First time at ABC

Date: 25 April 2011

We had a few comms problems between writing and sending my previous post so have in fact been at ABC for a few days now.

The journey from BC to ABC was fairly uneventful and didn't seem as tough as last year, I think this is combination of the body remembering how to acclimatise and my knowing what to expect and therefore how to pace myself. I was certainly more sensible than last year and kept a steady pace so had a lot left in the tank on my arrival at ABC.

The trail is mainly on glacial moraine and the scenery is spectacular, although my own view is probably slighted by the fact I have made the trek seven times already (four up and three down) - at 15 miles each way and around seven hours time that will be around 180 miles and 84 hours on exactly the same track by the end of this trip so you might be able to understand why I go onto autopilot.

There is a decent of path of sorts and Yaks can carry heavy loads up to ABC which means facilities are decent, we have a cook tent, mess tent and toilet tent but life at ABC is much tougher than at BC.

At 6400m ABC is very high and simple tasks can leave you breathless at first and simple tasks like washing, cleaning teeth and dressing are difficult. Having said that, it is amazing what a difference a couple of days up here can make, the slight dizziness and headache that I had on arrival have now completely gone for me although a couple of the team are still suffering.

This is also the first time that we will share tents on the expedition, while this makes tent admin more difficult but since it is so cold at night and we don't have as much stuff as at base camp is probably helpful overall.

The sun is also incredibly strong up there (especially when it reflects off the snow) and some people, like Heather who has acquired the new nickname of Little Miss Sunburn, have been caught out. But I have learnt from past woes, in particular when my lips and nose peeled off on Aconcagua, and have kept myself well covered up.

The weather at ABC has been atrocious until today with a lot of snow which prevents us from doing much - we have managed a bit of climbing practice on the ice towers and a walk up to about 6600m but that is about it. We have had large dumps of snow which makes it very dangerous to go up the North Col, for both hidden crevasses and avalanche, and are hoping to head up the North Col first thing in the morning.

Hidden crevasses are even a bit of a danger around camp for the unwary and unfortunately one of the yaks fell into one earlier today and was killed but hopefully we all have greater awareness of the danger than the poor yak.

Apologies for the fairly dry update but my plan is to head straight back to BC the day after (think two long days will help fitness and stamina) but not sure the computer will be coming down until a couple of days later so thought I had better let you know all was well.