Apologies as it has been a while since my last update, everything still going well but either haven't had anything interesting to say or don't seem to have been near a computer anytime recently.
Have now been up to 7500m so my acclimatisation is now complete and we are back at base camp resting and waiting for the weather to settle and allow us an attempt on the summit. We are currently in our third day at BC and after a two week wait last year it is beginning to feel like Groundhog Day already, albeit it without Bill Murray's dry wit.
Despite being our second time, the North Col climb was pretty tough as the weather was extremely hot. We went up with a full pack (all my food, kit and clothing is now up there to try and preserve energy on the summit bid) so was hard work but made it in good enough time.
In the past, I have found both sleeping and climbing above 7000m for the first time difficult with headaches and loss of appetite. I didn't have the best night's sleep but I still managed to race up the North Ridge to 7400m the following morning without any difficulty which was a pleasant surprise. The North Ridge is a long steep snow slope, really not very interesting without any convenient stopping places (unless you want your pack to slide into oblivion) but there are amazing views of Cho Oyu, Pumori, Changtse and other stunning peaks.
The last hour up to 7500m was very hard work, as the wind dropped and I was battling severe heat in down salopettes and jackets designed for much colder temperatures so was tough going. Four of us reached 7500m around lunchtime with the rest of the team reaching altitudes between 7100m and 7400m. I won't have to climb above this altitude without oxygen again on this trip and had reached 7500m very quickly overall so was happy with the way things had worked out (particularly as last year the weather had prevented any of us reaching 7500m on acclimatisation).
It is also above 7000m where we begin to collect snow and ice to melt, unfortunately my regular tent mate had a chest infection so stayed at ABC and I tented solo above 7000m for the first time which, while it made it easier to cook and make water, was incredibly cold through the night. Melting ice and snow is a laborious task which gets harder the higher you get, we need to do this to drink and eat. Food consists of rehydrated or boil in the bag meals, I will probably write more about food later this week,and drinking water is either boiled or just melted with iodine tablets (which don't taste too good) - either way with the complete loss of appetite up there not particularly pleasant.
The following day I returned to ABC and then back to BC, which feels like a five star hotel compared to the higher camps. Although I have just finished reading a book about the Foreign Legion so find it difficult to feel too sorry for myself but my trekking boots are nearly dead so I hope they have one more BC to ABC trip and back left in them as I don't feel like going through the full Foreign Legion experience.
Some of the team were unwell and had delayed their final North Col run for a few days to try to recover so while we were back at BC the jet stream came very close to Everest and there was a huge storm high on the mountain, destroying five of our seven tents on the North Col. We had been aware of the storm risk and most of the critical kit had been stored in central storage tent, which fortunately had escaped,but there was a lot of kit and supplies in the individual tents. I had left my food pack in my tent, which while it wasn't blown off the hill was destroyed so while we think it has survived I am not completely certain what is left and will have to carry more up the last time just to be sure.
In the meantime, we wait at BC trying to keep ourselves busy doing 'things'. There have been some summits from the South already but the ropes will not been fixed to the summit on the North side until around the 14th and there is talk of a summit window around 16th/17th and some teams are heading up for then.
The CTMA have not fixed the ropes to the North summit yet (sometimes they make the Labour party look efficient!) but hopefully this will happen in the next few days. Our latest weather forecasts indicate that it will be windy on the summit until at least 18th/19th so guess we just have to be patient but maybe things will change.
Have now been up to 7500m so my acclimatisation is now complete and we are back at base camp resting and waiting for the weather to settle and allow us an attempt on the summit. We are currently in our third day at BC and after a two week wait last year it is beginning to feel like Groundhog Day already, albeit it without Bill Murray's dry wit.
Despite being our second time, the North Col climb was pretty tough as the weather was extremely hot. We went up with a full pack (all my food, kit and clothing is now up there to try and preserve energy on the summit bid) so was hard work but made it in good enough time.
In the past, I have found both sleeping and climbing above 7000m for the first time difficult with headaches and loss of appetite. I didn't have the best night's sleep but I still managed to race up the North Ridge to 7400m the following morning without any difficulty which was a pleasant surprise. The North Ridge is a long steep snow slope, really not very interesting without any convenient stopping places (unless you want your pack to slide into oblivion) but there are amazing views of Cho Oyu, Pumori, Changtse and other stunning peaks.
The last hour up to 7500m was very hard work, as the wind dropped and I was battling severe heat in down salopettes and jackets designed for much colder temperatures so was tough going. Four of us reached 7500m around lunchtime with the rest of the team reaching altitudes between 7100m and 7400m. I won't have to climb above this altitude without oxygen again on this trip and had reached 7500m very quickly overall so was happy with the way things had worked out (particularly as last year the weather had prevented any of us reaching 7500m on acclimatisation).
It is also above 7000m where we begin to collect snow and ice to melt, unfortunately my regular tent mate had a chest infection so stayed at ABC and I tented solo above 7000m for the first time which, while it made it easier to cook and make water, was incredibly cold through the night. Melting ice and snow is a laborious task which gets harder the higher you get, we need to do this to drink and eat. Food consists of rehydrated or boil in the bag meals, I will probably write more about food later this week,and drinking water is either boiled or just melted with iodine tablets (which don't taste too good) - either way with the complete loss of appetite up there not particularly pleasant.
The following day I returned to ABC and then back to BC, which feels like a five star hotel compared to the higher camps. Although I have just finished reading a book about the Foreign Legion so find it difficult to feel too sorry for myself but my trekking boots are nearly dead so I hope they have one more BC to ABC trip and back left in them as I don't feel like going through the full Foreign Legion experience.
Some of the team were unwell and had delayed their final North Col run for a few days to try to recover so while we were back at BC the jet stream came very close to Everest and there was a huge storm high on the mountain, destroying five of our seven tents on the North Col. We had been aware of the storm risk and most of the critical kit had been stored in central storage tent, which fortunately had escaped,but there was a lot of kit and supplies in the individual tents. I had left my food pack in my tent, which while it wasn't blown off the hill was destroyed so while we think it has survived I am not completely certain what is left and will have to carry more up the last time just to be sure.
In the meantime, we wait at BC trying to keep ourselves busy doing 'things'. There have been some summits from the South already but the ropes will not been fixed to the summit on the North side until around the 14th and there is talk of a summit window around 16th/17th and some teams are heading up for then.
The CTMA have not fixed the ropes to the North summit yet (sometimes they make the Labour party look efficient!) but hopefully this will happen in the next few days. Our latest weather forecasts indicate that it will be windy on the summit until at least 18th/19th so guess we just have to be patient but maybe things will change.
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