Our route through the rock covered dry glacier, was reminescent of an Escher drawing. We were rewarded with a sharp white sharks tooth of a searac to practice on, top ropes were put up, and soon everyone was climbing and in turn belaying. Everyone became enthusiastic coaches, and the usual crys of "keep your heels down" rang around the glacier. We trudged back to BC, with the sun beating on our backs, after a snowfall in the morning.
After the usual afternoon siesta, bags were packed for portage to Camp 1. Around the dinner table the plan for the next phase was discussed, and so tomorrow we head up to Camp 1, and plan to stay for at least two nights in order to touch Camp 2. Victor announced he had already had plan A,B,C, and D, to which Markus replied "I hate to think what plan D would involve'". The upper mountain phase begins.
Felix
14 September, 2011
The whole team is now comfortably ensconced in Camp One (6430m). The weather was better than expected, and the team moved steadily to Lake Camp in under 3 hours (still no lake), then up the heartbreakingly boring C1 slope. The sole entertainment being the stream of other climbers, some like our friend Andreas, completely wiped out, others enjoying a bit of schadenfreud as they descend past us. The only common factor on Schadenfreud Hill being the constant change of nation, a sort of Tower of Babel in scree. We now begin the long night of brews, chocolate flavored soup, soup flavored tea, tea flavored miso, miso flavored porridge, and so on, each thing flavored by the last. What joy! Or as Isa says, 'nice!'.
Victor
15 September, 2011
In the morning everyone is dressed like Michelen men, all plump in down. This arfternoon we have stripped off to underwear, some of us have had snow showers, some are constructing heat reflectors and some are blaming lasitude on heat rather than altitude.
This morning everyone slugged their way past Camp 1, and to the bottom of the ice cliff. And here at 6600m we contemplated a vertical serac band. Not for long, and soon all were putting their jumars to real work, as the fixed ropes took a deft line of weakness in the Ice Ogre. What did we do after surmounting this obstacle? Why we descended straight back down it, just in order to be rested enough tomorrow to go up it again and beyond. Yes supposedly we are sane although Iza has started making disconcerting hand gesteres in our company - apparantly the international symbol for madness.
The evening snow has started, everyone has retired to their cozy hamster holes, and our noodles are plump - good night.
Felix
Camp 2 and down
17 September, 2011
Base Camp. The weather continues to be stable, clear morning and convective precip in the afternoon.
'Convective Precipitation' on this mountain, at this time, means cumulous clouds blooming up on the south facing flanks as the sun heats up the dark scree slopes below the snow line. By midday, the radiation is still burning through the initial thin cloud layers. This makes it essential to keep anti-UV glacier glasses on, and inside the tents the heat builds relentlessly. Around mid afternoon, we are engulfed in the billowing cumulous, fog and light snow fall, while the radiation still makes itself felt inside the thin nylon tents. Sometime in the evening the falling snow is heavier, laying down maybe 10 cms of fresh powder. The energy that drives the sun-snow cycle dies out at night as the scree slopes cool down, and by midnight the stars are out and the morning dawns clear again. This has been the energy cycle that drives our weather the last week or so.
It has been so predictable that we have been able to make use of the clear mornings to 'touch' Camp 2 yesterday, leaving Camp 1 at 5:30 am, and reaching the higher camp just 6 hours later, not bad at all for a first visit to 7,000m. However, we were not about to pat ourselves on the collective back, Da Zangbu and the Sherpa team met us there having carried loads up from base. How we long to be able to strut around at 7000m like them!
This was a personal best for most of the team. It took just two and half hours to return to Camp 1, followed by the long trudge back to Base Camp, where Dendi, our magnificent cook had sushi and fresh chips waiting for us. Today is a rest day. Sunny morning, small chores, washing and showers. After a couple of nights at C1, Base Camp is beginning to feel like home.
Victor
18 September, 2011
The babble is audible before you enter the mess tent - everybody is feeling the re-energising effects of a rest day. Today we have one more day off, before starting up on our third mountain cycle tomorrow. Team members diligently practice the manouvers involved in rappelling with a Figure 8, within the safe confines of the mess/laundry/rappel tent. The sherpas went up to Camp 1, and returned, to prepare our camp for the next cycle - a short interlude from their dancing and singing. And we, your humble servants, devour weather charts, and devise more ludicrous anecdotes for the blog.
Today Dale's windsuit arrived at BC - so in honour of him (you) we stuffed it with down, Paul drew a likeness on cardboard, and we propped Dale2 up on a chair and had our photo taken with him. There was some talk about hauling Dale2 up to the summit. Otherwise all are engaged in various hygiene related matters, washing clothes, washing bodies, sweeping tents, and the most organised (Swiss Markus) at this even brought clothes pegs along!
The last cycle has left its impression on the team, with everyone now aware that to reach the summit will require great resources from all and not a small amount of luck in the role of the weather. This is no doubt a large part of why we are here, 'our sense of life'!
