We have now been at base camp ("BC") for six days and are heading up to advanced base camp ("ABC") tomorrow. I have settled into base camp life once again and for those of us who were here last year there is a huge sense of deja-vu - including the games of Risk. I am pleased to report that, at the time of writing, I am unbeaten (although this will likely change by the time you read this as we have only played once and are hoping to play again this later).
I am also back into the same routine of getting up and going to bed early. This is largely governed by the sunlight and temperature and always reminds me of how people must have lived in the days of yore, like when Dan was a boy and not a Prince Charles lookalike.
The food has been erratic thus far, we seem to have had an awful lot of spam (I can count five times already). I am not particularly happy about this and still don't know how this can possibly count as meat so am refusing to eat it (I am not the only one). Even the cook team have now taken to stealthly trying to disguise it amongst other foods. Having said that, I am not in anyway criticising the kitchen staff who do an excellent job and anyone who knows me will know I am not in a position to make judgements on anyone else's cooking ability.
So far, the weather has been much worse than last year so, after a reasonable start, the last three days and nights have been very windy and it is showing no sign of abating which could make our stay at ABC interesting.
I have done three separate acclimatisation walks up to 5500m, 5700m and 6000m over the past few days. The purpose of the acclimatisation walks is get my body used to higher altitude and increase my red blood cell count. Each time, I will try and spend as long as possible up high to maximise the benefit. Despite suffering from a very sore throat since arriving at BC, I haven't really encountered any difficulties and my training seems to be working so far (but as previously said I would really know how I am doing until I get to ABC and beyond).
I was concerned that my throat was the start of the famous Khumbu Cough but, after a couple of disturbed nights' sleep, it has now thankfully gone only to be replaced by a cold. I only have myself to blame for the cold though, after I had the bright idea to go up to 6000m only in a shirt and windproof jacket on a very windy day - I guess I should really know better by now. Maybe I was still deluding myself that I lived in Durham and could get away with this before I became an adopted Southerner?
We have also had our main Puja ceremony a few days ago. The Puja is a Buddhist ceremony where a Lama comes to camp and blesses the mountain, the team and our equipment. The Sherpas will not climb on the mountain until the Puja has taken place and many of them use it as a last chance to relax before the hard work begins. I decided to take the precaution of getting my knee support blessed this year as well as my boots, crampons, ice axe etc. I have also managed to avoid losing my prayer string thus far after losing it the day after last year!
The walk to BC to ABC is around 15 miles with an ascent from 5150m to 6400m across tough undulating terrain. It would normally take me around 7 hours and is extremely tiring but I am strangely looking forward to it as it should give me an idea of how strong I am compared to last year. We will split it into two the first time and use an intermediate camp at 5700m. Intermediate camp is probably the most depressing place in the whole world and I am not looking forward to our night there. The walk itself is mainly through a moraine and there is no real objective danger apart from a load of huge rocks defying gravity and menacingly perched over the route like something out of a cartoon and just ready to fall, I remember the first time I saw them I thought "This is dangerous".
ABC is a very tough place to live and I will aim to spend around four days there this time. It is very cold, windy and high (6400m above sea level, so a mile above Mont Blanc and 500m higher than Kilimanjaro) and very basic tasks are draining when you first arrive. Apparently, we are in exactly the same place as last year so I will aim to get there as quickly as possible and secure one of the best tent spots (i.e. not at the top of a small hill from the mess tent and toilet like last year).
One indicator of acclimatisation is oxygen saturation (although often mis-used), my oxygen saturation has risen back above 90%, as opposed to 83% when I first arrived at BC. Admittedly this is not good compared to the normal 99% at sea level (where under 90% would lead to admittance to intensive care) but much higher than most (including some of the sherpas). I feel very well acclimatised so will hopefully not suffer too much as we ascend although will be interested to see what it drops to at ABC and the North Col.
Once at ABC, we will get a fantastic view of the whole route up to the summit and the plan is to spend a couple of days getting used to the altitude and then climb up the North Col to over 7000m. After over three weeks out here this will be our first bit of proper climbing so am looking forward to that and it will feel like we are finally getting going.
