After a few weeks deliberation on my return from Aconcagua, I had decided to go a step further and attempt one of the 14 8000m peaks.
It came down to a straight choice between Cho Oyu and Manaslu and eventually, due to the perceived lower objective danger and avalanche risk and also the fact that it was a bit higher, I decided upon Cho Oyu.
I was under no misapprehensions about how difficult a task this would be and so threw myself into training. It is really difficult to know exactly how best to train for an 8000m peak, my plan was to adopt the approach of Ed Viesturs, an American climber who has climbed all 14 800ers without supplementary oxygen. His approach was to adopt a four days on, one day off regime with running at least seven miles running each day to build up stamina and it was good enough for him then it was good enough for me. Ed had the advantage of living in the Cascade Mountains whereas I live in London, where there are no proper hills so I decided to compensate by doing at least 9 miles each active day.
Although it was very hard at first, especially on days three and four, the training went really well and found that over the coming months my fitness and stamina increased enormously.
The next decision was how to approach the expedition. I had never been to the Himalayas before and had no idea how things worked out there so quickly decided that a commercial expedition was the best route. After researching and speaking with a number of companies providing such an expedition I settled upon a UK company, Adventure Peaks.
Arrival and acclimatisation
The team would consist of four members and one leader.
Our leader would be Zac Poulton, who worked for Adventure Peaks (at that time). Zac have not been over 8000m before but had summitted Baruntse and had a large amount of experience in the UK and Alps. Zac will be leading my Everest expedition this year.
The team would consist of Jeremy, Wallace, John and myself - all from the UK.
Team travelling through Tibet
After arriving in Kathmandu, an interesting place and having a day there to make final kit checks we headed through Nepal to the Chinese border.
Nepali bus
The Chinese closed the border early that day so we spent a night in Kodari on the Nepalese side, the accommodation was basic to say the least. We were able to cross the border early next morning, John had a few problems at the border on account of carrying a book with pictures of tanks and warships in his luggage, but once we had crossed we made our way through Tibet to a small town called Nylam. Once we had crossed the border the quality of roads increased markedly since the Chinese had recently put a new road through Tibet which made our journey much easier, although seeing a sign to Beijing over 4,000km away reminded you just what a vast country China was.
Friendship bridge on the Nepali-Chinese border
Tibetan road
Once you cross the border into Tibet you are in the hands of the CTMA (China Tibet Mountaineering Association), the permit cost includes transportation to base camp, accommodation and food so you will have no say on whereabouts you will stay and what you will eat. We spent two nights in Nylam (3500m), a strange looking concrete town right in the middle of the deserted Tibetan and did our first acclimatisation walk up to about 4300m.
Nylam
We moved on another Tibetan town/ village called Tingri, an even more remote place with hordes of wild dogs roaming the streets. We had been warned about this and also of the rabies risk so we made sure we carried walking poles to ward them off. It is usually possible to catch a glimpse of Cho Oyu and Everest from Tingri, unfortunately the weather was cloudy so we would have to wait for our first sight.
Tingri
After a night in Tingri we moved straight onto Chinese base camp (4900m), it is possible to drive to base camp and it is only about an hour from Tingri. It was also a relief to move on to the relative freshness of base camp. We spent a few days at base camp doing a series of acclimatisation walks up to 5700m. We had to be careful not to walk too close to the Chinese army outposts or we would be warned off by the soldiers and had heard stories of cameras being confiscated if they saw you taking any photos so was way of this.
Chinese Base Camp
After a few days here we were ready to move on up the mountain towards Advanced Base Camp. Once the Yaks arrived and were loaded up, quite a sight and experience watching the Yak people in action, we were ready to go. It was at Chinese Base camp where we got our first view of Cho Oyu and, even though we were already 5000m above sea level, it was quite an imposing site. We also got our first opportunity to meet the our Sherpas, Purba and Lhakpa, both were great guys and both had been over 8000m on a number of occasions, although was a bit perturbed when Purba said Cho Oyu was "easy." He quickly retracted this comment and said what he meant was that it was not as technical compared to some of the other high climbs he had done.
Yaks ready to leave BC with Cho Oyu behind
We spent a night an intermediate camp on our way to Advanced Base Camp ("ABC"). The walk was mainly over a large moraine but gave us some spectacular views of Cho Oyu.
