Posts Tagged ‘Base Camp’

By truck from Tingri – A long and dusty ride

Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009

Everest on a Clear Day

Report from Jim Davidson in Tibet
Base Camp of Cho Oyu, 16,000′

We arrived yesterday by truck from Tingri after a long and dusty ride. Base Camp is well organized and IMG is doing a great job of running the logistics. Food is good and there is plenty of it. My teammates all speak English quite well (much better than my Polish!) so English is the lingua franca of Base Camp. And everyone has been on adventures around the world, including both poles.

I have discovered that all those insane workouts in Colorado are paying dividends. Except for a slight altitude headache (which I know will fade over the next few days) I’m in great health. We’ve taken a few walks around here and this new elevation makes us a little breathless. But that will pass.

Views of Everest were amazing on the drive in— at times the entire north side of the mountain was visible. It is humbling and inspiring to see this highest point on Earth from the same vantage point as the first British explorers of the 1920’s. Unfortunately our objective— Cho Oyu at 26,906′— was shrouded by clouds when we arrived at Base Camp. This morning I rose early, stood outside my tent and Cho Oyu was completely clear! I could see our route all the way to 26,800′, the highest ridge walk.

I got some great video and photographs, but you really have to be here to believe it! Most of the computers in Base Camp are down, so communication may be spotty from now on, but I’ll phone out whenever possible. Thanks for all the good wishes, prayers, and warm thoughts. This is where I want to be right now.

Climb On.

Jim

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Posted in Cho Oyu 2009 | 5 Comments »

Time to Climb

Tuesday, August 25th, 2009

Gear/Food Bag #99 - Onions & Garlic

It’s time. Time to wrap up the planning and begin climbing Cho Oyu.

Several people have asked about our schedule, so I will give you the overview:

  • Aug 26-31: Drive through Nepal and into Tibet. Take acclimatization days to adjust to the altitude as it rises to 18,000 ft at Base Camp.
  • Sept. 1-5: Move to Advanced base camp (18,700 ft) and acclimate more.
  • Sept. 6-11 Climb to Camp 1 (20,900 ft), then return to Advanced base camp (ABC).
  • Sept 12-18, Rest in ABC, climb to Camp 2 (23,600 ft), return to ABC.
  • Sept 19-23: Rest in ABC, prepare for summit push.
  • Sept 24-27: Summit push! Climb up through Camp 1, 2, & 3 (24,900 ft) and summit if we can
  • Sept 28-Oct 1: Drop to ABC, pack, leave OR make second summit push if needed for 3-5 days.
  • Return to Kathmandu sometime between Oct 2 and Oct 5.

What this plan does not show is numerous rest days to simply wait while our bodies grow more red blood cells and our heart rates settle back towards normal. What this plan can not show is all the uncertainty and variability due to weather, sickness, unexpected occurrences, etc.

What no plan, schedule or blog can possibly show is all the amazing effort that this will require from the team members, sherpas, leader, support staff, truck drivers and yak herders. Today I caught up with our strong sherpa team as they packed the last of our gear and food bags… all 120 of them!

The photo on this post happens to show bag #99 – garlic and onions. Toss on the additional 20-25 duffles of gear from the climbing team, and we will have quite a pile!

My blog postings will be a bit less frequent while we are in transit, due to uncertain technology links. I will post what I can, when I can. So please check back here to see how we are doing.

Thanks for following along.  I wish you good health and good spirits.

Time to climb!

Jim

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Posted in Cho Oyu 2009 | 5 Comments »