Everest - the countdown

Postings for my Everest trip should begin from the end of March. I will try and make sure that the blog is updated once a week but it will obviously depend on where I am on the mountain and my access to a computer. Dates for the trip are: 29th March 2008 to 8th June 2008

Back in the UK - final post for Cho Oyo

A little later than I had hoped but here are a final few comments.

A number of people did attempt to go back up the mountain the day we left for Base Camp but were beaten back by the weather again. This time they did not even make it to camp 1 before they had to return to ABC.

The climbing season on Cho Oyo has reputably been the worst for many years with only a handful of early climbers making the summit and most of these suffering in some way from frost bite. In normal years well over 100 people will make the summit.

Although I did not make the summit my main objective was to experience high altitude climbing in the Himalaya and to come back with all my fingers and toes. To that extent it was a success and allows me to better judge other possible climbs. I would however be lying if I did not say that I was a little disappointed to have had such bad weather that it was not possible to make an attempt on the summit.

First picture is of one of the docile Yaks that do most of the carrying up to ABC. The second is of safely back in Kathmandu having pizza and beer!

Storm on the mountain

Well I am back from the mountain at ABC. We had a terrible storm and only got to camp 2 again but at this stage I am just glad to be back at ABC and in one piece with all my fingers and toes! Camp 2 lost a number of tents over night and camp 1 lost between 20 and 25% of all the tents including 4 of Russ's. Of the 4 tents that Russ lost one was the tent I was in the night before. As I have said we are now back at ABC and the decision has been made to try and rescue some of the equipment from the mountain before we pull out back to Base Camp and then Kathmandu. I will fill you in with the whole story once I am back but at the moment power is very low on the computers as there has been very little sun for the batteries and so we have been asked to keep things short and sweet.

Home sweet home

Morning after we got back showing all the snow that had fallen at ABC. It was much worse up on the mountain. Very glad to be back home at ABC!!!!!

Getting down safely

Back safely on the moraine, a picture of Neema carrying most of my equipment.

Changing back to normal boots

Changing from high altitude boots to normal boots for the decent down to ABC. The winds were gusting up to 100km/hr

Carnage at camp 1

Carnage at camp 1 on our way back down from Camp 2. The second picture shows in the foreground a few stakes in the ground which is all that is left of my tent from the previous night!

Me with my sherpa

Me and Sherpa (Neema) for summit day.

Departure morning...

A beautiful sunny morning on the day of our departure from ABC to camp 1.

Camp 2

Camp 2 is at 7100m is certainly the highest I have ever been and certainly slept at! When I say slept I mean I went into my tent at 5:45pm and lay there listening to the wind and watching the snow blow in through every tiny hole and crack until 6:00am. I did not feel as if I slept at all and it was certainly one of the most uncomfortable nights I have ever had. Picture is of the zips of the inside of our tent at camp 2. The whole inside of the tent was covered in ice. Everytime the wind blew or we turned over in bed we were covered in ice. Not a very comfortable night.
It took 2hrs to boil water and pack up camp, something that would take 10 minutes down at sea level. We left from camp 2 just after 8:00am, got back to camp 1 at 10:30am and ABC just before 1:00pm. I think it is fair to say I was completly exhausted! All the teams with Russ have now completed their climatisation and to celebrate Russ threw a little party with red wine, beer and wiskey. A great way to relax and I certainly had a headache for a different reason in the morning!

We now have 2 rest days at ABC before we go for the final push to the summit which is currently scheduled for 25th Sep. We should reach the summit around 8 or 9am which is 3 or 4am UK time.

The Ice Cliff on the way to Camp 2

Jim, one of the other clients with Russ traversing the ice cliff.

Adrian, one of the guides with Russ just starting the steep section of the ice cliff.

Towards Camp 2 and the ice cliff

From Camp 1 we set off along the ridge, rising slowly and leaving the tents of Camp 1 behind.

It is a challenging climb with a huge ice cliff looming in front of us. It does not look much but at nearly 7000m it is very tough