Cho Oyu on the way to ABC
The weather was variable but by the time we approached ABC at 5700m, the snow was falling, it was very cold and I had lost feeling in my fingers which made erecting the tents challenging. Since the Yaks were able to get up to ABC the camp had many more facilities than the camps higher up the mountain which was just as well since it would be main home for the next month or so. Cho Oyu is peculiar in that ABC, as opposed to base camp, is used as the principal base camp throughout the expedition and we would not descend back to base camp until the way off the mountain.
We were the first team to arrive at ABC (excluding the CTMA) which meant that we got first choice of pitch. ABC was an interesting place, teams from all over the world began to arrive and set up camp. The weather was fairly erratic, we had a combination of snow, wind and sunshine and similarly to Aconcagua, the temperature would drop very low when the sun disappeared.
Arriving at ABC
The climb
We would be climbing Cho Oyu using what is know as the Normal Route. There would be three additional high altitude camps above ABC the two most technical parts of the climb would be a serac at about 6800m and the rock band around 7800m.
Our climbing route
We began to adjust to live at ABC and it would be interesting to see how our bodies coped. 5700m is around the limit for the human body to exist normally, above this height the body will not recuperate properly. The highest permanent settlements on the planet are just over 5000m although some nomadic people will live higher for periods. Up to this point Jeremy and Zac seemed to have suffered most from the altitude, but fortunately no one had any chronic problems.
After a couple of days resting we began our acclimatisation walks through the moraine, practiced fixed line techniques and then up to Lake Camp at about 6000m which was hard work.
Acclimatisation walk near ABC
On the way to Camp 1
Finally a load carry to camp 1 at 6400m via the infamous scree slope. The hike to camp 1 was fairly long and over undulating moraine terrain, I had read a lot about the scree slope and was not looking forward to it, 400m of ascent on scree up to 6400m and was expecting it to be very hard work. It took a couple of hours the first time but, maybe because I had psyched myself up for it so much, wasn't as hard as I hard feared and we were the first team to arrive at camp 1.
The Scree Slope on the way up to Camp 1
First to Camp 1
Once we had dropped our kit off, it was back down to ABC to rest again.
Sherpa tradition/ religious beliefs does not allow them to go onto to the mountain (on Cho Oyu they classified this as above camp 1 where we would have to use ropes) until the Puja ceremony had taken place. The Puja is essentially where the Sherpas ask and pray to the gods for permission to climb upon the mountain and for a blessing of a safe and successful expedition and is an integral part of the Himalayan climbing experience. The Puja cannot take place without a priest so we were required to wait at ABC until the priest arrived.
In addition to the delay while waiting for the Puja to take place, there also seemed to be some confusion as to who would fix the ropes higher up the mountain. It is common practice for 8000m peaks to be climbed in expedition style, this involves fixed lines being set up along the routes between high camps. It was originally agreed that the CTMA would fix the ropes however when we got to ABC, the CTMA announced that the price per team for rope fixing would increase, this led to some heated discussions and eventually the teams got together and agreed to fix their own ropes but another delay which was frustrating as we were feeling strong and keen to progress up the mountain so we spent our time doing more acclimatisation walks around the area of ABC.
Taking a break on an acclimatisation walk
We also went back up to camp 1 to spend the night and perfect our technique on fixed lines. Camp 1 was perched on a ridge and afforded spectacular views of the surrounding mountains , there were no facilities at all and it was not an easy place to spend time. There was no water anymore so all drinking water had to made by melting snow, a laborious but necessary task, and basic activities like going to the toilet could be hazardous. We were amused when we returned later in the expedition that a team had pitched their tents on the ground that we used as a toilet on our first visit.
Camp 1
Rope practice at Camp 1
Finally, the priest arrived and the Puja took place. The Puja was an interesting experience for us Westerners, an opportunity to observe the local culture and sample the local tipple. The Sherpas seemed to enjoy it enormously with many of them treating it like a final party before they headed up the mountain.
Puja
With the Sherpas now able to go on the mountain we were able to begin to think about going higher. We would carry our own personal kit and food as we climbed higher. I tried to keep things to a minimum and my pack was still pretty might but John seemed to adopt the approach that if in doubt take it with you and seemed to have an enormous amount of stuff, I put this down to him being in the army but he still maintains everything was absolutely necessary. I shared a tent with John in all high camps (you have the luxury of your own tent at ABC and base camp) and we got along well, sharing the chores and working together well as a team.