Felix
19 September, 2011
Yesterday at 1830hrs there was a 6.8 earthquake centred near Kanchenjunga, in Eastern Nepal. By the time it reached our mess tent it was Richter 5-ish. The siesmic wave had travelled almost 100 miles, shaking Makalu, Everest and Cho Oyu en route. And it still had the energy to slide our (and every other) camp as easily as a board on a wave.
The quake interupted the usual AC dinner talk. Neil, who has aquired a range of alternative monikers including Del and Pete, was in the middle of complaining about the 'dry' marina at Doha, that is 'dry' of ethanol, not water. 'I'm not saying it is all about the beer (thinks) ...actually I am!'
Interestingly, none of the avalanches seems to have affected our route to Camp 1, where we are now sitting out the usual pm snow showers. Neil is slightly subdued, Chelsea have apparantly lost again. He could save himself a lot of angst by supporting Barca. Everyone else is brewing up, and looking forward to a crispy-cold 5am start tomorrow.
Victor
22 September, 2011
We are all happily back in BC, sucking in thicker air, our appetites have returned (although for some lucky ones they never left) and a bit of personal space after another successful mountain cycle. The snow on the 19th was not enough to prevent us from rising early and winding our way along the broad ridge above Camp 1, towards Camp 2. The main difference between this time and the last, is that this time we had full packs (full being relative as the Sherpas as usual made light of our efforts). Ones relationship to ones sleeping bag, down clothing and sleeping mats, depends entirely on whether they are being used or being carried. Everyone has their own take on comfort vs weight, Victor for example has a mat larger than himself, Iza is convinced that a pocket mirror and hairbrush are essential mountaineering kit, and Markus's medkit makes a pharmacy look scant on drugs.
Where were we? Trudging up to Camp 2. Well we all made it. Some more tired than others - but unanimously pleased to have reached our little hold at 7000m, perched upon a snowy plain with seracs below, the big snow slopes leading up to Camp 3, and in the distance the peaks of Tibet. Sleeping at 7000m does not fit with eveyone's constitution, our team seemed luckier than many judging by the hacking coughs that could be heard from around the camp.
The morning of 21 September dawned clear, with a light breeze that was enough to warrant the tightening of hoods on jackets. We were destined to be the first group above Camp 2, luckily three Tibetans from the rope fixing team broke trail through the calf-knee deep snow. Even with the trail broken the constant 30 degree slope above 7000m required discipline, and created a subversive element in ones mind.
We reached 7250m, and decided that our objective of getting above Camp 2 was made good. From here we swam down the snowy slope back to camp, and after a quick re-pack continued down the now familiar slopes to Camp 1. Camp 1 was in full sauna mode by mid-day, and it did not take much encouragement for everyone to prepare themelves for the even more familliar descent to BC.
So from the dawn at 7000m, where beauty and danger (cold!) are yet divorced, and the sweltering mid-altitudes, we returned to our cozy BC, where we feasted on pizza and Top Gun on the DVD player!
Felix
23 September, 2011
This is our second rest day at base, and as usual, the weather has been sunny in the morning. Sunny enough to see through binoculars that a strong Korean party made the summit, silhouetted against shining clouds. Life at base carries on in our temporary home. Washing, chatting, nibbling. The glacier below us, the tortured frozen river of ice, leads from Lake Camp to CBC. Across the glacier the Nangpa La shines in the morning sun. Two of our Sherpas Kami and Pemba Chhote, live in Thame, just 10 hours walk across the La and down towards Namche Bazaar. Above our camp, our neighbours are a group of Slovaks (important not to confuse them with Czechs). Our friend Lakpa Dorji is their sirdar. (More of him later, he will be the AC sirdar on Amadablam in three weeks time. )
The views today are monochrome, white, grey, black. Afternoon will bring thin clouds and a sprinkling of snow. It is a bit cold. A coven of ravens craws from the stony moraines around us, and one attempts to ride the flag lines from our Puja altar.
There have been visits from three of our neighbouring teams to discuss plans for the next few days. Felix and I have been poring over the weather charts from Meteotest, the Swiss forecasting people. Tibetan yak herders, with red braid in their hair, pass by trying to sell Sih stones and cases of Coca Cola. A strange combination, unless you remember that these nomads are also the descendants of countless generations of cross border traders. We ignore them. We are passing the day resting, sorting food, packing small items such as fresh batteries and generally getting ready to move again tomorrow. A slight air of anticipation fills the dining tent.
Meanwhile, today is the birthday of Swiss team member Markus. I thought it might be appropriate to play the national anthem, the Swiss one begins with 'Tritt's im Morgenrot daher....etc' but no-one seems to know the tune. Probably just as well us not releasing our cacophony on the unsuspecting neighbours. Even if they are Slovaks.
Tonight will be film night again. We have enough solar power to run video films after supper. Last night we chose Rashomon, Kurusawa's 1950s masterpiece. Except that is not how most of the team saw it. Neil (aka Del, etc) summed it up for most of them; 'There was no good photography, no plot, no decent fighting and no good looking birds! So what's the point?' I said to Felix, 'It is odd that the team think the guides are so weird!'
