Sherpa Woman Climbing Workshop with more great pictures from Everest and K2 Summiter Dan Mazur

A snow storm in high camp had dashed our hopes for climbing to the summit because the rocks are very slippery and snowy.

This is Ms. Elselien te Hennepe writing to you. Today is the 23rd of October and I'm really happy to be able to report that this workshop has been an educational as well as a very fun experience so far.

In the morning of the 19th, the nine of us left Chukung and headed for Island Peak Base Camp. A beautiful 3 hour walk led us over or in between many ridges and through different valleys before reaching IP BC at Parashaya Gab. Island Peak Base Camp sits in a narrow and windy valley in between the peak itself and the immense glaciers coming down Nuptse, Lhotse and Baruntse. Having spent one night at 5100m we decided to break up Base Camp and move it up the mountain to a perfect little rock plateau at 5500m. Our plan was to sleep early, wake up at 02:00 in the morning to start our climb to the summit. But the Himalayan weather system has it's own plans and waking up to the sound of high wind and fresh snow on our tents made us decide to crawl back into our warm sleeping bags and wait it out. In the afternoon of the same day we were lucky enough to enjoy the Himalayan peaks being covered in a scerene white layer of fresh snow, just before rapidly moving dark clouds from the south-west brought more wind and snow and diminished my hope for a summit push the coming night. Surprisingly lucky were we to wake up to a clear, darkblue sky filled with stars and white peaks lighted by the moon and at 04:00 in the morning we started our way up the rocky slopes of Island Peak. There were 5 of us: Me, Ms. Elselien te Hennepe, training leader, and Ms, K and Sherpa, and Ms. Nima Dolma Sherpa, both students, accompanied by Lakpa Kaongle Sherpa and Daniel Mazur, company representative from SummitClimb.com . The first part is a mix of a sandy trail, scree and rock scramble. This took us up to about 5900m, where we got out our climbing gear, roped up and continued our way over glaciated terrain towards the last steeper part of the route. Having our very experienced local advisor Lakpa Kongle with us was a great help, since he knew the route up the last 50% steep snow face and the small ridge to the summit would be securely fixed.  We all worked hard together and at 10 in the morning we arrived at the small but rewarding summit of 6180 m high Island Peak! The weather was still clear, the sun high in the sky and the Himalayan peaks of Nuptse, Lhotse, Makalu, Baruntse and Ama Dablam -to name just a few- breathtakingly beautiful.

While we were taking our summit pictures, more climbers made their way up Island Peak and going down the fixed lines to the glacier below needed some logistic management here and there. With the sun on ones face and the summit just behind or within reach the spirits were high and everyone was working well together. Below the fixed lines we roped up again, retraced our footsteps down the glacier and were totally surprised to see Gelzeng (one of our support staff members) waiting for us at the end of the glacier with a thermos of warm orange drink! We continued our way down the rocky part of this mountain, broke up high camp and walked straight down to the settlement of Chukung. There, after a long but very rewarding day, we enjoyed a delicious fresh meal of rice and fresh vegetables and Yak steak for those of us who ate meat!

Thank you very much for following this Sherpa Woman Climbing Workshop and we hope to write more about it soon!

Thanks for your attention from Elselien te Hennepe.

Here is a photo of the top of the Chola Pass, with the requisite prayer flags and trekkers crossing. Its a very beautiful pass, even if the clouds of come rolling in a little early sometimes.

Here is a picture of the Kongma Bird. On the 23rd we crossed the amazingly beautiful Kongma La pass from Chukung to Lobuche. The pass at is named after this Himalayan Snow Pheasant, or Kongma Bird in Sherpa. The Kongma Bird can now only be found in the Sagarmatha National Park because there hunting it is prohibited. In the rest of Nepal the bird is often killed for its tasty meat.

Here is a picture of our lady Sherpas setting up our high camp at 5500 meters. We are getting ready for our summit ascent tomorrow morning.

Earlier Update and background

Millet One Sport Everest Boot for Spring 2010 has made some minor changes by adding more Kevlar. USES Expeditions / High altitude / Mountaineering in extremely cold conditions / Isothermal to -75°F Gore-Tex® Top dry / Evazote Reinforcements with aramid threads. Avg. Weight: 5 lbs 13 oz Sizes: 5 - 14 DESCRIPTION Boot with semi-rigid shell and built-in Gore-Tex® gaiter reinforced by aramid threads, and removable inner slipper Automatic crampon attachment Non-compressive fastening Double zip, so easier to put on Microcellular midsole to increase insulation Removable inner slipper in aluminized alveolate Fiberglass and carbon footbed Cordura + Evazote upper Elasticated collar. Expedition footwear for mountaineering in conditions of extreme cold.  NOTE US SIZES LISTED. See more here.

A cold weather, high altitude double boot for extreme conditions The Olympus Mons is the perfect choice for 8000-meter peaks. This super lightweight double boot has a PE thermal insulating inner boot that is coupled with a thermo-reflective outer boot with an integrated gaiter. We used a super insulating lightweight PE outsole to keep the weight down and the TPU midsole is excellent for crampon compatibility and stability on steep terrain. WEIGHT: 39.86 oz • 1130 g LAST: Olympus Mons CONSTRUCTION: Inner: Slip lasted Outer: Board Lasted OUTER BOOT: Cordura® upper lined with dual-density PE micro-cellular thermal insulating closed cell foam and thermo-reflective aluminium facing/ Insulated removable footbed/ Vibram® rubber rand See more here.

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