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 SummitClimb Cho Oyu Autumn 2005: Details of the climb | ||||||||
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Update 10/1/2005: Hello, my name is Guntis, and I'm sending in a message from the Cho Oyu SummitClimb 2005 Expedition. On September 27 we had packed our bags and gear from Camp Two at 7,000 meters to advance to Camp Three at 7,450 meters. We knew it would be a cold and short night. At midnight in the black and cold we melted snow for our warm drinks and work began. It took us time, but at 2:00am on September 28 we were ready to depart, depart for the summit of her, the big Cho Oyu. Dressed as light as possible, but equipped with down suits, climbing gear, heavy boots and water bottles we set off at 2am in the dark with flashlights. The first obstacle was a rock band that we surpassed after about an hour. It's a difference climbing in the night without absolute vision. The climb continued in a monotonous way and oxygen gets scarce by the step. One keeps focusing on advancing. Climbing remains the only thing in your mind. Looking ahead, one fortunately looks upwards. Any climber ahead of you looks like a shadow of a Japanese dangling lantern, the only romantic aspect of the climb so far. It gets more and more monotonous, darkness, little oxygen, and continued physical effort. One gets lost in the ardor of advancing. Then, after several hours, a sudden light becomes visible and improves the mood. Suddenly one recognizes that the steam on one's footsteps in fact is the light of the flashlight. Shutting it off is probably the only positive action for several hours. The sunshine over her plateau's edge is great encouragement towards the light. Maybe soon. But optimism very soon subsides. The so-called plateau is no plateau. It's a giant slope on which the summit is not visible. Only determination can still keep me moving at a lethargic pace.
The sun starts warming and giving energy. Alone in the snow desert comes a surprise, the view of the Tibetan Lammergeiers. The still-young life at the summit smiles at 8:30am on the top of Her. I sit down and consume the remaining energy drink. Happy as I had pictured, I made it, the summit of Cho Oyu! The descent is another experience, not without effort, but too long to tell. I long for a shower, a shave, clean clothes without summit smell, and to leave this Tibetan sea level at 5,600 meters and to get home. This is our team:
Arnold Coster, the Netherlands- Leader Phil Crampton, UK -Expedition Manager Thierry Auberson, Switzerland Guntis Brands, Switzerland Edward Buckingham, UK Ray Butler, UK Herve Coron, France Doug Cote, USA Dominic Faulkner, UK Tunc Findik, Turkey Johan Franlelius, Sweden Gernot Gessinger, Austria Richard Lindskold, Sweden Ulrica Lindskold, Sweden Mark Little, USA Francois Niering, Switzerland Maya Sherpa, Nepal Andrew Sloan, UK Jon David Stewart, USA Ben Stuckey, USA Matt Ward, UK Nick Williams, UK
Introduction to Cho Oyu: 4 September to 10 October Cho-Oyu has only recently become a popular mountain to climb. It is now known to be one of the most accessible of the world’s fourteen 8,000 metre mountains. This is because the ascent to the summit is short and direct, with a few small technical sections, less than 6 metres high, climbed in safety using fixed lines. Additionally, the mountain can be easily reached by four-wheel-drive vehicle, and the trail to Camp 1 at 6,400 metres, is basically a steep walk on talus slopes, often done in hiking boots. This expedition to Cho-Oyu maximizes our previous successful ascents on the peak itself, plus many years of accumulated wisdom of the high Himalaya, a strong record of reaching 8,000 metre summits in all safety, along with an intimate knowledge of the Tibetan and Chinese officials who regulate the permit system. We must also give credit to the highly experienced and hard-working leaders, sherpas and staff here at SummitClimb.com Leader: Arnold Coster, an accomplished and friendly leader who has led successful expeditions to the summit of Cho Oyu and Everest. Arnold's last expedition placed 9 of 11 members and 4 Sherpas on the summit of Cho Oyu; Organizer: Jon Christian Otto, fluent Chinese speaker, Tibet and China Expert, with 10 years experience organizing Himalayan climbs. Cho Oyu - the "Turquoise Goddess" in Tibetan - is located at the frontier of Tibet and Nepal. At a height of 8201 meters, it belongs to the Himalayan range, about 30 km west of Everest. It is the sixth highest mountain in the world and was first climbed on October 19th 1954 by the Austrian Herbert Tichy, with Sepp Jochler and Pasang Dava Lama. "Finally, the peak is reached, the infinite hardships are ended. The last nine hours fighting with the mountain; the time in the death zone above 24,000 foot, the weeks of privations and hardships, even the risk of one's life - is this reward itself really? Yes, certainly! Not because of fame but inner satisfaction: To have found the mountain as friend and have been so near to the sky." Sepp Jochler.
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