Time to Climb

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