So, tonight birthday-boy will choose the last film before we set off for the mountain; we hope for the last time.
The film will be 'Unforgiven' with Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman and Gene Hackman. It should fit most of the Neil requirements... except the last. Then off to bed in our little nylon tents and bed.
Victor
26 September, 2011
Having pulled back to base, we have been seeing high winds above Camp 1. This means reformulating our plans for the summit attempt. The weather forecasts this week have seriously underestimated the wind speeds on the mountain, and all of our neighbouring teams have also returned to base, cutting short their first summit attempt. There is still quite a lot of rope fixing to do above Camp 3 (more of this topic in a later dispatch) and this has to be factored into our next summit attempt too. Fortunately we will have a consortium of Sherpas drawn from various teams to help do this vital job.
Meanwhile, the hardest part of of a Himalayan climb is here, waiting for the break in the weather. It snows outside, there is the staccato slapping of tents from their insides as the team catapults the night's snow from their sleeping quarters. The smell of bacon drifts between the snow-flakes and another cold day dawns. Soon we will be warm clutching mugs of hot tea and bacon sandwiches in our dining tent, and as usual, poring over the weather forecasts.
Victor
27 September, 2011
Hello from a snowed in Base Camp. After two days of stormy weather today dawned clear and cold, albeit with strong winds aloft. Most of the gaps between boulders in BC are filled in with snow, and the effect is of a uniform white from the summit of Cho Oyu, to the valley bottom. Storms can temporarily change people's characters, the most cheerful can become dour - and the the dour, well they can become positively morbid. Fortunately our team held things together, even if dinner conversation was somewhat subdued.
The storm has abated, and left us with its unwanted consequences: snow stability concerns. Throughout yesterday we could hear the deep rumbling of avalanches, and today we could see the evidence. Large slab avalanches have run on many aspects. All of this, is of course what we would expect in the mountains after a storm and the avalanches are a thing of great beauty as long as you are nowhere near them. We are however, now in the position where we are hemmed in waiting for the storm cycle to clear, and the ominous weather forecasts that predict the begining of the jet stream at the end of the month.
Some teams have already left, we are keeping our options open, spending many hours cajoling other groups to unite, in order to break trail and fix rope should the opportunity present itself.
Felix
30 September, 2011
On the 28th of September the Adventure Consultants Cho Oyu team left Base Camp for Camp One on the first day of their summit bid for the 2011 season.
After a nerve-racking few days in Base Camp; poring over weather forecasts, monitoring avalanche conditions on the mountain and rallying support from other teams to join the summit rope-fixing effort, Victor, Felix and our team made the decision to head up. A weather window had developed in the forecast for the 30th and avalanche conditions were looking stable enough to make a safe attempt for the summit.
The team made it to Camp Two yesterday (29th) with everyone doing well and in good spirits. The team enjoyed sunny skies and a cold but clear afternoon with moderate winds. If the weather holds like this the team will make their bid for the summit today.
Felix and Dawa Jangbu, AC’s Climbing Sirdar, will lead the way, fixing the remaining 250m to the summit at dawn. The rest of the team should not be far behind and we will post another update on their progress as soon as possible, hopefully from 8201m, the summit of the world’s sixth highest peak.
In the meantime please join us in wishing the team all the best for a safe and successful summit bid.
1 October, 2011
This is the AC office reporting from NZ, we received news that our Cho Oyu team made a valiant effort climbing through the early morning hours of the 30th September, with Da Jangbu and Sange Dorjee fixing the route through the rockband above C3 only to be thwarted by the time available for such a monumental task on their own, and the whole team turned around and made it back to Camp 2 safely by 10am. The weather was good but they decided to descend to Basecamp the same day. They will have arrived by late afternoon in Basecamp and we hope they will be able to post a dispatch in a next few hours today about their time on the mountain up to 8000m.
We congratulate the team on their brave effort and look forward to hearing the stories from their climb.
2 October, 2011
The big pack-up is underway in earnest today at BC, for tomorrow we will leave our sparse alpine camp for the notorious pleasures of Zangmu - a typical border town. Many team members have morphed from clean-cut members of society to scruffy mountaineers - Zangmu will see the physical return of thier old selves. Internally who can say?
Today the jet stream has come - and we can see the snow plumes from the summit that signal high winds aloft, and hence a definate pause in anyone's climbing schedule.
This afternoon the yaks will come, and tomorrow morning we will leave down valley, past the glacier toe, to the road end, and onto a lorry as far as Chinese Base Camp. From there the Friendship Highway will swiftly carry us on to Zangmu. From the heights of Cho Oyu, and its simple grandeur, we will find ourselves back in the pell-mell of humanity within a very short period of time. Often this transition can lead to some dislocation - temporarily - and slowly we reintigrate with world we left over a month ago.
Felix