Summitclimb Cho Oyu 2009: Dan Mazur reporting

All of us are up here in camp 2 at 7140 metres/23,400 feet. That’s all of our members and all of our sherpas. We’ve taken a rest day today to wait for better weather. We hope to climb up to camp 3 tomorrow, weather permitting, and then head for the summit.

It’s hard to believe only 2 people have climbed Cho Oyu this season out of maybe a dozen teams on the mountain. Some of those teams have been here since the early part of April. The weather has just been a bit windy and fickle and changing frequently. We congratulate those 2 people and we’re hoping to follow in their footsteps tomorrow.

Thanks for staying tuned to our website. Wish us all the best of luck. Bye

Hi, this is Stefano Ricci reporting for the SummitClimb spring Cho Oyu expedition 2009. I’m calling from camp 1 at 6400 metres/21,000 feet on 20th of May at 8:00 in the evening.

We left ABC this morning and ascended slowly, trying to save energy. Now we are resting in our tents and waiting for dinner because, amazingly, we have a cook in camp 1, which is really incredible.

The weather conditions are unbelievable. The mountain is almost clear and there no winds at all. Everybody is very motivated to try to go up to camp 2 tomorrow. Thanks for following along and we’ll keep you updated. Bye.

Hello everyone, this is Eva Ruszuly reporting in for the SummitClimb spring Cho Oyu expedition for 19 May, 2009 in ABC.

We had a big surprise from our Nepalese and Tibetan cooks. They prepared us a great dinner and then afterwards brought out a big delicious cake. Wow!

We are about to begin our summit attempt. We will head for camp 1, camp 2, and then camp 3. Hopefully on 25 May, we will summit Cho Oyu. Right now we are just taking a bit of a rest before the big push.

Thanks for following along. This was Eva, the Hungarian girl from Romania. Bye, bye.

Hello, this is Mark Delstanche reporting for the SummitClimb spring Cho Oyu expedition on Saturday, 16th of May.

We came up to camp 2 yesterday from camp 1 and it was the hardest day of the expedition so far. It was a long day, pretty tough, and everyone arrived fairly tired. It took between 7 ½ - 11 hours. It was pretty good most of the way, with a little bit of a storm in the afternoon. We’re now up here, relaxing and acclimatizing after having accomplished quite a stroll.

We’re now at 7100 metres/23,300 feet and we’re almost halfway through the expedition. It’s obviously the time where we’re now counting down the days until we’re back to our home luxuries, which we’re all looking forward to. Personally, I’m looking forward to sitting down on a proper toilette, a good few pints of beer with my friends at the pub back in England, a full English breakfast, and of course seeing my girlfriend.

Urs has been great. He’s my tent buddy helping me up on the high mountain.

That’s about it. I’d obviously like to wish everybody at home a very great weekend and look forward to seeing you in the next couple of weeks. Thank you. Bye, bye

Earlier: This is Zsombor Tulit reporting for the SummitClimb spring Cho Oyu 2009 expedition on the 14^th of May.

Yesterday we had a very long day, getting up very early in the morning and practicing using the stoves. The whole team reached camp 1 between about 5-6 ½ hours.

Here in camp 1 everything is perfect. We have a great cook, Dorje Lama, who has prepared us delicious big dinners and breakfasts so far.

Today is a big day. We are approaching camp 2. The weather is perfect with just sunshine and no wind at all. There are a great line of climbers approaching camp 2 from where I am right now.

That’s all for now from camp 1 at about 6400 metres/21,000 feet. Thanks for following our expedition. Bye.

Earlier: Hello, this is Stefano Ricci calling in a dispatch for the SummitClimb Cho Oyu 2009 spring expedition on 6th of May. I’m calling from advanced basecamp at about 5700 metres/18,700 feet.

On the 5th of May, some members decided to walk halfway to camp 1 at about 6000 metres/20,000 feet for acclimatization, while other members decided to take a rest day at ABC. Today we went with our leader, Dan Mazur, to practice ice climbing and check the equipment. There was a nice steep wall of ice about 20 metres tall and we practiced using a jumar, ice climbing, and rappelling down on ropes.

The weather has been very nice, with clear skies. Yesterday we could almost see a full moon rising behind Cho Oyu, which was just beautiful. The temperature at night is cold at around -10 C/14 F, but very pleasant during the daytime, which is around 10-15 C/50-60 F, with a very light wind.

