Trip Wrap Up. Taken me a while to sit down and write this post. Was debating whether to write it at all. It’s been a bittersweet end to the trip. The sweet…. After summiting Ama Dablam on Tuesday 22nd November, I had a rest day in base camp then packed up and trekked further up the valley, headed for Lobuche …
Practice Run No.3: What To Do Next?
Heading for Lobuche East, 6119m After summiting Ama Dablam on Tuesday, well ahead of schedule, I now have a week to kill while the rest of the group are still on the mountain. Options: Sit around BC for a week. Trek straight out, change flights and return home early. Trek straight out, return to Kathmandu and hit the pub. Go …
Practice Run No.3: Summit Success
A tough day out. I am writing this retrospectively, but… what a tough bloody day. I have had some tough days out before, but this one has to be right up there. When people head to the summit from C2, they generally leave around midnight to get up and back in the day. We had been moving well so decided …
Practice Run No.3: On the Final Summit Push
Camp 2 – Not the Most Comfortable Camp After a couple of rest days down at BC, I am now heading back up the hill, hopefully for the last time. Yesterday, Kaljang Dorjee (the Sherpa climbing with me) and I climbed back up to C1 and we slept there the night. The rest of the group were also at C1 …
Practice Run No.3 – Getting Ready for Summit Push
Back at Base Camp After a very ordinary night at C1 on Thursday night, yesterday we dropped back down to BC to complete the acclimatisation rotation. It is wonderful to be back on horizontal ground with the relative luxuries of base camp. For the first time since I’ve been here, slept straight through the night. Today I am just having …
Practice Run No.3 – Tagged Camp 2
The Climbing is Starting to Get Interesting Had a relatively good nights sleep at ABC last night. “Relative” being the operative word. Relative considering I was at ~5300m, in a small tent, on a thin sleeping mat with rocky/gravelly ground underneath, -18degC outside, and not much warmer inside. The joys… Today climbed back up to C1, dropped some gear, continued …
Practice Run No.3 – Load Carry to Camp 1
First Time to Camp 1 Today I carried a load of gear and food to Camp 1 (~5700m) and dropped back down to ABC for the night. A relatively short walk from ABC to Camp 1, but definitely feeling the altitude. Yesterday I was complaining about how bad ABC is. But it now looks like luxury compared to Camp 1. …
Practice Run No.3: First Time Up the Hill
First Acclimatisation Rotation Today ascended back up to ABC and staying here the night. It was a tough slog from BC with an over loaded pack full of all my mountain gear, climbing gear and food for 4 days (enough to get through the first acclimatisation rotation). The Sherpas help establish tents and cookers at each camp site, which we …
Practice Run No.3: Base Camp – Now the Fun Begins
Settling in to Base Camp After a week of trekking, last Saturday we finally arrived in Ama Dablam Base Camp (BC), ~4500m. From here, the summit looks so close, as if you can reach out and touch it. But we still have approximately 2.3 vertical kilometres to go. You lose all perspective of scale amongst these giant peaks. On the …
Practice Run No.3: First View of Ama Dablam
Ama Dablam in Real Life – Reality Hit Been a couple of days so figured it’s time for another update. Yesterday we flew in to Lukla and spent the past two days trekking up through the Khumbu valley. We were delayed leaving Kathmandu due to maintenance issues with the plane. Always reassuring sitting on the tarmac watching ground crew undertake …
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