Our 5 day acclimatization trip

The wind warning forecast wasn't wrong

We cope, here are some brief notes that might be filled out later

29 April - ABC packing 5700m

We have a few choices: relax at ABC, take day trips or climb into the teeth of the wind (as predicted on Explorers Web). We chose to battle the wind and acclimatise on the mountain.

30 April - to Depot camp 6055m

We had a pleasant trek up, 1.5 hours to 3 hours and once there we got the tents up under a gray sky, snow flakes beginning to fall.

Depot camp 6055m; we are the only expedition that has used this half way point to break the jump in altitude from ABC (5690m) to C1 (6390m).

1 May - to C1 6390m

Up the "killer scree slope". Photos don't do it justice, it is steep and loose, although to be honest, not particularly long.

Half way up the angle lessens but was slippery. Usually this is a scree trail, no snow.
Photo by Georgia Briscoe.

2 May - C1 6390m

We took a rest-acclimatisation day here. The day was uneventful except for what Patrick and Thomas dubbed "the Macaroni disaster". Patrick is a bit of a chef (2nd in a French competition) but found the cheap packet Macaroni tough going. Moe thought the Macaroni was OK, but the crevasse suffered the next morning, and Moe is possibly still feeling the effects, now (6 May) taking antibiotics...

The tents of C1 (6380m) looking up the ridge to the serac band, the obvious ice cliffs.

3 May - to C1.5 6785m

Today the wind was forecast to abate, and we headed up to C1.5, but the wind only increased on the way up. The serac (a 15m section of steep hard ice, center-right in the photo above) caused a few problems, Georgia's boot coming off while front-pointing. This is real ice climbing, not what some people climbing "the easiest 8000m peak" expected.

The sherpas and Jamie had a battle to dig out the tent platforms tucked into a minor snow ridge, which should have provided shelter, but barely did. Patrick arrived semi-hypothermic but Thomas bundled him into a tent and he recovered. Conditions were definitely tough, and it didn't get better. The wind blew HARD.

Thomas and Dawa climb well above C1 along the broad ridge. In the center at the back is Shishapangma, the 14th highest peak.

4 May - at C1.5

Did anyone sleep? Luckily Jamie put in one extra day of rations, as it was so windy that the sherpas couldn't climb up with more supplies. Catherine and Georgia had a brief moment of panic when one of the tent guy lines snapped, but Clive and then later Jamie effected repairs.

5 May - return to ABC

"Going down is easy", but with a calm early morning turning windy (again), we packed hurriedly and battled down. The down rope we had planned to use was too tight and Clive sorted out a second rope for the 15m abseil over the serac. We met several teams all heading up in the gale hoping for a window of good summit weather over the next couple of days.

At Camp 1 we met Mary and Warwick who after 4 nights there were a little stir-crazy. Jerry stayed only one night there, instead braving egg dinners and wind at ABC.

6 May - decision day

Georgia had been contemplating returning to the USA and tomorrow, she will head down. Although strong on the mountain the steep sections scared her and she still felt that she had little summit chance and would be better heading back to work.

Warwick found out his father is critically ill and has been for almost two weeks and will return ASAP to Australia. He will be missed.

Consequently Jamie is heading down with them and so the dispatches will be back in a couple of days, probably.

Everyone else is well, bar a minor tummy problem, and will relax in ABC for at least 7 May, and probably 8 May. The Explorers Web forecast is for extreme winds at the summit level of Cho Oyu for possibly a week, although several teams will still try to summit in the wind in the next couple of days.