Today we also had a puja, which is a Buddhist ceremony, this morning to bless everybody for a successful climb. It was very nice. They put Buddhist prayer flags all over, prayed and gave us flowers to be blown in the wind. The Tibetan yak drivers were singing and dancing and we all loved it. It was really cool.

There is no snow or rain in ABC and it is very dry. Every member is in good condition and the staff is doing a great job. The food is excellent.

 Our sherpas have already gone up to camp 2 to fix ropes. Some members are planning to go all the way to camp 1 tomorrow morning, which is at about 6400 metres/21,100 feet, and back to ABC in the same day for acclimatization. Other members are heading up halfway to camp 1 at about 6000 metres/20,000 feet and will spend the night there.

Thanks for following along our expedition. Bye

Hello, this is Stefanos Voutselas from Greece calling in a dispatch for the SummitClimb Cho Oyu 2009 spring expedition on 4th of May.

Today we made it to advanced basecamp at 5700 metres/18,700 feet. We started with a delicious breakfast in our intermediate camp and then packed all of the tents and equipments on to yaks for the hike up. Everyone arrived here at ABC by 5:00 p.m.

We have a big camp with 20 tents, in addition to the big group dining and kitchen tents.

The mountain looks a bit empty, which is quite a surprise. There are only a few other teams and it is very quiet this year.

Thanks for following along our expedition. Bye

Hello, this is Fernando Urizar from Spain calling in a dispatch for the SummitClimb Cho Oyu 2009 spring expedition.

We are in intermediate camp at about 5300 metres/17,400 feet. Today we took a quiet rest day. Members are playing cards, listening to music, reading, and visiting with one another.

Tomorrow we are going to advanced basecamp. Everyone is excited to get there and in good spirits. We are all acclimating well and the team is healthy. Thanks for following along our expedition. Bye.

Earlier: Hello, this is Martha Johnson from the SummitClimb spring 2009 Cho Oyu expedition, reporting in for the 27th of April.

We crossed into Tibet 2 days ago uneventfully and the customs official said, “Welcome to Tibet”.

I’m here with 13 people from several countries; including Kenya, the United States, Switzerland, Britain, Romania, Spain, Greece, and possibly Ireland. We are currently on a hill outside of Nyalam at 3800 metres and the weather is absolutely beautiful with very perfect skies, little tiny winds, and we can see many Himalayan peaks around us. We’re looking forward to a great expedition and to lunch. Thank you. Bye.

Today we woke up very early in Zhangmu, had a tasty breakfast, and drove to Nyalam. The road is under construction and we drove past some big rock-slides in the dark. Our vehicles are two, one a very large comfortable air conditioned Toyota bus and the other a large Chinese cargo truck. The road is overall in excellent shape so we are quite well provided for.

Upon reaching the 3620 metre high village of Nyalam, we disembarked at the Tashi hotel and had some tea and wandered around town, then had a delicious lunch of tasty vegetables and meat. Then we walked around town some more and sun bathed, read, rested, played cards, and had another delicious dinner. We plan to spend tonight, tomorrow, and tomorrow night here acclimating, before making the drive up to Tingri the day after tomorrow.

The team is doing great, super healthy, and Tibet is really beautiful. The weather has been amazingly clear with not a cloud in the sky and only very light winds. It is so quiet and peaceful here and the Tibetans are amazingly friendly. Thanks for following our expedition and we will keep you up to date!

25 April, 2009:

Hi there. We are in Zhangmu for the evening, having crossed into Tibet.

Everyone is doing fine. We planned to go to Nyalam today but due to road construction decided to delay it till early tomorrow morning. We received our visas and travel papers in Kathmandu yesterday and had a good orientation with all of the members. We are very positive about the expedition and it looks like we have a fine team!!! Will be keeping you informed as we slowly travel toward basecamp, acclimatising carefully as we go!!!! So far it has been a very smooth and easy ascent.

Team Roster:

• Dan Mazur - USA (leader) 
• Ms. Martha Johnson - USA
• Ms. Eva Ruszuly - Romania
• Rick Wilkerson - USA
• Mark Delstanche - UK
• Stefano Ricci - Italy
• Zsombor Tulit - Romania
• Fernando Urizar - Spain
• Urs Jäggi - Switzerland
• Conan Bliss - USA
• Jeffrey Gaillard - USA
• Arthur Barbour - UK
• Stefanos Voutselas - Greece

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