Life at camp 1
Leaving camp 1
While our packs were heavy enough, the Sherpas and High Altitude Porters would be carrying unbelievable amounts and it made us feel quite humble. The porters would only go as far as camp 1 and from there onwards the sherpas would do a series of load carries higher to establish the higher camps - this would normally consist of the tents, stoves and oxygen canisters. Their strength at high altitude is truly amazing especially as they are normally very slightly built.
Our Sherpas - Lhakpa and Purba
The climb from camp 1 to camp 2 (7100m) was brutal and it also gave us our first experience of the serac, the most technical section of the climb.
I had never run a marathon so am not in a position to make a comparison but John had a completed an ultra marathon series in the Gobi Desert (7 marathons in 7 days) and said he thought it was harder than any of those days. It was a long day but we did have excellent views of Shishapangma (the 14th highest mountain in the world) and surrounding mountains. He will be doing the Comrades Marathon a 56 mile race in South Africa while I am on Everest this year so good luck to him with that.
Shishapangma
On the way to Camp 2
We were all very tired and very glad to roll into camp 2. We were now higher than point in the world outside of the Himalayas and I had a new personal altitude record!
Camp 2
We spent two nights at camp 2, I had never slept at this altitude and heard horror stories of people's pulse not dropping below 150 up here so while I did get a bit of a headache, and was forced to take some paracetamol (four in total for the whole trip and this was the only time I had to take any headache pills on the entire trip) I was glad to feel relatively normal. While it looks nice and sunny on the pictures, it was brutally cold and once the sun went down it was not advisable to leave the tent. We climbed up to about 7300m the following day, breaking trail in deep snow, before returning back to ABC to prepare for our summit attempt.
About to abseil down the serac
Returning from Camp 2
After 4 days rest at ABC, resting and monitoring the weather we had a favourable weather forecast and were ready to go
Ready for the summit attempt
Back along the moraine and up the scree slope to Camp 1 for the fourth and last time, I wouldn't be sorry to see the back of the slope but it had definitely got easier as our bodies had become acclimatised to the altitude.
Back at camp 1
Then back up to camp 2, this was so much easier the second time around, I was feeling strong and no headaches.
The way up
Camp 2 again
After a night at camp 2 we were ready to move up to camp 3, at just over 7500m this would be the highest camp and our last one before the summit attempt.
The climb up to camp 3 was very tough, we were all in full down kit and a combination of the extreme heat (yes, even at this altitude you can get very hot if the sun is shining), the altitude and accumulated fatigue made the first hour incredibly tough. The heat forced me to repack my down jacket into my rucksack but kept going and I got a second wind after an hour or so, started to find my legs again and made it into camp by mid-afternoon. The first couple of hours of this day were the toughest of the climb and indeed tougher than anytime on Everest so far.
Arriving at camp 3
Camp 3
Now it was a case of boiling snow to make water, trying to eat and rest until midnight when we would set off for the summit.
We set off in the dark and it was unbelievably cold, if you took your gloves off for a short time, your hands got extremely cold and the hot aches set in as soon as you began to warm them up again - not pleasant and it didn't help that my crampons seemed to contract in the cold and took an age to get on. But we got going on schedule, the first section of the climb was over snow, it was pretty steep but nothing too dramatic. We were now climbing on supplementary oxygen and the impact for me was phenomenal, this day felt so much easier than the previous day.
We reached the rock band in good time and despite John nearly having a run in with Victor Saunders, he accidentally strayed off the path and fell into a crevasse blocking the rope for Victor's team until he climbed out, everything was going to plan and I was feeling strong and not too cold.
John on Summit day
We reached 8000m early in the morning with the sun coming up and enjoyed the fantastic views. My fingers were beginning to feel cold now which was a bit strange since the sun had now come up so presumed I was running low on fuel so took an energy gel which seemed to do the trick.
View from 8000m
Shortly afterwards we reached the false summit, famous as the place where Alan Hinkes, the only UK person to claim all 14 8000m peaks is thought by many to have turned around in a storm, and knew is wasn't far now. Alan will be leading a team on the North side of Everest in 2011 so am looking forward to meeting him.
We were much luckier with the weather and the whole team reached the summit within half an hour of each other at around 0700 in the morning. It felt great to be on the summit and we spent the next hour taking photos, enjoying the view and basking in the glory of achieving something Reinhold Messner (the greatest climber that has ever lived in my opinion) had failed to do in reached the summit on our first attempt.. Unsurprisingly, it soon began to get very cold and it was time to get moving again.
