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Our
last despatch took us to the 12th September whereby our merry little
band was still scratching at Cho Oyo's base like children trying to
climb a candy tree. Much has happened in our little world since then,
a microcosm splashed with exotic sun bleaching weather and tempered
storms, exhilarating climbing marked by exhausting performances, avalanches
and summit preparations. Read on and sit down if you must, as the Cho
Oyo 2002 story is building up like a Nepalses monsoon block buster.
Friday 13th: this is where the next chapter begins.....there were no
swirling mists haunted with ghosts and glacier goblins, as it turns
out it was a perfect day for a sojourn to Camp 1 at 6350 metres. Very
little wind, a sun bleached sky, even the glacier was quiet beneath
our feet. There was little to distract us from the vistas of the vertical
world that surrounded us as we marched over the glaciated terrain, and
all was quiet except for the trickle of ice-melt and the odd collapsing
moraine. An invisible magnetism pulled us to our goal, and the evil
scree slope from hell never announced its authority over us as we arrived
at Camp 1 in good shape. Immediately we were rewarded with views. On
the setting sun we glorified ourselves with high cutting ridges and
with plastering snow flutes, rolling rounded sky lines and snaking glaciers
weaving through the valleys far below.
Temperatures punish those who try and withstand the shadows of the night,
so like rodents on a mighty hill we all crawled into our canvas havens.
Not a life form murmered on the ride that night once the sun had set.
Simon & Ian, Sue & Russ, Chris & Paul & Mark, thus commanded
their stoves and romantically cuddled up to hide from the night's chill.
It proved a hard night for most, as sleeping at a new altitude always
is.
Must note here that our six thirty alarm clock consisted of Sue snowballinng
our tents. Had we known, the Antipodean ANZACS could have defended our
sleep-in by digging in and retaliating with mortared ice bombs, sling
shot slush buckets and snipered snow balls - next time. A quick verbal
peace treaty and we began our climb up a rolling ridge to the infamous
ice cliff at 6600 metres. We achieved our acclimatisation objective,
but not before Russ and Mark had put in a climbing traverse on the ice
cliff to help alleviate the pressure on the present vertical route.
Everyone returned to ABC exhausted but exhilarated with the turn of
events. Russ expressed his sympathy and rewards by showering us with
beers. He openly praised us on a solid performance which set a great
mood for our evening's festivities leading into a day of rest.
Sunday 15th: Just love those rest days. Eating, drinking, reading and
writing were the consensus of the day, as well as forever fine-tuning
our summit assault.
Monday 16th: Our mission was clearly defined. Simon, Mark, Ian were
to make a push to Camp 2 over a series of days to enhance their non-oxygen
acclimatisation programme, meanwhile Sue, Paul & Chris were to complete
another overnight stay at Camp1. As we were to stash summit gear at
Camp 2, careful packing concluded the morning followed by some gentle
reading in the mess. This was soon interrupted by a friendly visit from
Simon's German buddy called Patrick. Books entitled "Explaining
Hitler", "The myth of the Great War", "Overlord"
and "The Fully Monty", quickly disappeared under Milo tins,
behind chairs and in loose fitting fleeces.
With 12kg loads, the trip to Camp 1 was all too familiar, but no less
rewarding. With Sue still at ABC our tents were spared from the 6.30am
snowballing. The climb to the ice cliff never fails to disappoint and
Russ's traverse proved to be a great success. We had already been warned
by one of our Sherpas that the snow conditions were not good to Camp
2 and we were advised to turn back. Ignorance is bliss and we decided
to continue to climb regardless. A gentle rise took us to a steep snow
ramp which led into an unforgiving steep climb with fixed rope. The
steep slope had no footholds or firm ice for our crampons to bite into.
Instead the wind blowing above sent torrents of snow drift down our
route that gave no strength or bite to our feet. With the weight of
our packs we would kick in and slide back down. We moved like snails
on a monster's back. Our motion forward was pathetic and it drained
the very best out of us.
We made it to Camp 2 at 7100 metres with little energy left to rejoice
or celebrate. Our functionality came down to the basics: rehydrate,
food and warmth. The five of us quickly cocooned ourselves in our bags
within our tents and dreamed of warm happy places.
Meanwhile back at the ABC ranch, Sue, Paul, Chris & James had headed
back up to Camp 1 and enjoyed all the glories it possessed. During the
night (at about 4 a.m.) Sue and James were awakened by a thunderous
roar above. A huge shoulder had broken away from the mountain, but they
did not know where from. Their first concern was for themselves, then
for us at Camp 2, but no news could be gained until morning. Our night
at Camp 2 was miserable as guaranteed by the tourist brochure. The cold,
our invisible enemy, second only to the altitude, crept into every corner
and our very soul. The tents iced up like frozen Japanese rice paper
and ice particles continued to hail on us all night.
We awoke to a blissful morning with views over the Himalaya that just
charged the spirits. Was last night then just a bad dream? Our descent
was rapid, motivated by the physical forces of gravity and the lure
ofthe luxuries of ABC. We hit the wind at the ice cliff and noticed
the slab avalanche that tore away the shoulder leading up to the ice
cliff. It's shear zone being about one and a half metres deep was amazingly
only 2 metres from our climbing route. The wind caused a little trouble
on our descent with the rope catching under the fracture line, but nothing
more than a few persuasive words couldn't fix. We caught up with Sue
and James at Camp 1 who appeared refreshed and invigorated as if they
had just been spacing at a 5 star resort and all returned to ABC.
For the next 3 days (19th-21st) Himex-ville transformed itself into
the Nang-pa La feed-a-lot, as we were showered with the luxurious cooking
of Lachu and Co. We rolled in the sun like fattened walruses and we
watched our lard grow with our strength and confidence. During such
time we finalised our plan to charge the summit. For safety and speed
we have all now opted to use oxygen. As a united team we now have the
luxury of flexibility, and it has been decided to make the push to the
summit from Camp 2 (7100m). A 1100 metre ascent will make a big day,
but the benefits our obvious.
Today is our last rest day, and weather permitting we will begin our
final ascent tomorrow.
Provisional Summit Plan:
21st ABC - Camp 1
22nd Camp 1 - Camp 2
23rd Summit (3.00am start) - Camp 2
24th Camp 2 - ABC
To the top.....
Happy Days
Cho Oyo Expedition 2002
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Expeditions
