Andrew, Julie and Gordon arrive

Everyone is now at ABC and above

18 Sept - the second team arrives at ABC

We had better not call them the late team...

Gordon missed his flight to Kathmandu simply because with an e-ticket you need a printout of all sectors, which he didn't have and apparently they didn't have the capability to print; motto, "Air Canada isn't happy until you are unhappy." So he missed out on Lhasa but at least was able to arrive in time on a new ticket (ouch!) to travel in with Julie and Andrew, the laugh a minute team.

Gordon is climbing with us, Andrew is climbing independently (ie BC-ABC support only) and Julie is in the middle, climbing with Andrew until he is ready to summit alone and then will join the Skills team.

It has been our pleasure to have Gordon in the dining tent, with his wry outlook, and even the most innocuous comment is twisted into laughter.

Gordon - Jamie

Around ABC

Here are some photos from ABC

Our ABC

We have a big camp, we brought up nearly 5 tonnes (!) of gear from BC. Thankfully there are many good spots and our ABC (Advance Base Camp) overlooks the lake at the end of the glacier, gets early sun, and sun later than any other camp, we have clean running water very close by too. So we have a great spot, not that sunshine has been the rule...

The weather so far has been snowy, loads of snow on the mountain and the average precipitation for the month was exceeded in the first 10 days. Once we are acclimatized then it will mainly be a question of waiting for good summit conditions. Luckily strong winds can strip off the snow high up in a day or two. First we have to acclimatize though.

Other teams

Our ABC is separate from all the other teams, and being a big, self-contained team, we haven't socialized as much as on most expeditions.

There is a pleasant number of teams at Shishapangma. The French ski team (5-8 members?) have been up to the base of the steeper climb Camp 3 on around 17 Sept, their summit attempt failing due to snow that was at least shin deep, even when using skis. They cleared virtually all their gear off the mountain on 18 Sept and the yaks come to clear ABC on the 25th. They suggested they arrived too early and will have to leave without an obvious chance to summit, and cannot extend their visa either.

The small Japanese team have already returned to Kathmandu after their climbing sherpa put a leg in a crevasse, twisting his ankle or similar. The Swiss team's cook arrived at BC slightly sick and at ABC seemed to get worse so he went down and soon after the rest of the team returned. Why their agency sent the cook up too fast is a bit of a mystery.

Jagged Globe is providing logistical support for a British Army team (partially on skis), and they will be the next team to mount a summit attempt, probably on the 26th when the weather is supposed to change. That will mean some serious snow wading though. There are also four climbers supported by Jagged Globe, we are unsure if they are guided or unguided.

Blair F, who climbed Lhotse with two sherpas in the Spring season then failed on Gasherbrum II (no sherpas?) is now here at ABC finally, after his permit companion died in Nyalam. Very sad.

The (five?) Russians don't speak much English and have been on the mountain most of the time we have been at ABC.

Windhorse has a team of four, but other than meeting the cook, a friend, I don't know anything more.

There is an Italian team and Emelio is back. He was here a couple of years ago as part of Silvio Mondinelli's team, when they failed to make the true summit. They are just starting to acclimatize, I met him at Depot camp on the 20th.

Edurne Pasaban and friends arrived at ABC the same day as Andrew Lock, and have dropped one small load at Depot camp on the 20th.

It seems that the less experienced teams have arrived early, or perhaps at what was considered a normal time five-ten years ago, and all seem to be having trouble with that. The more experienced teams have just arrived at ABC, which seems to suit the weather so far.

We are the biggest team on the mountain, with the most sherpas too, and have the longest time available. Lets see if we can climb this mountain safely.

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