Over and out to the next time !!
Andy
I am also back into the same routine of getting up and going to bed early. This is largely governed by the sunlight and temperature and always reminds me of how people must have lived in the days of yore, like when Dan was a boy and not a Prince Charles lookalike.
The food has been erratic thus far, we seem to have had an awful lot of spam (I can count five times already). I am not particularly happy about this and still don't know how this can possibly count as meat so am refusing to eat it (I am not the only one). Even the cook team have now taken to stealthly trying to disguise it amongst other foods. Having said that, I am not in anyway criticising the kitchen staff who do an excellent job and anyone who knows me will know I am not in a position to make judgements on anyone else's cooking ability.
So far, the weather has been much worse than last year so, after a reasonable start, the last three days and nights have been very windy and it is showing no sign of abating which could make our stay at ABC interesting.
I have done three separate acclimatisation walks up to 5500m, 5700m and 6000m over the past few days. The purpose of the acclimatisation walks is get my body used to higher altitude and increase my red blood cell count. Each time, I will try and spend as long as possible up high to maximise the benefit. Despite suffering from a very sore throat since arriving at BC, I haven't really encountered any difficulties and my training seems to be working so far (but as previously said I would really know how I am doing until I get to ABC and beyond).
I was concerned that my throat was the start of the famous Khumbu Cough but, after a couple of disturbed nights' sleep, it has now thankfully gone only to be replaced by a cold. I only have myself to blame for the cold though, after I had the bright idea to go up to 6000m only in a shirt and windproof jacket on a very windy day - I guess I should really know better by now. Maybe I was still deluding myself that I lived in Durham and could get away with this before I became an adopted Southerner?
We have also had our main Puja ceremony a few days ago. The Puja is a Buddhist ceremony where a Lama comes to camp and blesses the mountain, the team and our equipment. The Sherpas will not climb on the mountain until the Puja has taken place and many of them use it as a last chance to relax before the hard work begins. I decided to take the precaution of getting my knee support blessed this year as well as my boots, crampons, ice axe etc. I have also managed to avoid losing my prayer string thus far after losing it the day after last year!
The walk to BC to ABC is around 15 miles with an ascent from 5150m to 6400m across tough undulating terrain. It would normally take me around 7 hours and is extremely tiring but I am strangely looking forward to it as it should give me an idea of how strong I am compared to last year. We will split it into two the first time and use an intermediate camp at 5700m. Intermediate camp is probably the most depressing place in the whole world and I am not looking forward to our night there. The walk itself is mainly through a moraine and there is no real objective danger apart from a load of huge rocks defying gravity and menacingly perched over the route like something out of a cartoon and just ready to fall, I remember the first time I saw them I thought "This is dangerous".
ABC is a very tough place to live and I will aim to spend around four days there this time. It is very cold, windy and high (6400m above sea level, so a mile above Mont Blanc and 500m higher than Kilimanjaro) and very basic tasks are draining when you first arrive. Apparently, we are in exactly the same place as last year so I will aim to get there as quickly as possible and secure one of the best tent spots (i.e. not at the top of a small hill from the mess tent and toilet like last year).
One indicator of acclimatisation is oxygen saturation (although often mis-used), my oxygen saturation has risen back above 90%, as opposed to 83% when I first arrived at BC. Admittedly this is not good compared to the normal 99% at sea level (where under 90% would lead to admittance to intensive care) but much higher than most (including some of the sherpas). I feel very well acclimatised so will hopefully not suffer too much as we ascend although will be interested to see what it drops to at ABC and the North Col.
Once at ABC, we will get a fantastic view of the whole route up to the summit and the plan is to spend a couple of days getting used to the altitude and then climb up the North Col to over 7000m. After over three weeks out here this will be our first bit of proper climbing so am looking forward to that and it will feel like we are finally getting going.
Over and out to the next time !!
Andy
No comments:
Post a Comment