On the summit
Team (minus Zac who is the photographer) on the summit
The summit itself is reasonably large but the most amazing thing about is once you come onto the summit plateau itself Everest and Lhotse suddenly appear having been hidden behind Cho Oyu the whole time we have been, it is the point when you can see Everest towering above Cho Oyu by just over 600m that you know you have reached the summit. Everest is about 20 miles from Cho Oyu and is a magnificent site. In fact in the picture directly below you can see four of the highest six mountains in the world: Everest; Lhotse; Kanchenjunga and Cho Oyu. - a real jaw dropping moment! Only K2, a few hundred miles to the west in Pakistan, and Makalu, hidden behind Everest, are missing from the full set.
Four of the world's six highest mountains
The Descent
The weather was still good, I had enough food and water and didn't feel too tired at the moment so I marched down to camp 3 and then to camp 2, the last section to camp 2 was hard work as everyone's legs were beginning to feel the effects of a long night/ day in the hills. Annoyingly, just as on Aconcagua, my walking poles had decided they didn't want to lock and were next to useless. I finally got one working but am never using another pair of twist lock Leki poles again and would replace them with some snap lock Black Diamond ones in the near future which, as Zac smugly pointed out, were working fine for him.
Descending from the summit
We spent a night at camp 2 and then descended to ABC, the weather was not so good now and it looks like we timed our summit push just right but we made it down to camp 1, where one of the Tibetan porters had carried some cans of coke up there to sell to us for a highly inflated price but given the effort taken to get them up there we couldn't begrudge him that. I not normally a fan of Coca Cola but my body was crying out for sugar now and it tasted so good.
On the way down
After a short stop at camp 1 we continued down to ABC as the weather closed in pretty quickly and made it back just before a storm descended.
Near ABC
Although tired we all seemed in pretty good shape physically. John was suffering from very cold toes and lost feeling in his toes and it turns out full frostbite set in and he embarked on a programme of rapid rewarming, ibuprofen, aspirin and aloe vera to try and control the pain. It would be a six months before feeling returned. The rest of the team had been using modern 8000m double boots whereas John had used some normal plastic boots with overboots, the type of set-up that was probably commonplace a decade or so ago but not so much now and clearly not as effective at high altitude. In addition, he had become very dehydrated and wasn't using a full expedition rated down jacket so these were probably also contributory factors.
John attending to his toes
Unfortunately once back at base camp we got news that one climber Clifton Maloney (who was climbing as a client of Marty Schmidt, a renowned American high altitude climber) had died on his way down from the summit. It is always very sad to hear of something like this, we had seen Clifton and Marty a number of times on the mountain over the past few weeks, they had summitted on the same day as us and it was a chilling reminder of how dangerous high altitude climbing can be.
One thing I had been expecting but wasn't really conscious of at the time was the weight loss sustained living at high altitude for an extended period. I have heard about people fattening themselves up before a long expedition and had added a few pounds so arrived on Cho Oyu at about 68kg, when I weighed myself on my return I was shocked to see that I know weighed about 58kg and looked quite ill. In addition to losing body fat I also lost lot of muscle - my shoulders, arms and legs now looked totally wasted. I put this down to a combination of the physical exertion of the climb, the body having to work extra hard to perform its normal functions in the oxygen deficient environment, the lack of protein in the diet and the fact that the body struggles to metabolise protein at high altitude and begins to feed off itself.
Looking very skinny on the way back to Kathmandu
The food at ABC was prepared by the team cook and was excellent. However our remote location meant it was not really feasible to have a regular source of fresh food so fresh fruit, vegetable and meat were rare. I could get round the fruit and vegetable shortage with vitamin pills but the lack of meat and consequential lack of protein couple with the fact that the body does not process protein efficiently at high altitude meant that body fed off itself to an extent and the loss of muscle was a lot more than I had expected.
Higher up we relied upon boil in the bag and dehydrated food which was also good, very calorie rich and actually made a nice change from base camp food. The boil in the bag food was much better than the dehydrated stuff but also, on account that it contained water, much heavier per calorie so it was a tricky choice - the Chilli and Syrup pudding (below) were particularly tasty or at least it seemed like it at the time - but I plumped were dehydrated meals above camp 2 and the Shepherds pie was, lets just say, interesting or to quote Crocodile Dundee "You can live on it, but it tastes like sh*t"
